Sailors, civilians of year named

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – The Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command announced its selections for 2017 Sailors and Civilians of the Year during an all hands session Dec. 19 at Stennis Space Center. Aerographer's Mate (AG) 1st Class Adam Smith, stationed at Fleet Weather Center Strike Group Oceanography Team in San Diego, Calif., was named Sea Sailor of the Year. AG1 Pedro Henry Shore of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Professional Development Center in Gulfport, Miss., was named Shore Sailor of the Year. AG1s Joseph Skebeck and Brandon Cruz, both recently promoted and both with the Naval Oceanography Anti-submarine Warfare Center at Stennis Space Center, were named Junior Sea and Shore SOY. Megan Natter was named Senior Civilian of the Year and Jacqueline Bussell was the Junior COY. Both are at Stennis Space Center. (Source: Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, 12/27/17)

Contract: Silicon Graphics, $22.6M

Silicon Graphics Federal LLC, Annapolis Junction, Md., was awarded a $22,579,671 firm-fixed-price contract for Department of Defense high-performance computing modernization program's technology insertion Navy Order 14. Bids were solicited via the Internet with two received. Work will be performed in Stennis Space Center, Miss., with an estimated completion date of July 20, 2023. Fiscal 2017 other procurement (Army) funds in the amount of $22,579,671 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity (W912DY-18-F-0045). (Source: DoD, 12/21/17)

Free fall

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- John C. Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi is known as the location where rocket engines are tested by NASA and commercial companies, but it's also a major military training location. In this photo, Marine Corps reservists perform free-fall jumps at the installation in Hancock County, Miss., Dec. 14, 2017, to maintain tactical proficiency. (Source: Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Tessa D. Watts, 12/20/17)

Astronaut says sky not the limit

NEW ORLEANS -- Joan Higginbotham wanted to be an engineer, and thought she might work for IBM. What she didn’t expect was to travel in space. "Always have a plan, but don’t be afraid to alter that plan for the right opportunity,” Higginbotham told University of New Orleans graduates at their recent commencement. She shared her journey from a college graduate with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering to one of only three African-American women to travel into space. She tried first tried to become an astronaut in 1995 at the urging of a co-worker when she worked at Kennedy Space Center. She was one of 122 out of 3,000 qualified applicants invited back for an interview, but she was ultimately cut. She got an additional degree and tried again, becoming an astronaut in 1996. She traveled on a 12-day mission to the International Space Station in 2006. “The sky is absolutely no longer the limit,” Higginbotham told graduates. “I am challenging you to aim high.” (Source: The Advocate, 12/18/17)

RS-25 has final test of 2017

RS-25 test Wednesday. NASA photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- NASA engineers capped a year of Space Launch System testing with a final RS-25 rocket engine hot fire on Dec. 13 at Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi. The 400-second test on the A-1 Test Stand was a “green run” test of an RS-25 flight controller. It marked the eighth RS-25 test of the year and the sixth flight controller to be tested for use on NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle. The engine tested also included a large 3D-printed part scheduled for use on future RS-25 flight engines. The part, a beach ball-sized pogo accumulator assembly, is a complex piece of hardware that acts as a shock absorber to dampen vibrations, or oscillations, caused by propellants as they flow between the vehicle and the engine. Initial reports show the 3D-printed hardware performed as expected, opening the door for more components scheduled for future tests. (Source: NASA/SSC, 12/13/17)

SSC seeks partner to develop park

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- NASA has opened a search for a non-federal partner to lead in development of a 1,100-acre technology corridor called Enterprise Park at Stennis Space Center (SSC) near Bay St. Louis, Miss. An official Notice of Availability has been posted at FedBizOpps.gov, with responses due on Jan. 12, 2018. SSC has scheduled an Industry Day on Feb. 7, 2018, where interested parties can learn more about the park. The objective is to find a private or public entity to enter into a partnership with NASA to lead in the multi-phased development and long-term operation of the park at the nation’s largest rocket engine test facility. The test facilities are used by both government and commercial operations. SSC is home to more than 40 federal, state, academic and commercial entities with a combined workforce of 5,000. The Enterprise Park is designed to enable private sector participation in space exploration, to support commercial space transportation activities, to promote commercial development of technologies for use in space and on Earth, and to provide opportunities for companies and other organizations to co-locate at Stennis to support the missions of existing federal city tenants at SSC. Recent master planning efforts identified a need for a technology park area at SSC, and the first phase of the Enterprise Park focuses on 1,100 acres identified as the most development-ready. The property is located on the northern edge of the 13,800-acre secured area and includes sites both inside and outside the security perimeter. (Source: NASA/SSC, 12/04/17)

MAF simulates engine install

NEW ORLEANS -- Engineers at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans are using a pathfinder RS-25 engine to practice the installation of engines on the Core Stage of the Space Launch System (SLS). Each core will receive four RS-25s, currently undergoing test firings at the Stennis Space Center, ahead of a path that will see them being shipped to MAF. The installation of all four R-25s on the Core Stage will be a major milestone on the path to Exploration Mission-1, the first launch of SLS. Test firings at the Stennis Space Center (SSC) continue to serve toward the readiness of that milestone, with the first four flight engines now closing in on shipping to MAF to be installed on Core State-1 (CS-1). Those engines, all Space Shuttle veterans, are E2045 in position 1, E2056 in position 2, E2058 in position 3, and E2060 in position 4. All four of these RS-25s will remain at SSC until MAF engineers have completed the work on CS-1. The latest schedule shows the four engines will make the journey to New Orleans in May of next year. (Source: NASA Spaceflight, 11/30/17)