Lt. Gen. Susan Helms, commander of 14th Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and retired Air Force Col. Karol Bobko are the newest members of the US Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Helms spent a total of 211 days in space. On her final trip to the International Space Station in 2001, her fifth time into space, she and a fellow astronaut set a record for the longest space walk: eight hours and 56 minutes. Bobko flew on three space shuttle missions, logging more than 386 hours in space. He piloted the first flight of the Challenger in 1983 and successfully used a robotic arm to activate a malfunctioned satellite during a 1985 flight on Discovery. Their induction ceremony was May 7. There are now 79 space explorers enshrined in the hall. (Kennedy release by Brad A. Swezey)
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
