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Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the loss of the U.S. Navy airship USS Macon, NOAA today announced that the wreck site on the seafloor within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Macon, a 785-foot dirigible was one of the largest airships in the world – comparable in size to the RMS Titanic. It was intended to serve as a scout ship for the Pacific Fleet and had the ability to launch and recover Sparrowhawk biplanes. In service less than two years, the Macon, based at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, Calif.,...

Being unhappy. Being happy. Friends who eat like a horse and never put on weight. Childhood admonishments to think of the starving in Africa. These are some of the reasons the overweight give to explain their size because they are too ashamed to admit they simply eat too much, according to a study. Researchers found there is such a stigma attached to being overweight that over-eaters are desperate to find something - or someone - else to blame. The findings mirror comments by Hamish Meldrum, the head of the British Medical Association, who said patients were increasingly seeking weight-loss pills...

WASHINGTON — In the era of $300 million fighter jets, satellite-guided rockets and complicated battlefield computer networks, Multimax Inc. is trying to revive an old-fashioned technology to thrust the information technology firm onto the front line. The Largo, Md., company has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this new project, the design looks like an elliptical UFO, but the result will be familiar: It’s a blimp. “It is somewhat uncharted waters” for the firm, said Ron Oholendt, a retired Air Force colonel and the program manager. The company has enlisted help from NASA and scientists at the Wright-Patterson Air...

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Party planners beware: a global but temporary helium shortage could deflate festive balloons this fall. The shortage affecting some suppliers results from a series of unconnected events, including delays in getting helium plants on line in Algeria and the Mideast, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said. The agency manages public lands, mostly in the West, and their mineral resources. It handles 42 percent of the U.S. production of crude helium, the colorless, odorless gas best known for inflating balloons that is derived from natural gas production. The government provides more than one third of the world's...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The lumbering, low-tech observation balloon, first used on Civil War battlefields, is making a comeback in Iraq (news - web sites). But this time around it's packed with zoom-lens video cameras and thermal imagers. AP Photo The unmanned craft — which look like smaller versions of the Goodyear blimp — monitor battle zones and other danger spots. They're also used to detect possible ambushes on roads used by multinational forces. On a recent evening in Baghdad, three balloons floated over the Green Zone that houses Iraq's interim government, as well as the U.S. and other foreign missions...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. Welcome to "Warrior Wednesday" Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different...

COLUMBUS, Ga. - In this age of laser-guided weaponry and real-time satellite communications, it may be difficult to imagine any interest in supplying the U.S. defense arsenal with fat, lumbering blimps. But it's no joke. Backers of airships say they are cheaper than satellites and manned reconnaissance planes, and would fill a gap between the two. And, by hovering over a particular area, airships can provide more persistent surveillance than unmanned reconnaissance drones. The blimps also could serve as communications platforms, providing wireless phone or Internet service. "Think of us as a low-hanging satellite," said Mike Lawson, president of Techsphere...

Blimps to patrol US borders for enemy missiles October 1, 2003 - 10:49AM The Pentagon has awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a $US40 million ($58.95 million) contract to develop a high-flying, remote-controlled blimp that would monitor US borders and scan the horizon for enemy missiles.The idea is to supplement radar and satellites. The helium-filled dirigibles - about 25 times larger than those seen at sporting events - could also be used to monitor combat zones overseas.They would patrol at an altitude of 19.5 kilometres, and be powered by the sun."It's another mix in the multilayered defence sensors," Christopher Taylor, a spokesman...

Dear Lord, There's a young man far from home, called to serve his nation in time of war; sent to defend our freedom on some distant foreign shore. We pray You keep him safe, we pray You keep him strong, we pray You send him safely home ... for he's been away so long. There's a young woman far from home, serving her nation with pride. Her step is strong, her step is sure, there is courage in every stride. We pray You keep her safe, we pray You keep her strong, we pray You send her safely home...

Return Of The Battle Blimps Operating at the edge of space, 21st century airships are the ultimate weapon in the war on international terrorism. BY JIM WILSON Illustration by Mark McCandlish Of the thousands of men who volunteered to fight in the Civil War, none offered their services with the panache of Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe. Suspended beneath a hydrogen-filled balloon floating 500 ft. above Washington, D.C., Lowe sent this message to President Lincoln: "Sir, I take great pleasure in sending you this first dispatch ever telegraphed from an aerial station." More than 140 years after that afternoon on June...