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Wednesday September 14, 7:30 PM Chinese Air Force masters midair refueling(Kyodo) _ A military newspaper said Wednesday the Chinese Air Force had mastered midair refueling, making China the fifth country in the world to accomplish the risky procedure. According to the People's Liberation Army Daily, after trials since the 1990s, three warplanes doing an exercise completed the procedure in mid-August. The paper calls midair refueling risky and difficult. "Midair refueling is an important mark for balancing capabilities for aerial warfare," the paper said. "It's also an important symbol of a country's national defense strengths." The paper offers a play-by-play description...

WASHINGTON - About four miles east of the U.S. Capitol, in an industrial section of town, sits a gas station that looks like any other. But it's not, because on Wednesday it became the first in North America to have a hydrogen dispensing pump. Shell executives, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham (news - web sites) and District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams unveiled the technology, which the Bush administration hopes will help reduce the country's dependence on imported oil. "This will be, in fact, the first step toward the real transition in the economy from the carbon-based economies of the...

Flight of fancy?Kevin Martin (back to web version) | Send October 31, 2003Congress is currently debating the long-range economic impact of leasing several converted to tanker767 aircraft from the Boeing Corporation. While members of Congress are currently engaged in purely partisan finger-pointing over the cost of such a deal, the Air Force Pilots must continue to use it current medium range tanker aircraft that in some cases is 40+ years old The KC-135 is a venerable old stalwart that has severed its nation well in wartime and peacetime, but this aircraft has been in need of replacement badly for the...

Our ‘willing coalition’ launches a pre-emptive strike against all of us By Pat Brosnan [Dublin, Ireland] -- DESPITE the charade witnessed in the Dáil yesterday, Ireland officially supports the US-contrived war against Iraq, which was launched 24 hours ago.Against the wishes of the overwhelming majority in this country, the “willing coalition” of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats decided that Ireland would aid and abet a unilateral war campaign which is totally illegal. Because our Government is comprised largely of spineless, unscrupulous and unprincipled people, parliamentary democracy in Ireland died an inglorious death yesterday.But ever since they were re-elected, we...

Water Find Will Shape Mars Exploration Plan FRANK MORRING, JR./WASHINGTONScientists already are modifying Mars exploration plans to accommodate the discovery of vast quantities of water ice just beneath the planet's surface, with new kinds of data on the long-suspected finding possible as early as next year. Deep blue marks hydrogen-enriched soil that is as much as 50% ice in this Mars Odyssey neutron map of the planet. NASA, which has built its Mars-exploration program on a "follow-the-water" strategy aimed at finding life or evidence of it, will shape its missions in the remainder of this decade and beyond against the...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. EVENDALE, Ohio -- The Italian air force chose General Electric-built engines to power four Boeing 767 tanker transport aircraft. The order for the CF6-80C2 engines is worth $80 million, GE Aircraft Engines officials said Wednesday. The first plane will be delivered to the Italian air force in 2005. The CF6-80C2 engine, used on wide-body jets, entered commercial service in 1985. The engine powers the U.S. government's Air Force One, which is used for carrying the president.