Test Pilot School looks to the cosmos in new space program 6 hours ago Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, the Space Force s chief of space operations, presents a coin to Lt. Col. Morgan Sparks, Space Test Fundamentals Class 21-1 class leader and student, at Edwards Air Force Base, California, April 6. (Giancarlo Casem/Air Force) The Air Force’s Test Pilot School on April 6 graduated its first 15 space testers from a new three-month program, broadening the school’s role in educating a new generation of experts in the field as their role evolves. The space enterprise is no stranger to the schoolhouse at Edwards Air Force Base, California, which has trained astronauts, shuttle specialists and space mission systems testers. But the Space Test Fundamentals course offers an expanded opportunity to learn about the job than in previous courses, without an air-centric lens.
Test Pilot School looks to the cosmos in new space program armytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from armytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Can Biden solve the Space Force’s public relations crisis? Valerie Insinna
Photo credit: Alex Brandon/AP WASHINGTON When leaders gathered at the White House to commemorate the first birthday of the Space Force, it was supposed to be a celebration. Instead, the new military branch stumbled into another public relations quagmire after Vice President Mike Pence announced that members of the service would be called “guardians.” The announcement immediately reverberated through social media, with celebrities and mainstream news outlets mocking what seemed to be yet another instance of the Trump administration pilfering pop culture for a military organization that at least to some has always seemed more like a joke than a serious policy endeavor.