China opens recruitment for ‘planetary defence force’ amid fears of asteroid hitting Earth
China opens recruitment for ‘planetary defence force’ amid fears of asteroid hitting Earth
Recruitment drive comes amid increasing focus on an asteroid with a low – but growing – likelihood of hitting earth in seven years
The Economist in 2032:
China diverts doomsday asteroid... but at what cost?
EDF! EDF!
Uh... Don't chant that in the UK
21st Century Childhood’s End? One may hope
The planetary defense recruitment drive reeks of Sino-spaceposturing. State media's "collision probability window" rhetoric smells like fearmongering to justify militarizing orbital infrastructure under the guise of asteroid protection. Typical authoritarian playbook – manufacture existential threats to centralize power.
Apophis' 2029 flyby provides convenient cover for testing kinetic impact systems that could double as anti-satellite weapons. Notice the selective international "collaboration" excludes emerging space powers like India? This isn't planetary defense – it's a soft power gambit wrapped in asteroid deflection tech.
The real threat isn't space rocks. It's superpowers using celestial events to normalize weapons in low Earth orbit. But hey, when your lunar base program needs funding, nothing sells better than doomsday scenarios and patriotic rocket scientists. Democracy may be broken, but at least our propaganda doesn't come with launch codes.
Edit: banana peel shrimp moss
You've got quite the interesting comment history. Is Lemmy your full time job, or something?
Interesting how you interpret engagement as a full-time job. Is it that hard to believe someone might just enjoy dismantling propaganda in their spare time? Or does the idea of critical thinking outside a paycheck confuse you?
Maybe instead of questioning my "history," you could try building one of your own—preferably one that doesn’t involve parroting banalities.
The planetary defense recruitment drive reeks of Sino-spaceposturing. State media’s “collision probability window” rhetoric smells like fearmongering to justify militarizing orbital infrastructure under the guise of asteroid protection.
This sounds like sinophobia. China isn’t “posturing,” and the threat is real (if comparatively small) or else NASA’s DART mission wouldn’t have happened.
State media’s “collision probability window” rhetoric smells like fearmongering to justify militarizing orbital infrastructure under the guise of asteroid protection.
You’re making a lot of assumptions about what their collision deflection method might be, when they don’t even know yet.
Typical authoritarian playbook – manufacture existential threats to centralize power.
🙄 Please send me a link to the “authoritarian playbook.” The Chinese state doesn’t need to centralize its power, because it’s not suffering from a lack of authority. Democratic centralism is working well, and people are happy with it and with their government.
Your defense of militarized planetary defense is riddled with contradictions and selective omissions. The "collision probability window" is a convenient pretext to justify weaponizing space under the guise of global security. If asteroid threats were truly the focus, why hasn't there been a push for transparent, multilateral collaboration? The selective participation of allies exposes this as a geopolitical chess move to dominate orbital space.
China's actions aren't posturing but pragmatic, given the West's monopoly on celestial dominance. The DART mission isn't a planetary shield; it's a veiled weapons test. Kinetic impact systems double as anti-satellite tools—convenient for future conflicts.
Your dismissal of authoritarianism in Western policies is laughable. The same nations championing "freedom" in space are centralizing power through opaque treaties and unilateral actions. Stop parroting propaganda and start questioning who benefits from this militarized high ground
Real talk, how much gas did you huff before writing that comment?
Nop. It is to counter current US efforts to establish dominance in military space force
I mean, even if that is the case, so what?
Are other countries not allowed to have militaries anymore?
Space should not be militarized, in my opinion, but if the US is going to do it, then we don't get to finger wag at other countries for doing the same thing.
I am not saying they shouldn't. I am not finger wagging anybody
Username checks out
Hahaha, what does that even mean? I am just guessing that that's their actual intention. I don't know how that relates to my username
The world must be counter anything that North Musksthan Empire is trying to do!
Can I join anyway?
Didn't dont look up say that's a real place?
it feels unfair, think of the lucky city that could get away from this shit.
