SSC No. 2 in best places to work

A survey of best places to work in the federal government shows NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center as second among organizations within large agencies. SSC scored 84.3, up from 84.2 last year. The Commerce Department's Patent and Trademark Office was the only subcomponent of a large agency to do better. The Partnership for Public Service's 2013 rankings is based on a survey of 2 million federal employees. Among large agencies NASA is No. 1. It scored 74, up from last year's 72.8 and bucking a general trend. In fact, the survey shows federal employees throughout the government are increasingly dissatisfied with the jobs and workplaces. This year's survey set an all-time low since the Best Places to Work rankings began in 2003. (Source: GCAC, 12/19/13) Survey; Previous related

NASA picks SpaceX for launchpad

LC-39A at Kennedy in 2010. NASA photo

NASA selected Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SpaceX, of Hawthorne, Calif., to begin negotiations on a lease to use and operate historic Launch Complex 39A at the agency's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Permitting use of the pad by a private-sector, commercial space partner will ensure its continued viability and allow for its continued use in support of U.S. space activities. NASA will keep 39B for its own use. NASA is transforming KSC to make it capable for use by both government and commercial users. Since the late 1960s, Kennedy's launch pads 39 A and B have served as the starting point for America's most significant human spaceflight endeavors -- Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz and all 135 space shuttle missions. LC-39A is the pad where Apollo 11 lifted off from on the first manned moon landing in 1969, as well as launching the first space shuttle mission in 1981 and the last in 2011. (Source: NASA, 12/13/13) SpaceX will be testing its Raptor engine at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

SSC hitting on all cylinders

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- It was a big win for John C. Stennis Space Center when SpaceX, one of the hottest commercial spaceflight companies, said in October that it would use SSC to test its Raptor engine. That added another commercial company to SSC's already impressive roster of companies using SSC facilities. Fifty years after South Mississippi was transformed by the U.S.-Soviet space race, a new race between entrepreneurial companies promises another boost. In fact, it appears SSC is hitting on all cylinders as several operations are seeing growth. (Source: Gulf Coast Reporters' League aerospace quarterly, 12/10/13)

J-2X undergoes test

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – A Rocketdyne J-2X engine was tested Friday for 325 seconds on the A-2 test stand at Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi. The engine is planned for use on the upper stage of NASA's Space Launch System, which will take astronauts further into space then every before. The J-2X was also tested in early November. (Source: GCAC, 12/09/13) Previous

UAV launched from sub

The Naval Research Laboratory demonstrated the launch of an all-electric, fuel cell-powered, unmanned aerial system from a submerged submarine. The eXperimental Fuel Cell Unmanned Aerial System (XFC UAS) was fired from USS Providence’s torpedo tube using a Sea Robin launch vehicle system, which fits within a Tomahawk launch canister used for launching cruise missiles. Once deployed, the Sea Robin and XFC rose to the surface where it appeared as a spar buoy, then XFC vertically launched from Sea Robin and flew a successful several hour mission demonstrating live video capabilities streamed back to Providence (SSN 719). The XFC later landed at the Naval Sea Systems Command Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center, Andros, Bahamas. (Source: Business Wire, 12/05/13) NRL has a detachment at Stennis Space Center, Miss.; the Gulf Coast region is heavily involved in unmanned systems.

SpaceX launches satellite

A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., on Tuesday, marking the first successful SpaceX launch of a commercial satellite. The mission is SpaceX's first to a high geostationary transfer orbit needed for commercial satellites. The mission was delayed two previous times because of technical issues. The $100 million satellite is owned by a Luxembourg company, SES. The company had previously used European Ariane rockets or the Russian Proton for its satellite launches. "The entry of SpaceX into the commercial market is a game-changer," SES chief technology officer Martin Halliwell said before the earlier launch attempts. SpaceX, which has successfully resupplied the International Space Station, also wants to enter the $190 billion a year commercial satellite launch industry. (Sources: AFP via Space Daily Express, 12/04/13, Space.com via Fox News, 12/03/13) Note: SpaceX will test its Raptor methane rocket engine at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

Navy accepts MUOS-2

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Lockheed Martin has completed on-orbit testing of the second Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite and handed over spacecraft operations to the U.S. Navy. The handover also includes acceptance of three MUOS ground stations that will relay voice and high-speed data signals for mobile users worldwide. MUOS-2 was launched July 19, 2013 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The system improves secure communications, delivering simultaneous and prioritized voice, video and data for the first time to users on the move. (Source: PRNewswire, 12/02/13) Note: Work on the core propulsion system for the MUOS, an A2100 satellite-based spacecraft, is done by Lockheed Martin at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous