Retired Lt. Col. Herbert Carter, 93, one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, died Nov. 8 at East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, Ala., according to Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford. Carter was a member of the original cadre of the 99th Fighter Squadron, the first black aviatiors in the U.S. military. Born Sept. 27, 1919, in…

Sir Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Galactic, made a surprise visit to Mojave Air and Space Port Nov. 12. He complemented both Spaceship Co. and Scaled Composites on their achievements in producing and testing WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo, bringing his vision of affordable manned access to space to reality. The Virgin Group and aab Investments PJS…

Military Sealift Command’s first Mobile Landing Platform ship completed its first float out operation at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego Nov. 13. Designated T-MLP-1, the ship will be named USNS Montford Point, honoring African American Marine Corps recruits who trained at Camp Montford Point, N.C, from 1942 to 1949. The first of…

President Barack Obama laid a flowered wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns Nov. 11, and after thanking all veterans, he said more than a million warriors will transition back into civilian life over the next few years. “This is the first Veterans Day in a decade in which there are no American troops fighting…

DARPA’s ground-based Space Surveillance Telescope may soon head to Australia. An agreement reached this week with Australia’s Department of Defense will allow DARPA to take the 180,000-pound, three-mirror Mersenne-Schmidt telescope to Australia to track and catalogues space debris and objects unique to the space above that region of the world that could threaten DOD satellites….

Soldiers are enlisting the sun’s power in Afghanistan. Ten solar generators are now providing special forces soldiers in distant outposts the energy they need to accomplish their mission. And, these generators are allowing them precious more time to train Afghan forces and win the friendship of local Afghans. The key benefit of solar is savings…

After more than 750 hours and 500 flights, the test team for the CH-46E Sea Knight helicopter recently completed its final mission as the helicopter, affectionately known as the Phrog, prepares for retirement in 2016. The test team, based here at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., completed the final flight Oct. 9. Part of…

MOJAVE, Calif. – XCOR Aerospace announced Nov. 14 that it has issued the initial phase of a two-phase contract to ATK’s Aerospace Structures Division for the detailed design and manufacture of the Lynx Mark I suborbital reusable launch vehicle wings and control surfaces. This announcement represents a critical milestone in the march toward assembly, test…

Sailors and maritime professionals from eight nations wrapped up Exercise Cutlass Express 2012-2 after a week of multinational maritime events in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, Nov. 1-8.

Four U.S. Army Research Laboratory researchers have developed an algorithm that will make it easier for the Department of Defense to maintain wirelessly networked Army PackBots and other military assets using radio communications.