Sky's the Limit: NASA Selects Edwards ITF

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Sky’s the Limit: NASA Selects Edwards ITF Commander as Astronaut Candidate Last week, NASA officially introduced its 2017 class of astronauts. The agency received a record number 18,353 applications. NASA only chose a dozen lucky people, a program acceptance rate of just 0.007 percent. “You are the 12 who made it through, you have joined the elites, you are the best of us,” Vice President Mike Pence said at a ceremony introducing the candidates. “These are 12 men and women whose personal excellence and courage will carry our nation to even greater heights of discovery.” Air Force Lt. Col. Raja Chari is one of the 12 new astronauts selected to train for missions into Earth’s orbit and deep space. Until his selection, Raja served as the Commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and the Director of the F-35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards. “The F-35 Lightning II is an amazing platform, it’s already revolutionizing warfare and air dominance, but what’s even more amazing is the government and industry team that has taken it from a PowerPoint idea to nearly fully operational capability,” said Raja Chari. “The F-35 has had its challenges but that is why I love the aircraft. We do things because they are hard and we crush them. We run into problems, we find technology that has never been tested before, and we figure out a way to get it done. That’s what we did with the F-35 and I’m excited to join the space community and do the same.” Congratulations to Lt. Col. Chari on this exciting new opportunity. Checkout this video of Lt Col Chari speaking about the F-35 at a recent media event.

Edwards Executes First Norwegian Drag Chute Deployment and Flight The F-35 ITF teams are working very hard as they continue to test the most advanced fighter jet in the world. The team recently completed a major milestone as the F-35A completed two ground deployments and test flights of the Norwegian Drag Chute. Norway is a very important partner that will operate the F-35A in extremely cold weather. They need confidence the jet will safely land on icy runways and in extreme weather. The drag chute is designed to conform to the low observable lines of the F-35 and deploys from the rear of the aircraft as seen in this image. With five flights complete, the team looks to wrap up the test flights and then perform wet and dry chute deployments in the coming weeks. Congratulations to everyone involved in this successful testing.

President Trump Nominates Two F-35 Leaders for Administration Appointments There is no doubt the F-35 has some of the best and brightest people in the world working on the program. Recently, President Donald J. Trump nominating both Ryan McCarthy and Dave Ehrhart to serve in his administration is a shining confirmation of my view. McCarthy, VP of F-35 Sustainment, is nominated to serve as undersecretary of the Army and Ehrhart, lead attorney for the F-35, is nominated to serve as the Air Force general counsel. These nominations are just the first step in the process of filling those positions, but I truly believe the president could not have nominated two finer men for these positions. Congratulations to Ryan and Dave on their nominations.

First F-35A Aerial Demo for Paris Air Show a GO! Team Cross Atlantic France, nous voilà, means France, here we come. Two F-35As arrived Tuesday in Paris and everything is a GO for the first ever F-35A aerial demonstration set for Monday. The team worked hard during the past month to prepare for this historic event. I can assure you, it isn’t as easy as two pilots hopping in jets and taking off for Paris, it takes a whole team of people to pull this off. As you can see from this photo, it also takes a C-17 full of equipment to support the effort. The Paris Airshow crowd is set to be the first audience of an all new F-35 aerial demonstration our test pilots and team were working on for a year or more. It’s going to be an exciting event and I can’t wait to see yet another crowd stand in awe of the F-35. Checkout this short video to get you excited about the event.

A Week After its Unveiling, AX-5 Takes Flight in Japan Last week I highlighted the ceremony held at the Nagoya FACO unveiling the first F-35A built there - AX-5. I’m happy to report, the jet took its first flight Tuesday, a very exciting moment for the team in Japan as it marked the first time a Japanese F-35A, built in Japan, flew in their home country air space. This will now happen repeatedly for years to come. Congratulations to the team at Nagoya!