Lockheed Martin photograph by Andrew McMurtrie An HC-130J Combat King II takes off for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., from the Lockheed Martin facilities in Marietta, Ga., Nov. 29. Aircraft number 5708 is the fifth of 15 HC-130Js to be delivered to the U.S. Air Forceís Air Combat Command. The HC-130J replaces the HC-130P/N as…

Instruments aboard NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft studying the planet Mercury have provided compelling support for the long-held hypothesis the planet harbors abundant water ice within its permanently shadowed polar craters. There is also evidence of a dark insulating material above some of the ice, which is believed to be…

The education center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial “Wall” will be a place to join the past to the future, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said at the center's groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 28.

Palmdale, California resident Troy Asher is a man who doesnít believe in working for a living instead Asher believes that people should pursue their passion and go after the education needed to become a success in that special career that calls out for them. Someone once told me that if you do what you love,…

Washington D.C. Congressman Howard ìBuckî McKeon, R-Calif., and Congressman Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to redesignate NASAís Dryden Flight Research Center as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center and the Western Aeronautical Test Range as the Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range. Joining McCarthy in introducing this legislation…

Members of the 1st and 7th Space Operations Squadron at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., took notice when an upper stage Russian rocket disintegrated in low earth orbit Oct. 16. The break up introduced an estimated 500 pieces of debris into an area where the U.S. operates a multitude of satellites, further congesting an already…

Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Navy have conducted the Navy’s first catapult launch of an unmanned system using the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator. The test was conducted Nov. 29 at a shore-based catapult facility at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. It marks the first of several shore-based catapult-to-flight tests that will be…

Many are surprised to discover that the largest organ the human body has is the skin. Skin provides a physical barrier against harmful, external factors. The F-22 Raptor, much like the human body, has a layer of skin called low observable.

A team of researchers, including engineers from Los Alamos National Laboratory, N.M., has demonstrated a new concept for a reliable nuclear reactor that could be used on space flights. The research team recently demonstrated the first use of a heat pipe to cool a small nuclear reactor and power a Stirling engine at the Nevada…

Northrop Grumman photograph Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman assist with the onload of the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator. The air vehicle arrived by barge Nov. 26 from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Truman is the first aircraft carrier to host test operations for an unmanned aircraft. The Navy…