Delta IV Heavy launched

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office lifted off from Space Launch Complex-6 at 11:03 a.m. PDT today. The Delta IV Heavy configuration Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle features a center common booster core along with two strap-on common booster cores. The common booster cores are powered by RS-68 engines, and RL10 engines power the second stage. Both engines are built by Aerojet Rocketdyne. ULA constructed the Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle in Decatur, Ala. (Source: United Launch Alliance via PRNewswire, 08/28/13) Gulf Coast note: RS-68 engines are assembled and tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

NASA holding Mobile forum

MOBILE, Ala. -- Doing business with NASA will be the topic of a Sept. 4 business-to-business forum at the Arthur R. Outlaw Mobile Convention Center. NASA and an entourage of its agencies and prime contractors will give presentation and participate in a trade show to meet with small- and medium-sized companies interested in doing business with NASA. In addition to Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., NASA also operates Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Participants in the Mobile event include representatives from 25 prime contractors looking to partner with local small businesses on federal contracts. These include: Northrop Grumman, ATK Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Teledyne Brown Engineering, Boeing and others. The agenda includes Fairhope native Todd May, manager of NASA's Space Launch System program. The event, hosted by the Mobile Area Chamber, is from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and open to area and regional businesses. The cost is $75. For more information, call 251-431-8607. (Source: Mobile Area Chamber, 08/26/13)

Exec gives SLS update

NEW ORLEANS -- By the summer of 2016 the Michoud Assembly Facility will complete construction on the massive tank that will help power NASA's new rocket, a Boeing executive said Wednesday. Gordon Bergstue, production director for Boeing, said the company is well underway, on schedule and in budget to build the core stage at the eastern New Orleans plant. The core stage is more than 200 feet tall and will store liquid hydrogen and oxygen to power four engines of the Space Launch System. Bergstue provided the update on the opening day of the New Orleans TechNOLAgy TechFest 2013, a three-day science and technology conference at the University of New Orleans. (Source: The Advocate, 08/21/13) The RS-25 engines that will power the SLS will be tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss., some 35 miles from Michoud. Previous: SSC building RS-25 test component, NASA to show off weld center, B-2 being prepped for SLS

NOAA seeks long-endurance UUV

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration researchers are asking industry to provide a long-endurance unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) to conduct ocean temperature and salinity tests. The NOAA National Data Buoy Center at Stennis Space Center last Friday issued a solicitation (NWWG9502-13-03082) for a glider able to operate over vast ocean areas for months at a time while using a minimum of electric power. (Source: Military and Aerospace Electronics, 08/21/13)

SSC to put thrusters in spacecraft

Aerojet Rocketdyne has shipped to NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., the first set of four Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) thrusters for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R). At SSC, Lockheed Martin will integrate the thrusters and associated power conditioning units and electrical cabling with the GOES-R spacecraft. It will then be shipped to Lockheed Martin's facility near Denver, Colo. where it will undergo final integration and testing. The completed satellite will ultimately be shipped to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., for a planned late 2015 or early 2016 launch on an Atlas V 541 expendable launch vehicle. (Source: Aerojet Rocketdyne, 08/13/13) Aerojet Rocketdyne, a GenCorp company, also has an operation at SSC.

Shuttle hangar to be reused?

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- Space Florida on Wednesday moved forward with plans to renovate two former shuttle hangars. The board approved spending up to $4 million to overhaul Orbiter Processing Facilities 1 and 2 at Kennedy Space Center, on top of $5 million committed last year from state Department of Transportation funds. The future tenant was not identified, but is believed to be the Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, a reusable unmanned system that resembles a small space shuttle. Previously the Air Force confirmed studying consolidation of X-37B operations at Kennedy or the Cape. (Source: Florida Today, 08/08/13) NASA also has centers in Bay St. Louis, Miss., Stennis Space Center, and New Orleans, Michoud Assembly Facility.

Marine tech workshop set

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- The Marine Technology Society plans an Oceans In Action Workshop on Aug. 22 at NASA's Stennis Space Center. The session will focus on marine technology used by federal and state agencies, regional associations, universities and industry on the Gulf Coast to support a wide variety of issues. Updates will be presented by federal agencies, including the Naval Research Laboratory, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Applied Sciences Directorate, NOAA's National Data Buoy Center and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Registration is $75 for society members and $150 for non-members. For more details click here. In addition, the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology will be hosting business matchmaking sessions as part of the workshop. For more details, click here. (Sources: Marine Technology Society, MSET, 08/09/13)

Contract: SAIC, $7M

Science Applications International Corp., Virginia Beach, Va., is being awarded a $6,976,110 firm-fixed-price contract for integrated training support and execution by U.S. Fleet Forces Command, associated fleet commands and activities conducting fleet training. Work will be performed in Virginia Beach, Va. (53 percent); Norfolk, Va. (25 percent); San Diego, Calif. (9 percent); Fallon, Nev. (5 percent); Mayport, Fla. (3 percent); Everett, Wash. (1 percent); Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (1 percent); Stennis Space Center, Miss. (1 percent); Suffolk, Va. (1 percent); Yokosuka, Japan (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2013. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(A), "Unusual and Compelling Urgency." The NAVSUP Fleet Logistics Center, Norfolk, Mechanicsburg Detachment, Mechanicsburg, Pa., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 07/29/13)

NSSC employees win awards

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Four individual medals, nine group achievement awards and four certificates of achievement were presented this month to NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC) employees. NASA Exceptional Service Medal went to Nicolina Tubbs and Leslie Anderson, while the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal went to Colleen West Fricke and the NASA Exceptional Administrative Achievement Medal went to Cindy Ward Mroueh. NSSC Certificates of Achievement were presented to Jason Byrd, Jennifer Greer, Rosa Hebert and Gloria Smith. The NSSC is a partnership between NASA, CSC and the states of Mississippi and Louisiana. The NSSC performs selected business activities for all 10 NASA centers in financial management, human resources, information technology, procurement and business support services. (Source: NSSC, 07/29/13)

MSET graduates two companies

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – Two companies have graduated from the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology (MSET) incubator program. They are DQSI, is a woman-owned, small disadvantaged firm specializing in information technology and GIS, document management and seismic digitization, construction and environmental consulting, and Melhcorp, which builds electronics systems, particularly for unmanned aerial vehicles, including Hunter, Predator, Pioneer, Snowgoose and Raven. MSET's Mississippi Technology Transfer Center at SSC currently houses 23 incubator and corporate resident clients as well as 12 affiliate client companies and is a Center of Excellence in Geospatial Technologies. (Source: Mississippi Business Journal, 07/26/13)

NASA told to go slow on pad lease

Two congressmen are concerned NASA might award use of a Kennedy Space Center launch pad in Florida to a company that wants exclusive use. The two members of the House subcommittee that approves NASA budgets said Launch Complex 39A is a unique, tax-funded asset that should be available to multiple rocket launchers. NASA doesn't need the former shuttle pad, one of two at KSC, and is offering it to companies to operate and maintain by Oct. 1. SpaceX and Blue Origin are known to have submitted proposals. SpaceX, which has already brought cargo to the International Space Station, wants exclusive use of the pad to accommodate a steady pace of launches. Blue Origin won't be ready to launch before 2018, but proposes to operate and modify the pad and make it available to interested users by 2015. (Source: Florida Today, 07/25/13) NASA’s Stennis Space Center, Miss., is involved in both NASA and commercial space programs. Blue Origin has done testing at SSC. Previous

Employees win NASA awards

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Stennis Space Center Director Rick Gilbrech and NASA Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth Robinson presented annual NASA Honor Awards to center employees during an onsite ceremony Tuesday. One SSC employee, Dorsie Jones of Slidell, La., received NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal, a high-level award for notable leadership accomplishments that significantly influence NASA’s mission. The award recognizes an individual’s leadership and effectiveness in advancing NASA’s goals and image. Four SSC employees, Gary L. Benton of Carriere, Miss., James D. Huk of Pass Christina, Miss., Nathan E. Laborde of Marksville, La., and Edward J. Toomey of Waveland, Miss., received NASA's Exceptional Service Medal. Ten other awards were also presented. (Source: Stennis Space Center, 07/24/13)

Navy's second MUOS launched

MUOS launches atop Atlas V.
Navy photo courtesy NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. -- The Navy's second Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite was launched Friday at 9 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41. The launch of the satellite atop an Atlas V is a key step in providing enhanced satellite communications for the Navy and Department of Defense. MUOS is a next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system designed to improve beyond-line-of-sight communications for U.S. forces. MUOS will provide military users 10 times more communications capacity over the existing system by leveraging 3G mobile technology, including simultaneous voice and data capability. (Source: NNS, 07/19/13) Work on the core propulsion system for the MUOS, an A2100 satellite-based spacecraft, is done at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

Measure to close MSFC withdrawn

WASHINGTON -- A measure to create a commission to look at consolidating Alabama's Marshall Space Flight Center and Mississippi's Stennis Space Center was withdrawn at the last minute Thursday. Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md., who represents an area where Goddard Space Flight Center is located, was reportedly upset over cuts in programs managed by Goddard. Her amendment would have directed the BRAC-like panel to study MSFC and SSC "to determine if their rocket-related activities should be combined in one location." The measure also directed the panel to look at moving Marshall's work to Stennis or Houston's Johnson Space Center. (Sources: SpaceNews, WAFF-TV, al.com, WHNT-TV, 07/18/13)

Cygnus to visit ISS this fall

Orbital Sciences' cargo spacecraft is set to make its first flight to the International Space Station in September. The Dulles, Va., company has a launch window between Sept. 14 and 19 for the Cygnus cargo ship. It will be launched atop an Orbital Science Antares rocket, which made its first test flight in April from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia. Orbital was awarded a NASA contract to provide at least eight resupply flights to the ISS. (Source: Space.com, 07/16/13) The first stage Antares is powered by twin Aerojet AJ26 engines tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

USS Germantown launches FST

FST personnel launch from LSD 42.
Navy photo

SHOALWATER BAY, Australia -- A Fleet Survey Team from Stennis Space Center, Miss., embarked on dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42) and took to the waters of Shoalwater Bay to conduct hydrographic surveys prior to Germantown's amphibious operations. Hydrographic surveys provide mission critical information about water depth levels and help chart a map of the seafloor to better optimize shore landings during amphibious operations. While it's more common to fly a survey team ahead of the ship, Commander Amphibious Squadron (PHIBRON) 11, Germantown's parent command, prefers to embark an FST on the ship, where they would have more flexibility to perform surveys from the sea. Germantown is on patrol with the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and is participating in exercise Talisman Saber 2013 in the U.S. 7th Fleet Area of Responsibility. (Source: NNS, 07/16/13)

NASA seeks lunar partners

NASA is offering its expertise and test facilities to potential lunar-lander partners who might be able to help mount scientific missions to the Moon as early as 2018. A request for information published July 2 seeks concepts for "an industry-developed robotic lander that can be integrated with a launch vehicle for the purposes of supporting commercial (and potentially future NASA) missions." The responses are due Aug. 2. NASA is proposing no-exchange-of-funds partnerships under Space Act agreements or other mechanisms, offering its technical expertise, test facilities, and some hardware and software to private companies willing to put up funding for lander development. NASA is piggybacking on the Google Lunar X Prize, $30 million in prizes to teams that can land a robotic spacecraft on the lunar surface. Right now 22 teams worldwide are in the running, working against a deadline of Dec. 31, 2015. (Source: Aviation Week, 07/05/13) NASA and commercial companies both test rocket engines at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Lockheed delivers 3rd HEO

Lockheed Martin has delivered the third of four highly elliptical earth orbit (HEO) satellite payloads contracted by the U.S. Air Force as part of the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS). 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 first two HEO payloads were delivered in 2004 and 2005. Prior to its delivery, the HEO 3 payload successfully completed environmental and functional testing to demonstrate performance in family with HEOs 1 and 2. (Source: Lockheed Martin, 07/01/13) SBIRS is an A2100 satellite-based spacecraft, and work on the A2100 core's propulsion system, which positions the spacecraft in orbit, is done at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

Test stand work awarded

NASA selected Healtheon Inc. of New Orleans to provide a high pressure industrial water line at Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi. The firm-fixed price task order has a total value of $29.8 million and a performance period of 530 days. Work is scheduled to begin in July. The water line provides cooling water and acoustic suppression to Stennis' B Test Complex, which will be used to test the core stage of NASA's Space Launch System in 2016. The work under this task order includes the demolition of all piping systems, including its valves and valve vaults. The contractor also will build a 96-inch diameter high pressure industrial water line from Stennis' High Pressure Industrial Water Plant to the test complex, which spans over a mile. (Source: PRNewswire, 06/28/13)

NASA to show off weld center

NEW ORLEANS -- A new machine for manufacturing the core stage of NASA's Space Launch System will be shown to the media Friday at Michoud Assembly Facility. NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier and other agency officials will be on hand for the ribbon-cutting for the vertical weld center, where friction-stir weld tooling will be used to assemble the core stage. Officials from Boeing of Huntsville, Ala., prime contractor for the SLS core stage and its avionics, will take part in the ribbon-cutting. The 200 foot-tall core stage will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to feed the rocket's RS-25 engines. The vertical weld center will stand about three stories tall and weigh 165 tons. The event also will include a tour of the SLS area where work is done on the Orion crew capsule. (Source: NASA, 06/17/13) Engines for the SLS are tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center, some 35 miles from Michoud in Mississippi.