NRO launches new BIGGEST BIRD KH satellite ...

(CBS) This story was filed by CBS News space consultant William Harwood.

A powerful Delta 4 rocket roared to life and climbed away from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Sunday evening on a high-priority mission to boost a National Reconnaissance Office spy satellite into orbit.

Under a cloudy sky, the hydrogen-fueled engines in the three common core boosters of the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 ignited with a rush of orange fire at 5:58 p.m. EST and quickly throttled up to nearly 2 million pounds of thrust.

Hold-down clamps then released and the huge rocket majestically climbed away from launch complex 37 atop a torrent of fiery exhaust. About 30 seconds later, it knifed into a deck of low clouds and disappeared from view.

Because the NROL-32 payload is classified, United Launch Alliance halted commentary about seven minutes after liftoff, just after the protective nose cone fairing separated and fell away. The vehicle was performing normally at that point, but no other updates were expected.

The payload is believed to be an electronic eavesdropping satellite with a huge collecting antenna. In a September address to the Air Force Association, NRO Director Bruce Carlson said the Delta 4 was carrying "the largest satellite in the world."

"I believe the payload is the fifth in the series of what we call Mentor spacecraft, a.k.a. Advanced Orion," Ted Molczan, a respected satellite tracker, told Spaceflight Now. "They are among the largest satellites ever deployed."

Once on station, the satellite presumably will unfold a huge, lightweight antenna to tap into targeted military or civilian communications networks.

"The satellite likely consists of sensitive radio receivers and an antenna generally believed to span up to 328 feet to gather electronic intelligence for the National Security Agency," Molczan told Spaceflight Now.

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Services set Sunday for F-22 Pilot

Memorial Monday for pilot killed in jet crash
By CASEY GROVE
casey.grove@adn.com
Published: November 20th, 2010 03:57 PM
Last Modified: November 20th, 2010 03:58 PM
A memorial will be Monday for the pilot who died when his F-22 Raptor crashed in a valley between two mountains after vanishing from radar on a nighttime training flight last week, military officials said today.


Meanwhile, hundreds of Army and Air Force personnel continue to comb through the crash area to find Capt. Jeffrey Haney's remains, recover pieces of the stealth fighter jet, and try to find out why it went down.

At the family's request, only personnel from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and select friends from the local community would be allowed to attend the memorial, scheduled for 3:25 p.m. at Hangar One on base.

Investigators would be heading to the crash site, east of the Susitna River and south of the Denali Highway. The search and recovery efforts are based at the previously shuttered Susitna Lodge about two miles east of a bridge over the Upper Susitna, said John Pennell, a military spokesman in the base's emergency operations center.

The family and the military ask that instead of flowers or gifts, donations specifying "For the Jeffrey Haney children" be made at AirWarriorCourage.org. Donations can also be made by sending a check to AWCF, and mailed to AWCF, P.O. Box 877, Silver Spring, MD 20918-0877.

The check should be designated "For the Jeffrey Haney children."

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Fence hanging ...

Today out at Rick Husband International Airport.

Short video I slapped together showing a little bit of the "unofficial airport jet fuel fumes appreciation society and photographers club" meeting today. Sorry in advance for the camera shake - forgot my monopod! We had fun anyway.

F-22 Pilot Presumed Dead

Washington (CNN) -- Search-and-rescue teams have found "conclusive evidence" that the pilot of an F-22 aircraft that crashed while on a routine training mission in Alaska did not survive, the military said Friday.

Air Force Capt. Jeffrey Haney, who was assigned to the 525th Fighter Squadron, 3rd Wing, has been missing since the crash Tuesday night. Crews have found the wreckage of the plane.
Haney "did not eject from the aircraft prior to impact," said Air Force Col. Jack McMullen, 3rd Wing commander. McMullen made the remarks Friday in written and video statements.

A recovery team found part of the ejection seat and several life support items that Haney wore during the flight.
"If a pilot was able to eject, the seat would go with him and it would not be anywhere at or near the site," McMullen said.

"Sadly, we can no longer consider this a search-and-rescue operation, but must now focus on recovery operations," McMullen said.

"This is a huge loss for the 3rd Wing and for the Air Force, but it's even a greater loss ... and a very emotional time for the entire Haney family," McMullen said. "We are doing everything we can to support them right now."


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Tanks for the Taliban ...

Washington (CNN) -- The United States is beefing up its firepower in Afghanistan by employing heavily armored tanks in Afghanistan for the first time in the nine-year war, a military spokesman said Friday.

The U.S. Marine Corps plans to use a company of M1A1 Abrams tanks in restive Helmand province by early spring, Marine Maj. Gabrielle Chapin said.

The M1A1 tank is the fastest and most deadly ground combat weapons system available. It will allow for more aggressive missions while mitigating risks to U.S. forces, the military said.

The tanks were used successfully by U.S. forces to battle insurgents in Iraq's Anbar province, Chapin said.

"They bring superior optics, maneuverability and precision firepower that will enable us to isolate insurgent forces from key population centers and provide the ability to project power into insurgent safe havens," he said.
Other coalition forces, including those from Canada, already have used tanks in Afghanistan.

"Quite frankly, given the nature of the fight, they are very much needed," said Jeffrey Dressler, an analyst for the Institute for the Study of War.
He said Gen. David Petraeus, who took over as the top American commander in Afghanistan in June, has taken a much more aggressive fight against the insurgency.

The deployment of the tanks dovetails with that approach.
They signal a more definitive presence for U.S. troops, said Col. John King, commander of the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade, who led an armored battalion in Iraq during the worst of that war in 2005 and 2006.
"The M1 tank is a formidable machine," King said. "It's a formidable message. It signifies commitment, that we're committed."


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