NASA expects to launch its Genesis spacecraft, which will capture a sample of the solar wind (DAILY, July 12), on July 31. The launch was postponed a day so NASA could check a power supply component. A similar component had failed during a test of another spacecraft.
Scientific Research Corp., Atlanta, Ga., is being awarded a $9,891,000 modification to previously awarded indefinite-quantity/indefinite-delivery, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N65236-97-D-5803) to provide analytical, engineering, and support services for various satellite communication programs such as Joint Maritime Communications Strategy, Advanced Digital Networking System, Demand Assigned Multiple Access, and Global Broadcast support services as required by SPAWARSYSCEN Charleston, Code 523.
The House Financial Services Committee has approved a three-year reauthorization of the Defense Production Act, which expires Sept. 30. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the domestic monetary policy subcommittee, said after the voice vote July 25 that he hopes for "swift consideration" of the bill on the House floor.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in a variety of sizes, shapes, and nationalities peppered the skies over the Webster Field Annex of Naval Air Station Patuxent River July 30, as part of the first International Unmanned Aviation Demonstration. The public demonstration, the first of its kind ever held in the U.S., was sponsored by Pax River's Program Executive Office for Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation, in conjunction with the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI).
Lockheed Martin's X-35B Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator completed STOVL flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., July 30, two days after the competing Boeing team flew five flights in a day to complete flight testing of its X-32B.
Litton Systems Inc., Guidance and Control Systems Division, Woodland Hills, Calif., is being awarded an estimated $19,724,023 indefinite-quantity contract for repair of such items as gimbal assemblies supporting the AN/ASN-92(V) Carrier Inertial Navigation System (CAINS) on F-14 A/B, E-2 and S-3 aircraft. This contract contains options, which if exercised, will bring the total cumulative value of the contract is $36,000,000. Work will be performed in Salt Lake City, Utah (40%); Norfolk, Va. (35%); and San Diego, Calif.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Navigation Systems Division will provide data terminals for the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence's Bowman battlefield communications system under a teaming agreement with Computing Devices Canada Systems U.K. Ltd., the company announced July 30. CDC won the $2.4 billion British army contract earlier this month (DAILY, July 23). Northrop Grumman's participation in the program could be worth more than $180 million, according to the company.
An upcoming decision to move the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) program to the low rate initial production phase may be delayed by a July 27 incident, when a warhead on one of the missiles failed to detonate during a test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The test, the fourth in a series of 10 developmental tests, was to have been the third demonstration of the stealthy cruise missile's warhead. The first two tests, also at White Sands, were successful.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Littleton, Colo., is being awarded a $21,000,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide for research and development for the XSS-11 Experimental Satellite System Microsatellite Program. This effort includes design, development, fabrication, integration, test, delivery and support for demonstration of a space-qualifiable 100 kilogram microsatellite that can perform autonomous on-orbit operations. At this time, $1,500,000 of the funds have been obligated. Solicitation was requested using the Electronic Posting System; five proposals were received.
A California congresswoman has introduced an amendment to a fiscal 2002 appropriations bill that would shift $150 million from NASA's human space flight account to a clean water program at the Environmental Protection Agency. Although the amendment doesn't specify which program would be cut, aides to the measure's sponsor, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), told The DAILY that the money is intended to come from the Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station. The cut would leave the bill's CRV funding at $125 million.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.'s first MH-60R test aircraft has completed its first flight at the company's Stratford, Conn., facilities, according to Sikorsky. The test aircraft, a remanufactured U.S. Navy SH-60B, successfully performed all fight Acceptance Test Procedures on July 19, including engine power checks, auto rotation and vibration checks. The initial flight lasted for 1.7 hours, and pilots have flown the aircraft an additional 2.3 hours in preparation for customer acceptance, according to the company.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) announced its ATK Missile Products Co., of Rocket Center, W.Va., will become ATK Tactical Systems Co. effective Aug. 1. ATK said the name change reflects the company's expanded product offering and customer base following the integration of Thiokol Propulsion Co.'s Elkton, Md.-based tactical propulsion operations into its business. ATK acquired Thiokol Propulsion in April.
COORDINATION: With Poland's fighter upgrade decision likely to be delayed (DAILY, July 26), Poland and the Czech Republic may be revisiting the opportunity for joint procurement, or at least coordination. "A common choice [of fighter] will open an immense area of Polish-Czech cooperation, as well as for negotiating contract conditions, joint training for pilots, and maintenance," says Polish Defense Minister Bronislaw Komorowski. He appeared at a joint meeting with the Czech defense minister on July 25.
The National Coalition of Spaceport States (NCSS) is calling for setting aside $10 million of the Department of Transportation budget to provide matching grants for space infrastructure development. The 14-state coalition, which is dedicated to developing a nationwide system of spaceports, also wants satellite export licensing to be shifted from the State Department back to the Commerce Department. Congress shifted satellite export licensing from Commerce to State in 1998, but some aerospace groups contend State moves too slowly.
A House member pulled back late July 26 from a proposal to cut $24 million from NASA's human space flight account. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) offered an amendment to the fiscal 2002 VA-HUD-Independent Agencies appropriations bill that would have moved $24 million from the space account to veterans' programs, but he withdrew it after House appropriators assured him they would try to boost funding for veterans when the bill goes to a conference committee with the Senate.
SUPER ADVANCES: Advances in microelectronics and strategic computing will change the debate about missile defense and arms control more than anyone can imagine, says Ambassador Ronald Lehman, a former U.S. START negotiator. Lehman says 10-15 years after scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories created the world's first supercomputer - at a cost of millions of dollars - a PC version was available for about $2,000.
MONEY WARS: As the House Armed Services Committee prepares to mark up the fiscal 2002 defense authorization bill the week of July 30, Democrats are considering proposing cuts to the Bush Administration's request for missile defense to pay for other programs. Many Democrats consider the proposed $3 billion increase for missile defense to be excessive and look at it as a potential "bill payer" for other programs.
BRAC AGAIN: The Department of Defense is preparing draft legislation for another base realignment and closing (BRAC) round and expects to submit its proposal to Congress before the August recess. "As Secretary Rumsfeld has said on several occasions, there's no question that we have more infrastructure than we need," says Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley.
LOCKHEED MARTIN COMMERCIAL SPACE SYSTEMS is realigning its business structure, the company announced. The company designs and builds geostationary and non-geostationary telecommunications and remote-sensing satellites. Commercial Space Systems will relocate program management, business operations, satellite engineering and design, business development and executive functions from Sunnyvale, Calif., to the company's Newtown, Pa., facility.
NASA'S JET PROPULSION LABORATORY has awarded $300,000 contracts to the Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and TRW for six-month studies of concepts for a Mars Ascent Vehicle. The vehicle would lift surface samples gathered by the Mars Sample Return mission, slated for 2011 at the earliest.
MISSILE CAUTION: Three influential House Democrats are urging the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization to hold off on plans to begin building a missile defense test bed at Ft. Greely, Alaska, in August. In a July 27 letter to Air Force Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish, the director of BMDO, House Armed Services Committee ranking Democrat Ike Skelton (Mo.), senior committee member John Spratt (S.C.) and House Appropriations defense subcommittee member Norm Dicks (Wash.) say that fiscal 2001 military construction funding that the Defense Department intends to use at Ft.
PDQ QDR: With the September 30 deadline for completion of the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) approaching, defense analyst Michelle Flournoy thinks the Defense Department may not have left itself enough time to perform a credible analysis of military force requirements.
MOON BUY: Advocates of returning to the moon have called for NASA to establish a program to buy lunar data from commercial companies. "...NASA can open the door to commercial lunar development if they will implement this data purchase program to encourage the gathering of much-needed data from the moon," says Rick Tumlinson, president of the Space Frontier Foundation. Lunar exploration advocates made the call for the program at a recent conference in Las Vegas.
THE BOEING CO. may lay off 85 employees at Kennedy Space Center due to a decrease in the planned workload there caused by the International Space Station program's transition from a development to an operational program. The job shift involves the Payload Ground Operations Contract (PGOC) and the ISS programs that support Boeing's Human Space Flight and Exploration effort.
