Over the past 10 years, NASA has reported $94 million in lost equipment, due primarily to a "weak internal control environment," a recent Government Accountability (GAO) report says.
Capitol Hill lawmakers are clashing over the C-17 and C-5 as the House and Senate process fiscal 2008 defense authorization and appropriations bills. The House has authorized $2.4 billion for 10 unrequested C-17s next fiscal year and appropriators there are expected to provide the funds. But success in the Senate is far less certain.
The Pentagon has awarded Northrop Grumman Space Technology a $4.2 billion contract for the modification and restructuring of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), establishing a new baseline for the program and enabling operations to continue through 2016.
Dr. Wanda M. Austin has been named president and chief executive officer effective Jan. 1. Steven M. Leontis has been appointed principal director of the Space Tracking and Surveillance System Block 06/08 Directorate. Patricia A. Maloney has been appointed principal engineer in the Enterprise Systems and Technology Directorate in the Chantilly, Va. office. Dr. Dean C. Marvin has been named principal director of the Research and Program Development Office.
Richard A Hauser has been named senior attorney in Washington, D.C. Gen. James L. Jones (USMC Ret.) has been elected to the board or directors. Jeff Trauberman has been appointed vice president of business development for Network and Space Systems.
Michael Bowker has been appointed chief operating officer. Brian H. Harris has been appointed vice president for business development. Roscoe M. Moore, III, has been named executive vice president and chief strategic and technical officer. James D. Royston has been named president.
Next week, NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center plans to fly the first operational mission of its Ikhana unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), mapping wildfires in the western U.S. using an infrared scanner built by Ames Research Center. The team plans a checkout flight on or around Aug. 4, then its first 24-hour fire mission Aug. 9, flying at 23,000 feet over as many as a dozen of the many fires that rage on in the western states at any given time during the fire season.
The launch of the Phoenix Mars lander from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II rocket has been postponed by a day to Aug. 4 because of the threat of severe thunderstorms on July 31 during fueling of the launcher's second stage. There are two liftoff options for Aug. 4. The first opportunity is at 5:26 a.m. EDT and the second at 6:02 a.m. EDT.
The U.S. Marine Corps has awarded Boeing a three-and-a-half-year, $18 million contract to provide additional ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) reconnaissance services to the Marine Expeditionary Forces (MEF).
As NASA begins to shift its focus from low-Earth orbit to exploration of the moon and beyond, the agency's next underwater spaceflight analog mission will simulate lunar-surface operations instead of activities on the International Space Station (ISS).
Alliant Techsystems (ATK), which is already developing the main launch abort system (LAS) motor under development for NASA's Orion crew launch vehicle, also will build the attitude-control motor for the LAS. Orbital Sciences Corp., the member of the Lockheed Martin Orion team responsible for the LAS, awarded ATK a subcontract worth about $70 million to develop and deliver the attitude-control motor.
Although NASA is making a concerted effort to implement an effective plan aimed at a smooth transition from the space shuttle program to the next-generation Constellation program, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says challenges lie ahead. NASA's good intentions could be thwarted by problems within the system: gap-funding suppliers (effectively keeping them on retainer until their future is determined), "obsolescent materials...managing the work force, disposing of property and equipment, and completing environmental cleanup," GAO says.
CEV OUTLOOK: House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee Chairman Mark Udall (D-Colo.), is concerned about the timeline for NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), slated for introduction in 2015. Following the space shuttle's scheduled 2010 retirement, "this will leave a potential four to five-year gap," says Udall, "when the United States will be dependent on other countries to travel to and from the International Space Station." He suggests the administration address the issue with supplemental budget requests for fiscal 2009 and FY '10, to bridge the gap in coverage.
Japan will accelerate upgrades of its F-15J Eagles amid a reordering of priorities in response to a congressional move last week to maintain an export ban on the F-22 Raptor. The 200-odd F-15Js currently in service will operate for longer than previously planned, according to a budget plan that is evidently designed to buy time for a later Japanese push for F-22s.
JCAN TESTED: Northrop Grumman has integrated and tested its Joint Capability for Airborne Networking (JCAN) system for aeronautical and land vehicle applications, the company announced July 30. This new capability will enable mobile secure IP router network connectivity to airborne and ground platforms using existing legacy radios and commercial wideband data links, the company says. As part of a research project sponsored by the U.S.
