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In 2023, NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) will land near the western edge of the Nobile Crater at the Moon’s South Pole to map and explore the region’s surface and subsurface for water and other resources. Part of Artemis, VIPER will launch on a SpaceX Falcon-Heavy rocket for delivery to the Moon by Astrobotic’s Griffin lander under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. The Moon’s South Pole is one of the coldest areas in our solar system. No prior missions to the Moon’s surface have explored it – scientists have thus far only studied the region using remote...

The first female pilot to head the Air Combat Command F-16 Viper demonstration team was relieved of command Monday due to a “loss of confidence” in her ability to lead, the Air Force said. Capt. Zoe Kotnik was removed from her position after two weeks, Col. Derek O’Malley, the 20th Fighter Wing commander, said in a statement. “I removed Capt. Kotnik from her position as the commander of the Viper Demo team [Monday], because I lost confidence in her ability to lead the team.” O’Malley said. “I know that loss of confidence is a common response from the Air Force,...

"Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff......"

A white rattlesnake spotted Wednesday at a Texas park has produced a collective shudder across the country, after a photo of the snake was shared thousands of times on Facebook. It’s not an albino. Called a banded rock rattlesnake, the seldom seen species of pit viper has a spotty distribution in only three states along the Mexican border (Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas), and is known for having a powerful bite, say experts. The photo was posted Wednesday by The Wyler Aerial Tramway State Park in Texas, a 195-acre park within the Franklin Mountains. “We had this little friend come...

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Test pilots and engineers from the 416th Flight Test Squadron had the chance to meet face-to-face with one of the squadron’s success stories Aug. 25. The group met with an allied nation pilot trainee who returned home alive after he experienced a g-force-induced loss of consciousness and his F-16’s Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System activated, executing a ground-avoidance maneuver, just as the system was designed to do. The 416th tested and proved the F-16’s Auto GCAS. The pilot, whose call sign is Ocho, and his instructor pilot came to Edwards at NASA’s request. Both...

Forty-two years ago on this day, General Dynamics test pilot Phil Oestricher undertook the YF-16 prototype’s first flight during what was supposed to be a high-speed taxi test at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Oestricher’s so-called “Flight Zero” was completely unplanned and unexpected, but provided extremely valuable data for the development of what eventually became the U.S. Air Force’s mainstay F-16 Fighting Falcon. Oestricher—who passed away on Dec. 18, 2015—said that the flight test plan was to go down the runway pushing the aircraft up to 135 knots, lifting the jet no more than about two feet above the ground....

<p>BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — While visiting this sprawling military installation north of Kabul last week, I visited the flight line of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing. And then I stumbled into a little history.</p> <p>The plane is an F-16C Fighting Falcon, commonly known in the service as a Viper. The U.S. military has at least one pair of fighters airborne over Afghanistan virtually all the time, carrying out everything from the armed over-watch and protection of ground units to airstrikes against insurgents.</p>

Meet the F-16V ‘Viper’ - the newest, most advanced fighter in the F-16 family that has just made its maiden flight.

The newest version of Lockheed Martin’s venerable F-16 has taken to the air for the first time, with a range of equipment enhancements including an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. Flown from Lockheed’s Fort Worth production facility in Texas on 16 October, the F-16V is being aimed at potential export customers, including Indonesia. The company exhibited a cockpit demonstrator for the new variant in Jakarta earlier this month, having formally launched the product at the Singapore air show in 2012. Lockheed describes the addition of Northrop Grumman’s APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar as delivering “a quantum leap in capability”...

Grisly fight for freedomThe picture as published in 'Ecologica Montenegrina' showing the centipede bursting out of the snake's stomach. (Pic courtesy: Ecologica Montenegrina) The picture is not for those with weak stomachs and the report itself is as creepy as its protagonist. However, if you are looking at the picture, then you may well be looking at the most famous centipede known to man. Also famous now is the Ecologica Montenegrina a hithertho Montenegro college journal of science that published the find. A viper is believed to have swallowed centipede alive. The centipede then fought back – and the paper...

Freedom was so close, yet so far for this centipede. After being swallowed whole by a snake, it made one last desperate attempt to escape by eating its way out of her stomach. Researchers found the dead nose-horned female viper with its prey exploding from its side during a field study in Macedonia on May 14 last year. Both creatures were dead.

The original Dodge Viper revealed in 1992 was a beast of a machine — an attempt by then-Chrysler exec Bob Lutz to revive the spirit of the Shelby Cobra and give Chrysler a world-class sports car. Powered by a massive V-10 with 400 hp, the early Viper's brute force overwhelmed many drivers. Today, the power that made the Viper a legend appears to be at the heart of an order from Chrysler to dozens of trade schools, demanding the immediate destruction of some 93 early Vipers, including a preproduction model that could likely fetch a couple hundred thousand dollars at...

GRAPHIC CONTENT. This terrifying video shows the effect of just one drop of snake venom on blood - turning it solid within moments. The clip shows a handler pinning down a dangerous Russell's viper, using a wooden stick on the back of its head. The handler then encourages the viper to bite into the the lid of a vial, causing venom to drain from its fangs and collect in the glass container. A single drop of the powerful poison is then syringed into a glass of blood. Almost instantly, the blood turns lumpy - sliding around the dish like jelly....

By Christopher Elliott From the February/March 2013 issue of National Geographic Traveler Like it or not, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an unavoidable presence at American airports, from the full-body scanners and “enhanced” pat-downs to shoes on the conveyor belt and ziplock bags filled with trial-size toothpaste. But it’s becoming almost as difficult to avoid the TSA outside the airport, too. Today, you can be pulled over at a highway checkpoint staffed by TSA agents, courtesy of the agency’s VIPR program (that’s short for Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response team, and pronounced “viper,” by the way). Its most high-profile...

(CBS) — It was stunning for those who watched Thursday night as federal agents investigated a possible nuclear threat at Chicago’s Ogilvie Transportation Center. CBS 2′s photojournalist Lana Hinshaw-Klann happened to be at the scene and used a cell-phone camera to record agents in action. Reporter Dave Savini looks into what agents were looking for and what they found. Sources say the agents were members of the elite TSA VIPR team on the 5:04pm Union Pacific West line. They were carrying hand-held nuclear-detection devices that picked up a reading.

Random checks happen at stations across country. Passengers catching the 9:30 a.m. Amtrak train from Austin to Dallas were met with an unexpected surprise when they got to the station. Transportation Security Administration agents, Austin police officers, and the Department of Homeland Security were all waiting for them. ... Random security checks are voluntary ... The random check takes about 10-15 minutes and happens hundreds of times a day at bus, train, and subway stations across the country.

guess Alex Jones is still crazy?? He has been talking about this for months. Bend over and take it America. Don't be upset, this is all done in love and it is all for freedom! Everyone lets sing the Sean Hannity song together...let freedom ring, let the white dove sing...." I love freedom!

Mission Creep: This Tennessee Highway Is Now Patrolled by TSABy Conor Friedersdorf Oct 24 2011, 9:25 AM ET Most air travelers now endure naked scans or genital pat-downs by gloved agents of the government without surprise or complaint. But before invasive security became normal, there was a backlash. And at its height, Transportation Security Administration boss John Pistole said something revealing. "I see flying as a privilege that is a public safety issue. So the government has a role in providing for the public safety and we need to do everything we can in partnership with the traveling public, to...

An all-too-familiar sight at LAX and the rest of the nation’s airports will soon be coming to the city’s busiest train station. KNX 1070′s Pete Demetriou reports rail passengers have started seeing Transportation Security Administration on patrol at Union Station on a more frequent basis. As many as 25 VIPR (Visible Intermodal Prevention & Response) teams began patrolling train stations nationwide last summer conducting an estimated 9,300 “suspicionless” spot searches of travelers. The agency has said the presence of officers with explosive detection dogs, radiation monitors and other devices will act as a deterrent in the nation’s busiest travel hubs.

The Transportation Security Administration isn't just in airports anymore. TSA teams are increasingly conducting searches and screenings at train stations, subways, ferry terminals and other mass transit locations around the country... The TSA's 25 "viper" teams — for Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response — have run more than 9,300 unannounced checkpoints and other search operations in the last year. Department of Homeland Security officials have asked Congress for funding to add 12 more teams next year. According to budget documents, the department spent $110 million in fiscal 2011 for "surface transportation security," including the TSA's viper program, and is asking...