Fine Detail Work May Benefit Tactical Fight: 
The scientists at the Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M., have managed—after five years work—to consistently arrange three circular mirrors to within one one-thousandth of the thickness of a human hair for the deployable optical telescope demonstrator. Officials say the DOT is the “future of foldable, larger aperture optics” housed in launch vehicles. The technology will provide “better tactical imagery” of the battlefield, says Lawrence Robertson, the directorate’s chief of the Dynamics and Controls Group. He said there were doubts along the way that the team could succeed in the painstaking task, but Robertson added, “We nailed it.” The directorate has shared the DOT technology with aerospace companies to build systems for the Air Force and other potential customers.
U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles have roared out of Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass., for the last time. The 104th Fighter Wing’s last three F-15Cs departed the base Oct. 23 for the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., ending the aircraft's era on the frontlines of homeland defense.
