The first-ever West Coast launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is slated for Thursday at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. This Delta IV variant, at 23 stories tall, is the largest rocket that the Air Force has ever fired from the US West Coast. It will carry a top-secret National Reconnaissance Office satellite into space. “This launch marks a significant milestone in our nation’s space capability,” said Lt. Col. Brady Hauboldt, launch director, in a release from Vandy’s 30th Space Wing. He added, “We’ve really restored a national capability for heavy lift on the Western Range.” This mission follows a $100 million renovation of the base’s launch infrastructure completed over the last three years. Overall, this will be the fifth Delta IV Heavy launch; the others have taken place on the US East Coast at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. (See also Los Angeles Times report)
The congressionally chartered National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence has completed its work, but the team that created its 756-page report will continue, backed this time by its former chair, Eric Schmidt, who is committing his own money to the new effort, dubbed the "Special Competitive Studies Project." Schmidt continues…