NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) spacecraft has returned its first images of noctilucent clouds - wispy accumulations of what is believed to be ice crystals that form in summer at altitudes of about 50 miles over the polar regions. First spotted from the ground this year on June 6, in recent years the clouds have been forming more often and at lower latitudes than previously, leading some researchers to theorize there is a link in the high-altitude changes they represent and changes at lower altitudes linked to global warming.
In its report accompanying the fiscal 2008 Senate Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) appropriations bill, the Senate Appropriations Committee renewed its criticism of the Bush administration's budget requests for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
WEARABLE PRIZE: The Pentagon's research and engineering director unveiled a competition July 5 to develop a wearable electric power system for warfighters. The competition will take place in the fall of 2008 and will award $1 million for first place, $500,000 for second place and $250,000 for third place. The prize objective is a wearable, prototype system that can power a standard warfighter's equipment that produces 20 watts average power for 96 hours but weighs less than 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds). Current batteries being carried weigh 40 pounds.
Exporting F-22 Raptors to Japan would likely underscore the growing competition between the aircraft and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter for funds and other resources, according to a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.
MILSATCOM CENTER: Lockheed Martin is opening a new $3 million milsatcom center of excellence in Rockville, Md. The facility, which will be dedicated in a ceremony July 10, "will enhance development efforts for Department of Defense customers," the company says. The 20,000 square foot facility will house a secure, state-of-the-art software development, integration and testing environment and will bring together Lockheed Martin employees currently in Gaithersburg and Clarksburg, Md.
Aurora Flight Sciences' deal with the U.S. Army to develop ultra-long endurance unmanned air systems (UAS) could reach $27.7 million, the company said July 5. A recent Army Space and Missile Defense Command contract modification for continued development of the company's Orion HALL (High Altitude, Long Loiter) comes as Army and Navy leaders battle with Air Force leaders inside the Pentagon over a renewed Air Force proposal to take over high-altitude UAS development and acquisition (DAILY, June 18).
NASA will attempt to launch the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Dawn solar-electric powered asteroid orbiter on a Delta II heavy booster from Cape Canaveral no earlier than July 8 after a one-day delay due to inability to complete propellant loading on Launch Complex 17B because of lightning in the area. The launch window on Sunday, July 8, extends from 4:04 to 4:33 p.m. EDT, although afternoon thundershowers could pose a threat.
NASA is looking for a way to accelerate its long-planned Mars sample return mission, possibly by fitting upcoming landers like the 2009 Mars Science Laboratory with sample caches that could be retrieved and delivered back to Earth later.
The U.S. Air Force, FAA and Northrop Grumman have developed a one-of-a-kind laser positioning system in a Boeing 737 flight simulator to study flight performance while aircrews are exposed to lasers.
The Orbital Express mission is coming to a close and both spacecraft are expected to be decommissioned next week, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). A joint effort between DARPA, the U.S. Air Force and NASA, Orbital Express was launched in March on a three-month mission to demonstrate on-orbit satellite servicing techniques.
U.S. Air Force program officials for the service's Network-Centric Solutions (NETCENTS) contract had the best intentions for picking the product code they did to describe the work the agreement would cover. But according to a June 29 DOD Inspector General's report (DAILY, July 5), the NETCENTS officials picked the wrong code, shutting out potential contractors and leading to the management nightmares the IG says are haunting the program.
MORE MRAPS: The Defense Department's Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) has endorsed procuring as many Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles as industry can provide in fiscal 2008. DOD and military services are trying to "incentivize" companies to boost production while cutting the production timetable, according to Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs. He told Pentagon reporters July 2 that the JROC decision follows Defense Secretary Robert Gates' efforts to expedite MRAP fielding (DAILY, July 3).
ATLANTIS RETURNED: NASA's space shuttle Atlantis safely returned to the starting point of its STS-117 mission July 3 when its Boeing 747 carrier aircraft delivered the orbiter to Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla. Weather forced Atlantis to divert from KSC, its intended landing site, to a June 22 touchdown at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The ferry flight back to Florida also was diverted, spending an extra night at Ft.
ESTONIAN SPACE: Estonian engineers and scientists will be playing a greater role in European Space Agency (ESA) programs under a new cooperation agreement between the agency and the Baltic nation. Signed June 20, the deal makes Estonia the first new European Union (EU) member to move toward more formal relations with ESA, and eventually it is expected to become a European Cooperating State.
One of the lessons learned from January's politically surprising Chinese anti-satellite test is the importance of information on Chinese military innovations available in open source media, Pentagon consultant Michael Pillsbury says. "Chinese open source writings are going to be far more important than we realized and some of the material in it is pretty scary," says Pillsbury, a China specialist, Defense Department consultant and former Pentagon official during the Reagan and Bush administrations. Proving value
DEXTRE DELIVERED: Engineers at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will begin final flight verification tests of Canada's "Dextre" special purpose dexterous manipulator in preparation for its scheduled February 2008 launch on shuttle Endeavour's STS-123/1J/A mission to the International Space Station. MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. delivered the complex robotic device to KSC.
Democratic spending leaders on Capitol Hill are putting the power of appropriations behind their effort to drive a re-examination of the U.S. nuclear weapons strategy, according to the lawmakers' reports accompanying respective House and Senate energy bills.
The next U.S. president must answer how he or she will repair the military and equip for future wars - and pay for it all while baby boomers stretch federal entitlements, according to Peter Singer, Brookings Institution senior fellow and director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative. This will be an unprecedented challenge given the wear and tear on current equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan, the growing need to reset the armed forces, and waste, fraud and abuse in the Defense Department's budget, Singer told a Washington audience June 29.
