Engineers with the Air Force Research Lab’s materials and manufacturing directorate at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, say they have successfully integrated two existing technologies to create a new thermal control system for future satellites. The new active-temperature control system is compact and much lighter than state-or-the-art devices with similar functions, requires very little power, and has minimal data storage requirements. It combines an electrostatic radiator, developed by Sensortek, Inc., of Costa Mesa, Calif., and a heat-flux-based emissivity measuring method created by Advanced Thermal and Environmental Concepts, Inc., of College Park, Md. After testing in a large vacuum chamber, the system was included as part of NASA’s MISSE-6 on-orbit experiment that was carried into space in March by the Space Shuttle Endeavor. (Wright-Patterson report by Heyward Burnette)
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
