Jackson grad, ex-astronaut Linda Godwin discusses 'Starfleet' amendment

Former space shuttle astronaut and 1970 Jackson High School graduate Linda Godwin said recent comments by “Star Trek” original series actor William Shatner may generate more interest in the Space Force, the newest branch of the U.S. military.

More than 2,400 personnel transferred from the Air Force into the eight-month old Space Force on Sept. 1.

Shatner wrote an Aug. 26 op-ed piece for militarytimes.com that lit an internet firestorm when the original Capt. James T. Kirk suggested Space Force use Navy ranks, not Air Force ranks, as designations, as was done in the various “Star Trek” TV series and movies.

Space Force is an outgrowth of the Air Force, which labels officers as generals, colonels, majors, et al.

The current chief of operations for Space Force is Gen. John Raymond.

The Navy uses its own way to name personnel: admirals, captains, ensigns, et al.

Shatner wrote that using Naval ranks make “better sense when talking about a spaceship.”

Shatner has endorsed the so-called “Starfleet” amendment sponsored by Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL, directing Space Force to adopt the ranks used on ships at sea.

Godwin, who last visited Cape Girardeau County this summer, is an adjunct instructor at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Godwin, a 1974 Southeast graduate, flew on four shuttle missions from 1991 to 2001, and is a self-described “Star Trek” fan and proclaims herself neutral on the issue of ranks. Yet she sees some merit in Shatner’s idea.

“Our space shuttles were named after sailing ships,” Godwin conceded.

“I worry, though, that because of the ‘Star Trek’ connection, people will see Space Force as a fleet of space vehicles and it’s really not,” she added.

Space Force is not involved in human spaceflight and does not have its own cadre of astronauts, Godwin said. NASA will continue to be the government agency responsible for launching people into space, but has not done so since retiring the shuttle feet in 2011.

A private company, SpaceX, successfully put two men into space in May.

Although the exact responsibilities of Space Force are evolving, President Donald Trump said he sees the newest service branch as part of the government’s national security apparatus.

“Space is the world’s newest war-fighting domain,” Trump said at the Dec. 21 signing ceremony creating the first new branch of the U.S. military since 1947.

One job of Space Force will be to protect military systems in space, such as GPS satellites, that provide information to ground-based troops.

Relevance of space

in the COVID era

“I hope the economy will turn around,” said Godwin, 67, “but in times like this, it can be tough to tell someone (outer) space is important.”

In Godwin’s final two shuttle missions, in 1996 and 2001, she did spacewalks, what NASA calls extra-vehicular activity (EVA).

“We trained for those in a water tank,” she recalled.

“The military budget has always seemed pretty large to me and NASA has not been that big of the piece of the pie,” Godwin said.

Godwin said she is more worried about climate change these days than the fate of the agency that put her into space.

Jackson football

follower

“I keep up with the Indians,” said Godwin, who played clarinet in the JHS marching band and was on the yearbook staff.

A member of the same graduating class as current Jackson public address announcer Dan Stover, she was on hand Dec. 7 at Faurot Field in Columbia when Jackson lost to Carthage in the Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 5 final.

“That was quite a game,” Godwin remembered, “and a cold one.”