Work to begin on SLS

NEW ORLEANS -- Construction is set to begin at Michoud Assembly Facility on the major components of NASA’s Space Launch System, which will transport astronauts to deep space. The work is expected to bring hundreds of high-paying jobs to the Michoud when construction reaches its peak, starting next year and leveling off in 2015. The rocket's core stage will be built at Michoud, and the engines that will power the vehicle will be test-fired at Stennis Space Center, Miss. In Huntsville, Ala., a technical review of the core stage, called a preliminary design review, was successfully completed at Marshall Space Flight Center Thursday. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, NASA, 12/21/12)

Orion backup chute tested

NASA completed the latest in a series of parachute tests for its Orion spacecraft Thursday at the Army Yuma Proving Ground in southwestern Arizona, a step toward a first flight test in 2014. The test verified Orion can land safely even if one of its two drogue parachutes does not open during descent. Orion, which will take humans further into space than ever before, uses five parachutes. The 21,000-pound capsule needs only two main parachutes and one drogue. The extra two provide a backup in case one of the primary parachutes fails. The next Orion parachute test is scheduled for February and will simulate a failure of one of the three main parachutes. (Source: NASA, 12/20/12) Gulf Coast note: The Orion capsules are made in New Orleans; Stennis Space Center, Miss., tests the rocket engines for the Space Launch System.

SSC deputy director named

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Jerry Cook has been selected as the deputy director of NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, the agency's primary testing ground for rocket engines and propulsion systems, and its systems engineering center for applied science activities. Cook served as the associate program manager of the Space Launch System (SLS) Program Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. He has served in a dual role as manager of the SLS Program Planning and Control Office. (Source: NASA/SSC, 12/20/12)

Lockheed Martin marks 100 years

BETHESDA, Md. -- Lockheed Martin is marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Lockheed Company, incorporated Dec. 19, 1912, in San Francisco, Calif. Brothers Allan and Malcolm Lockheed founded the company out of a garage, where they built their Model G seaplane. Their second plane, the F-1 Flying Boat, won the company its first military contract. In 1995, Lockheed merged with Martin Marietta, also founded in 1912 as the Glenn L. Martin Co., to form Lockheed Martin. The Martin anniversary was celebrated in August. Lockheed Martin employs about 120,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. It had net sales in 2011 of $46.5 billion. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 12/19/12) The Lockheed Martin Space and Technology Center is located at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Powerpack tests concluded

J-2X powerpack test at Stennis Space Center
NASA photo

Engineers conducted the final test-firing of the J-2X powerpack assembly Thursday at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss. The powerpack assembly, a system of components on top of the engine that feeds propellants to the bell nozzle of the engine to produce thrust, has burned millions of pounds of propellants during a series of 13 tests totaling more than an hour and a half in 2012. The testing team set several records for hot-firing duration at Stennis test stands during the summer. NASA engineers will remove the assembly from the test stand to focus on tests of the fully integrated engine. Installation on a test stand at Stennis will begin in 2013. The J-2X, developed by Rocketdyne, will power the upper stage of the Space Launch System that will take astronauts into deep space missions. (Source: NASA, 12/14/12)

NASA best place to work

NASA was named the best place to work in the federal government among large agencies in a survey released today by the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization. This ranking, which reflects NASA's highest results since this index was developed, makes clear that the agency's work force is focused on carrying out the nation's new and ambitious space program. The rankings are based on responses from nearly 700,000 federal workers. The Best Places to Work rankings are based on data from the Office of Personnel Management's annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey conducted from April through June 2012 and additional survey data from nine agencies plus the Intelligence Community. This is the seventh edition of the Best Places to Work rankings since the first in 2003. NASA's Stennis Space Center was ranked second in the sub-agency component category. (Source: NASA, 12/13/12)

Forestry tool wins award

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- The ForWarn forest monitoring and assessment tool developed by NASA Stennis Space Center's Applied Science and Technology Project Office and other federal and university partners was selected to receive a prestigious technology transfer award. The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer announced Nov. 26 that the ForWarn early warning system will receive the 2013 FLC Interagency Partnership Award. One of the organization's highest honors, the award recognizes the efforts of laboratory employees from at least two different agencies who have collaboratively accomplished outstanding work in the process of transferring a technology. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in partnership with Stennis Space Center, released ForWarn earlier this year as a satellite-based monitoring and assessment tool for tracking changes in forest vegetation across the country, and providing a strategic, national overview of potential forest disturbances and environmental threats. (Source: NASA/SSC, 12/12/12) For a background story on the system, see Pages 7-8 of the April 2010 issue of Alliance Insight)

Underwater robot lost

PANAMA CITY, Fla. -- A battery-powered Navy vehicles was lost in the Gulf of Mexico near Panama City and Biltmore Beach Thursday night. A news release from the Naval Oceanography Mine Warfare Center at Stennis Space Center, Miss., said the command lost contact with the Remus 100 Unmanned Underwater Vehicle during a training exercise. The vehicle is black, 6 feet long and 7 inches in diameter. It was heading north when contact was lost. (Source: Panama City News Herald, 12/07/12)

DOJ objects to sale

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The objection of the Justice Department prompted United Technologies and TransDigm Group Inc. to terminate the sale of the Goodrich Corp. pump and engine control systems business to TransDigm of Cleveland. Sale of the pump and engine control systems unit is one of the divestitures required as a condition of UTC's acquisition of Goodrich. UTC intends to comply with its obligation to sell this business to a buyer acceptable to the U.S. Department of Justice and European Commission. (Source: PRNewswire, 12/06/12) Note: Rocketdyne, a United Technologies company that is being sold to GenCorp, assembles and tests rockets at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Wave Glider crosses ocean

SYDNEY, Australia -- U.S. based Liquid Robotics, an ocean data service provider and developer of the Wave Glider, announced the first pacific crossing Wave Glider, "Papa Mau," completed its 9,000 nautical mile scientific journey across the Pacific Ocean to set a new record for the longest distance traveled by an autonomous vehicle. Throughout his journey, Papa Mau navigated along a prescribed route under autonomous control collecting and transmitting high-resolution ocean data. (Source: Liquid Robotics, 12/06/12) Note: Liquid Robotics has an office at the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

Meet and greet set

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Mississippi Enterprise for Technology (MSET), in conjunction with the NASA Office of the Small Business Specialist, is hosting a Meet and Greet featuring the awardees from the Multiple Award Construction Contracts, the Architect and Engineer Services contracts, and the Facility Operating Services Contract. The event will be in the atrium of Building 1100 at Stennis on Friday, Dec. 7, from 10 a.m. through 1 p.m. (Source: MSET)