Tag Archives: Military

Air Force launches 3rd X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle

Posted on by

X_37_14by Maj. Eric Badger
Air Force Public Affairs

12/11/2012 – CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AFNS) — In the next installment to improve space capability and further develop an affordable, reusable space vehicle, the Air Force conducted its third X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle launch here on December 11, officials said.

The launch comes on the heels of the successful flight of OTV-2, which made an autonomous landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., June 11 after a record 469 days in space.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the strides we’ve made in this program and the success of the X-37B vehicle on the first two flights,” said Mr. Richard McKinney, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space. “However, it is important to keep in mind that this is an experimental vehicle and a third mission is still relatively young for a test program. This is the first re-flight of a vehicle so that is certainly a key objective for us. We have only just begun what is a very systematic checkout of the system.”

X-37 Orbital Test VehicleLieutenant Colonel Tom McIntyre, X-37B program manager for the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, explained the third X-37 flight will not only help the Air Force better evaluate and understand the vehicle’s performance characteristics, but this first re-flight is an important step in the program. OTV-1 launched in April 2010 and spent 224 days in orbit before going through the refurbishment process prior to being prepped for this mission, he said.

“This mission will incorporate the lessons learned during the refurbishment process on OTV-1,” said Lieutenant Colonel McIntyre. “As the X-37B program is examining the affordability and reusability of space vehicles, validation through testing is vital to the process. We are excited to see how this vehicle performs on a second flight.”

“The X-37B OTV is designed for an on-orbit duration of approximately 9 months,” said Lieutenant Colonel McIntyre. “As with previous missions, actual duration will depend on the execution of test objectives, on-orbit vehicle performance, and conditions at the landing site.”

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is led by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, and is designed to demonstrate reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth. Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems, and autonomous orbital flight, reentry and landing.

Officials anticipate multiple missions will be required to satisfy the test program objectives, but the exact number of missions has not been determined.

Navy Cancels Nativity over Atheist Complaint

Posted on by
Photo from God and Country web site.

Photo from God and Country web site.

By Todd Starnes

The website Christian Fighter Pilot first exposed the controversy – and noted sarcastically that service members in Bahrain “have now experienced the friendly influence of atheism on their holiday.”

The Navy directed service members serving in Bahrain to cancel and dismantle a “Live Nativity” after receiving a complaint from a military atheist group who said the manger scene endangered Americans serving in a Muslim country and violated the U .S. Constitution.

The chaplain at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain confirmed to Fox News the nativity scene was cancelled – but referred any further comments to the NSA’s public information officer.

The “Live Nativity” was a long-standing tradition at NSA Bahrain that featured the children of military personnel dressed as shepherds, wise men, along with Mary and Joseph. It was part of a larger festival that included a tree lighting, Christmas music and photographs with Santa Claus and a camel.

But the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers objected to the Nativity and filed a complaint with the Navy’s Inspector General. They argued the Nativity promoted “Christianity as the official religion of the base.”

Read more at FOX News

Marines egged while collecting toy donations

Posted on by

By Bethany Crudele – Staff writer
Posted: Wednesday Nov 7, 2012

Four Marines who were collecting donations from early morning commuters on behalf of Toys for Tots in San Angelo, Texas, were the targets of a barrage of eggs, according to police. The Marines managed to escape being hit.

The incident occurred shortly before 6 a.m., according to San Angelo police. The department received several calls about the occupants of a pickup truck throwing eggs at pedestrians and other vehicles in town.

The pedestrians were the Marines, volunteers for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, who had set up shop at the intersections of Arden Way, Avenue N and Sherwood Way to collect new Christmas toys to be given to less fortunate children in the community.

The truck almost hit one of the Marines as it sped by — and almost collided head-on with another vehicle — before hitting a traffic island a short while later, according to Lt. Mike Hernandez, a police spokesperson.

The driver, Hunter Holbert, 18, was arrested and charged with reckless driving and criminal mischief. Two other 18-year-olds, Brandon Garcia and Taylor White, and an unidentified juvenile male, all passengers in Holbert’s vehicle, were also cited for criminal mischief.

Hernandez said the four Marines had several cartons of eggs thrown at them that the group allegedly stole from a nearby Wal-Mart. While he doesn’t think the men intentionally targeted the Marines, he still found the incident upsetting.

Read more at the Marine Corps Times

Lights flashed before truck entered train crossing in crash that killed four veterans, officials say

Posted on by

A parade float filled with wounded veterans that was struck by a freight train had crossed onto the railroad tracks after warning signals were going off, investigators said Saturday.

Four veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan were killed and 16 more people were injured when the train crashed into the flatbed truck in West Texas.

It was the second of two floats carrying veterans in Thursday’s parade in Midland. The first was exiting the tracks when the warning bells and signals were activated, 20 seconds before the accident, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The second float didn’t enter the tracks until several seconds after the warning system went off, the NTSB said. By that time, the guardrail was lowering.

Read more at FOX News

As Military Suicides Rise, Focus Is on Private Weapons

Posted on by

By JAMES DAO
Published: October 7, 2012

With nearly half of all suicides in the military having been committed with privately owned firearms, the Pentagon and Congress are moving to establish policies intended to separate at-risk service members from their personal weapons.

The issue is a thorny one for the Pentagon. Gun rights advocates and many service members fiercely oppose any policies that could be construed as limiting the private ownership of firearms.

But as suicides continue to rise this year, senior Defense Department officials are developing a suicide prevention campaign that will encourage friends and families of potentially suicidal service members to safely store or voluntarily remove personal firearms from their homes.

Read more a New York Times

Pentagon Denies Reports of Russian Sub near U.S.

Posted on by

Pentagon denied on Thursday media reports that a Russian nuclear powered submarine cruised unnoticed for several weeks in the Gulf of Mexico near the shores of the United States.

“I don’t know what that information was based on, but it was not correct,” Wendy Snyder, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon, said.

The Washington Free Beacon reported earlier that Russia’s Akula class nuclear powered submarine (Project 971) freely traveled in June and July in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico undetected by the U.S. Navy.

Read more at RiaNovosti

Russian attack submarine sailed in Gulf of Mexico undetected for weeks, U.S. officials say

Posted on by

BY: Bill Gertz
August 14, 2012 5:00 am

A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles operated undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks and its travel in strategic U.S. waters was only confirmed after it left the region, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

It is only the second time since 2009 that a Russian attack submarine has patrolled so close to U.S. shores.

The stealth underwater incursion in the Gulf took place at the same time Russian strategic bombers made incursions into restricted U.S. airspace near Alaska and California in June and July, and highlights a growing military assertiveness by Moscow.

Read more at The Washington Free Beacon