Blaze at California Air Force base grows to 16 square miles
Crews are working to surround a wildfire at a central California Air Force base that forced the postponement of a weekend satellite launch.
KSBY-TV reports Sept. 20 that the blaze at Vandenberg Air Force Base expanded to the south as it grew to more than 16 square miles. It is 18 percent contained.
Voluntary evacuation orders are in place for about 400 residents of the San Miguelito Canyon area just off the base near Lompoc.
There is no word of any structures threatened on the sprawling base, much of which is undeveloped and rugged mountain land.
Nearly 800 firefighters were deployed to corral the fire when it broke out Sept. 18 in a remote canyon. The cause is under investigation.
Col. Paul Nosek said on the base’s Facebook page that the fire didn’t threaten the space launch complex. AP
U.S. Navy to name ship after late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy
The U.S. Navy is naming a ship after Robert F. Kennedy.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced the name Sept. 20 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. Members of the Kennedy family, including his widow, Ethel Kennedy, attended.
Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy, his grandson, said they’re “deeply grateful” for the honor.
The Robert F. Kennedy’s job will be to restock and refuel ships already at sea. Construction is expected to begin in 2021. Ethel Kennedy is the honorary sponsor and daughter Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is the sponsor, who will christen the vessel.
Ships in the class are being named in honor of civil and human rights heroes. Mabus said the class would be incomplete without Kennedy’s name.
Kennedy served as U.S. attorney general from 1961 to 1964 and as a U.S. senator from New York from 1965 to 1968. He was an advocate for the poor and for racial minorities. He was assassinated in 1968 during his campaign for Democratic presidential nominee.
“He said to those forgotten, `Your country sees you. Your country counts you. Your country needs you.’ This class of ships tells that story,” said Joe Kennedy.
“They are working ships, steady, sturdy vessels on which all other operations will depend, built by hardworking American hands, the great backbone of a force that projects peace and stability to every corner of our planet, and a fitting tribute to the names they proudly bear,” he said.
Mabus chooses ship names to help connect people with the Navy and Marine Corps. He spoke of how Kennedy inspired him and others to see politics and public service as a “noble profession, an opportunity to make the future bright for everyone.”
“It’s a legacy worth preserving by means of the Navy’s highest honor, having a ship bear his name and assigning that ship sponsors that personify his values,” Mabus said. AP
North Korea says successfully ground tests new rocket engine
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen a ground test of a new rocket engine and ordered a satellite launch preparation, state media said Sept. 20, an indication the country might soon conduct a prohibited long-range rocket launch.
The United Nations and others view the North’s space launch development project as a cover for tests of missile technology, as ballistic missiles and rockets in satellite launches share similar bodies, engines and other technology. North Korea is also openly working on developing nuclear-armed missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.
Kim directed the ground test of a high-powered engine of a carrier rocket for a geo-stationary satellite at the Sohae Space Center in the country’s northwest, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
Kim was quoted as ordering officials and scientists to complete preparations for a satellite launch as soon as possible, amid “the enemies’ harsh sanctions and moves to stifle” the North.
Jeon Ha-kyu, a spokesman at South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said South Korea believes the test was for a new engine for a long-range missile. South Korean media speculated the North could conduct a long-range rocket launch around Oct. 10, which is the 71st founding anniversary for the North’s ruling Workers’ Party.
Earlier this month, North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test, prompting South Korean and U.S. officials to vow to apply more sanctions and pressure on the North. The test explosion, the most powerful to date, was conducted on the 68th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s government.
The North was already slapped with the toughest U.N. sanctions in two decades following its fourth nuclear test in January.
Since late 2012, the North put two satellites into orbit with long-range rockets, each time inviting international sanctions and worldwide condemnation.
North Korea has said it needs nuclear weapons and missiles to cope with U.S. military threats. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. AP