Howdy y’all and buckle up for this weeks News 6 update!

Move Over Amazon! Drones Could Soon Deliver More Than Just Packages

A new army undertaking called Project Crimson is being tested in the deserts of Fort Irwin, California as Medical supply drones are busy practicing blood deliveries to wounded warriors and their combat medics. 

“Project Crimson is a project to take a common unmanned air system and adapt it to support a medical mission,” said Nathan Fisher, Medical Robotics and Autonomous Systems division chief at the U.S. Army’s Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center.  

He told army.com that: 

“This drone supports medical field care when casualty evacuation isn’t an option. It can keep whole blood and other crucial items refrigerated in the autonomous portable refrigeration unit and take it to medics in the field with wounded warriors.”

He further explained that these drones launch vertically and do not need a runway, giving them a huge advantage in a combat scenario as they can deliver blood while the injured wait to be medevaced. 

These drones are only some of the cutting edge technology being tested at the National Training Center. Two systems called MEDhub and Battlefield Assisted Trauma Distributed Observation Kit, or BATDOK, are being used to provide hands free documentation of the patient and relay to awaiting medical staff the patient’s status using sensors. 

While the thought of drones delivering my 2 am impulse purchases still makes me weary, it is always  great to see technology being used to save lives and strengthen our military.  Learn more at army.mil 

Midshipman Football Uniform for Army-Navy is Out of This World 

The Naval Academy  in Annapolis, Maryland, recently released their design for this year’s football uniform ahead of the much anticipated annual  Army-Navy showdown against West Point. 

And let’s just say they blew out of the water.

Maybe even this atmosphere. 

The academy chose Nasa themed uniforms to wear as they attempt to defend their coveted army navy trophy. 

The Navy has provided more astronauts than any other branch of the military, boasting 54 in all.

This includes Alan Shepherd himself, the first American in space. He graduated from the academy in 1944 and went on to be a naval test  pilot before answering Nasa’s call. 

The helmet proudly bears a painting of Bruce Mcandles II first untethered space walk with earth in the background. Mcandles was the first man to ever do so in 1987 and he is also a graduate of the Naval Academy.

The uniform itself is designed to look like a space walk uniform while the pants bear the design of one of the earliest space pins given to astronauts by NASA when they returned to earth.

Catch the game on December 10th at 3 p.m in Philadelphia or catch it live on ESPN or your favorite sports network. 

While I of course am always Team Army.. Beat Navy, these uniforms are in a whole other atmosphere!

Learn more at cbs.com

Nurse Who Delivered Baby on C17 Receives Prestigious Award 

Captain Leslie Green and other crewmen of the C17 transport jet will receive the Distinguished Flying Cross. They are being awarded not only for successfully carrying 456  Afghan refugees out of the country successfully, but also for successfully landing with 457.

On August 21st, while hurriedly transporting the refugees, army nurse Green was made aware that a woman had locked herself in the plane lavatory and was in distress. Green found the woman in the middle of preterm labor.

The pilot of the vessel, Capt. Dennis Conner, was also made aware of the situation and decided that they needed to land as quickly and safely as possible.

The baby beat his arrival by a mere 800 feet, and the plane landed gently on the ground moments later.

Capt. Green was of course not on the plane to deliver babies but was there to oversee basic first aid for problems such as dehydration during the flight. This baby delivery was her first ever and while a little small, the baby girl came out crying and healthy.

“The world witnessed history during that airlift, borne on the shoulders of mobility heroes,” AMC commander Gen. Mike Minihan wrote in a statement last month. “This recognition is long overdue for what our heroes did during those historic 17 days.”

A much deserved congratulations to Cpt. Green and her team! Way to keep yourself grounded thousands of feet in the air. Learn more at taskandpurpose.com

Today in History 

On November 28, 1520, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew crossed the Pacific Ocean, the first people to do so. They crossed from the Atlantic by a straight that would later bear his name, eventually landing in Guam.

The ocean was so calm for Magellan and his crew that they called it the Pacific Ocean, from the Latin word for “peace”. 

The peace would not last long for Magellan, who would be soon after killed by natives on the island in April of 1521.

But his sailors would finish his mission of circumnavigating the globe. So all’s well that ends well I guess! Learn more at history.com

That’s all for me! This is Emma Tighe for News 6, signing out.