A Delta II rocket successfully launched into orbit from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., April 28, carrying NASA’s Cloud Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder and Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) and CloudSat satellites. The launch marked the third this month for Vandenberg’s 30 Space Wing. The two satellites are to provide next generation climate change observation capabilities, including advanced study of clouds and aerosols.
Retired Col. Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, known for introducing the "tap code" by which American POWs in North Vietnam could surreptitiously communicate with one another, died July 6. Harris was brutalized by the North Vietnamese over almost eight years of captivity.