Spec Ops a winner in Hagel budget

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's nearly half-trillion dollar defense budget proposes strengthening Special Operations and cyberwarfare capabilities, both key activities in South Mississippi. The Special Ops force would increase nearly 6 percent at a time when Hagel proposes to shrink the size of the Army overall. In South Mississippi, Navy Special Warfare personnel, including SEALS, train at Stennis Space Center. To the east, Mississippi's Keesler Air Force Base is the Air Force's cyber training center. The proposal also gives a nod to the Northrop Grumman-built Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft over the U-2 spyplane. Global Hawks are built in part in Moss Point, Miss. The budget has the endorsement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but is subject to Congressional approval. (Sources: compiled from multiple reports, including New York Times, Wall Street Journal, 02/24/14)

Orion test hits snag

The first full joint testing between NASA and the Navy of Orion recovery procedures off the coast of California was suspended last week after the team experienced issues with handling lines securing a test version of Orion inside the well deck of the USS San Diego. Orion, part of NASA's Space Launch System project, will take astronauts deeper into space than ever before. An unmanned test from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., is set for September 2014. (Source: NASA, 02/21/14) Note: Orion is built at Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans; rocket engines for the Space Launch System will be tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.; the launch vehicle for Exploration Flight Test-1 will be a United Launch Alliance Delta IV, which uses Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68 engines tested at Stennis Space Center.

Souping up a supercomputer

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- The U.S. Navy DoD Supercomputing Resource Center, one of the top 20 supercomputing sites in the world, is adding more computer power. Starting in August, the new $21.8-million computers from Cray Inc. will be put to work performing large-scale scientific calculations for Department of Defense researchers around the county. The Navy DSRC is one of five supercomputing centers established by the DoD and has 55 employees. A portion of its workload is running mathematical models of the world’s oceans each day to keep the Navy’s fleet operating safely. (Source: Mississippi Business Journal, 02/21/14) Previous

RR test stands go nonstop

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – Engine testing at the Rolls-Royce Outdoor Jet Engine Testing Facility has been going nearly nonstop since the ceremonial ribbon was cut in October. The test stand, the company's second at this South Mississippi NASA facility, represents a $50 million investment, and Rolls-Royce is still filling the last of the 35 jobs the new test stand created. "Ever since the grand opening we've had one or two engines running pretty much nonstop," said Anthony Woodard, the facility's general manager. The site here is the company's only outdoor engine test site. The first stand opened in 2007. (Source: Mississippi Business Journal, 02/21/14)

Project to result in STEM roadmap

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- With high-tech science and technology jobs expected to grow at a faster pace nationwide than other occupations, South Mississippi is embarking on a key project that should help ensure it can satisfy the growing need. The Mississippi Enterprise for Technology is conducting a unique project that will result in a "roadmap" of STEM employment in South Mississippi, starting with a survey of Stennis Space Center in Hancock County. (Source: MSET, 02/20/14)

Orbital completes mission

The first of eight Cygnus operational cargo logistics spacecraft missions to the International Space Station has been successfully completed, according to Orbital Sciences. The Cygnus spacecraft unberthed from the ISS, completing a 37-day stay at the orbiting laboratory. Cygnus reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean today. Orbital has a $1.9 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. (Source: BusinessWire, 02/19/14) Previous. The company's Antares launch vehicles is powered by engines tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Pitt launches new lab

PITTSBURGH -- The University of Pittsburgh recently launched a Warrior Human Performance Research Center at Hurlburt Field, Fla., to conduct performance-optimization and injury-prevention research. The new site is with the Air Force Special Operations Command. The 8-year-old program already has labs with the Naval Special Warfare SEALs operations at Little Creek, Va., Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Coronado, Calif., as well as the Army Special Operations post at Fort Bragg, N.C. The research centers help design physical-training programs to improve individual performance and reduce injury. (Source: Gant Daily, 02/20/14)

USM project picked for ISS

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – A University of Southern Mississippi project hopes to get a step closer to seeing if an Earth-born organism can live on Mars. USM Professor Scott Milroy recently learned that his NASA-funded "Pioneering Mars" project was selected for payload integration aboard the International Space Station. Milroy's project is one of two chosen from the NASA ISS National Laboratory Education Project for transport to the ISS sometime in 2015. Milroy notes that while many of the physical, chemical, and climatic conditions of Mars can be simulated in an Earth-bound laboratory, the capability to maintain living cultures, like the blue-green algae in this experiment, in reduced gravity conditions can only be explored on the ISS. Milroy is an associate professor of marine science. (Source: Hattiesburg American, 02/17/14) Note: USM has a marine science operation at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

SSC global impact nears $1B

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – NASA's Stennis Space Center in 2013 had a global impact of $940 million, up from last year's $882 million. It also had a direct impact of $619 million on the local economy in a 50-mile radius, down from the $682 million in 2012. SSC, best known for rocket engine testing, now has 41 resident agencies and 5,000 total employees at its sprawling site near the Mississippi/Louisiana state line. SSC Director Rick Gilbrech said Thursday at his annual community breakfast briefing that he expects 2014 to be as good or better than last. (Source: Sun Herald, 02/13/14)

RS-25 readies for new life

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- The RS-25 engine, the propulsion system that was highly successful as the Space Shuttle Main Engine, is preparing for a new life with the Space Launch System. Testing at SSC will initially focus on a new Main Engine Controller (MEC) and the ability to accommodate the full range of propellant conditions in its new configuration with the SLS launch vehicle.. SSC engineers have been installing a 7,755-pound thrust frame adapter for the A-1 test stand in order to testing the RS-25s. The first engine on the stand will be 0525. The engine never flew in space, as it was one of two development engines used for component testing on Stand A-2 to support shuttle flights. The other was 0528. (Source: Spaceflight, 02/11/14) Background article

Orion adapter aces test

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- A test article of the stage adapter that will connect the Orion spacecraft to a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket for Exploration Flight Test-1 aced structural loads testing last month. "The loads put on the adapter are similar to the conditions it will experience in flight," said Brent Gaddes, Spacecraft and Payload Integration Adapter Subsystem manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., where the test was conducted. The adapter will be shipped in mid-March to ULA's facility in Decatur, Ala., where the Delta IV is being built. It will then travel by ship to Cape Canaveral, Fla., ahead of Orion's inaugural flight in September. During the mission, Orion will travel some 3,600 miles above Earth's surface before re-entering the atmosphere at almost 20,000 mph. The uncrewed flight will provide engineers with important data about Orion's heat shield and other elements before it is flown in 2017 as part of the first mission to include the Space Launch System. (Source: Space Travel, 02/11/14) Note: Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, both are participating in the SLS program.

Consortium meeting set

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- The next general meeting of the Stennis Business Consortium is Feb. 18 at 1 p.m. in the auditorium of Building 1200. The consortium’s mission is to provide a mechanism for federal and state agencies, local institutions, and businesses to exchange information on small business goals, needed and emerging technologies, upcoming procurement requirements and opportunities, and issues dealing with existing procurement regulations. (Source: MSET)

SSC honors contractors

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center presented its highest honor for quality and performance, the Contractor Excellence Award, to A2Research and Jacobs Technology Inc. for outstanding contributions to the missions of the center. A2Research, which has managed a laboratory services contract at SSC since 2010, received the small business award. Jacobs, which has performed the Facility Operating Services Contract at SSC since 2007, received the large business award. The awards were presented to the companies at a ceremony today. The awards were established in 2008. (Source: NASA/SSC, 02/05/14)

Lunch and Learn scheduled

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – DigitalGlobe's Brett Thomassie will be the speaker at the upcoming Mississippi Enterprise for Technology Lunch and Learn. DigitalGlobe, a leader in providing satellite imagery to the government and commercial clients, will present information on the company’s WorldView2 satellite. Information on the upcoming WorldView3 satellite launching this year will also be presented. Thomassie is director for federal civilian government programs at DigitalGlobe. The Lunch and Learn is Feb. 13 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information or to register, click on the source link. (Source: MSET, 02/05/14)

AJ-26 testing continues

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- An Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-26 engine tested at NASA's E-1 test stand Jan. 17 is undergoing post-test inspections and flight prep activities. When that work is done, it will be shipped to NASA's Wallops Fight Test Center in Virginia for integration with Orbital Sciences' Antares medium-class space launch vehicle. Even before that test, two AJ-26 engines tested at SSC lifted an Antares that launched a Cygnus spacecraft. That event made Orbital Science the second commercial company to perform a resupply mission to the International Space Station. "Each test of an AJ26 engine is exciting and affirming because it is in direct support of NASA's commercial space flight efforts, as well as a continuation of a very successful Stennis partnership with Orbital and Aerojet Rocketdyne," Stennis Director Rick Gilbrech said. NASA has tested AJ-26 engines at SSC since November 2010. (Source: NASA/SSC, 02/03/14)

Contract: Cray, $21.8M

Cray Inc., Seattle, Wash. was awarded a $21,800,000 modification (P0002) to contract W912DY-13-G-0022 to acquire balanced, commercially available, production-grade high performance computing systems to conduct complex, large-scale scientific calculations at U.S. Navy DoD Supercomputing Resource Center John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss. Estimated completion date is July 28, 2018. Work will be performed at the Stennis Space Center. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 02/03/14)