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Space News: NASA, China in Talks Over Earth Science Mission
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Space News: NASA, China in Talks Over Earth Science Mission


space-engineeringNASA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have engaged in bilateral talks over a potential collaboration for a future Chinese Earth science mission, Space News reported Thursday.

Jeff Foust writes NASA’s Earth science division head Michael Freilich met with Chinese officials in July to discuss research coordination between the U.S. and China.

NASA spokesman Steve Cole told Space News the meeting aimed to negotiate scientific data exchange and to discuss China’s plans to launch a new carbon monitoring mission called TanSatt.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences currently is developing TanSat, a 1,102-pound satellite designed to measure carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere and scheduled for launch aboard a Long March 2D rocket in late 2016, Space News reports.

Foust writes NASA also plans to enter into cooperation with China in the aviation research area.

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OPM Issues Final Regulations on New Disabled Veteran Leave Category; Beth Cobert Comments
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OPM Issues Final Regulations on New Disabled Veteran Leave Category; Beth Cobert Comments


US office of personnel managementThe Office of Personnel Management has issued final regulations for the enforcement of a new disabled veteran leave category as part of an effort to extend the time for veterans to address medical issues.

OPM said Thursday federal employees hired Nov. 5, 2016 and beyond with a service-related disability rating of at least 30 percent will be able to avail of the disabled veteran leave established under the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015.

“This rule ensures the federal government supports our service members who have sacrificed their own health and well-being to serve our country,” said Beth Cobert, acting OPM director.

“We want these veterans to have sufficient leave during their first year of federal service in order to take care of any medical issues related to their service-connected disability,” added Cobert.

The disabled veteran leave will start on an employee’s first day of employment as a one-time benefit during a 12-month period.

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CNO John Richardson, South Korean Counterpart Discuss APAC Maritime Security Cooperation
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CNO John Richardson, South Korean Counterpart Discuss APAC Maritime Security Cooperation


John Richardson & Jung Ho-SubChief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and his South Korean counterpart Jung Ho-sub have agreed that increased cooperation and information sharing will support maritime security in the Indo-Asia Pacific region.

The U.S. Navy said Thursday Richardson and Ho-sub met at the Pentagon to discuss regional partnerships between the navies as part of the latter’s week-long visit to the U.S.

“I agree with the importance of our alliance, particularly navy-to-navy, to deal with the threat from the North, as well as the instability that may take place in the South China Sea,” said Jung.

Jung also met with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift and Naval Surface Forces Pacific Commander Vice Adm. Tom Rowden,.

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NASA Seeks New Academic, Nonprofit Partners for CubeSat Launch Initiative
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NASA Seeks New Academic, Nonprofit Partners for CubeSat Launch Initiative


CubeSatA NASA program has opened opportunities for accredited educational institutions and nonprofit organizations to design, build and operate nanosatellites and flight hardware.

NASA said Friday it seeks partners for the next round of its CubeSat Launch Initiative to help facilitate the agency’s research programs in the areas of science, exploration, technology and education.

Interested parties can submit proposals through Nov. 22 and NASA will consider selected experiments as potential auxiliary payloads on agency space missions in 2017, the space agency noted.

The agency deploys CubeSats to support missions on planetary exploration, Earth observation and fundamental Earth and space science.

CSLI was established to create opportunities for small satellite payloads flown as auxiliary payloads on rockets planned for upcoming launches.

DISA Unveils Three-Tiered Approach to Cloud Computing; John Hale Comments
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DISA Unveils Three-Tiered Approach to Cloud Computing; John Hale Comments


cloudThe Defense Information Systems Agency has introduced a three-tiered approach for the military’s cloud computing and security network at a summit held July 26 in Washington.

DISA said Wednesday the three-tiered plan consists of traditional computing, on-premise private cloud and off-premise commercial cloud offerings.

The agency unveiled the plan at the Advanced Technology Academic Research Center’s Federal Cloud Computing Summit where John Hale, chief of DISA’s cloud portfolio in the services development directorate, explained the approach.

Hale said many workloads at present require hardware to work and that modernization must continue despite budget constraints.

The second pillar focuses on the DoD’s goal to migrate to the cloud and protect the department’s sensitive data in an on-premise private cloud.

“There are certain workloads we’ve identified as needing to be ‘on our concrete’ from a data ownership and data management perspective,” said Hale.

Hale added that the third pillar can help in the transitions of mission owner’s workloads to a commercial cloud provider.

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Jeh Johnson: DHS Mulls Cyber Protection For Election System
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Jeh Johnson: DHS Mulls Cyber Protection For Election System


cybersecurityJeh Johnson, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, has said DHS is examining whether the election system needs the agency’s security support against potential cyberattacks, Federal News Radio reported Wednesday.

Nicole Ogrysko writes Johnson told reporters the government should determine whether the election process is a “critical infrastructure” similar to the financial sector or the power grid.

“There is a vital national interest in our election process, so I do think we need to consider whether it should be considered by my department and others as critical infrastructure,” said Johnson.

“I am considering communicating with election officials across the country about best practices in the short term,” he added.

Johnson further said long-term investments are needed t0 support election cybersecurity and address points of concern in the electoral process, Ogrysko reported.

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GSA’s Tiffany Hixson: Bid Protests Unavoidable in Contract Award Processes
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GSA’s Tiffany Hixson: Bid Protests Unavoidable in Contract Award Processes


Tiffany Hixson
Tiffany Hixson

Tiffany Hixson of the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service has described bid protests as an inevitable part of contract award processes, Nextgov reported Tuesday.

Frank Konkel writes GSA officials have noted that bid protests seem unavoidable despite efforts to engage industry throughout the lifecycle of a bidding process.

“I’m just resigned to the fact that this is how it’s going to be,” Hixson told an event hosted by the Association for Federal Information Resources Management, according to the report.

Hixson, regional commissioner of the Northwest Region, called on agencies and directorates to factor in protests period in their acquisition cycles and cited the OASIS conrtact vehicle as an example of a government procurement method that saw at least 20 protests despite industry engagement.

During the event, Hixson also released the government’s new professional services strategic plan for industry comment as part of GSA’s transition to a category management structure, Federal Times reported Thursday.

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Army Tests PACMAN-I Program Manned & Unmanned Robotics Tech; Tollie Strode Comments
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Army Tests PACMAN-I Program Manned & Unmanned Robotics Tech; Tollie Strode Comments


Army-RoboticsU.S. Army soldiers have tested and operated new robotic prototypes at the Pacific Manned-Unmanned Initiative training site as part of a program that lasted more than two weeks.

The Army said Thursday the PACMAN-I program has developed manned and unmanned prototypes with a potential to perform stability and support roles as well as act in combat situations.

“(We) began the process of learning how to fight in formations with robotics to do the things that you would expect those robotics to do… allow us to see further, allow us to shoot at targets,” said Tollie Strode, a senior project officer at the Army Maneuver Center of Excellence.

Soldiers operated the unmanned vehicle system prototypes such as the Net Warrior Future and Multipurpose Unmanned Tactical Transport to execute different types of training scenarios.

Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center engineers and Maneuver Center of Excellence personnel have recorded data on the soldiers’ experiments with the prototypes to help develop future updates for the technologies.

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GAO: OPM Should Clarify Guidance on Supporting Documentation for Telework Costs, Benefits
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GAO: OPM Should Clarify Guidance on Supporting Documentation for Telework Costs, Benefits


workforceThe Government Accountability Office has called on the Office of Personnel Management to clarify guidance for agencies to develop supporting data for the costs and advantages of the government’s telework program.

GAO said Monday sustained operations and reduced employee absences are among the benefits agencies get from telework programs and the costs include training, program managemen and information technology requirements.

For the report, GAO reviewed telecommuting initiatives at the Transportation Department, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., General Services Administration, Merit Systems Protection Board and the Agriculture.

The government watchdog said it found the agencies lack annual data to support the benefits or costs of their telework programs.

GAO noted that the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 “requires an annual assessment of agencies in meeting established outcome goals.”

OPM agreed to the government watchdog’s recommendations such as the inclusion of cost savings questions from previous surveys in the 2016 agency telework survey.

NIAID Starts Human Clinical Trial for Zika Vaccine Candidate; Anthony Fauci Comments
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NIAID Starts Human Clinical Trial for Zika Vaccine Candidate; Anthony Fauci Comments


HealthThe National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has started a series of clinical trials on humans to examine a potential vaccine candidate NIAID hopes can help counter the Zika virus.

NIAID started the trials to evaluate how the vaccine creates an immune system response in more than 80 healthy volunteers that will participate in the trials to be conducted at the Bethesda, Maryland-based National Institues of Health Clinical Center and two other sites, NIH said Wednesday.

The investigational vaccine contains plasmid, a circular piece of DNA engineered to code for proteins of the Zika virus.

“Although it will take some time before a vaccine against Zika is commercially available, the launch of this study is an important step forward,” said Anthony Fauci, NIAID director.

Julie Ledgerwood, chief of the Vaccine Research Center’s clinical trials program, will lead the first phase of the trial that will divide participants into four groups of 20 volunteers each to receive a vaccination via a needle-free injector.

The Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute for Global Health in Baltimore and Emory University in Atlanta are two other study sites.

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