The Federal Aviation Administration overturned its decision to shutter the air traffic control tower at Kingsley Field, Ore., according to officials with the state Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing, the F-15 unit that operates there. The tower was on FAA’s chopping block due to budget sequestration, according to the wing’s April 5 release. However, Rep. Greg Walden (R), in whose congressional district the installation falls, came to the tower’s defense, urging the FAA to reconsider its plan since, he asserted, closing the tower posed “a risk to both public safety and national defense.” Local civic leaders and wing leadership also drafted a petition to keep the control tower open. In late March, the FAA released a list of the towers that would be spared from closing due to national security concerns, and Kingsley’s tower was one of them, states the release. “For once, common sense prevailed,” said Walden. (Kingsley Field report by TSgt. Jefferson Thompson)
Celebrating 100 Years of Liquid-Fueled Rockets
March 11, 2026
March 16, 2026, marks 100 years since Dr. Robert H. Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket. Over the past century, new and ever more capable liquid-fueled rockets have literally propelled humanity into space. Why liquid-fueled rockets?