Air Force Space Command

NORAD launches Santa tracker. We still have questions.

By Oriana Pawlyk on December 1, 2014 AF kids, Air Force, Air Force Space Command, budget cuts

Each year, North American Aerospace Defense Command launches a website that allows little children to track Santa. Other media outlets may think, “Wow, what a cute story,” but we at FlightLines/Air Force Times want to go deeper and ask the hard-hitting questions you’ve come to expect from the best Air Force news blog on the web. Here is what we want to know about Santa’s upcoming sortie: 1) Has Santa cut training due to sequestration? The Defense Department’s fiscal 2015 plan – over the sequester cap, calling for $115B more over the next four years – still sits in the…

AF panel: Industry, DISA partnerships essential to deflect cyber threats

By Oriana Pawlyk on February 11, 2014 Air Force, Air Force Space Command, Defense Department, Pentagon

If industry is willing to pitch new IT system ideas, the Air Force is here to listen. “It’s clear to me that we’re going to have to do a little bit of a better job in the Air Force of building the kind of capabilities from some of the [industry companies] we have here today,” said Lt. Gen Charles Davis, military deputy for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, during a Feb. 11 luncheon hosted by the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association Washington, D.C. Chapter. The panel — moderated by Lt. Gen. Michael Basla,…

Helms still plans to retire despite filibuster reform

By Jeff Schogol on November 22, 2013 Air Force, Air Force Space Command, Leadership, Space, Uncategorized, Women

The Senate’s recent decision to break with tradition and end the 60-vote requirement for most Presidential nomination has not changed Lt. Gen. Susan Helms’ decision to retire. Helms was nominated to be the next vice commander of Space Command, but Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., blocked her nomination because Helms overturned the sexual assault conviction of Capt. Matthew Herrera at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in February 2012. Under the old Senate rules, it took 60 votes to overcome a hold on a nomination, but on Thursday the Senate voted to lower that threshold to 51 votes. But Helms has not…

Peterson Air Force Base connects kids to STEM

By Oriana Pawlyk on September 3, 2013 AF kids, Air Force, Air Force Space Command

Almost 70 percent of high school graduates are not ready for college-level science, according to the National Math + Science Initiative. With 54 percent of high school graduates not prepared for college-level math either, educators are calling this the “STEM crisis.” Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., recently put a new kind of emphasis on STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — fields by giving kindergarteners to eighth graders the opportunity to participate in various experiments and activities. Their “STEM Rocks!” event brought 2,000 parents and children to the base to launch rockets, make slime, drive miniature underwater rovers and…

Space Command takes on sun’s polarity shift

By Oriana Pawlyk on August 12, 2013 Air Force Space Command, Uncategorized

The sun’s polarity may be changing, but Air Force Space Command says it has these effects under control. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, the a sun’s magnetic field is set to reverse — something that happens about once every 11 years. Tom Roeder reports: The change is frequently accompanied by severe solar storms, which can fry electrical circuits, overpower radio signals and turn satellites into space junk. Brig. Gen. David Buck, operations director for Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base said the military’s satellites can weather the storm. “It messes with the environment (in space) more than…

“Here’s Why” of the week

By Oriana Pawlyk on July 9, 2013 Air Force, Air Force Space Command, Here's Why, History, Leadership, Photos

Taking our “Here’s Why” from the paper to the blog. An explanation for why something is the way it is in the Air Force/military. As the 460th Space Wing at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., said farewell to Col. Dan Dant and welcomed Col. Daniel Wright III as the new commander, the military tradition of “pass in review” was upheld during the ceremony. What is this and where does it come from? Senior Airman Marcy Glass writes that the tradition of “pass in review” has roots that date back to Alexander the Great. He would walk the lines inspecting his…

Air Force looking to provide C-130s to Afghan air force

By Jeff Schogol on January 30, 2013 Air Force, Air Force Space Command, Space, Uncategorized

The U.S. taketh away and then it giveth. After not renewing the contract for the Afghan air force’s C-27A cargo aircraft, the U.S. Air Force is looking into providing the Afghans C-130s, an Air Force spokesman says. It is not yet known whether the aircraft would be sold or given to the Afghans. “The U.S. Air Force is currently developing and assessing strategies to identify C-130 aircraft that could be made available for transfer to the Afghan Air Force at some point in the near future,” the spokesman said in an email. The Afghan government has requested four C-130s but…

Flight Ready

By John Bretschneider on January 29, 2013 Air Force, Air Force Space Command, Space, Uncategorized

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA – An Atlas V is rolled out to launch pad 41 this morning at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Launch is set for Wednesday, Jan. 30 with a half-hour launch window starting at 8:48 p.m. Eastern. The mission is planned to deploy NASA’s 11th Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-K) payload, replacing an earlier TDRS satellite that has been on orbit for 30 years. The TDRS constellation provides constant communication relay services to U.S. government satellites in low earth orbit. (Air Force Times photos/John Bretschneider)

Post-rehab turtles make their way to sea with help from airmen

By Oriana Pawlyk on December 11, 2012 Air Force, Air Force Space Command

It’s not everyday that creatures from the sea get to spend some quality time with guys from space. But even turtles need some adventure. The 45th Space Wing assisted in releasing two rehabilitated sea turtles back into their native habitat at Cape Canaveral Air Force station, Fla., on Nov. 29. The sea turtles were originally passed on to Sea World for rehabilitation after coordination with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the agency responsible for the management of sea turtles in Florida, the 45th Space Wing Public Affairs reported Dec. 4. The first turtle was captured in June by…

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