$112.5M in Gulf research announced

The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative will use $112.5 million to fund eight research teams over the next three years to study the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. The teams will investigate what happened to the oil in the environment, the impacts of the spill and the development of new tools and technologies for responding to future spills and improving mitigation and restoration. Universities with operations along the Gulf Coast that are participating in one or more teams include the University of Southern Mississippi, University of West Florida, Louisiana State University, Tulane University, Florida State University and the University of Mississippi. Also participating will be Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Mobile, Ala., and the Naval Research Laboratory, which has a detachment at Stennis Space Center, Miss. The GRI Research Board is an independent body established by BP to administer the company's 10-year, $500 million commitment to research. Additional grant competitions will be announced soon. (Source: PRNewswire, 08/30/11)

NASA takes over plant

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - The 1.6 million square-foot former Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant was formally turned over to NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center Wednesday, increasing NASA's total facility space at SSC by about a third. The Army plant hasn't made munitions since 1990 and was deactivated in 1992. About half the space is already occupied by a dozen employers, including Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, the Government Printing Office, Department of Energy and the Department of Homeland Security's National Center for Critical Information Processing and Storage. The ceremony was held in the Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engine assembly portion of the plant. Attending were NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, who said the economic development potential is "tremendous for the Gulf Coast." (Source: Sun Herald, 08/24/11)

Huge plant being turned over to NASA

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - The former Mississippi Army Ammunition Plant will be formally turned over to NASA's Stennis Space Center during a ceremony Aug. 24. With acquisition of the 1.6 million square-foot plant, which hasn't made munitions since 1990, NASA will increase the total facility space at Stennis by about 33 percent. A dozen employers, including Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne, the Government Printing Office and the Department of Energy, already are located in portions of the space. The ceremony is scheduled for 9 a.m. CDT. (NASA, 08/19/11)

NSSC awards ceremony held

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - The NASA Shared Services Center held its fifth annual Honor Awards Ceremony on Aug. 10 at the StenniSphere Auditorium. Robert Lightfoot, director of Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., delivered a keynote address about the importance of the work performed at the NSSC in redirecting funds towards the agency's core mission. The awards recognized individuals and groups, government and non-government, who have made outstanding contributions to the agency's missions. (Source: NASA, 08/17/11)

August Lagniappe available

The August issue of Lagniappe, a monthly newsletter about NASA activities at Stennis Space Center, is available for download. The front page shows a photo of Atlantis and is headlined "Journey’s end," right next to a photo of the test firing of a J-2X rocket engine headlined "New beginning," illustrating the transition between the shuttle program and a new era of rocket testing at Stennis. The issue also has a longer story on the J-2X testing. There are also items about the visits to Stennis Space Center by NASA's chief scientist, Dr. Waleed Abdalati, Japanese space leaders and scientists from Goddard Space Flight Center. (Source: Lagniappe, August 2011)

Students will chat with ISS astronauts

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - Students from Mississippi and Louisiana gathered at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center Thursday will place a call to astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The K-12 students will be able to ask Expedition 28 Flight Engineers Ron Garan, Mike Fossum and Satoshi Furukawa questions related to mass and weight to enhance their understanding of scientific principles, physics and space. Students from Bay Waveland Middle School in Bay St. Louis, Vancleave Middle School in Vancleave and Hancock North Central Elementary in Kiln, all in Mississippi, and Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Chalmette, La., will participate. The call will include a video link with the astronauts that will be broadcast live on NASA Television. (Source: NASA, 08/15/11)

Ferguson: SSC future most secure

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - Crew members from the final mission of space shuttle Atlantis visited NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center on Thursday to thank employees and their families for their part in the success of the mission. "Of all the NASA centers that are involved in human space flight, I think Stennis' future is probably the most clear at this point," said mission commander Chris Ferguson. Stennis tested all the space shuttle main engines, and continues to test rocket engines for commercial companies. "The space shuttle (main engines) that you've tested and operated here for probably at least 35 years was really one of the success stories," said pilot Doug Hurley. Hundreds crowded the auditorium of StenniSphere to hear Hurley, Ferguson and mission specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Waldheim share their appreciation and their experiences in space. (Source: Sun Herald, 08/11/11)

Ocean in Action Workshop set

BILOXI, Miss. - The Marine Technology Society and Mississippi Enterprise for Technology are hosting the Oceans in Action Workshop Aug. 22 and 23 at the Imperial Palace Casino in Biloxi. The workshop focuses on how marine technology is applied to real-world issues. As part of the event, the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology will host business matchmaking sessions. Representatives have agreed to meet with companies to help determine if their products and/or services can help support projects currently underway or anticipated within local government agencies and prime contractor organizations. The deadline for advanced meeting scheduling is Aug. 15. After that, meetings can be scheduled at the workshop if appointments are still available. Paid registration to the Oceans in Action workshop via the MTS is required before a meeting request can be submitted. For information on the workshop; for information on matchmaking. (Source: MSET, 08/10/11)

Rolls-Royce looks to expand test sites

Rolls-Royce Group is studying locations in the United States and Germany for new engine test sites, a newspaper reported Monday. The company told workers in Derby, England, where it employs 11,000, that it was considering sites outside of the United Kingdom, The Telegraph reported. Derby is the company's "center of excellence" for large engines. It builds and tests the Trent XWB, which will go in the new Airbus A350. That program will continue in Derby as it expands, but the company says it's looking at new locations to help fulfill orders worth about $98 billion. Rolls-Royce could open test sites either in the United States or Germany or both, the Telegraph reported. (Source: Indianapolis Business Journal, 08/08/11) Rolls-Royce currently tests jet engines at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss.

UNO to study robotic eel for ONR

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The University of New Orleans is the recipient of a three-year $937,000 award from the Office of Naval Research to design and build a robotic "eel" capable of operating in shallow water environments. Researchers will attempt to confirm an aquatic swimming motion theory that involves a swimming motion that has very low drag and high efficiency. The Navy is interested in operations in shallow water areas such as rivers and coastline. One important mission is intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, which sometimes involves monitoring and data collection in harsh or dangerous conditions. The Navy has a strong interest in developing autonomous underwater vehicles that can carry sensors into perilous environments without being detected. (Source: UNO, 08/03/11) Note: NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center has multiple operations involved in gathering ocean and littoral data.

Lunch and Learn scheduled

The August "Lunch and Learn," hosted by the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology, is slated for Thursday in the Herman Glazier Conference Room of Building 1103. Featured speaker is Dr. John Samples, who will give an overview of the current Geospatial Computing development efforts at the Naval Research Lab at Stennis. This will include the NRL's Tiled Image Servier, the GHub, and several other programs. Networking and lunch begin at 11:30 a.m., with the presentation beginning at noon. There is no charge for MSET resident companies and members of MSET's new affiliates program. For other guests the charge is $10. (Source: MSET) For more information.

Atlantis crew to visit SSC

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - Crew members of space shuttle Atlantis' final mission, STS-135, will visit NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center on Thursday, Aug. 11, at 8:45 a.m. to thank employees for their part in a safe mission. Atlantis completed its final flight on July 21.The mission also marked the final flight of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. Atlantis was launched on its maiden STS-51-J mission in October 1985. During its 26 years in service, the orbiter flew 33 missions and logged more than 131 million miles in space. Atlantis and sister crafts Discovery and Endeavour now are being prepared for permanent display at selected sites.(Source: NASA, 08/08/11)

CSC to provide redundant system to DHS

The Department of Homeland Security awarded a $2.8 million contract to Computer Science Corp. to develop and implement what it calls a "High Assurance Gateway" that will provide a redundant and trusted Internet connection at the DHS data center at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss. This HAG solution is intended to allow secure Web browsing for DHS personnel, even under times of elevated risk, at what will become its primary data center. Some Internet browsing has been restricted by the measures DHS has previously taken at the Stennis data center to "protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of DHS information and assets," explains a "limited sources justification" notice posted online by DHS on August 5. "While security settings described above were put in place with positive intentions, in certain instances these settings are prohibiting access to content required by DHS personnel to carry out their mission duties," the notice said. (Source: Government Security News, 08/05/11)

StenniSphere to open at noon Aug. 11

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - StenniSphere, the visitor center at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, will delay opening on Thursday, Aug. 11, due to a special event. The visitor center will open at noon that day and resume normal operating hours. StenniSphere is open to the public 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, and is closed on major holidays. Public tours run throughout each day from the Launch Pad at the Hancock County Welcome Center, Interstate 10, Exit 2. The last tour leaves the Launch Pad at 2 p.m. each day. (Source: NASA, 08/05/11)

ONR celebrates 65th

ARLINGTON, Va. - The Office of Naval Research celebrated its 65th anniversary Aug. 1 with a ceremony at its headquarters. "In the span of a lifetime, technologies from ONR and the Naval Research Lab have helped the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps become the pre-eminent maritime and expeditionary force in the world," said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Nevin Carr, who heads ONR. NRL Director of Research Dr. John Montgomery underscored ONR's historic impact during a keynote speech. "The products of ONR and NRL have changed the world profoundly and are deeply imbedded in myriad aspects of our everyday life, both military and civilian," Montgomery said. "Yet, as I look to the evolution of scientific and technical endeavors worldwide, I expect our innovations to be invaluable to the nation in the uncertain future we face." (Source: ONR, 08/01/11) Note: NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center is home to a Naval Research Lab detachment.

August Messenger available

The August issue of Michoud Messenger, a monthly newsletter about activities at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, is available for download. The issue includes a look at the end of the space shuttle era; the Boeing team's completion of the final tank assembly weld on the Pathfinder Liquid Oxygen Tank; an item on recognition given to Michoud Assembly Facility workers and more. (Source: Michoud Messenger, August 2011)