The Air Force planned to employ a C-17 from McChord AFB, Wash., to deliver passengers and cargo yesterday to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, thereby kicking off Operation Deep Freeze 2008-09, the US military’s support for US scientific research activities on the barren continent. (An active-duty and Air Force Reserve Command crew from McChord flew the last mission for the previous season in April.) According to a USAF release, the C-17 would fly multiple missions from Christchurch International Airport, New Zealand, the staging point for ODF, to McMurdo Station through Sept. 10 as part of the ODF ramp-up phase. The main body of military and civilian personnel plan to arrive in Antarctica in October.
Since President Donald Trump first unveiled his “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative in late January, much of the focus for it has been focused on space—how the Pentagon may deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of sensors and interceptors into orbit to protect the continental U.S. from missile barrages. But the Air…