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US Navy's Most Unique Ship Looks Like Noah's Ark

In Industry News ◆ Tags ◆ Published 2021-07-29

The U.S. Navy’s most unique ship is headed from Mississippi to Japan. Named APL 67, this brick-shaped ship is known as a berthing barge and is quite similar to Noah’s Ark.

This special vessel has been designed to accommodate sailors when their warships are temporarily uninhabitable.

The APL 67 is grey white. It is 267 feet long and 68.7 feet wide. It rises about four stories above the water and is primarily featureless.

Its enormous size has led many to compare it to Noah’s Ark. (The Ark, was considerably huge 525 feet and 87 feet wide measurements.)

VT Halter Marine, an American shipbuilding company, constructed it in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Presently, it is travelling to San Diego Naval Base and will then travel across to Fleet Activity Yokosuka, Japan. Fleet Activity Yokosuka across the Pacific Ocean is home to the Seventh Fleet of the U.S. Navy.

The ship has no engine, sensors, or weapons. It is most like to never leave the port. But it can still accommodate a total of 74 officers and 537 enlisted personnel on board. Sailors will stay on the barge for short periods while their assigned ships are undergoing maintenance work.

The vessel will be a favourable temporary residence for crew members who need to live nearby the port for ant inter-deployment training cycles or respond immediately to emergencies. The barge is also towable to any new location and put up as living quarters for the sailors.

For instance, when the ship goes to Yokosuka, Japan, the Navy will not have to seek out 300 hotel rooms for the crew. It can easily act as a floating hotel. In addition to that, the barges are also usable for humanitarian purposes and many other temporary projects.

The U.S. Navy hold several barges across the globe. APL 67 is one such barge of the four that is specifically built for the Navy. It is constructed by VT Halter Marine.

Article by: MI News Network - July 26, 2021

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She Was a Pioneering Navy Submarine Officer. Now She's Headed to Space

In Industry News ◆ Tags ◆ Published 2021-06-21

18 Jun 2021
Medill News Service | By Karli Goldenberg
 

Lt. Cmdr. Kayla Barron, one of the first women to serve on a Navy submarine, is now one step closer to being one of the first women to walk on the Moon.

Barron, 33, who commissioned as a Navy officer in 2010, was selected by NASA out of a pool of approximately 18,000 people to join the 2017 astronaut candidate class.

"I think I've been lucky to be in the right place at the right time for some of these big changes, the submarine force being a great example. They opened the community to women during my senior year at the Naval Academy, allowing me to volunteer to serve in that community," Barron said.

She would ultimately serve on the Ohio-class ballistic submarine Maine, where she'd complete three patrols in the job of division officer.

For her first spaceflight, Barron will serve as a mission specialist for the SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station. The mission is slated for launch "no earlier than Sunday Oct. 31," according to a NASA Commercial Crew Program post.

In addition to the upcoming SpaceX Crew-3 mission this fall, Barron is also set to take part in NASA's Artemis program, which aims to "send the first woman and next man to the Moon" by 2024.

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