Air Force Col. Eric Boe, a senior member of the Civil Air Patrol, took the flight controls for the Endeavor on mission STS-126, launched Nov. 14 on its way to support the International Space Station. It marked Boe’s first space voyage since joining NASA’s astronaut force in 2000. The 1987 Air Force Academy graduate began his flying career at age 16 with a CAP encampment in Georgia. He has flown more than 45 different aircraft in the Air Force, logging more than 4,000 flight hours. (Air Force report; CAP report)
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
