Air Force officials are working to determine the full impact of the partial US government shutdown on the service’s operations. Already thousands of Air Force civilians are on a temporary furlough that began on Oct. 1. “In the immediate [timeframe], not having civilians here has caused extreme disruptions for our mission, in general,” said Air Mobility Command spokesman Capt. James Nichols on Tuesday. “However, we’re still able to carry on,” he said. As for Air Combat Command, overall missions are “curtailed,” though all ACC bases “will continue some level of activity,” ACC spokesman MSgt. Randy Redman told the Daily Report. Air Education and Training Command spokesman Lt. Col. Sean McKenna said the vast majority of Air Force training would continue. However, the shutdown will still have a “great effect” on the command, he said. Air Force Materiel Command is still determining what percentage of its large civilian workforce would be exempt from the furloughs, said Michelle Martz, a command spokeswoman. “We’ll have a better idea in a couple of days,” she said. Click here to continue to the full report.
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.