The newly formed United Launch Alliance launched a Delta II rocket June 7, boosting the Italian-built COSMO-SkyMed payload into orbit from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The company says that this is the first time a ULA Delta II launch vehicle has been used for a commercial satellite. This Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation, or COSMO-1, is the first of four COSMO-SkyMeds scheduled for launch. COSMO-2 will launch either later this year or early 2008.
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…