Google wants to pay to upgrade and save Hangar One
December 12th, 2011 | NASA Naval aviation Navy | Posted by Chris Kelly
Hangar One, built in 1933 at Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif., is currently in a state of undress.
That’s because the corrugated siding covering the massive hangar, deemed toxic to the environment, is being replaced. Just to note, it’s a Navy hangar, but NASA is footing the bill to take care of it.
This project has been ongoing since May, but news broke on Friday that Google is offering to pay 100 percent of the costs, that’s $33 million, associated with renovating Hangar One. So what’s the catch?
Google would like to use two-thirds of the hangar’s space to store eight private jets — including a Dornier Alpha jet.
Right now, there’s still a budget battle on-going and NASA is evaluating Google’s offer.
[H/T to the Mercury News and Techcrunch]
First tweets, Facebook posts from the Navy after the tsunami
March 11th, 2011 | Navy | Posted by Chris Kelly
How do you raise a sunken Soviet sub? Ask the CIA.
December 8th, 2010 | Historical | Posted by Chris Kelly
In 1974, the CIA launched an audacious plan to raise the K-129, a Soviet ballistic submarine that sunk in the North Pacific not far from Hawaii. The goal was to recover any information — documents, codes — they could and also find several ballistic missiles that were lost with the sub. Author Norman Polmar’s book, “Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129“, tells the tale of Azorian and this incredible engineering feat that had been kept secret for years until new documents were released in late 2009.
What makes this really crazy is that the K-129 was 16,560(!) feet below the surface. That’s approximately three miles. Here’s a trailer for a documentary on Project Azorian:
If you’re in the Arlington, VA area tonight and want to hear Polmar speak about his book, he’ll be at the Arlington Central Library from 7-8:30 p.m.
Carl Vinson heads to sea
December 1st, 2010 | Aviation Carriers Life at Sea Navy Training | Posted by Chris Kelly
The carrier Carl Vinson left Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., on Tuesday for three weeks of training followed by a scheduled deployment.
Here are some photos the Navy took as sailors boarded the ship and got under way. (Click for high-resolution versions.)