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NASA to Test Spacecraft Heat Exchanger Tech on ISS; Rubik Sheth Comments
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NASA to Test Spacecraft Heat Exchanger Tech on ISS; Rubik Sheth Comments


International Space StationNASA has sent a wax-based heat exchanger technology to the International Space Station through SpaceX‘s Dragon cargo resupply spacecraft that launched Monday from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The agency said Thursday it developed the Phase Change Material Heat Exchanger with United Technologies Corp. for testing onboard the orbiting laboratory as part of the agency’s Game Changing Development initiative.

PCM HX is designed to thaw and reject energy from space to help sustain temperatures inside a spacecraft and protect personnel and equipment, according to NASA.

“It gets really hot when the spacecraft is between the sun and the moon,” said Rubik Sheth, a project manager and thermal systems engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

“We need these phase change material heat exchangers to absorb the excess waste energy that Orion will take in,” Sheth added.

NASA said the Dragon spacecraft that carries 5,000 pounds of cargo reached the ISS early Wednesday and the station’s crew members have begun to unload science, research and hardware from the vehicle.

Terry Halvorsen: DoD to Establish Review Teams for Data Center Consolidation Push
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Terry Halvorsen: DoD to Establish Review Teams for Data Center Consolidation Push


DataCenterThe Defense Department will form review teams to assess DoD-owned data centers across the globe in support of its mission for data center consolidation, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

Scott Maucione writes that DoD has worked to reduce the number of unnecessary data centers it operates over the past five years and will enlist reviewers to help the department determine which data repository hubs are eligible for closure.

“The endgame, what we want to do is close these, meet mission, which means that they can handle the storage, they can connect without latency and they’re secure, but do that at the best available price,” Terry Halvorsen, DoD chief information officer, told Federal News Radio.

Halvorsen added he believes publicly accessible data can be stored in commercial centers while critical unclassified information can go to high-security commercial facilities, according to the station.

The report said he will meet with leaders of key U.S. allies and information technology firms such as Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle during his five-day trip in the West Coast to discuss identity management, data sharing, cloud services and innovation matters.

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DHS Partners With Virginia Attorney General’s Office to Raise Public Awareness on Human Trafficking
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DHS Partners With Virginia Attorney General’s Office to Raise Public Awareness on Human Trafficking


partnershipThe Department of Homeland Security has teamed up with the Virginia Office of the Attorney General to launch efforts that aim to increase awareness on human trafficking through DHS’ Blue Campaign.

The attorney general’s office in Virginia will distribute awareness materials from DHS Blue Campaign throughout the state to help community members determine human trafficking indicators and guide them on how to report such cases, DHS said Wednesday.

Maria Odom, chair of the DHS Blue Campaign, signed the memorandum of understanding for the partnership with the office of Attorney General Mark Herring.

The attorney general’s office will also conduct trainings for school administrators, law enforcement, child protective services workers and the public in support of human trafficking awareness efforts.

The Blue Campaign works to advance DHS’ efforts to fight human trafficking through partnerships with government agencies, law enforcement authorities and the private sector.

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NASA Estimates Mars 2020 Rover Development, Launch Costs to Hit $2.1B
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NASA Estimates Mars 2020 Rover Development, Launch Costs to Hit $2.1B


Mars2020RoverNASA officials estimate the development and launch of the proposed Mars 2020 rover mission will cost approximately $2.1 billion and that mission operations will be worth around $300 million, Space News reported Wednesday.

Jeff Foust writes both cost estimates lie at the confidence level of 70 percent and are higher than the initial cost estimate of $1.5 billion when plans for the mission were announced in 2012.

George Tahu, Mars 2020 program executive at NASA headquarters, said the original cost estimate for the Mars 2020 mission “assumed a more modest science payload than what was solicited and ultimately selected” and failed to cite potential contributions from NASA’s human spaceflight mission and space technology directorates.

“Our confirmed cost today, in real year dollars, of $2.1 billion for development and launch and $300 million for prime mission operations remains consistent with the scope and cost approved at the start of the project,” Tahu added.

The space agency also announced Friday that the Mars 2020 rover will now move into the design and construction phase after the space vehicle passed the Key Decision Point C development milestone, Foust reports.

The report said NASA plans to launch the rover by mid-2020 and expects the spacecraft to reach Mars by February 2021 to gather and bring Martian soil and rock samples to Earth.

NASA on Monday awarded five companies – Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Orbital ATK and Space Systems/Loral – contracts to perform concept studies for a Mars orbiter mission.

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HRSA Grants $149M For Primary Care Provider Training & Education Programs
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HRSA Grants $149M For Primary Care Provider Training & Education Programs


HRSA Grants $149M For Primary Care Provider Training & Education ProgramsThe Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded more that $149 million in grants to healthcare entities and projects to support 12 training and education programs for primary care providers.

The Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday the grants looks to support workforce development and address diversity, distribution of clinicians and service quality.

HRSA Acting Administrator Jim Macrae said the awards will help educate and train providers that will be deployed in “high-need” areas as part of efforts to expand healthcare access in the U.S.

HRSA awarded the grants through the following programs:

  • Primary Care Training and Enhancement
  • Advance Education Nursing Traineeship
  • Advanced Nursing Education
  • Graduate Psychology Education
  • Academic Units for Primary Care Training and Enhancement
  • Nurse Anesthetist Traineeship
  • Nurse Education Practice Quality and Retention – Bachelor of Science in Nursing Practicums in Community Settings
  • Nurse Education Practice Quality and Retention – Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: Behavioral Health Integration
  • Nurse Faculty Loan Program
  • Nursing Workforce Diversity
  • Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award
  • Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students

The complete list of grantees can be found on HRSA’s website.

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U.S., Singapore Troops Conduct Maritime Combat Training Through CARAT Exercise
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U.S., Singapore Troops Conduct Maritime Combat Training Through CARAT Exercise


missile guided destroyerService personnel from the U.S. and Singapore have begun a two-week annual military exercise at Changi Naval Base in Singapore in an effort to train servicemembers on land- and maritime-based missions in multiple combat areas.

The U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps held the opening ceremonies for the 22nd Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training exercise Tuesday with Singapore’s armed forces, the Navy reported Tuesday.

The exercise also aims to build up bilateral relations and interoperability as well as address maritime security issues faced by both countries, according to the report.

The U.S.’ and Singapore’s naval forces will participate in the inaugural ship anti-submarine warfare readiness/effectiveness measuring exercise that seeks to evaluate the capacity of aircraft and surface ships to detect submarines.

Other at-sea training activities at CARAT Singapore 2016 include gunnery and air defense exercises, surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare training, cross-deck helicopter as well as visit, board, search and seizure operations.

The Navy and Marine Corps will use several U.S. assets at the training exercise such as USNS Millinocket (T-EPF-3) expeditionary fast transport ship and Arleigh Burke-class destroyer ships USS Spruance (DDG 111) and USS Stethem (DDG 63).

Both U.S. service branches also conduct bilateral, annual naval exercises with the armed forces of Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Timor-Leste and the Philippines as part of the CARAT program.

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ONR Holds 9th Annual RoboBoat Competition in Virginia
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ONR Holds 9th Annual RoboBoat Competition in Virginia


ONR ImageThe Office of Naval Research held the ninth annual RoboBoat Competition in Virginia in which 13 high school and college student teams participated in robotics programming and development activities.

Teams had to complete two mandatory tasks that tested the design quality and propulsion, speed, navigation and basic sensing functions of the autonomous surface vehicles they built, ONR said Friday.

The boats also underwent five mission challenges that sought to demonstrate functions such as obstacle avoidance, automated docking, acoustic beacon positioning, recovery and communications.

“This competition really tests the engineering design and autonomous capabilities of the boat as well as helps these students develop the engineering skills needed to be successful in a possible future in the naval research community,” said Kelly Cooper, a program officer at the ship systems and engineering research division of ONR’s sea warfare and weapons department.

“We want them to walk away with experience and understanding of how their skills can be used to help the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Coast Guard and the nation.”

The teams were comprised of students from Georgia Institute of Technology, Florida Atlantic University, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Daytona Beach Homeschoolers, University of Ulsan, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Old Dominion University, SRM University, U.S. Naval Academy, Universitas Indonesia, University of Michigan and the University of West Florida.

Georgia Tech was the biggest winner with the top prize of $10,000 as well as a smaller prize between $500 and $1,000 in a special award category.

ONR and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Foundation sponsored the event.

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Lamar Smith Seeks OPM Response on Cyber Posture, Data Breaches
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Lamar Smith Seeks OPM Response on Cyber Posture, Data Breaches


cybersecurityHouse Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) has asked acting Office of Personnel Management chief Beth Cobert for documents and responses on inquiries related to OPM’s cybersecurity posture and causes of data breaches in the agency.

Smith said in that letter to Cobert sent Tuesday the Government Accountability Office has conducted a study that identified foreign cyber attacks as a most frequent threat to government computer systems that include OPM’s as a result of ineffective implementation of access controls.

Smith wants information on OPM’s staff capacity for oversight on contractor-operated information and information systems as well as the organization’s strategies to comply with National Institute of Standards and Technology guidelines.

Other questions in the letter tackle foreign access to sensitive information and personally identifiable information through systems or databases under OPM contractors and Office of Management and Budget‘s CyberStat Review Sessions after last year’s OPM data breach.

Smith asked Cobert’s team to send requested documents and responses to the questions by August 5.

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Air Force Space Command Details New Mission Force in White Paper; John Hyten Comments
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Air Force Space Command Details New Mission Force in White Paper; John Hyten Comments


Gen. John Hyten
Gen. John Hyten

The Air Force Space Command has released details of the newly implemented Space Mission Force in a white paper posted on the command’s website.

The white paper shows two main functions of the Space Mission Force to establish desired skills for responses to threats and to adjust force presentation and command and control constructs, the command said Friday.

“The Space Mission Force construct is really quite simple; we are revamping our crews to respond appropriately to threats in a dynamic environment,” said Gen. John Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command.

The Space Mission Force’s goal is to standardize how space forces operate their weapon systems and address threats in contested and operationally-limited environments, the command says.

SMF will create the Ready Spacecrew Program to train space forces and help combatant commanders schedule available forces based on readiness.

Space operations crews will begin their training through a four to six-month rotation cycle before they join the Space Mission Task Force to apply their skills in real-world scenarios.

Navy Eyes ‘Remora’ Concept in Future Underwater Drones; Michael Jabaley Comments
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Navy Eyes ‘Remora’ Concept in Future Underwater Drones; Michael Jabaley Comments


Michael Jabaley Jr.
Michael Jabaley Jr.

The U.S. Navy is considering the potential use of a robotic system patterned after the sucker-headed fish Remora to deploy future underwater drones in the sea, Defense One reported Sunday.

Rear Adm. Michael Jabaley, Navy program executive officer for submarines, told a Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion the remora fish presents a new way for submarines and unmanned undersea vehicles to coordinate, Caroline Houck reports.

“Those are the little fish that suck onto the big fish and go along, and seem to not affect the big fish at all, ride in the stream, and then when it’s time for them to go off and do something, they do, and then they come back,” Jabaley noted.

Houck writes the concept is part of the Navy’s effort to explore new ways of bringing underwater drones to the sea domain in order to bypass the government’s long acquisition process.

“Everything we have done to date has been through repurposing of an existing interface between the submarine and the ocean,” he said at the event, according to Defense One.

Jabaley envisions a new class of attack submarines that succeeds the Virginia class and that would integrate UUVs in a biomimetic manner, Houck reports.

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