Free Republic

Maxime Faget conceived and proposed the development of the one-man spacecraft used in Project Mercury, which put the first American astronauts into suborbital flight, then orbital flight, events that paved the way for landing on the moon. After retirement, Faget helped found one of the first private space companies, Space Industries. Maxime Faget, who designed Project Mercury and contributed to every U.S. manned spacecraft Latest News about spacecraft afterwards, died at his home in Houston, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Sunday. Faget, who was 83, died Saturday. The engineer conceived and proposed the development of the one-man spacecraft...

A former POW in Iraq names an Ashley-based reservist in a complaint against the U.S. Army. And he compared the treatment at his camp to the abuse that's making international news. Hossam Shaltout said widespread mistreatment from soldiers in Camp Bucca, where he was imprisoned last year, was as inhumane as that depicted in recent photos from Camp Abu Ghraib in Iraq. Shaltout described Camp Bucca as a "torture camp" where soldiers beat and humiliated prisoners, had them lie naked atop each other or pose in sexual positions. "They wanted us to have sex with each other," Shaltout said. He...