Marines in Spaaaaaace!

My apologies to Defense Tech for stealing their title verbatim, but it was just too damn funny considering how much I loved The Muppet Show when I was a yungun.

The effort is called "Hot Eagle," and it could be the first step forward in the Marine Corps' hopes for space travel. Within minutes of bursting into the atmosphere beyond the speed of sound -- and dispatching that ominous sonic boom -- a small squad of Marines could be on the ground and ready to take care of business within 2 hours.

The Marine Corps calls the concept the Small Unit Space Transport and Insertion Capability (Sustain). This plan, a growing group of Marine supporters say, is the natural evolution of the service's proclivity for expeditionary warfare that began decades ago with amphibious landings... [ed: "From the Halls of Montezuma, To the shores of Tripoli ... "]

The concept is to deliver strategic equipment or a small squad of soldiers to any point on the globe -- even the most hard-to-reach location -- within hours of need. Once on the ground, those soldiers can carry out strategically critical missions like reconnaissance or destroying a specific target.

At least, that's their pitch.

I sure am glad it's our guys developing this and not the other guys.

Go ye and behold the concept of the shuttle looking Marine space vehicle.