The seventh in a series of Air Force Research Lab materials-related space experiments returned to Earth earlier this month with the Space Shuttle Endeavour, signaling its completion. This Materials on the International Space Station Experiment, or MISSE 7, spent 18 months on orbit. Its material specimens and technology devices were attached to the ISS exterior, exposed to environmental extremes, such as atomic oxygen bombardment and solar radiation so that scientists could measure how well they held up. Among the MISSE 7 package were nanomaterials, resins and adhesives, optical coatings and hardening, and ultra-high-temperature ceramics. MISSE 7 was the most advanced experiment so far in this series, capable of transmitting digital data down to scientists on Earth for real-time processing. The MISSE program is meant to expand the amount of space-qualified materials and technologies available for future space systems. (Wright-Patterson release)
NORTHCOM’s Budget Priority: Longer Warning Time
April 14, 2021
Gen. Glen D. VanHerck's top priorities in the upcoming budget are domain awareness in the form of farther-seeing over-the-horizon radars, followed by submarine detection capabilities and joint all-domain command and control, the commander of U.S. Northern Command told members of the House Armed Services Committee on April 14. Before building…