NASA has published its space exploration roadmap for the next several years, detailing efforts that will transition human space-based activities from low-Earth orbit towards the moon, Mars and beyond.

The roadmap, referred to as the National Space Exploration Campaign, has five strategic goals, namely: the maturation of commercial LEO spaceflight; the installation of space facilities – such as the Gateway lunar orbital station – that will facilitate missions to the surface of the moon; robotic missions to the lunar surface; manned lunar missions; and the testing and evaluation of technologies that would eventually allow for manned missions to the rest of the solar system.

The National Space Exploration Campaign is the agency’s response to the challenge put forth by President Donald Trump’s Space Policy Directive-1 as well as the requirements itemized in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017.

Furthermore, NASA said that the document will help “revitalize and add direction” to the agency’s mission of “expanding the frontiers of human experience and scientific discovery” on the planet and in the cosmos while addressing critical national concerns including economic growth and social development.

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory engineers demonstrated light fidelity or Li-Fi networking technology during a trip aboard the USS Carl Vinson.

The technology uses light-emitting diodes that turn on and off for more than a million cycles in a second to send data between wireless communication devices, JHU APL said Thursday.

The demonstration was part of the Navy’s Trident Warrior 2018 experiment effort aimed at identifying and addressing the service branch’s technological gaps in operational environments.

“The Navy wanted to see what the effects of shock and vibration would have on the wireless link and the equipment,” said Ryan Mennecke, communications engineer at APL.

JHU APL began studying light fidelity technology in 2016 under the Defense Information Systems Agency‘s interests, and is now helping DISA test and assess Li-Fi products.

The U.S. military is looking to apply Li-Fi technology to communications systems at vehicles and facilities.

House lawmakers have approved a bill that directs the Office of Management and Budget to provide a modern, standardized reporting system that can translate outdated documents into open data for grant-making agencies and the public.

The Grant Reporting Efficiency and Agreements Transparency Act will help promote transparency in taxpayer spending processes, as well as guide Congress in reviewing grants awarded by the Executive branch, the office of Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said Thursday.

\n\n

Foxx said there is a need for the federal government to implement new, uniform data standards for federal grant reporting to keep pace with technological advances that make the U.S. digital society more efficient.

She added that the GREAT Act will help decrease compliance costs for grant recipients and increase public scrutiny of grant spending.

Foxx co-sponsored the bill with Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles.

The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development National Coordination Office has issued a request for information on a plan to revise a strategy that aims to influence government research efforts in artificial intelligence.

The RFI comes as the NITRD NCO and the National Science and Technology Council’s Select Committee on AI intend to update the 2016 National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan to align with current priorities, the NSF said in a Federal Register notice posted Wednesday.

The effort responds to the White House’s order to boost federal efforts in AI.

NITRD NCO aims to gather suggestions from the public on what to add, remove or revise in the strategy, as well as collect comments on the past and future implementation of the plan’s existing strategic goals.

The NSF will accept responses to the RFI until Oct. 26.

The National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan guides the government in making long-term investments in AI and developing methods for human-AI collaboration and addresses the various implications of the technology, among other things.

A Government Accountability Office report indicates a standstill in the Small Business Administration‘s procurement scorecard progress and recommends evaluating new scoring methodologies to further encourage contract award opportunities for small businesses.

The SBA changed methodologies of the Small Business Procurement Scorecard in fiscal 2017 in adherence to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2016 and has yet to assess whether the said amendments contribute toward making the scorecard a tool to help the agency achieve its goals, GAO said Thursday.

Some of the changes include decreasing total scorecard grade share for prime contracting achievement; increasing grade share for subcontracting achievement and adding an element that takes note of changes in the number of small businesses that obtained prime contracts.

The GAO noted that as of July, SBA officials have yet to release a draft plan to examine the effects of the revised scorecard.

The watchdog added that the published 2017 scorecards had factual errors that may influence confidence in scorecard data.

GAO has instructed SBA to perform a comprehensive evaluation to analyze the effectivity of scorecard revisions, develop a method to ensure scorecard accuracy prior to publication and lay out a platform to divulge erroneous information.

The U.S. Navy is set to commission its 16th Virginia-class fast attack submarine during a ceremony on Saturday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s naval port.

Diane Donald, wife of retired Adm. Kirkland Donald, will order the activation of the future USS Indiana, or SSN 789, during the ceremony. Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind. will serve as principal speaker, the Navy said Thursday.

The submarine is equipped with new payload technologies as the sixth Block III unit within the Virginia class.

Huntington Ingalls Industries‘ Newport News Shipbuilding Division began the SSN 789’s construction in 2012 and delivered the vessel to the Navy in June this year.

U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson has urged the military service to promote competition among vendors and accelerate the process for buying platforms, National Defense Magazine reported Wednesday.

“If we are able to encourage more companies to participate in competition for procurement that helps to not only drive innovation to get the best out of American industry, but also drives competitive pricing,” Wilson told the National Press Club during a speech Wednesday.

She added the Air Force seeks to increase innovation through the use of “other transaction” agreements and partnership with OTA consortia.

The branch formed a consortium early this year in a push to engage commercial space companies in the Defense Department‘s prototyping projects.

“Prototyping we think in many circumstances is actually a much better way to do procurement because you understand the limitations and the realm of the possible from the beginning,” added Wilson, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

Military officials have said the Defense Department is facing challenges concerning mission objectives for cybersecurity due to cyber workforce shortages, MeriTalk reported Wednesday.

Brig. Gen. Dennis Crall told Senate Armed Services’ cybersecurity and personnel subcommittee members that compensation packages in the private sector are often higher than what the military can offer cybersecurity talent, the report said.

He also noted that the DoD’s tedious security clearance process hinders cyber recruitment efforts.

Essye Miller, DoD’s acting principal deputy chief information officer, said the department’s cyber force lost around 4,000 positions over the last year or so.

The military witnesses also discussed how the Pentagon will continue to push for investments in the Army‘s cyber programs, like expansion of U.S. Cyber Command authorities, according to the report.