April 24, 2017

Astronautics Department to retire ‘workhorse’ satellite

U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs/April 24, 2017 The Astronautics Department here is scheduled to transfer control of its longest-running satellite to amateur radio operators. FalconSAT-3, built by cadets and faculty at the Astronautics Department, launched into space in March 2007 atop an Atlas V rocket for a one-year scientific mission. “FalconSAT-3 has an amazing history,” said Maj. Anna Gunn-Golkin, astronautics instructor. “It’s been an Air Force science and training workhorse for 10 years. FalconSAT-3’s science mission continued well past its design lifetime and, since it's still flying high after its primary mission was completed, the Air Force Academy has...

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April 24, 2017

Space pioneers visit Prep School cadet candidates April 18

  Ray Bowden/April 24, 2017 Astronauts Susan Helms and Gary Payton gave Prep School students here a look into space April 18. Viewing the Earth from space is “humbling,” they said during their hour-long chat with cadet-candidates at the Community Center Theater. “I was surprised to see the Earth was white and blue, not green and blue like in the movies,” said Helms, a retired lieutenant general. “It’s absolutely stunning.” Payton, a retired colonel, said movies and photos of the Earth from space will never do the sight justice. “The Earth is gorgeous, a deep dark blue,” he said. From...

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April 20, 2017

Former USAFA exchange student ‘flies over’ Academy

  By U.S. Air Force Public Affairs/April 20, 2017 Just after 11:30 a.m. April 19, French air force Maj. Nicolas Lieumont was flying with his Patrouille France team above Colorado Springs and about to enter the Air Force Academy airspace. The former Academy exchange student said he can’t help but feel nostalgia upon seeing the familiar scenery of Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods and the Academy again. “We are here to (celebrate) this brotherhood between our countries,” Lieumont said. “We don’t fight together because we are told to do so or because we receive orders. We fight together because...

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April 18, 2017

Academy Prep School to get ‘EZpay’

[caption id="attachment_5773" align="alignnone" width="3600"] U.S. Air Force Academy Prep school graduation[/caption] By Ray Bowden/April 17, 2017 Cadet-candidates at the Air Force Academy Preparatory School are scheduled to get a new payment plan this summer. The EZpay Stored Value Card Program will reduce financial hardships some cadet-candidates face, said Lt. Col. Jennifer Russell, the Prep School’s vice commander. “Cadet-candidates must bring a check for $1,600 for books and other necessities when they arrive,” she said. “This presents a hardship for a large percentage of students.” Russell said 12-percent of the students directly appointed to the Prep School are from families making...

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April 18, 2017

Academy grad arrives at International Space station April 20

  By John Van Winkle/April 17, 2017 An Air Force Academy graduate traveled to the International Space Station April 20 to conduct research NASA hopes will eventually lead to a mission to Mars. Astronaut Col. Jack Fischer made the six-hour flight to the station, more than 200 miles above the Earth, with cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos, Russia’s State Corporation for Space Activities, aboard the Russian-made Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft. Lift-off was just after 1 a.m. (MT), from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan, the world's first and largest operational space-launch facility. When Fischer and Yurkchikin reached the station, they joined the astronauts...

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April 14, 2017

Academy’s Operations Research Program recognized for reach, excellence

  By John Van Winkle/April 11, 2017 U.S. Air Force Academy. Colo. -- The U.S. Air Force Academy won a high-level award April 4 for its work to advance operations research and prepare graduates to be research practitioners, as Air Force analysts. The 2017 UPS George D. Smith Prize was presented to the Academy at the 2017 INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics and Operations Research in Las Vegas, Nevada. The annual event draws more than 1,000 leading and international analytics and operations professionals. “By teaming with a variety of organizations to provide its students access to 'real world' data and...

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April 12, 2017

Academy celebrates Founders’ Day

By Ray Bowden/April 12, 2017 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- The U.S. Air Force Academy hailed its origins April 7 with its annual Founders’ Day celebration. Founders' Day is a traditional celebration of the legacy and future of the Air Force Academy and its founders. Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson and William Thompson, the president and CEO of the Academy’s Association of Graduates, presented four Academy alumni with the 2016 Distinguished Graduate Award in Mitchell Hall. The recipients are retired Generals George Butler and Charles Holland, retired Col. Gary Payton; and David Yost. Butler, a 1961 graduate, led the...

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April 12, 2017

JCS Chairman Dunford to speak at USAFA graduation May 24

By U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs/Published April 12, 2017 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. is scheduled to give the Class of 2017 commencement speech, May 24 at the U.S. Air Force Academy. As chairman, Dunford is the highest-ranking military officer in the U.S. and principal military adviser to the president, secretary of defense and National Security Council. Before his Oct. 1, 2015 appointment as chairman, Dunford served as the 36th commandant of the Marine Corps. He was also assistant commandant of the Marine Corps from 2010 to 2012, and...

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