We’ve recently explored how the Defense Department supports scientific research in our planet’s most extreme environments like Antarctica. But how is science helping to keep our servicemembers safe in return?
Today’s LAB TV episode tells the story of scientists at the Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center who are studying the best ways to help soldiers endure challenging climates and extreme temperatures.
![Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Cloud, ca. 1964. (US navy courtesy of Captain Captain Benjamin Cloud, USN [Ret.])](http://science.dodlive.mil/files/2010/02/CloudArmedwithScience.jpg)
Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Cloud, ca. 1964. (Courtesy of Captain Benjamin Cloud, US Navy, Ret.)
Photoreconnaissance over Laos was a little known but highly significant chapter of the Vietnam War. Throughout the conflict, American pilots took great risks to gather vital intelligence on North Vietnamese efforts to use the Ho Chi Minh trail system in Laos to supply insurgents in South Vietnam. Flying unarmed aircraft in areas heavily defended by antiaircraft weapons, these pilots faced the risk of shoot-down on every mission.
As the commander of a detachment of reconnaissance pilots on Kitty Hawk in 1964, Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Cloud was one of the first African Americans to achieve a command position in Naval Aviation. The son of a police officer from San Diego, Cloud entered the Naval Aviation Cadet program in 1952 to avoid the Korean War draft but soon discovered an inner talent for flying and a strong love for the Navy despite experiencing prejudice at some points in his career. (more…)
Bob Freeman works in the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy.
HAARP Antenna Array north of Gakona, Alaska. Courtesy Michael Kleiman, USAF.
At a facility in a remote part of south-central Alaska, the largest radio transmitter on Earth sends high-frequency signals into the ionosphere to better understand the influence of charged particles on radio communications and satellite surveillance systems.
Surprisingly, it also is able to create a mini-ionosphere.
“The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, a program known as HAARP, is basically a joint Air Force-Navy program to investigate ionospheric physics and radio science,” explained James Battis, HAARP program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory, in a Feb. 24 interview on Pentagon Web Radio’s audio webcast “Armed with Science: Research and Applications for the Modern Military.”
Battis was joined in the interview by Craig Selcher, HAARP program manager at the Naval Research Laboratory, and Todd Pedersen, a senior research physicist at AFRL.
LISTEN to the full interview or read the transcript.
Dr. Kel Burtt is a chemical physicist at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Dr. Kel Burtt is currently a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow working with the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR).
At the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting in San Diego, there were several discussions about the interaction between the scientific and entertainment communities. One particular panel, organized by the Science and Entertainment Exchange, a program of the National Academy of Sciences (and recently featured on the Armed with Science webcast) raised many questions about how science is used and/or represented in various media, from movies to TV shows to comic books.
One big question raised: Is there an obligation for the entertainment community to be 100% correct in the portrayal of science? (more…)
Dr. Todd Pederson, Air Force scientist at the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), is back to explain how his cutting-edge research in Greenland is helping satellites and radars better protect our military. Special thanks to Michael Kleiman, 377th Air Base Wing, for co-producing this series.
Dr. Todd Pederson on the beach in Qaanaaq, Greenland.
Dr. Todd Pedersen is a space physicist serving with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate’s, Battlespace Environment Division, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass. He got his start as an experimenter early in life playing with magnets, wires, and other fun stuff salvaged from old radios, motors, and cars.
It’s August, so during lunch break, I take a short walk down to the beach. Only this is not your ordinary late summer beach.
Sure, it has sand, and some seaweed, but no Frisbees, no volleyball, and no sunbathers. It looks more like a demolition derby after everyone has gone home. But instead of crushed cars strewn about on the sand, the beach is littered with car-sized chunks of ice. Baby icebergs are stranded by the tide. Their parents are out in the bay, towering high enough that the helicopter had to dodge them as it ducked below the fog bank to bring us in a few days before. (more…)
HAARP Antenna Array north of Gakona, Alaska. Courtesy Michael Kleiman, USAF.
Listen LIVE on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 2:00pm eastern, when we are joined by key members of the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), a joint Air Force and Navy endeavor to enhance our knowledge of radio science, surveillance, and space systems.
HAARP is investigating an atmospheric layer of charged particles known as the “ionosphere.” These charged particles impact long-range communications and space operations. HAARP’s goal is to understand this impact and help improve long-range communications and space operations.
If you have questions for the HAARP management team, tweet them to @ArmedwScience or post a comment here. (more…)
This week, we explore the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), a joint Air Force and Navy endeavor to enhance radio science, surveillance, and space systems. Below, HAARP researcher, Dr. Todd Pederson, recounts his sub-zero journey to the HAARP Antenna Array north of Gakona, Alaska.
Questions about HAARP? The HAARP management team joins our live webcast, Wednesday, Feb. 24th at 2pm eastern. Special thanks to Michael Kleiman, 377th Air Base Wing, for co-producing this series.
Dr. Todd Pederson at the HAARP Antenna Array north of Gakona, Alaska.
Dr. Todd Pedersen is a space physicist serving with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate’s, Battlespace Environment Division, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass. He got his start as an experimenter early in life playing with magnets, wires, and other fun stuff salvaged from old radios, motors, and cars.
It’s the week before Thanksgiving, but the temperature is already 37 degrees below zero. The dashboard lights dim as the rental car engine slowly turns over, but thankfully, it starts and I am on my way for another day.
Courtesy of OpForToons
Happy Miltoon Monday! Every Monday, we post YOUR military cartoons that help us inform the public about the importance of science and technology to military operations. Anyone with a wry sense of humor and an insatiable hunger for science can contribute.
Just post your science miltoons on our Facebook Fan Page Wall or email them to newmedia@dma.mil. As long as they align with our content policy, we’ll include them in our Miltoon Monday collection. (more…)
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