Air Force Institute of Technology officials noted recently that AFIT has bred a good many of the Air Force personnel who have participated in space activities. The school’s early alumni include Mercury astronauts Gordon Cooper and Gus Grissom. Today’s commander of the space shuttle Discovery STS-121 mission, Col. Steve Lindsey, is a 1990 AFIT graduate. Read more of the AFIT space connection here.
A combined Navy and Air Force program is seeking to build a smaller version of a ubiquitous air-to-air missile that could give advanced aircraft, such as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, greater magazine depth in a high-end fight.