The US Air Force’s secretive space plane, the X-37B, will reportedly launch yet again on a “test” sortie to prove its utility and cost-effectiveness.
Two prior sorties have put the two test vehicles in space for months on undisclosed missions.
The X-37 is a program run by the Rapid Capabilities Office.
[Marilyn] Monroe was famous for her quips and sexual innuendos. When asked what three men she’d like to be trapped on a deserted island with, she responded Joe DiMaggio, Albert Einstein and Hoyt Vandenberg – her husband, the scientist and the Air Force general respectively.
Now that’s not something you hear everyday, and from an article written by a wing commander, no less. General Vandenberg was a US Military Academy graduate and the second Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Vandenberg Hall (or “Vandy”), one of the residence halls/dormitories at the US Air Force Academy, is named after him, as is Vandenberg AFB in California. It seems Marilyn Monroe had a thing for him.
On June 16th the Air Force’s X-37B unmanned spaceplane landed at Vandenberg AFB, California.
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, one of two such vehicles, spent 469 days in orbit to conduct on-orbit experiments, primarily checkout of the vehicle itself…
Managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, the X-37B Read more
The Air Force Times notes the US Air Force has yet to replace the introductory ethics course taught to ICBM officers that was pulled late last summer. The Air Force withdrew the course “for review” after the MRFF complained about content mentioning Christian beliefs. The Air Force had previously stated it could reinstate the course, replace it, or simply delete it.
On a related point, there has been no public release to Senator Cornyn’s request for the Air Force to explain its actions, either.
As noted previously, the MRFF’s Chris Rodda took issue with the Senator’s words defending the Constitution.
The Associated Press did a check-up on the experimental X-37B and decided it was still in space, nine months after it launched on its vaguely described (nine-month planned) sortie.
The X-37B orbital test vehicle was due to land in California this week, but the Air Force said Tuesday that the mission will be extended. A landing date has not been set.
The current flight (orbit?) is the second public mission of the vehicle system. While some sites have noted the “experimental” mission may be in preparation for future missions, there’s nothing to say it isn’t doing now precisely what they want it to…
As predicted, it wasn’t long before Chris Rodda came out in defense of Michael Weinstein’s “big victory” for his self-founded Military Religious Freedom Foundation that Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) recently seemed to undermine. From the Huffington Post:
This summer, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) scored a big victory…
Senator John Cornyn…doesn’t like the Air Force’s decision…
Rodda’s article is essentially a rehash of the prior writeups, with the addition of Cornyn’s letter. One “new” piece of information is Rodda’s claim that Read more
A few other media sources are catching up to Senator John Cornyn’s (R-TX) letter to the Secretary of the Air Force released on Monday.
Suspending a course like this because of references to religious texts misinterprets the First Amendment. [The Constitution] does not, as some have argued, protect them from exposure to religious references.
(Some continue to use the word “misrepresents,” though the published letter says “misinterprets.”)
Michael Weinstein’s MRFF — which claims a Constitutional Read more
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has expressed “concern” over the Air Force’s response to complaints over religious content in an ICBM training course.
Suspending a course like this because of references to religious texts misinterprets the First Amendment. Although our Founding Fathers rightly included language in the Constitution that precludes the Federal government from establishing an official religion, this language does not, as some have argued, protect them from exposure to religious references… Read more