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NASA Mulls Helicopter Tech Inclusion in Mars 2020 Mission
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NASA Mulls Helicopter Tech Inclusion in Mars 2020 Mission


NASA Mulls Helicopter Tech Inclusion in Mars 2020 MissionNASA could decide in late May whether the space agency will add a small helicopter on the Mars 2020 rover as part of technology demonstration efforts, SpaceNews reported Friday.

The space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing the helicopter separately from the upcoming mission to the red planet in an effort to determine how the platform can serve as a scout for future rovers and conduct additional science experiments.

Ken Farley, the project scientist for Mars 2020, said he expects the helicopter to operate in the first 30 days of the rover’s mission if NASA includes the platform.

NASA will review Mars 2020 during its Key Decision Point D milestone, which would formally authorize the program to enter assembly, test and launch phases.

The agency aims to launch the rover in July 2020 on a mission to seek signs of life in Mars, as well as collect information to address concerns for possible human expedition to the red planet.

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Change-of-Command Ceremony to Mark Cybercom’s Elevation to Combatant Command
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Change-of-Command Ceremony to Mark Cybercom’s Elevation to Combatant Command


Change-of-Command Ceremony to Mark Cybercom’s Elevation to Combatant Command
Paul Nakasone

Paul Nakasone, formerly commander of the Army Cyber Command, on Friday will officially become head of the U.S. Cyber Command during a change-of-command ceremony that will mark the transition of Cybercom into a combatant command, DoD News reported Thursday.

Nakasone will succeed the retiring Navy Adm. Michael Rogers and accept his fourth star as his military rank changes from lieutenant general to general at the ceremony to be presided by Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan at Fort Meade in Maryland.

Dana White, a spokesperson for the Defense Department, told reporters Thursday that Nakasone will oversee cyber operation planning and implementation, facilitate training of cyber professionals and advocate for additional cyber resources.

White said Cybercom will become the 10th combatant command that will work to deter and respond to cyber attacks.

Nakasone, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, received Senate confirmation in April to serve in the dual-hatted role of Cybercom chief and director of the National Security Agency.

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DARPA Picks University Research Teams for Lifelong Learning Machines Program
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DARPA Picks University Research Teams for Lifelong Learning Machines Program

DARPA Picks University Research Teams for Lifelong Learning Machines ProgramThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has picked research teams that will develop new machine learning methods designed to enable artificial intelligence systems to adapt to new changes and implement previous knowledge and skills to new situations.

DARPA said Thursday teams from the University of California in Irvine, Tufts University and University of Wyoming will perform work on two technical areas of the agency’s Lifelong Learning Machines program.

The L2M program’s first technical area will deal with the development of complete platforms and components, while the other will look at learning methods in biological organisms and transition those mechanisms into computational processes.

The University of California team plans to develop a machine learning system designed to predict potential outcomes through comparison between inputs and existing memories.

The Tufts University team has begun to investigate how salamanders and other animals regenerate in an effort to develop robots designed to adjust to changing environments through alteration of function and structure.

The University of Wyoming team will develop a computational system designed to identify modular memories through the use of context and rearrange those memories with sensory input to establish behaviors in order to correspond to new circumstances.

“With the L2M program, we are not looking for incremental improvements in state-of-the-art AI and neural networks, but rather paradigm-changing approaches to machine learning that will enable systems to continuously improve based on experience,” said Hava Siegelmann, L2M program manager.

“L2M seeks to enable AI systems to learn from experience and become smarter, safer and more reliable than existing AI,” Siegelmann added.

 

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DOE to Invest $78M in Bioenergy R&D Projects
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DOE to Invest $78M in Bioenergy R&D Projects


DOE to Invest $78M in Bioenergy R&D ProjectsThe Energy Department will invest a total of $78 million to fund early-stage bioenergy research and development projects.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a statement released Thursday that DOE seeks to improve the conversion of algae, energy crops and various waste streams into biofuels, biopower and bioproducts through the four new funding opportunities.

DOE will award up to $28 million under the BioEnergy Engineering for Products Synthesis funding opportunity that looks to identify conversion processes for fuel and other products from biomass or waste streams.

The department also seeks proposals in the algae-based biofuel and bioproduct areas under the potential $15 million Efficient Carbon Utilization in Algal Systems FOA.

The Affordable and Sustainable Energy Crops research funding opportunity offers up to $15 million and seeks to produce energy crops for use as bioproduct feedstocks.

DOE added the Process Development for Advanced Biofuels and Biopower FOA will provide up to $20 million to studies that aim to develop production processes to help improve biofuel cost-competitiveness and biosolid-to-power

Interested parties can submit letters of intent through May 30.

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NIST Unveils New Competition to Advance Data Utilization, Privacy Protection
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NIST Unveils New Competition to Advance Data Utilization, Privacy Protection


NIST Unveils New Competition to Advance Data Utilization, Privacy ProtectionThe National Institute of Standards and Technology has launched a new challenge that aims to develop a new platform that will work to provide researchers access to personally identifiable information while ensuring data privacy.

NIST said in a Challenge.gov notice The Unlinkable Data Challenge is a multi-stage competition that calls for participants to propose a method for the de-identification of a dataset and provide conceptual platforms that describe how to adopt and combine methods to prevent privacy loss.

Competitors should propose an algorithm designed to optimize data privacy and utility and a dataset that would serve as a use case for the proposed algorithm.

NIST will accept submissions through July 26 and announce the winners on Sept. 12, according to the notice.

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NASA, DOE’s NNSA Demonstrate New Nuclear Reactor for Space Missions
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NASA, DOE’s NNSA Demonstrate New Nuclear Reactor for Space Missions


NASA, DOE's NNSA Demonstrate New Nuclear Reactor for Space MissionsNASA and the National Nuclear Security Administration under the Department of Energy have jointly conducted a demonstration of a new nuclear reactor system being developed for long-term space missions.

The Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology or KRUSTY is designed as a lightweight fission power system with the capacity to generate a maximum of 10 kilowatts for a decade straight, NASA said Wednesday.

Four Kilopower units are expected to be enough to power an outpost.

In the prototype, a uranium-235 reactor core generates heat that passive sodium heat pipes then transfer to Stirling engines for conversion to electricity.

“Kilopower gives us the ability to do much higher power missions, and to explore the shadowed craters of the Moon,” said Marc Gibson, lead Kilopower engineer at Glenn Research Center.

“When we start sending astronauts for long stays on the Moon and to other planets, that’s going to require a new class of power that we’ve never needed before,” he added.

The experiment for KRUSTY took place at the Nevada National Security Site from November 2017 to March of this year.

NASA intends to transition the project to the Technology Demonstration Mission program in 2020.

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Navy Tests USS Abraham Lincoln’s Combat Systems
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Navy Tests USS Abraham Lincoln’s Combat Systems


Navy Tests USS Abraham Lincoln's Combat Systems

The U.S. Navy has tested various defense platforms of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln over a 13-day period.

The service branch said Thursday it conducted the Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trials from April 20 to May 2 to determine if Lincoln could operate the Enhanced NATO Sea Sparrow Missile System, rolling airframe missile launchers and close-in weapons systems.

CIWS is a 20-millimeter gatling gun that uses a forward-looking infrared camera designed to detect and attack targets.

The system fired at a towed drone unit during a simulated air defense drill and at a high-speed maneuvering seaborne target during a surface engagement drill.

RAM launchers, which are equipped with built-in sensors, fired a RIM-162D Sea Sparrow missile and a RIM-116 test unit during tests.

ENSSMS is a semi-active missile that requires directors to input a feed prior to locating a target.

The carrier re-entered service after it completed a half-life refueling and overhaul maintenance period last year.

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DHS Helps Navy, Coast Guard Evaluate Nat’l Security Cutters
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DHS Helps Navy, Coast Guard Evaluate Nat’l Security Cutters


DHS Helps Navy, Coast Guard Evaluate Nat'l Security CuttersThe Department of Homeland Security‘s science and technology directorate has collaborated with the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard in the assessment of two National Security Cutters since December.

DHS said Tuesday the directorate helped the Navy’s commander of operational test and evaluation forces to collect and document information needed to evaluate potential impacts of any deficiencies identified on USCGC Hamilton and USCGC James.

Events covered at-sea tests with Coast Guard and Navy fleets over a period of more than two weeks and examined onboard command-and-control technologies and Close-In Weapons Systems, a 57-millimeter deck gun and the Over the Horizon IV and Long Range Interceptor II boats.

S&T and the Navy also conducted Hamilton cybersecurity tests with support from the Energy Department‘s Sandia National Laboratories.

The directorate provides test and evaluation data meant to help DHS’ chief acquisition officer make acquisition decisions.

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SEC Introduces Online Search Tool for Investors; Jay Clayton Comments
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SEC Introduces Online Search Tool for Investors; Jay Clayton Comments


SEC Introduces Online Search Tool for Investors; Jay Clayton CommentsThe Securities and Exchange Commission has introduced a new online search tool to help investors make safe and informed investment decisions and avoid financial scams.

SEC said Wednesday the SEC Action Lookup for Individuals or SALI is designed to identify registered and unregistered individuals who previously faced disciplinary or SEC enforcement actions.

SALI also enables users to identify entities who have settled, defaulted or contested an SEC enforcement judgement if a final order was made against them in a federal court or administrative proceeding.

“One of the SEC’s most important tasks is to arm our investors with the tools necessary to identify potential fraudsters,” SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said.

Clayton added SALI allows Main Street investors to avoid fraud and other investment misconduct.

The current results of the search engine include parties from SEC actions filed between Oct. 1, 2014 and March 31, 2018.

The agency will work to periodically update SALI to add parties from cases before Oct. 1, 2014 and after March 31.

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DoD News: Richard Spencer Talks About Efforts for Navy Modernization
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DoD News: Richard Spencer Talks About Efforts for Navy Modernization


DoD News: Richard Spencer Talks About Efforts for Navy Modernization
Richard Spencer

At a news briefing, U.S. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer discussed the service branch’s progress under the 2018 National Defense Strategy, DoD News reported Wednesday.

The Navy plans to refine processes, employ Congressional acquisition authorizations and partner with industry to support the development of the Navy–Marine Corps team, said Spencer, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

Spencer discussed the bipartisan budget that President Trump signed into law in March and highlighted the Navy’s need for predictable and consistent funding, the Defense Media Activity unit commented.

He noted the importance of continued investment in Naval service members to enhance global competitiveness.

The DoD briefing also included Spencer’s announcement of a future San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship, named the USS Richard M. McCool after the WW II Medal of Honor recipient.

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