NASA’s Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle heat shield candidate materials have just been tested under intense heat conditions, to see how they would hold up during Orion’s return and re-entry from a lunar mission. Philip Lorenz III reports that NASA engineers who specialize in arc heater testing teamed with the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee to modify the center’s High Enthalpy Aerothermal H2 test facility to accommodate the testing.
KC-46’s Refueling Boom Damaged While Refueling F-22s
July 8, 2025
A U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker suffered damage to its boom while refueling F-22 Raptors off the coast of Virginia on July 8, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed, with reported radio communication from the crew indicating the boom “detached.”