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Rep. Jim Bridenstine Confirmed as NASA Administrator
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Rep. Jim Bridenstine Confirmed as NASA Administrator


Rep. Jim Bridenstine Confirmed as NASA Administrator
Jim Bridenstine

The Senate voted 50-49 Thursday to confirm Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., as NASA administrator, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

Bridenstine will replace Robert Lightfoot, who has been leading NASA as acting chief since January 2017 and is set to retire by the end of April after a nearly three-decade career at the space agency.

“I look forward to working with the outstanding team at NASA to achieve the president’s vision for American leadership in space,” Bridenstine said in a statement published Friday.

Bridenstine’s confirmation came a month after House lawmakers called on the upper chamber to expedite his appointment in order for NASA to have a permanent leader to decide on several space exploration programs.

He is a former naval aviator, a sponsor of the American Space Renaissance Act and former executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium in Oklahoma.

President Donald Trump nominated Bridenstine to the NASA chief role in September 2017.

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DoD to Consider Interoperability, Cost, Security in Cloud IT Procurement
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DoD to Consider Interoperability, Cost, Security in Cloud IT Procurement


DoD to Consider Interoperability, Cost, Security in Cloud IT ProcurementThe Defense Department is considering security, cost, interoperability and user friendliness as key factors in the procurement of a cloud-based information technology platform, DoD News reported Thursday.

Dana White, Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, told reporters Thursday the department will conduct a full and open competition for its Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure acquisition effort.

“It is a single-award contract. It is not a sole-source contract, and it is not designed with a specific vendor or company in mind,” White added.

She noted the JEDI contract will have an initial two-year performance period and that DoD will re-examine the marketplace to decide what kinds of technology or service the department will acquire over the contract’s two option periods.

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Marines Use 3D Printing Tech for Vehicle Replacement Parts
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Marines Use 3D Printing Tech for Vehicle Replacement Parts


Marines Use 3D Printing Tech for Vehicle Replacement PartsThe U.S. Marine Corps has used an additive manufacturing process to produce replacement parts for a small unmanned ground vehicle and fighter aircraft.

USMC said Thursday that Combat Logistic Battalion 31 uses a three-dimensional printer technology as an alternative source for components when immediate action is required, such as an impending failure of a mechanical part, USMC said Thursday.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 flew an F-35B aircraft fitted with a 3D-printed bumper produced by CLB-31.

The battalion also produced a camera lens cap for an iRobot 310 UGV of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit’s explosive ordnance disposal team.

Additive manufacturing approach replicates software-generated 3D models by breaking them down into layers to be reproduced with a printer.

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NIST Eyes New Cryptography Standards to Protect Data in Small Networked Devices
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NIST Eyes New Cryptography Standards to Protect Data in Small Networked Devices


NIST Eyes New Cryptography Standards to Protect Data in Small Networked Devices
NIST image

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has launched a new initiative that aims to develop ‘lightweight’ cryptographic algorithm standards in an effort to safeguard data in radio frequency identification tags and other small internet-connected devices.

NIST said Thursday it issued a draft document that outlines the submission requirements and assessment criteria to facilitate the standardization of such cryptographic algorithms.

The draft document lists the authenticated encryption with associated data and hash functionalities as minimum acceptability requirements for submitted algorithms.

NIST noted that AEAD works to help the recipient validate the integrity of unencrypted and encrypted data and that the use of hash functionality should facilitate sharing of resources with AEAD to help reduce implementation costs.

NIST intends to release a notice on Federal Register to seek public comments on the draft publication for 45 days.

The agency anticipates a six-month period for the submission of lightweight cryptographic algorithms.

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DARPA Aims to Accelerate Zero-Day Threat Detection Via Computer-Human Collaboration Tech Program
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DARPA Aims to Accelerate Zero-Day Threat Detection Via Computer-Human Collaboration Tech Program

 

DARPA Aims to Accelerate Zero-Day Threat Detection Via Computer-Human Collaboration Tech Program
DARPA image

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has launched a 42-month program that aims to develop new platforms designed to speed up the detection of zero-day vulnerabilities through computer-human collaboration.

The Computers and Humans Exploring Software Security program will deal with five technical areas and one of those areas will initially focus on effort to determine and analyze the process used by hackers to reason over source code and other software artifacts, DARPA said Wednesday.

The second technical area of the CHESS program aims to develop technology platforms that work to patch vulnerabilities in compiled binaries and source code, while the two succeeding areas will focus on the development of evaluation and testing criteria for the collaborative computer-human platforms.

The fifth technical area will focus on integration with plans to move the platform to commercial and government partners.

“Through CHESS, we’re looking to gather, understand and convert the expertise of human hackers into automated analysis techniques that are more accessible to a broader range of technologists,” said Dustin Fraze, CHESS program manager at DARPA’s information innovation office.

DARPA will hold a proposers day Thursday, April 19, in Arlington, Virginia.

 

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GAO: Amphibious Vehicle Program Needs to Reach Best Practices Readiness Level Prior to Production
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GAO: Amphibious Vehicle Program Needs to Reach Best Practices Readiness Level Prior to Production


GAO: Amphibious Vehicle Program Needs to Reach Best Practices Readiness Level Prior to ProductionThe Government Accountability Office has called on the U.S. Marine Corps to ensure that the contractor should achieve manufacturing readiness level 8 across all risk areas before entering the second phase of low-rate production for the first increment of the proposed amphibious combat vehicle.

GAO said in a report publicly released Tuesday it made the recommendation as program officials prepare to pick a single contractor for the ACV 1.1 program, begin low-rate production in June and commence the second LRP round a year later.

The Defense Department’s guidance for weapons procurement production states that MRL 8 should be achieved across design, quality management, materials and process capability and control risk areas prior to the LRP phase.

The congressional watchdog recommended that the ACV 1.1 program reach MRL 9 before the service decides to move the program to full-rate production by 2020.

Failure to meet those recommended readiness levels prior to the start of low- and full-rate production phases could potentially result in delays and cost increases, according to the report.

BAE Systems and Science Applications International Corp. received contracts worth up to $225 million in 2015 to build ACV 1.1 prototypes for the Marine Corps.

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GSA Appoints Jessica Salmoiraghi OGP Associate Administrator
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GSA Appoints Jessica Salmoiraghi OGP Associate Administrator


GSA Appoints Jessica Salmoiraghi OGP Associate Administrator
Jessica Salmoiraghi

Jessica Salmoiraghi, former director of federal agencies and international programs at the American Council of Engineering Companies, has joined the General Services Administration as associate administrator of its Office of Government-wide Policy.

GSA said Wednesday Salmoiraghi will be responsible for helping develop the agency’s policies related to personal and real property, travel and transportation, information technology, regulatory information and use of federal advisory committees.

At ACEC, she led the council’s efforts to help address procurement challenges that have affected the engineering sector.

She previously served as director of federal relations and counsel at the American Institute of Architects and helped promote AIA’s advocacy and outreach efforts to the federal government.

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DOE to Help Fund 9 Power Electronics Innovation Projects
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DOE to Help Fund 9 Power Electronics Innovation Projects


DOE to Help Fund 9 Power Electronics Innovation ProjectsThe Energy Department has earmarked $20 million for nine projects that seek to advance power electronics intended for solar power systems.

DOE said Wednesday the selected projects aim to help the department address photovoltaic reliability challenges and reduce the cost of solar energy in half by 2030.

The funding recipients are:

  • Flex Power Control
  • Georgia Institute of Technology
  • North Carolina State University
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • University of Arkansas
  • University of Maryland, College Park
  • University of Texas at Austin
  • University of Washington
  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

The department expects each project to last up to three years and meet its 20 percent cost share requirement.

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Heather Wilson: Air Force to Share Space Education With Partners, Streamline Acquisition Process
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Heather Wilson: Air Force to Share Space Education With Partners, Streamline Acquisition Process


Heather Wilson: Air Force to Share Space Education With Partners, Streamline Acquisition Process
Heather Wilson

U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced at the 34th Space Symposium that the service will share its educational courses on space with U.S. partners starting in 2019 as part of the National Defense Strategy.

The Air Force said Wednesday its National Security Space Institute at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado will teach allies about collision avoidance and de-orbit and re-entry operations, as well as additional courses that include one about space situational awareness.

“We will strengthen our alliances and attract new partners not just by sharing data for monitoring, but by training and working closely with each other in space operations,” said Wilson, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.

She added that the Air Force will establish an office that will help modify and streamline the service’s acquisition process for space systems.

The military branch requested $156.3 billion in its 2019 budget proposal for initiatives that will further secure space systems, as well as for the transition to multidomain operations.

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Carlos Muniz Confirmed as Education Department General Counsel
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Carlos Muniz Confirmed as Education Department General Counsel


Carlos Muniz Confirmed as Education Department General Counsel
Carlos Muniz

The Senate has confirmed Carlos Muniz, formerly a partner and senior vice president at law firm McGuireWoods, as general counsel of the Education Department.

“[Muniz] has dedicated his career to upholding the law, and his insight and expertise will be invaluable as we work to advance educational opportunities for all students,” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said in a statement published Wednesday.

He previously served as Florida’s deputy attorney general and as deputy general counsel in former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

His career also includes time as law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. District Court for D.C.

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