Professional Documents
Culture Documents
January 2012
Rarely have I felt the need to have a negative tone to my article for the Squadron newsletter, however this time I do. We
need to remember that we are guests of the 101st Air Refueling Wing and need to show appreciation and respect for the
facilities that they allow us to use. Please take a few minutes at the end of each meeting to make sure that the
squadron is left neat and that all trash has been removed.
Also, we are all old enough to know how to properly use the
bathroom facilities--please make sure that you are doing so.
It is a privilege for us to be here; lets not jeopardize it!!
As most of you know by now the Bangor Squadron will be
hosting the SLS 28-29 January and the CLC 25-26 February.
If you are in need of these courses, now would be the time to
take them while they are offered right here at our squadron.
If interested in attending either of these courses please submit a CAPF 17 to me as soon as possible.
The Bangor Squadron will also be hosting the Maine Wing
Conference this year on 24 March at the Four Points Sheraton. This will be a one day event with something planned for
everyone to enjoy. Seniors and cadets please go to the
Maine Wing Website and register early. There may be scholarships available for those in need so please dont let money
be the reason that you dont attend.
We need your help!! The squadron newsletter is a great way
for us to document all the wonderful things that we do at the
squadron as well as a way to educate ourselves and possibly
the general public about Civil Air Patrol. Please take some
ownership of this newsletter and help Maj. Hall by providing
articles, pictures, and links to information that maybe helpful
to her. This newsletter is about all of us and therefore we
should all contribute to it.
Congratulations to all who have promoted this past quarter.
Your commitment and dedication is inspiring. Keep up the
great work!!!
Maj. Cathie Spaulding
Commander, ME035
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Bangor/Brewer
December 3, 2011
Wreaths Across America kicked off their
annual pilgrimage to Arlington National
Cemetery by first paying respect to the
brave men and women of Canada who
gave their lives when fighting in various
wars alongside Americans. For the third
consecutive year, on the Ferry Point
Bridge, which is divided by the border
between Calais and St Stephen, New
Brunswick, a WAA wreath was presented to the Canadian Siler Star mothersthe counterpart to the American
Gold Star Mothersto honor their sons
and daughters, and as a reminder that
their children will never be forgotten.
Seven members of ME35 travelled to
Calais to take part in this very special
and very moving event. Thank you Capt.
Cathie Spaulding; Capt Rick Gammon;
Lt Mark Spaulding; Lt Adam Nessler; Cadet Chris Slininger; Cadet Cassandra
Bortell; Cadet Everett Stevenson.
~~Major Susan Hall~~
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OCTOBER, 2011
SAFETY PLEDGE
I pledge to do my part to foster a safe environment during all CAP activities, to be a responsible steward of
CAP resources, and to fully prepare myself for the challenging missions that serve America.
Firing on all engines, NASA's latest rover to Mars executed a course adjustment Wednesday that put it on track for a landing in August.
Deep space antennas monitored the one-ton rover nicknamed Curiosity as it fired its
thrusters in a choreographed three-hour maneuver.
"We've completed a big step toward our encounter with Mars," Brian Portock of the NASA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement.
The course correction is the most important task Curiosity will perform during its 352million-mile trip to the red planet, but it's not unprecedented. Previous robotic explorers
have had to adjust their paths several times en route to landing.
Meanwhile, Curiosity had racked up 80 million miles and was traveling at 10,200 mph
(1,614.55 kph)relative to the Earth.
The action began Tuesday when engineers uploaded commands to Curiosity's on-board
computers. Though it performed the move without human interference a day later, engineers were on standby in the off chance of a need to abort.
The team will spend the next week testing the spacecraft's communication system and
other components. A second smaller path adjustment was planned for March.
If Curiosity did not tweak its route, it would miss Mars altogether because it was initially
not aimed at the planet. Engineers did this by design to prevent the upper stage of the
rocket that launched the spacecraft from hitting Mars.
Now that Curiosity has separated and is on its way, the team has several chances to finetune its path before touchdown. During the interplanetary cruise, the rover is tucked in a
shell that will protect it during its plunge through the upper Martian atmosphere.
Curiosity, whose formal name is the Mars Science Laboratory, is aiming for a 96-mile-wide
crater near the Martian equator that boasts a towering mountain in the center. The sixwheel, nuclear-powered rover planned to drive to the lower flanks and examine the layered
deposits to determine whether the area once had conditions capable of supporting microbial life.
Armed with a toolkit including a laser to zap into bedrock and a jackhammer, Curiosity is
more sophisticated than previous Mars surface spacecraft. Despite its capabilities, it won't
be able to detect life. Instead, it will hunt for the chemical building blocks of life during its
two-year, $2.5 billion mission.
Since Curiosity is too heavy to use a cocoon of airbags or rely solely on its parachute to
safely reach the planet's surface, NASA will attempt a new type of landing using a so-called
sky crane system.
The parachute will detach and a rocket-powered platform will fire its engines, then lower
the rover to the ground on a tether similar to the way hovering heavy-lift helicopters lower
huge loads at the end of a cable.
Even before arrival, Curiosity has not been idle. Several weeks after launch, it turned on its
radiation detector to monitor high-energy particles streaming from the sun and exploding
stars. Once at Mars, it will measure radiation levels on the surface.
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