The Army has awarded its Soldier’s Medal to SSgt. Scott White, an explosive ordnance disposal specialist with the 99th Civil Engineering Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev., for his actions in helping to save four soldiers last year in Iraq. During his deployment to Forward Operating Base Falcon, White and two other EOD airmen has successfully handled an improvised explosive device and were headed back to Falcon when they realized the lead Hummer in their five-vehicle convoy had vanished. It was in a canal, so White and TSgt. David Fitzgerald, from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, jumped in to get the soldiers out. They removed three, when White realized there should be a fourth. The driver hadn’t been able to get loose of his restraints and was underwater at that point, but White returned to free him. (Fitzgerald earlier received an Army Commendation Medal with Valor.)
NASA, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance are all preparing to launch their next-gen rockets from Florida’s Space Coast, two of them before the year is out. One is expected to liberate the U.S. launch enterprise from its reliance on Russian-made RD-180 engines, while all three rockets could eventually carry astronaut crews.