HOMELAND SECRETARY: The U.S. Senate late Dec. 16 confirmed President Barack Obama’s nominee, Jeh Johnson, to become the next and fourth secretary of homeland security. Senators backed him 78-16 to take over the parent department of the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection and Transportation Security Administration, among other agencies. Johnson is known for having good relations with lawmakers from when he served as the top lawyer for both the Air Force and later the entire Defense Department.
Giving a strong signal that robotics development is heading toward machines that mimic the capabilities of humans and animals, Google has acquired Boston Dynamics, which has built several legged robots for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa). Privately held Boston Dynamics has developed the Legged Squad Support System (LS3) for Darpa, a prototype robotic “pack mule” designed to follow a team of soldiers autonomously over a rugged terrain like a trained animal, carrying equipment and following verbal or visual commands.
Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) has completed all its milestones under NASA’s Commercial Crew Development 2 (CCDev2) program, which culminated in the first free-flight test and runway landing of its Dream Chaser spacecraft. Other milestones in the development of the reusable, lifting-body human spacecraft included a systems requirement review, flight simulator development, the creation of a vehicle avionics integration laboratory, a system definition review, a flight control integration laboratory and a preliminary design review, the company said Dec. 16.
Engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center exerted almost 1 million lb. of force on a simulated rocket tank before it failed in the second round of testing designed to improve design models and take weight out of the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) and other vehicles.
Australia has withdrawn its AAI Corp. Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft systems from Afghanistan as it winds down combat operations, but has extended the deployment of Israel Aerospace Industries Heron 1 medium-altitude, long-endurance UAS to April 2014. The RQ-7B Shadows had been operating in Uruzgan province since 2012. Australia acquired two Shadow systems in August 2010 under an A$175 million ($155 million) contract, and they had recently passed 10,000 hr. of operations based at Tarin Kot in Uruzgan.
When it comes to trade in defense goods with the U.K., the relationship with the U.S. needs to be less lopsided, the U.K.’s ambassador to the U.S. says. To fix that, Peter John Westmacott suggested the U.S. purchase MBDA’s Brimstone missiles during a discussion at the Center for Strategic and International Studies that centered on ways the U.S. can foster more federated partnerships with allies.
The Swedish air force helicopter wing has taken delivery of the first of its latest batch of NH90 utility helicopters, 12 years after placing the order for the aircraft. The first of the new aircraft, locally designated HKP14D, was delivered to the Linkoping-based unit on Dec. 17, after testing by the country’s defense procurement agency, FMV.
HOUSTON — NASA began testing software patches intended to restore fine control over a crippled external cooling loop aboard the International Space Station on Dec. 17, while setting Dec. 21 to begin a three-spacewalk repair campaign. At the same time, NASA postponed until January plans for the Orbital Sciences “ORB-1” resupply mission to the six-person orbiting laboratory.
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Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), a sharp critic of NASA management and a vocal human rights advocate, announced Dec. 17 he will not seek re-election next year. Wolf’s decision opens the chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the U.S. space agency, and may allow closer space cooperation between the U.S. and China.
U.S. senators voted this morning to allow debate on the so-called Ryan-Murray budget compromise to end, a key procedural decision that permits the upper chamber to pass the deal and — assuming no differences with the House’s version — to go to the White House to become law.
Japan’s 2014 defense budget request asks for a 3% increase over the 2013 budget, continuing the sudden upward trend set in motion by right-wing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe upon his December 2012 return to power. The previous center-left government planned a 1.3% decrease in defense spending, which had already seen 10 consecutive contractions since 2003.
HOUSTON — The International Space Station’s mission operations team reported some progress Dec. 16 in its bid to manage the crippled thermal control system aboard the six-person orbiting science laboratory, but not enough to rule out unscheduled spacewalks this week to replace an external pump module housing the faulty flow control valve that is the source of the station’s ills.
The United Nations has begun operating a Selex ES Falco unmanned aircraft in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the first time it has used a UAV to support peacekeeping operations. The tactical UAV is being operated from Goma, the capital of North Kivu Province, monitoring the border between DRC and Rwanda in support of the U.N. stabilization mission, called Monusco. U.N. peacekeepers are supporting DRC forces in operations against M23 rebels in the east of the country.
ABOARD THE USS FREEDOM — MH-60 Seahawk helicopters are key to the multi-mission capability of the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), but making the aircraft available to help swap out the vessels’ mission module packages presents a significant challenge.
KICKED UP: Scientists monitoring the lunar dust environment with NASA’s new Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (Ladee) and two other spacecraft did not detect any initial effects from Saturday’s touchdown of China’s Chang’e 3 lunar lander and subsequent operations with its small rover.
Lockheed Martin is considering all options to continue increasing the production rate of the multinational F-35, though officials are not yet to the point where they must draw on company funds to forward finance the manufacturing line.
At least 74 Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are calling on the Pentagon to continue pursuit of a replacement USAF combat rescue helicopter (CRH).
BEIJING — China will launch a sample return mission to the Moon in 2017, officials say, while declaring complete success for the current Chang’e 3 mission to land and deploy a lunar rover. The next mission, Chang’e 4, will be similar to the current effort, using a backup spacecraft and rover, but will be adapted to prove technologies for the sample-return mission, Chang’e 5, says Wu Zhijian, a spokesman for the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.
