Little known fact: airlifting the shuttle from California to Florida on top of a Boeing 747 is no cakewalk. For one, it requires constant weather data updated as the flight crew maneuvers around precipitation and high winds. Providing that service for Discovery next week will be three 45th Space Wing weathermen: Capt. M Mike McAleenan, TSgt. James Jones, and SSgt. Chris Lozzi.
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
