April 18, 2022

U.S. Air Force Academy celebrates research achievements at annual awards ceremony

Photo by Joshua Armstrong Story by Ray Bowden U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - A new award was unveiled at the annual Dean’s Research Awards Ceremony, and the Air Force’s top research officer encouraged cadets to never give up their fight for innovation April 8. The annual ceremony heralds the school’s research programs spanning the academic majors, including engineering, humanities, science and social sciences. Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and the ceremony’s guest speaker, said the schools scientific endeavors advances the...

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April 15, 2022

Commentary: Air Force Academy plays leading role in 2022’s great space rush

Col. Chris McClernon, associate dean of research and director of the research office at the U.S. Air Force Academy. (U.S. Air Force Academy photo) Commentary by Col. Chris McClernon U.S. Air Force Academy associate dean of research U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - One week after the annual Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, I reflect on the significance of the event. More than 10,000 people attended this year’s symposium representing small business, big business, academia and defense organizations from more than 40 countries. Colorado is the nation’s No. 1 state for private-sector space employment per capita and produces the U.S.’s second-largest...

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April 11, 2022

Elon Musk urges cadet researchers at U.S. Air Force Academy to keep innovating, make rocket launches ‘boring’

Lt. Gen. Richard Clark, U.S. Air Force Academy superintendent, and Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, discuss space exploration and innovation during the Ira C. Eaker Lecture, Air Force Academy, Colo., April 7, 2022. Musk encouraged cadets to tackle research problems, break barriers and turn fiction into reality. (U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley) By Tech. Sgt. Zach Vaughn, U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- SpaceX CEO Elon Musk motivated cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy to keep the research industry on its toes by fighting complacency and working overtime to break boundaries. “We want...

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October 27, 2020

New position helps Academy prepare for all things space

By Ashley D. Murphy, Strategic Communications As the U.S. Air Force Academy establishes itself as the premier commissioning source to the U.S. Space Force (USSF), they have created a position to motivate, inform, influence, inspire, and assess cadets into the newest branch of the U.S armed forces. Colonel Jeffrey Greenwood, Air Force Academy Space Force Liaison, explains his role is to focus on all things “space” and to help stand up a new Space Force detachment at the Academy. “Space encompasses more than just a couple departments,” he said. “Integrating space across all mission elements and all offices is critical...

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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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June 5, 2020

Getting a ‘space sense’: Academy adds space warfighting class for cadets

Story by Ray Bowden, photo by Trevor Cokely, June 6, 2020 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Cadets at the Air Force Academy will see a new minor added to their academic schedules: space warfighting. The Academy Board approved the addition of a mandatory space warfighting minor earlier this month, starting with the class of 2023. The board determines educational policies at the school under Air Force and Defense Department guidelines. “It’s exciting that the Academy has a leading role in educating Space Force officers and that we’re the first commissioning source to commission those officers,” said Academy board adviser...

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May 6, 2020

Air Force Academy satellite to launch aboard X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle

U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs, May 6, 2020 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- A satellite built by Air Force Academy cadets will launch into space May 16 aboard the X-37B, Orbital Test Vehicle sponsored by the Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office and built by Boeing. This is the first time a satellite built and designed by cadets will catch a ride into space aboard the X-37B. (See the May 6 report from the Secretary of the Air Force about the launch here: https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article/2177702/next-x-37b-orbital-test-vehicle-scheduled-to-launch) Lt. Col. Dan Showalter, assistant astronautics professor at the Academy, said “as novel as this...

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October 16, 2019

New telescope at Academy to be largest available for public viewing in Colorado

(Courtesy photo/Devin Della-Rose) By Janine Dreger, Oct. 16, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Scientists at the Air Force Academy said a $1.25 million project to install a telescope in the school’s observatory should be complete by springtime. Contractors from the 10th Civil Engineer Squadron, and technicians from the Austrian telescope manufacturer completed the first stage of the project this month when they installed the housing for the 5,000-pound Ritchey-Chretien reflecting telescope. Associate physics professor and Observatory Director Devin Della-Rose said when complete, the telescope system will support cadet and faculty research projects and connect to the Falcon Telescope Network...

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October 9, 2019

Air Force Academy hosts annual “Audience with an Astronaut”

Story by Jennifer Spradlin, Oct. 9, 2019 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Duane G. “Digger” Carey, a former NASA astronaut who piloted the STS-109 Columbia mission in March 2002, spoke to more than 300 fifth and sixth graders from schools across the Front Range at the Air Force Academy, Oct. 9. The annual “Audience with an Astronaut” event is held in partnership with the Space Foundation and highlights science, technology, engineering and math education as well as the role of the space industry. Carey shared his journey from childhood poverty in Minnesota to a...

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November 15, 2018

Update: Falcon SAT 6 satellite lifts off on Space X rocket, Dec. 3

Faculty members and cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy wait to receive "first contact" from the cadet-designed FalconSAT-6 satellite that successfully launched into space just before noon, Dec. 3, 2018. (U.S. Air Force photo/Joshua Armstrong) Story by Jennifer Spradlin, Dec. 3, 2018 U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- A satellite designed and built by Air Force Academy cadets successfully launched into space just after 11:30 a.m. (MT), Dec. 3. The FalconSAT-6 satellite was originally slated for a Nov. 19 lift-off but modifications and a change of launch vehicles delayed the launch. Lt. Col. Luke Sauter, head of the Academy’s Astronautics...

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