Athletes sought for Special Olympics

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Athletes are being sought to begin training in preparation for the annual John C. Stennis Area III Special Olympics Track and Field Competitions scheduled for March 23. To be eligible to compete, athletes must be at least eight years old (no upper age limit), be mentally handicapped, and have a current medical form on file with the Special Olympics. Athletes may sign up through their school's Special Education Office or by calling Penny Replogle, Area 111 Director, at 228-343-1009. (Source: NASA/SSC, 01/18/13)

MUOS-2 stored awaiting launch

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Lockheed Martin has completed system testing on the second satellite in the U.S. Navy's Mobile User Objective System, MUOS-2. The satellite has been placed in storage to await its launch in July 2013. The MUOS constellation will provide communications for mobile warfighters, including simultaneous voice, video and data services. The first MUOS satellite and the associated ground system are currently providing legacy on orbit capability. The five-satellite, global constellation is expected to achieve full operational capability in 2015. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 01/16/13) Note: Work on the core propulsion system for the MUOS, an A2100 satellite-based spacecraft, is done at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

Center for Gulf Studies created

The need for a comprehensive understanding of the waters and resources of the Gulf of Mexico has prompted the University of Southern Mississippi to take the lead in formation of the new Center for Gulf Studies (CGS). The center is a partnership between Southern Miss, Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi and Jackson State University. Administered through the Southern Miss Department of Marine Science at Stennis Space Center, CGS seeks to serve Mississippi and the region with a scientifically-based understanding of ecosystem status and trends with special emphasis on improved forecasting abilities to ensure sustainable coastal and ocean ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico. "The BP oil spill highlighted our need for a better understanding of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem," said Southern Miss Provost Dr. Denis Wiesenburg. "As the designated marine science university for Mississippi, this new center will enable Southern Miss to focus resources on the ocean in our back yard." Dr. Monty Graham, chair of the Department of Marine Science at Southern Miss, is the acting director of the center. (Source: University of Southern Mississippi, 01/16/13)

SBIRS delivered to Cape

The U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin have delivered the second Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO-2) Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) spacecraft to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., where it will be prepared for a March liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V. Featuring a mix of satellites in geosynchronous orbit, the SBIRS program provides improved missile warning capabilities. The contracts include four HEO payloads, four GEO satellites, and ground assets to receive, process, and disseminate the infrared mission data. The team has also begun initial work on the fifth and sixth GEO satellites. Two HEO payloads and GEO-1 have already launched into orbit. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 01/15/13) Lockheed Martin at Stennis Space Center, Miss., works on the satellite's propulsion subsystem, crucial for maneuvering the satellite in orbit. Previous

USM eyes marine algae as fuel

Researchers at the University of Southern Mississippi Department of Marine Science are studying turning marine micro-algae into fuel as part of a global push aimed at finding reliable alternative fuel sources. Under the direction of Dr. Donald Redalje, the school’s Marine Science lab at Stennis Space Center, Miss., is studying algae grown from Mississippi coastal waters. While biofuel blends have already found their way to naval war ships and test flights on commercial airliners, Redalje and his team are looking for ways to streamline the process. "All the oil we are pumping out of the ground, what was it? Most people think dinosaurs. No. It was all marine micro algae," said Redalje, who's trying to recreate the process that until now has taken millions of years. "We know this works, the trick is how do we produce enough of it, cheaply enough to be a marketable product?" (Source: PR Web, 01/09/13)

PWR gets contractor award

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center presented its Contractor Excellence Award to Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne Thursday for its commitment to teamwork, safety, customer service, and technical and managerial excellence at the center. PWR, based in Canoga Park, Calif., and with an engine assembly facility at SSC, developed the space shuttle main engine, which powered 135 shuttle missions from 1981 to 2011, and is developing the J-2X engine that will help power NASA's Space Launch System. The company also develops engines for military rockets and missiles. The Contractor Excellence Award was established in 2008 to recognize contractors, subcontractors or providers for outstanding performance during a three-year period. (Source: NASA/SSC, 01/10/13)

Core delivered to SSC

Lockheed Martin delivered the core structure for the first in a series of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's next-generation geostationary weather satellites to the company's Mississippi Space and Technology Center on NASA's Stennis Space Center, where it will undergo propulsion system integration. The rigid external structure of the first Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite–R Series (GOES-R), which will enclose the satellite's propulsion system and support the payloads, was designed by Lockheed Martin Space Systems and manufactured by ATK Aerospace Group’s Space and Components Division. For the next 11 months, the team will integrate GOES-R's fuel tanks, lines, thermal controls and other systems within the core structure. GOES-R is based on the company's A2100 satellite series. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 01/07/13)

Space bill passes

The House approved a Senate amendment to a bill sponsored by Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Steven Palazzo, R-Miss., which requires commercial launch companies to purchase insurance for any reasonable risk of damage to third parties. As amended by the Senate, it also extends a waiver to allow American astronauts to continue to fly aboard Russian spacecraft to access the International Space Station through 2020. The bill also conveys a Sense of Congress regarding future U.S. human spaceflight capabilities, stressing the need to ensure continued development of both NASA's Space Launch System and Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, along with the pursuit of commercial crew services to the ISS. (Source: Space Travel, 01/04/13) Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, and Stennis Space Center, Miss., are both involved in the SLS program. SSC also tests rocket engines for commercial launch companies.

FIRST kicks off Saturday

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- The For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition begins Jan. 5 with a regional kickoff at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center. It's SSC's ninth year to host the event. Activities begin at 9 a.m. with a video presentation in StenniSphere Auditorium. Participating teams from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi will view a FIRST Robotics broadcast at 9:30 a.m. outlining details of this year's competition. Following the broadcast, parts kits will be distributed to team members. The teams will use the kits to build robots for FIRST Robotics competitions to be held in the spring. (Source: NASA/SSC, 01/02/13)

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)