【317-320】US Military Wants to Refuel, Resupply with Space Travel

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AS IT IS

US Military Wants to Refuel, Resupply with Space Travel

August 13, 2018

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from historic launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2018. Picture taken February 6, 2018.

The United States Military’s Air Mobility Command says that refueling and resupplying the U.S. military may soon be done from space.

Air Force General Carlton Everhart is the head of Air Mobility Command. He told VOA, “If I can resupply from space, I can go across the globe in about 30 minutes.” He added, “I do truly believe that is the next step.”

Everhart said the time gained by using hypersonic spacecraft could keep the U.S. ahead in “the speed of war.” That is an area where countries such as China and Russia are trying to make gains.

The idea of using space to deliver supplies is more possible than ever before, say supporters. Many companies that Everhart hopes to partner with are already working on this kind of technology.

Eric Stallmer is president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. The group, based in Washington D.C., supports the development of the space flight industry. Stallmer said that companies like SpaceX and Sierra Nevada, and even foreign companies, could be good partners for the U.S. government.

Air Force Gen. Carlton D. Everhart II, left, speaks to Navy Adm. Bill Moran, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, second from left, while arriving with other generals and admirals for a meeting with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Fla., Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Cost, however, remains an important issue for space flight.

Experts say the need to transport supplies through space must be greater than the financial costs. For example, it might only be used during very important operations.

Todd Harrison is a space and defense expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 is an example of a situation where speed was more important than cost. The attack resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

“Imagine if we had been able to launch a SEAL team and put them right down in that compound within 45 minutes of knowing that it was under attack. It could have made the difference,” he said.

Everhart is not only interested in launching supplies from one point on Earth to another. He also wants to use satellites to position supplies in space.

Stallmer said a lot of spaceflight companies are studying the idea of space refueling stations. There also are plans to change refueling vehicles into habitats in space once they have been used.

However, it is still unclear when these technologies will be fully developed: Experts have estimated from two to more than 10 years.

But this does not stop Everhart from dreaming.

“The train is leaving the station and we’re going to be on it. And I’m not going to be on the caboose…I’m going to be in the front,” he said.

Everhart said his team is already writing proposals for the government to make space resupply a possibility for the military in the future.

I’m Phil Dierking.

This story was originally written by Carla Babb for VOANews.com. Phil Dierking adapted the story for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor.

Do you think space travel for resupplying the military is possible? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

caboose - n. a part of a train that is attached at the back end and is used by people who work on the train

globe - n. the earth

habitat - n. the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives or grows

hypersonic - adj. relating to speeds of more than five times the speed of sound

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AS IT IS

North and South Korean Leaders to Meet In Pyongyang

August 13, 2018

FILE - South Korean President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their summit at the truce village of Panmunjom, North Korea, May 27, 2018. (Handout photo from KCNA via Reuters)

North and South Korean officials say their leaders will meet in North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, in September.

The announcement followed high-level talks between representatives of both sides on Monday. Officials met in Panmunjom, the neutral village in the border area that separates the two Koreas.

In their statement, the officials did not include a date for the meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Kim and Moon met in April for the first time in Panmunjom. In May, they met there again. Moon would become the third South Korean leader to visit Pyongyang if the September meeting takes place.

Next month's planned meeting continues a series of diplomatic moves between the two Koreas.

Tensions between the sides eased when Kim accepted Moon's offer for North Koreans to take part in the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang in February. That helped lead to historic talks between Kim and American President Donald Trump in June. The two leaders met and signed an agreement in Singapore.

The agreement included a promise from North Korea to “work toward” denuclearization of the Korea Peninsula.

I’m Caty Weaver.

VOA News reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said that Moon would be the first South Korean leader to visit Pyongyang. Moon would be the third.

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Words in This Story

denuclearization - v. to remove nuclear weapons from a country or place

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AS IT IS

China Denies Detaining 1 Million Muslims in 'Re-Education' Camps

August 13, 2018

FILE - Uyghurs and their supporters gather across the street from United Nations headquarters in New York, Thursday, March 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A Chinese official has denied that over 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities are being held in re-education camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

The official, Hu Lianhe, was answering questions Monday raised by the United Nations’ Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Hu told the group, “The argument that 1 million are detained in re-education centers is completely untrue.”

Hu said officials in Xinjiang officials protect the human rights of all citizens equally.

But Hu also said that “those who are deceived by religious extremism…shall be assisted through resettlement and education.”

A map of China shows Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in red.

Last Friday, UN committee member Gay McDougall cited reports that estimate 1.1 million people in Xinjiang are being held in political re-education camps. McDougall also noted reports of an additional 2 million people being required to take part in “open re-education camps.” Those people are permitted to return to their homes each evening.

The camps are considered outside of China’s legal system. The Associated Press has reported that many remain in camps for months without formally being charged with anything.

Chinese government officials say they are fighting a rise in Islamic extremism as well as a separatist movement that calls for an independent Uyghur nation.

Earlier on Monday, the state-run Global Times newspaper said the country’s security measures in Xinjiang have helped prevent “great tragedy.” It said such measures have stopped Xinjiang from becoming “China’s Syria.”

McDougall noted on Monday that China did not “deny” that re-education programs are taking place.

“You said that was false, the 1 million. Well, how many were there? Please tell me,” McDougall said. “And what were the laws on which they were detained?"

In recent years, China has introduced one of the world’s most aggressive policing programs in Xinjiang. Security checkpoints and high-tech surveillance cameras are everywhere.

Since April 2017, witnesses and rights groups have reported that large numbers of Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang have been “disappeared” and sent to so-called re-education camps.

Last week, the New York Times reported that one of the best-known experts of Uyghur culture, Rahile Dawut, has not been heard from for eight months. Family, friends and others feel sure the professor is being secretly held in a re-education camp.

This story was adapted for VOA Learning English based on reports from Reuters, the Associated Press and the New York Times. Hai Do was the editor.

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Words in This Story

deceive - v. to make (someone) believe something that is not true

formally - adv. made or done in an official and usually public way

tragedy - n. a very sad, unfortunate, or upsetting situation

cite - v. to mention (something) especially as an example or to support an idea or opinion

surveillance - n. the act of carefully watching someone or something especially in order to prevent or detect a crime

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AS IT IS

Former White House Adviser Says She Taped Inside Secret Situation Room

August 13, 2018

FILE - President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting on African American History Month in the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017. Attending the meeting was Omarosa Manigault. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

A former adviser to President Donald Trump has released a recording she says she secretly made inside the White House’s high-security Situation Room.

The adviser, Omarosa Manigault Newman, began serving in the White House shortly after Trump took office in January 2017. She held the positions of assistant to the president and director of communications for the office of public liaison. She left her job in the White House last December.

Manigault Newman had also worked for Trump during his presidential campaign. She had known him since they worked together in 2004 on the first season of the American reality TV show “The Apprentice.” Donald Trump presented the show, and Manigault Newman was one of the people competing on it.

During the campaign and throughout her White House service, Manigault Newman was publicly supportive of the president and his policies. She had also defended Trump against accusations of racism.

Donald Trump and Omarosa Manigault Newman at a promotional event for 'The Apprentice' in New York City.

Manigault Newman has now written a book called “Unhinged” – to be released Tuesday - about her White House experiences. While publicizing the book, she released an audio recording of a discussion, she says, she secretly recorded inside the White House.

She says the discussion, with White House chief of staff John Kelly, took place in the highly-secured Situation Room. Manigault Newman released part of the recording Sunday on the NBC television show “Meet the Press.”

In the recording, which the Associated Press independently listened to, Kelly is heard saying he wants to talk with Manigault Newman about leaving the White House. Kelly said there were some “integrity issues” related to Manigault Newman. The issues were related to her use of government vehicles and “money issues and other things,” Kelly can be heard saying.

“If we make this a friendly departure…you can look at your time here in the White House as a year of service to the nation and then you can go on without any type of difficulty in the future relative to your reputation,” Kelly tells her.

White House Chief of Staff John Kelly listens as President Donald Trump holds a round table meeting with members of law enforcement about sanctuary cities in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, March 20, 2018.

Manigault Newman says she considered the statement a “threat.” She has defended her decision to secretly record it and says she has recorded additional White House conversations that she might be releasing as well.

But critics condemned Manigault Newman for secretly recording in the White House’s Situation Room.

Situation Room

The Situation Room was created by President John F. Kennedy after the Bay of Pigsdisaster in 1961, according to a paper published on the Central Intelligence Agency, or CIA, website.

That crisis showed the need for a fast and secure communications center to handle large amounts of national security information coming in from many places to the president. Since then, the mission of the Situation Room has been to provide up-to-date intelligence and crisis support to the National Security Council and the president.

The Situation Room is used by the president and his advisers to manage the nation’s most important and secret foreign policy decisions and military actions. In the past, this included former President Barack Obama and his top aides watching in real-time the hunting down of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd L) and Vice President Joe Biden (L), along with members of the national security team, receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House, May 1, 2011.

Earlier this year, the White House said President Trump met with top advisers and held meetings in the Situation Room before the launching of airstrikes on Syrian military targets. The airstrikes were ordered to answer a chemical weapons attack in Syria.

Some national security experts and White House officials say Manigault Newman may have violated ethics and security rules for making the secret White House recordings.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was quick to criticize her actions. She said “the very idea” that an employee would secretly record inside the Situation Room "shows a blatant disregard for our national security.”

Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, told a morning television show Monday Manigault Newman may have broken the law. “She’s certainly violating national security regulations, which I think have the force of law,” he said.

Ned Price served as a spokesman for the National Security Council in the Obama administration. He told the Associated Press he had “never heard of a more serious breach of protocol.”

Price said while there is no one at the door of the Situation Room checking devices, there is a sign posted outside making clear that electronic devices are not permitted. Price also questioned why Kelly would have chosen to hold such a meeting in the Situation Room.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the Associated Press, Reuters and other sources. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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