An F-22 pilot with more than 200 combat hours in the Middle East is trading places on the International Space Station with the first Space Force Guardian to ever launch into orbit. Air Force Maj. Nichole Ayers safely arrived at the ISS early March 16, ...
As the number of crewed spaceflights ticks up, the Air Force expects to train more of its C-17 transport crews to help pluck astronauts out of the water as part of its Human Space Flight Support mission
“Watch me do this kickflip” is essentially what top Space Force officials said on Oct. 10 when they announced the secretive X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle will soon start aerobraking, a maneuver where an orbiting space vehicle dips into the atmosphere...
For the first time in the Space Force’s young history, an Active-Duty Guardian launched into orbit this weekend, where he will take on a NASA mission at the International Space Station.
The Air Force achieved a milestone in May by testing out a new system for controlling high volumes of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) in military airspace.
Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Joe Henry Engle, test pilot, Apollo-era astronaut, and the only American to fly two different winged vehicles into space, died July 10 at the age of 91. Engle flew more than 185 different aircraft—38 of them fighter/attack types—and amassed more ...
Astronaut William Anders, who flew around the moon on Apollo 8 and took the iconic “Earthrise” photo, died in a plane crash June 7 at the age of 90. Across his life he was an Air Force pilot and general, an ambassador, head of the ...
When Col. Nick Hague becomes the first Guardian to launch into space later this year, he will be taking a special set of sheet music along with him.
Astronaut and Air Force Lt. General Thomas P. Stafford died March 18 at the age of 93. Stafford played a huge role in the Gemini and Apollo space programs, as well as in fostering Air Force dominance in air combat during the 1980s and beyond.
Frank Borman, an Air Force fighter and test pilot and American astronaut who commanded Gemini 7 and Apollo 8, died Nov. 7 at 95. Apollo 8 made the first orbits of the moon by a human crew and took the famous "Earthrise" photo.
Ken Mattingly, one of only two astronauts who flew in space in both Apollo and Space Shuttle craft, died Oct. 31 at 87. He commanded two shuttle missions, including the first dedicated military shuttle flight.
A sleek, futuristic, six-rotor aircraft stood behind a red ribbon at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Sept. 25—marking the latest milestone in the Air Force’s involvement in the “electric air taxi.” The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from Joby Aviation was unveiled at ...