Alabama playing major role in ULA’s next-generation launch vehicle
Inside the United Launch Alliance’s sprawling rocket factory in Morgan County, preparations are being made to get America’s next-generation launch vehicle – the Vulcan Centaur – ready for flight and positioned for critical missions. “The Vulcan Centaur rocket is purpose-built for American national security space launch requirements, and it begins in Alabama,” said Mark Peller, vice president of Major Development for ULA. – Made In Alabama
Alabama officials kick off meetings at Paris Air Show
A state delegation led by Gov. Kay Ivey was scheduled to meet with nine companies Monday at the Paris Air Show, an international conclave of aviation and space industry names. Among the companies planning to huddle with Alabama representatives are the United Launch Alliance, Raytheon, GKN Aerospace, Carpenter Technology and GE Aviation. The team’s first appointment was with ULA, producer of Atlas V and Delta IV rockets at a Decatur facility. – AL.com
Cars safer, but being outside them now more dangerous
U.S. pedestrian and bicyclist deaths rose in 2018 while overall traffic deaths fell 1 percent in 2018 to 36,750, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a preliminary report Monday. The auto safety agency said it did not know the cause of the overall decline but has said a dramatic increase in traffic deaths in 2016 was the result of more people killed on foot, bicycle or motorcycle. – Reuters
Air Force successfully flies newest hypersonic weapon on B-52
The U.S. Air Force successfully flight-tested a hypersonic weapon from a B-52 Stratofortress bomber, defense giant Lockheed Martin announced Monday. A hypersonic weapon is a missile that travels at Mach 5 or higher, which is at least five times faster than the speed of sound. That means a hypersonic weapon can travel about one mile per second. – CNBC
Alabama longhorn can now boast world’s most amazing rack
A Texas longhorn has set a new world record doing what the cattle breed does best: growing long horns. Poncho Via, a 7-year-old longhorn on a ranch near Goodwater, Alabama, has the longest rack ever recorded on a steer, according to a Guinness World Records news release. The horns measure 10 feet 7.4 inches from one tip to the other, which is wider than two concert grand pianos and the Statue of Liberty’s face, the record-keeping company says. – Miami Herald
Alabama sheriff pleads guilty to scamming food bank for profit
An Alabama sheriff was arrested Friday and agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of scamming a food bank and his own small-town church to pocket thousands under an old law that let state sheriffs profit from feeding prisoners. Pickens County Sheriff David Abston, who held office in the rural west Alabama county for more than three decades, agreed to plead guilty to fraud and filing a false tax return, court records show. – AP
Need goat milk soap? Alabama has a maker for that
Amber Bennett thought she was just buying a few goats. Little did she know she was starting down a path to a new business. “I thought I was just going to get two or three goats to have milk for our family and it just kind of grew from there,” Bennett said. That was 10 years ago. It wasn’t long before Bennett had more goat’s milk than her family could consume. As luck would have it, one of the women who sold her a goat also gave her a bar of goat milk soap to try. – ANC
