Denis Steele and Tim Williams are the two pilots stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska with NASA at Fort Wainwright for the summer. Dennis and his fellow pilot are to fly 48 hours over Alaska and the Arctic during their stay.

The pilots fly 20 kilometers above sea level which excludes them from over 90% of the Earth’s atmosphere and well above the troposphere. Interestingly the aircraft flown by the two pilots is basically a U-2 spy plane adjusted for non-military work. The U2 was designed in service of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1955 to take pictures of Soviet installations during the Cold War. However the US pilot Francis Gary was shot by the Soviet Union. The US initially attempted to cover the story by claiming that the aircraft belonged to NASA and was being used to monitor weather. To make it sound legit the US planted NASA’s logos on the plane and released a picture of the plane to establish credibility. In fact, this incident occurred in the 60’s and NASA only began using the U-2s by 1971.

The air craft which Dennis and Tim now fly is called ER-2 and is one of the two aircrafts NASA uses for high altitude imaging. The aircraft uses a laser which interacts with the frozen surface of the Earth. It detects the relative variations in the surface of the ice and is recording data so that it can be used to help scientists develop algorithms for a device with a similar purpose to be carried on a satellite which is called ICESAT-2.

The data recorded by this satellite will add to its predecessor ICESAT which recorded data from about 2003 to 2009. Its essential purpose is to assess the state of the ice and determine changes in weather patterns on Earth. The combined data from these missions will be used to assess the effect of the melting polar ice on the sea level rise and the general effect of the ice melt on the weather. The team will fly mission till August 1 of this year.

Outside of its agreement with United Launch Alliance – the multi-billion dollar agreement – the US Air Force released the first up to eight solicitations for space launch services. The solicitation was posted on Federal Business Opportunities on Tuesday and is the perhaps the first noticeable commercial outreach for launch services in a long time.

The National Reconnaissance Office which is responsible for the nation’s spy satellites needs a rocket to put a classified satellite into orbit by 2016.

SpaceX sued the Air Force in protest of its latest sole-source launch contract which had an $11 billion award for 36 boosters.

The Air Force and United Launch Alliance claim that SpaceX missed its chance when it did not protest the arrangement when it was first made in 2012. Ironically, while the Air Force and SpaceX continue to face each other in court, they are also cooperating to help SpaceX get certified to be competent enough for future US military contracts. By Tuesday the Air Force reported that Space X had completed three consecutive successful launches of its falcon 9 rocket.
General William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command said that the Air Force has 136 assigned to the certification process and was willing to spend about $100 million in the effort.
Congress is in the process of considering bills ranging from $25 million to $250 million to weigh options and begin work on a new rocket regime. However the Obama administration is reluctant towards the idea and estimates that the engine would cost $4.5 billion.

Alan Estevez, who oversees Department of Defense acquisition told legislators that even optimistically it could take eight years to have a new engine developed and tested. According to Shelton, the Air Force will end its relationship with the United Launch Alliance by the start of the year 2018. Space X plans to introduce a new heavy lift falcon rocket next year, then the company will have rockets at least technically capable of handling most of the military’s launch requirements.

John Taylor, SpaceX spokesman encouraged opening up more National Security Space missions to competitions.

Denis Steele and Tim Williams are the two pilots stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska with NASA at Fort Wainwright for the summer. Dennis and his fellow pilot are to fly 48 hours over Alaska and the Arctic during their stay.

The pilots fly 20 kilometers above sea level which excludes them from over 90% of the Earth’s atmosphere and well above the troposphere. Interestingly the aircraft flown by the two pilots is basically a U-2 spy plane adjusted for non-military work. The U2 was designed in service of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1955 to take pictures of Soviet installations during the Cold War. However the US pilot Francis Gary was shot by the Soviet Union. The US initially attempted to cover the story by claiming that the aircraft belonged to NASA and was being used to monitor weather. To make it sound legit the US planted NASA’s logos on the plane and released a picture of the plane to establish credibility. In fact, this incident occurred in the 60’s and NASA only began using the U-2s by 1971.

The air craft which Dennis and Tim now fly is called ER-2 and is one of the two aircrafts NASA uses for high altitude imaging. The aircraft uses a laser which interacts with the frozen surface of the Earth. It detects the relative variations in the surface of the ice and is recording data so that it can be used to help scientists develop algorithms for a device with a similar purpose to be carried on a satellite which is called ICESAT-2.

The data recorded by this satellite will add to its predecessor ICESAT which recorded data from about 2003 to 2009. Its essential purpose is to assess the state of the ice and determine changes in weather patterns on Earth. The combined data from these missions will be used to assess the effect of the melting polar ice on the sea level rise and the general effect of the ice melt on the weather. The team will fly mission till August 1 of this year.

Mexico City officials reported on Thursday that the first known litter of gray wolves has been born recently. The gray wolf had disappeared completely from the wild in Mexico about three decades ago and this is part of a reintroduction program of the species so that they can no longer remain endangered.

Mexico’s National Commission for Natural Protected Areas stated that these litter sightings were of tremendous value and represented an important step in the recovery program since these pups have never come in contact with humans as opposed to wolves which breed in captivity.
The Mexican Gray Wolf was almost erased from existence in the US Southwest because of hunting, trapping and poisoning. As part of the reintroduction program the first wolves were released in to the wild in the Southwest starting in 1998 focusing mainly on Arizona and New Mexico. Now a US Fish and Wildlife Service has released an annual survey which showed that in January there were at least 83 of these exotic predators in Arizona and New Mexico. Regardless of the efforts of the concerned authorities the Mexican gray wolf remains an endangered species and continuous efforts are required to restore the balance that has been disturbed.