B-2 being prepped for SLS

Duel position B-1/B-2 stand.
NASA/SSC photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Before NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) flies to space on its inaugural mission in 2017, it will fly in place at Stennis Space Center, Miss. The B-2 Test Stand at Stennis, originally built to test the Saturn rocket stages that propelled humans to the Moon, is being renovated to test the SLS core stage in late 2016 and early 2017. When ready, the SLS stage, with four RS-25 rocket engines, will be installed on the stand for propellant fill and drain testing and two hot fire tests. The site's engineers spent 18 months assessing the cost of the work needed to upgrade the B-2 Test Stand from Apollo- and space shuttle-era testing specifications. After NASA made the decision to proceed, engineers began the first of three project phases. NASA is developing the SLS to send humans to asteroids and Mars. The SLS, once operational, will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The first test flight of SLS will be in 2017, when the rocket will send an unmanned Orion spacecraft around the Moon. (Sources: Astronomy, Space Fellowship, 04/29/13)

Bolden: SLS on track

WASHINGTON – NASA Administrator Charles Bolden reassured lawmakers Thursday that the agency isn't foot-dragging on developing a rocket to take astronauts into deep space. "We need a 70 metric-ton vehicle and we are on schedule, on target and on cost," Bolden told members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA funding. NASA is asking for $17.7 billion for fiscal 2014, which begins Oct. 1. That includes $2.73 billion to develop the Space Launch System (SLS) consisting of an Orion multi-purpose crewed vehicle and the deep-space rocket that will carry it. (Source: Florida Today, 04/25/13) SLS rocket engines are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss; Orion is built in part at Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, which will also build the core stage of SLS.

A2Research wins NASA award

A2Research of Huntsville, Ala., is NASA's Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year. The award was one of three presented Tuesday to top contractors by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in Washington. A2Research is a joint venture of Alcyon Inc. of Huntsville and Alutiiq Inc. of Anchorage, Alaska. It performs test stand calibration and support at NASA's Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi, where NASA tests rocket engines. The Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year was Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of East Hartford, Conn., which also has an operation at SSC. (Source: al.com, NASA, 04/23/13) Note: The Mississippi Enterprise for Technology's March-April newsletter mentions A2Research in a feature story.

J-2X: Steering to the future

J-2X record test. NASA/SSC photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Engineers developing NASA's next-generation rocket closed one chapter of testing with the completion of a J-2X engine test series on the A-2 test stand at the agency's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Now begins the new chapter of full motion testing on test stand A-1. The J-2X will drive the second stage of the 143-ton heavy-lift version of the Space Launch System. The rocket will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration and send humans in NASA's Orion spacecraft into deep space. J-2X engine 10002 was fired for the last time on the A-2 test stand April 17. This engine set a duration record for J-2X engine firings at Stennis' A-2 test stand on April 4 when it fired for 570 seconds, beating the previous mark set less than a month earlier on March 7, when the same engine ran for 560 seconds. This is the second J-2X engine Stennis has test fired. Last year, test conductors put the first developmental J-2X engine, called 10001, through its paces. According to J-2X managers, both performed extremely well. When the engine is eventually used in space, it will need to be able to move to help steer the rocket. (Source: NASA, 04/22/13, Pratt and Whitney via PRNewswire, 04/24/13)

Antares has successful launch

Antares takes off Sunday. NASA photo

The 133-foot tall Antares rocket built by Orbital Sciences launched from the Virginia coast Sunday, setting the stage for space station cargo delivery missions starting later this year. The rocket launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport adjacent to NASA's Wallops Island Flight Center. Three minutes and 50 seconds after liftoff, the two first-stage Aerojet AJ26 engines shut down as planned and the first stage fell away. A solid-fuel second stage ATK Castor-30B motor ignited to continue the push to space. Orbital hopes to have a demonstration flight in June or July using a Cygnus cargo capsule that will carry about a ton of equipment and supplies to the International Space Station. SpaceX was the first commercial company to successfully resupply the ISS. The addition of Antares bodes well for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services established in 2006 with the retirement of the space shuttle. (Source: CBSNews, NASA, 04/21/13) Note: AJ26 engines are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

NASA eyes smaller workforce

NASA expects a slightly reduced  civil servant workforce, facility consolidations and less spending on consultants, according to the agency's proposed 2014 budget. The goal is a civil servant workforce of 17,700, a decline of about 275 and a target NASA plans to achieve with buyouts that will permit it to continue some hiring of young engineers, scientists and other specialists. Of NASA's centers, Johnson Space Center in Houston, which manages International Space Station operations and leads development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, would be the top recipient of 2014 funding with $4.5 billion. Stennis Space Center, Miss., which hosts much of the agency’s propulsion testing, would receive the least, $182 million. Personnel declines would be distributed evenly. SSC, the center with the fewest civil servants, would fall by five to 313. (Source: Aviation Week, 04/15/13)

Oceanographers win humanitarian award

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- A modeling capability developed by oceanographers at Stennis Space Center that predicts the likelihood of pirate attacks received an international humanitarian award from Computerworld magazine. IDG’s Computerworld Honors Program selected the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command as a 2013 Laureate in the field of Safety and Security for its development of the Pirate Attack Risk Surface (PARS). The PARS model produces a forecast of shipping vulnerability due to piracy at a certain latitude, longitude, and time. The Honors Program, founded in 1988, recognizes organizations and individuals who have used information technology to advance public welfare, benefit society and business, and change the world for the better. (Source: Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, 04/09/13)

Orbital rolls out Antares rocket

Orbital Sciences rolled out the first fully integrated Antares rocket from its assembly building at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia Saturday in preparation for its inaugural flight slated for April 17 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. The Antares test flight, the A-ONE mission, is the first of two Orbital is scheduled to conduct in 2013 under its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Space Act Agreement with NASA. Following a successful A-ONE launch, Orbital will carry out a full flight demonstration of its new Antares/Cygnus cargo delivery system to the International Space Station around mid-year. (Source: Orbital Sciences Corp., 04/06/13) The Aerojet AJ26 rocket engines that power Antares are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. The latest test was April 4. That engine will be shipped to Wallops for an upcoming Commercial Resupply Services mission.

Towers set to close get reprieve

The Federal Aviation Administration said it will delay until June 15 the closure of the air traffic control tower at Stennis International Airport in Hancock County and 148 others across the country. Last month the FAA directed the Stennis tower to be among the first to close on Sunday as part of the agency's cost-cutting effort. Now all facilities will close June 15 unless the airports decide to continue operations as a nonfederal contract tower, the FAA said. Officials from about 50 airports have indicated they may fund the tower operations themselves. The Stennis airport serves, among others, NASA's nearby Stennis Space Center. (Source: Sun Herald, 04/05/13) Previous

NASA pickes 295 proposals

NASA selected 295 research and technology proposals from 216 American small businesses for negotiations that may lead to contract awards worth a combined $38.7 million. The proposals are part of NASA's Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. Nine proposals involve technology being developed for the Office of the Chief Technologist at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss., including nanocomposite protective coatings for nuclear thermal propulsion systems; advanced prognostic tools; power-generating coverings and casings and more. For a list of selected companies, click here. (Source: NASA, 04/04/13)