The National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, will open a new space shuttle exhibit on Feb. 26. The exhibit features NASA’s original shuttle crew compartment trainer, with a full-length cutaway deck that replicates the cargo bay, engine, and tail sections, complete with a Teal Ruby satellite experimental warning payload, stated a Feb. 12 release. “This exhibit will inspire us all to learn more about space and the role of our Air Force in space,” said Museum Director Jack Hudson. The exhibit also includes an interactive shuttle cockpit simulator, a 60-seat educational theater, and a growing display of shuttle mission artifacts. When NASA ended the shuttle mission, the museum bid to house one of the actual spacecraft, but ultimately got the trainer instead. The exhibit will eventually move to the museum’s future fourth hangar.
Three B-1B Lancers from the 7th Bomb Wing flew over the Indo-Pacific alongside F-16s from the Japanese Air Self Defense Force recently, as part of a joint large force exercise. The mission began and ended in the continental U.S., as the bombers flew 31 hours and landed Jan. 11.