SSC to open at noon

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- NASA's Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi will open at noon Thursday due to potential dangerous road conditions during the morning commute. A liberal leave policy for NASA employees will be in effect for Thursday. SSC was closed Tuesday and Wednesday due to the weather. (Source: Stennis Space Center, 01/29/14)

QinetiQ wins NRL contract

RESTON, Va. -- QinetiQ North America today announced it was awarded a $12 million, three-year strategic contract for ocean modeling, remote sensing, and physical oceanography programs to support the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Ocean circulation patterns, temperatures and depths are constantly changing. Mapping and prediction models are critical to naval strategy, informing fleet and special mission deployment decisions, military planning exercises, satellite calibration, and fleet design for ships, submarines and other maritime vessels. One of project included in this contract is to continue developing the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model, HYCOM, a new global, high resolution ocean prediction system that improves situational awareness and the ability to predict future ocean environments. (Source: PRWeb, 01/29/14)

SSC to remain closed

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- NASA's Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi will remain closed on Wednesday due to potential dangerous weather conditions. It was also closed Tuesday. Employees can call (228) 688-3777 for status updates. (Source: Stennis Space Center, 01/28/14)

Weather closing SSC

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- NASA's Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi will be closed on Tuesday due to potential dangerous weather conditions. If conditions warrant, the site will continue to be closed on Wednesday. A decision will be made by 6 p.m. Tuesday. Workers can call (228) 688-3777 for status updates. (Source: Stennis Space Center, 01/27/14)

PRCC working with RR

POPLARVILLE, Miss. -- Pearl River Community College received a $50,000 grant from the Mississippi Development Authority to support Rolls-Royce at NASA's Stennis Space Center. The funds are used to send new employees to a training center in Columbus, Ohio; the company's main test facility in Derby, England; or to training at SSC, said Troy Teadt, PRCC workforce liaison. Rolls-Royce North America opened its first engine test site outside of the United Kingdom at SSC in 2007 and completed a second test stand in the fall of 2013. The site conducts noise, crosswind, endurance and other tests on the latest Rolls-Royce civil aircraft engines. The engines include the Trent 1000 that powers the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Trent XWB that powers the Airbus A350 XWB. (Source: PRCC, 01/10/14)

Cygnus berths with ISS

Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft successfully completed its rendezvous and approach maneuvers with the International Space Station and docked Sunday. Launched into orbit by Orbital's Antares rocket Jan. 9 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Cygnus is delivering 2,780 pounds of cargo. It will remain berthed at the ISS until Feb. 18. When it leaves it will take 2,800 pounds of disposable cargo for a destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean. Under a $1.9 billion CRS contract with NASA, Orbital will use Antares and Cygnus to deliver up to 44,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS over eight missions through late 2016. (Source: Business Wire, 01/12/14) Note: Antares AJ26 engines are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

SLS avionics see first light

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- The avionics system that will guide NASA's Space Launch System, the most powerful rocket ever built, has seen the light. The flight software and avionics for SLS were integrated and powered for testing Thursday at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville as part of a milestone known as first light. It enables early integration and testing of avionics and software to help NASA perfect the system and ensure the units communicate together as designed. Avionics tell the rocket where it should fly and how it should pivot its engines to stay on course. (Source: NASA, 01/09/14) Note: Stennis Space Center, Miss., tests engines for the SLS

Students complete internships

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Ten students recently completed NASA internships at Stennis Space Center. The NASA internships provide a single pathway for diverse and highly qualified students from a broad cross-section of academic institutions to engage in scientific, engineering and professional internships at NASA centers and facilities. SSC is where NASA and commercial companies test rocket engines. (Source: Stennis Space Center, 01/08/14)

SSC kicks off FIRST

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Thirty-three teams from Louisiana and Mississippi high schools traveled to Stennis Space Center Jan. 4 for the kickoff of the 2014 FIRST Robotics season. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) exposes students to science, technology, engineering and math education and careers while making the experience fun. More than 350 students, mentors and officials visited Stennis for the kickoff, the 10th year that the rocket engine test center has hosted the season-opening event. Kickoff events also were held in 91 cities across the nation and world, attracting 70,000 high school students. The 2014 Bayou Regional Competition is scheduled at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, La., on April 3-5. (Source: Stennis Space Center, 01/07/14)

Antares/Cygnus take off

Orbital Sciences launched its unmanned Cygnus cargo ship on the company's first regular supply mission to the International Space Station. The liftoff of the Antares rocket carrying Cygnus was Thursday afternoon from Wallops Island, Va. Cygnus is due to dock at the ISS on Sunday, only the fifth mooring of a private vessel to the station. The first was SpaceX's Dragon in May 2012. The launch is Orbital's second trip to the ISS, following a successful demonstration launch in September. (Source: Space Travel, 01/09/14) Previous. Note: The Antares AJ26 engines are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Antares/Cygnus launch delayed

Rough space weather forced Orbital Sciences to postpone Wednesday's launch of its unmanned Cygnus spacecraft on its first regular contract flight to supply the International Space Station. The Cygnus spacecraft had been set to take off from Wallops Island, Va., atop an Antares rocket. But a solar flare caused increased levels of space radiation that might have damaged the spacecraft's electronics. Orbital has a contract with NASA worth $1.9 billion for eight cargo resupply missions to the ISS. Orbital and SpaceX, both private companies, stepped in to ensure the United States' ability to reach the ISS after the retirement of the space shuttle program in 2011. The launch will mark the company's second trip to the ISS. There was a successful demonstration launch in September. (Sources: Space Travel, NASA Spaceflight, 01/08/14) Note: The Antares AJ26 engines are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

SpaceX launches satellite

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket took off at 5:06 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Monday to put a commercial communications spacecraft into orbit for Thai satellite operator Thaicom. The satellite, built by Orbital Sciences Corp., was deployed about a half-hour after the launch. Monday's launch was the second in just over a month for Space Exploration Technologies. (Sources: NBC News, USA Today, 01/06/14) Orbital Sciences tests its AJ26 rocket engines at Stennis Space Center, Miss., where SpaceX plans to test its new generation Raptor engines. Previous

Florida lands secret space plane

A secretive military space plane will move into a vacant former space shuttle hangar at Kennedy Space Center, possibly bringing hundreds of jobs. Use of the former shuttle hangar called Orbiter Processing Facility-1 will allow the Air Force’s classified X-37B program to land, recover, refurbish and re-launch the unmanned system in Florida, according to Boeing, which built and supports the program's two orbital vehicles. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Friday that the program would mean "hundreds" of jobs, first to renovate OPF-1 and then from Boeing's engineering, technician and support team. Officials did not say how soon the military program could move to KSC, which has been seeking new users for facilities it no longer needs following the shuttle’s retirement in 2011. (Source: Florida Today, 01/05/14) Like KSC, NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., also offers unused/underutilized facilities for commercial use. Previous

SpaceX launch delayed

The year's first launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., is now planned for no earlier than Monday. SpaceX had hoped to launch its Falcon 9 rocket around 5 p.m. Friday carrying a Thai commercial communications satellite. But the decision was made to conduct more rocket inspections. If necessary, launch attempts could also be made next Wednesday through Sunday. (Source: USA Today, 01/03/14) Previous SpaceX plans to test its Raptor engines at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

SpaceX set to launch satellite

SpaceX is scheduled to launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Friday evening with a communications satellite. The launch of the upgraded Falcon 9 would be SpaceX's second in a month from the Cape of a commercial communications satellite. The previous one was Dec. 3. This time the customer is Thailand-based Thaicom. (Source: Florida Today, 01/02/13) SpaceX will test its Raptor engine at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

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.