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the first one will be about a very dangerous mission carried out by the United States.
the second one will be about the strange phenomenon that will occur with the
cicadas.
Today one of our reporters had an incredible as well as unbearable and dangerous
experience.
On the previous Friday of this month, the U.S. government sent a fleet of nuclear-capable
B-52s. It should be noted that the B-52s are bombers and include hundreds of conventional
bombs and 32 cruise missiles. It can refuel in the air, giving it a potentially unlimited strike
range.
This mission had a flight duration of 33 (thirty-three) consecutive hours with the objective
of flying from the continental United States, past the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, off the east
coast of Russia, and past China and North Korea to a block of airspace off the Korean
Peninsula. Then, without landing, MYLAR 11 would fly in formation with fighters from
South Korea and Japan before returning home.
The aircraft cruised at about 28,000 (twenty-eight thousand)feet, mostly over the icy waters
of the North Pacific Ocean, where waves were predicted to exceed 20 feet. In all, the B-52
was expected to burn 105,000 gallons of jet fuel during the flight.
Nineteen hours into one of the longest military missions flown by the United States, the
crew had already experienced communications problems and had to make precise fuel
calculations as they sailed on their 13,000-mile voyage from Louisiana to Japan and back.
A standard crew for missions of this duration is three pilots, three weapons systems officers
and an electronic warfare officer. Most of the MYLAR11 crew had never been on a mission
for this long.
A few hours into the flight, one thing becomes painfully obvious: the B-52 was never built
for comfort. Although the aircraft has a wingspan of 185 feet and a length of nearly 160
feet, the entire crew is crammed into the front of the plane, split between the confined upper
deck and the windowless lower deck.
Pilots rotate their places, with one pilot frequently resting in the only bunk on board. For
the rest of the crew, finding a position to rest often requires huddling on the floor or leaning
against a panel.
Capt. Leo "Swabbie" Weber, weapons systems officer, described his first flight of more
than 30 hours as a "roller coaster."
"You're excited when you take off, you go through your sleepy moments and then you
realize you're not even a quarter of the way through yet," he said. "Trying to stay focused
has been difficult, but it's a challenge I embrace and enjoy."
On the long flight legs between four in-flight refuelings, the crew passes the time with
casual conversation, rest and refreshments
Moore's official role is to track threats outside the plane, but she makes it her business to
know how everyone is doing inside. "I'm trying to make sure I'm paying attention to who's
tired - is anyone hungry, is there anything I can help anyone with?" said Moore.
"As you've seen, this is an old plane and it takes a full crew to solve all the problems
involved."
The Air Force plans to upgrade the B-52H to newer B-52J models, giving them more
efficient engines, improved avionics and new radars. The modernization program will keep
the aircraft flying for nearly a century since they first entered service in the mid-1950s.
"Over the next few decades, we'll be able to see how an aircraft that has been around for
decades and decades can continue to evolve with the times and be as capable, if not more
capable, than it has ever been," he said. Lt. Col. Jared Patterson, 20th Bomb Squadron
commander.
This year, the Air Force began low-speed production of the Northrop Grumman B-21
Raider, the next-generation stealth bomber. China is not far behind: Beijing has promised
that its secret H-20 strategic bomber will soon be publicly unveiled.
"It's rare that we see this size of double brood emergence," said Dr. Jonathan Larson ,
extension entomologist and assistant professor at the University of Kentucky. "We're
talking about an absolute rarity of nature, one of the coolest insects in the United States."
While the idea of a cicada apocalypse may seem foreboding, experts predict that the two
broods will not overlap significantly and that the insects themselves, while noisy and
numerous, are harmless. Here's what you need to know ahead of cicada season.