U.S. launches ‘major’ Afghanistan operation: “U.S. troops have launched a ‘major operation’ against Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, U.S. military officials announced in Afghanistan early Thursday.

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(Via CNN.com.)

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Child found alive in ocean after jumbo jet crash: “Rescuers searching the wreckage of a downed Yemeni jet found a young child alive in the Indian Ocean. ‘It is a miracle; I am glad the toddler is safe,’ Jon Cox, an aviation expert, told CNN. The child is the only survivor from the Yemenia Airways flight, which was carrying 153 people to Comoros from Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.

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(Via CNN.com.)

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Yemeni plane crashes with 150 aboard: “A Yemeni jetliner with 150 people aboard has crashed in the Indian Ocean off the island nation of Comoros, aviation officials in Yemen said Tuesday. The Airbus A310, from the national airline Yemenia, was en route to Comoros when it crashed about an hour before it was due to land, an airline official said. There was no word on the fate of those on board. Most of the passengers were Comoran, an official at Sanaa’s airport told CNN.

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(Via CNN.com.)

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USMC: GAO V-22 Report Misses The Mark: “‘The Osprey’s performance in Iraq proved to us that it is safer, faster and can range farther than any helicopter’”

(Via Aerospace Daily & Defense Report on AviationWeek.com.)

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At a groundbreaking ceremony Friday, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson talked about the world’s first facility for space tourists.

“New Mexicans have stepped up to the plate by making this investment,” Richardson said. “This groundbreaking ceremony is an important step toward our goal of being at the forefront of a vibrant, new commercial space industry.”

The almost 0 million project is funded by the state. Once completed, British business magnate Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic will begin taking tourists to space from the facility. Flights are expected to start in 2010.

Branson has said that he has a list of 45,000 people from 120 countries who have registered to take the space trips. It will cost 0,000 a ride, according to the Spaceport America Web site.

The spaceship will be connected to a specially designed carrier aircraft that will take it to about 50,000 feet, according to Virgin Galactic. The aircraft will release the spaceship, which will then use rockets to propel itself into space.

Virgin Galactic has envisioned one flight a week, with six tourists aboard.

The tourists will train for at least three days before going.

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I found this on Google earth, at Kadena AFB Okinawa.

What do you suppose the building houses?

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NASA sends orbiter to explore moon: “Humans are a step closer to returning to the moon after NASA launched a lunar orbiter Thursday to provide a comprehensive survey of our nearest celestial neighbor. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter lifted off aboard an Atlas V Rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida, powered by two liquid-fueled engines and a pair of solid-fueled boosters. NASA described the liftoff as ‘flawless.’

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(Via CNN.com.)

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U.S. ready if N. Korea launches missile: “Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the United States could defend itself in the event of a North Korean missile launch toward Hawaii, and that U.S. officials were monitoring the situation carefully.

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(Via CNN.com.)

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U.S. spy aircraft patrol northern border: “FORT DRUM, N.Y. — U.S. border officials are testing an unmanned surveillance aircraft on the U.S.-Canadian border along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River to judge whether the drones can be used more widely along the northern border.”

(Via Air Force Times - News.)

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