Falcon 1 To Launch?: The troubled Falcon 1 rocket is set to make a third try at a launch in early February, carrying a satellite designed by US Air Force Academy cadets. Internet mogul turned aerospace entrepreneur Elon Musk tells Florida Today that the rocket, built by his SpaceX rocket firm, will have a new first stage installed after a faulty valve caused a fuel tank on the first stage to buckle when engineers decided to drain it before a December launch attempt. Falcon 1 now is scheduled to launch Feb. 8 from the Marshall Islands.
The roles and missions executed by Air Force warriors are essential to the nation’s security. Yet after three decades of constant demand and minimal replenishment, our Air Force is too small and too old. It needs to be rebuilt. The Trump administration and Congress must fund that modernization to ensure…