Three aircrew killed in the Monday crash of an EA-6B Prowler were all graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy, according a Wednesday message from USNA superintendent, Vice Adm. Michael Miller. Read More
Top Stories
Congressman: USS New York to Mayport by December
USS New York (LPD 21) transits in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility in October. US Navy Photo
Amphibious warship, USS News York (LPD-21) will be home ported at Naval Station Mayport, Fla. by the end of the year, according to a Wednesday release from a Florida congressman. Read More
No Furloughs at Arlington National Cemetery
A member of the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard plays “Taps” during a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery on March, 8. US Navy Photo
Staff at Arlington National Cemetery will avoid furloughs this fiscal year reducing fears the cemetery would extend wait times for burials, Army National Military Cemeteries Executive Director Kathryn Condon told Congress on Wednesday. Read More
Pentagon Warns Budget Cuts Would Hurt Wounded Warriors
Marine Cpl. Jorge Salazar at Naval Medical Center San Diego’s (NMCSD) Wounded Warrior Battalion-West detachment, speaks to Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command, Vice Adm. Robert S. Harward in January.
Wounded Warrior programs and TRICARE beneficiaries are at risk due to the ongoing budget uncertainty, the Pentagon’s top health official told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.
“How we sustain our robust capability to provide mental health care to our service members and families” for the rest of this fiscal year is an unanswered question, Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said. Read More
Northrop Wins Contract for Next Generation Fire Scout
Northrop Grumman Fire X, the basis for the MQ-8C Fire Scout. Northrop Grumman Photo
Northrop Grumman has won a $71 million Navy contract to build six additional next-generation Fire Scout unmanned rotary-wing vehicles, Naval Air Systems Command told USNI News on Tuesday. Read More
Navy Identifies Three Killed in Prowler Crash
An EA-6B Prowler assigned approaches the flight deck USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) on Feb. 24, 2013. US Navy Photo
The Navy has identified the three sailors killed in a Monday crash of an EA-6B Prowler near Harrington, Wash. Read More
Update: Controversial Medal Faces New Review
Department of Defense spokesman George Little briefing reporters on review to the Distinguished Warfare Medal. Pentagon Channel
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is calling for a review of the ranking of a controversial new medal created to honor the contribution of unmanned vehicle pilots and cyber troops, a defense official told USNI News on Tuesday. Read More
Kearsarge ARG Deploys
USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) pulls away from Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story on March, 11 2013. US Navy Photo
Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group left Monday for a Middle East and Mediterranean deployment, the Navy announced. Read More
Navy and NASA: From Mercury to Apollo
In 2014, a Navy ship will recover a NASA capsule from the first time since 1975.
The mission to recover the Orion will reestablish a relationship going back to the beginning of manned space flight.
The following is a brief illustrated history of the relationship of the Navy and NASA from Alan Shepard’s first flight into space to the Apollo moon missions, collected from the U.S. Naval Institute Archives.
Alan Shepard, the first American in space, is recovered from the South Atlantic in 1961. US Naval Institute Archives
A Marine helicopter lifts Liberty Bell 7 after recovering astronaut Gus Grissom, July 21, 1961. The helicopter was forced to release the capsule and allow it to sink after it became flooded with seawater. Liberty Bell 7 was recovered from the ocean floor in 1999. US Naval Institute Archives
USS Kearsarge after recovering Faith 7. May 16, 1963. Note the formation of sailors in the shape of the capsule. US Naval Institute Archives
Faith 7 being hoisted out of the water by the USS Kearsarge, May 16, 1963. US Naval Institute Archives
James A. McDivett is pulled from the Gulf of Mexico during Gemini 4 training, April 14, 1965. US Naval Institute Archives
Gemini 9 astronauts get picked up by the USS Wasp, July 30, 1966. US Naval Institute Archives
The USS Kearsarge celebrates its role in astronaut recovery with a banner, May 18, 1963. US Naval Institute Archives
Apollo 10, recovery. US Naval Institute Archives
Sailors on the USS Wasp hoist Gemini 9A aboard, June 6, 1966. US Naval Institute Archives
Decontaminating the Apollo 11 command module as the astronauts wait to be recovered, July 24, 1969. US Naval Institute Archives
Apollo 13 is recovered after its harrowing mission, April 17, 1970. US Naval Institute Archives
Pararescuemen from the USS Ticonderoga arrive at the spacecraft carrying astronauts from Skylab, June 22, 1973. US Naval Institute Archives
For more information on the Navy’s relationship to NASA, see MOON MEN RETURN: USS Hornet and the Recovery of the Apollo 11 Astronauts from the Naval Institute Press.
U.S. Navy to Recover New NASA Capsule
Artist conception of an Orion capsule being towed into the well deck of a San Antonio-class amphibious ship. NASA Photo
At the start of U.S. space flight, capsules from the Mercury to Apollo programs were plucked from the sea by Navy and Marine helicopters and taken back home on aircraft carriers.
Now the service and the space agency are renewing the relationship for the recovery of NASA’s Orion manned capsule with the latest class of amphibious warship, NASA officials told USNI News. Read More
