Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, have simulated the formation of individual and clusters of stars through the use of a NASA supercomputer.

The group of scientists used a UC Berkeley-built code to create and run a three-dimensional simulation of stellar formation on NASA’s Pleiades supercomputer, NASA said Wednesday.

The Pleiades supercomputer is based at the space agency’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley and works to generate results that are comparable with observation data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Scientists plan to use UC Berkeley’s code to simulate the development of stellar disks or pancake-shaped accumulation of dust and gas around the protostars, which are associated with planet formation.

The U.S. Air Force has selected 10 enlisted airmen to participate in an October RQ-4 Global Hawk pilot training course as part of an initiative to develop future operating concepts within the service branch’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance enterprise.

The Air Force said Wednesday it expects the first batch of enlisted airmen to graduate from the course in 2017 and upon completion undergo the same training the branch’s remotely-piloted aircraft pilots tackle in terms of flight training, rules and responsibilities.

“Looking at new ways to operate within our RPA enterprise is critical given that ISR missions continue to be the number one most requested capability by our combatant commanders,” said Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff.

“We’ll take this important step in a deliberate manner so that we can learn what works and what we’ll need to adjust as we integrate our highly capable enlisted force into flying this weapons system,” added Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James.

The service branch added new enlisted pilots will undergo undergraduate RPA training on how to fly DA-20 Falcon units, as well as RPA instrument qualification and Fundamentals courses and Global Hawk basic qualification programs.

RQ-4 Global Hawk is an unmanned aircraft built by Northrop Grumman to provide global all-weather, day or night intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support for joint combatant forces in worldwide peacetime, contingency and wartime operations.

A U.S. Army expeditionary sustainment command that works as a deployable command post has acquired a communication system as an alternative platform in an effort to address immediate organic signal requirements, the Army reported Tuesday.

The 593rd ESC used the Rapid Fielding Initiative to purchase program manager-based communications equipment in order to mitigate risks posed by the lack of communication tools, writes Brig. Gen. John “Jack” Haley, 593rd ESC commander.

The report said the equipment consists of satellite communications systems such as secure internet protocol router network/non-secure IP router access point or SNAP land-based satellite terminal and a broadband global area network antenna.

Since the existing BGAN antenna is no longer approved for use on the Defense Information Systems Agency-run International Maritime Satellite Network, the program executive office for command, control and communications-tactical has started to develop BGAN devices and other communications systems.

Haley noted that the 593rd ESC is not authorized to use the SNAP terminal, Transportable Tactical Command Communications systems and other satcom equipment.

“However, as part of its communications mitigation plan, the ESC purchased one reset SNAP terminal plus optional attachments to make it a tri-band, tactical network solution capable of operating with current DISA networks and architecture,” Haley added.