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Axiom Space Astronauts Approved by NASA for Inaugural Private ISS Mission; VP of BD Michael López-Alegría Quoted
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Axiom Space Astronauts Approved by NASA for Inaugural Private ISS Mission; VP of BD Michael López-Alegría Quoted

Crew members poised to take flight in Axiom Space’s inaugural private astronaut mission to the International Space Station have been approved by NASA and its international affiliates.

Axiom Vice President of Business Development Michael López-Alegría will be mission commander of Axiom Mission 1 or Ax-1, while Larry Connor will pilot the craft and Mark Pathy and Eytan Stibbe will act as mission specialists, the space infrastructure developer announced on Wednesday.

López-Alegría, who is a former NASA astronaut, reports he is proud of the training the team has gone through to prepare for traveling to and performing research at the International Space Station.

He added that he is “glad to see them meet the standards required of all astronauts flying to station since Expedition 1. Ax-1 is focused on a huge amount of science and outreach activities, and we look forward now to finalizing that flight program.”

The four Axiom Space astronauts will be spending eight days aboard the ISS conducting a mix of science, education and commercial duties.

Axiom has said the crew will also be participating in an ISS U.S. National Laboratory-sponsored study regarding microgravity. Other activities are still under review and will be approved leading up to launch.

The crew is expected to take off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 30 on a tested SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, flying the route to and from the space station in Crew Dragon Endeavour.

Axiom Space has thus far been a key player in NASA’s goal to establish a low-Earth orbit economy. There are approved plans already underway for a second Axiom-led private astronaut mission and in January 2020 Axiom was chosen by NASA to conceive and realize commercial modules to attach to the ISS.

NASA’s ultimate goal is to create a sustainable commercial marketplace in low-Earth orbit that can be used as a training ground for deep space missions as well as facilitate trade and government transactions with a variety of customers.

Axiom Space Astronauts Approved by NASA for Inaugural Private ISS Mission; VP of BD Michael López-Alegría Quoted

If you’re interested in this topic, make sure to check out ExecutiveBiz’s upcoming event, the Dual-Use Technology in Space Defense Forum.

At this event, you’ll hear conversations and probing lines of questioning about how to the U.S. Space Force and private sector companies are attempting to create a viable industrial base in the space domain through dual-use technology with competing military and commercial appeal.

Click here to register for the forum now!

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Joseph Chapa Promoted to Chief Responsible AI Ethics Officer at Air Force
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Joseph Chapa Promoted to Chief Responsible AI Ethics Officer at Air Force

Joseph Chapa, lead for Air Staff’s artificial intelligence cross-functional team since July 2021, took on a new role as chief responsible AI ethics officer at the Department of the Air Force, FedScoop reported Tuesday.

The USAF lieutenant colonel previously served as staff officer at AF Warfighting Integration Capability, an organization responsible for identifying investment opportunities to expand the service’s warfighting capability portfolio.

Chapa logged more than 1,400 pilot hours, supported several military combat and humanitarian missions, and earned a PhD from the University of Oxford, according to his official website.

His appointment comes more than two months after the Defense Innovation Unit released Responsible AI Guidelines in a move to help the Department of Defense apply ethical principles of the technology to prototyping and acquisition programs with industry partners.

Joseph Chapa Promoted to Chief Responsible AI Ethics Officer at Air Force

Our sister site GovCon Wire is scheduled to host its 2nd Annual Air Force IT: Plans and Priorities Forum on March 9. Lauren Knausenberger, chief information officer at the Department of the Air Force and a 2022 Wash100 Award recipient, will headline the event to overview information technology initiatives for the Air and Space Forces. Visit the GovCon Wire Events page to sign up for the upcoming forum.

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Noblis Taps Bowhead to Market RunAcquisitions Program, Streamline Transactions; SVP Mile Corrigan Quoted
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Noblis Taps Bowhead to Market RunAcquisitions Program, Streamline Transactions; SVP Mile Corrigan Quoted

Science, technology and strategy services company Noblis has chosen Bowhead Cybersecurity Solutions to market its RunAcquisitions program.

The company announced Wednesday that Bowhead, which specializes in cyber technology within a stable of technical and professional services, will be a licensed reseller for the government transaction software.

“Bowhead has a strong presence within the federal government and specifically within the Department of Defense. This agreement will help significantly expand our presence and mission impacts in that area,” said Mile Corrigan, senior vice president of Noblis.

RunAcquisitions operates by facilitating interactions between vendor and government parties throughout the acquisition timeline. It guides users from application submission to task order close-out, striving to make the process more efficient while processing both smaller and governmentwide contracts.

The software also aims to be customizable based on a given contract and agency’s needs as well as delegate workloads to certain participants.

Mike Hundley, senior vice president of UIC Government Services, an organization of which Bowhead is a member, said Noblis and Bowhead were already collaborating to bring the product to customers prior to the deal. Hundley says the deal cements a fruitful partnership.

ExecutiveBiz recently conducted an interview with Mile Corrigan, where she discussed IT modernization efforts, her goals at Noblis and the launch of the company’s latest program, RunGrants.

In the interview, Corrigan said, “we’re also working to develop smart product integrations that meet the speed, scale and mission requirements at both the agency and enterprise level. Ultimately, Noblis’ objective is for our customers to feel like they hit the ‘easy’ button when working with us.”

This statement of purpose speaks to Noblis’ intentions with a program like RunAcquisitions.

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Air Force’s Luke Cropsey: FMS Enterprise to Undergo Digital Revolution in 2022
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Air Force’s Luke Cropsey: FMS Enterprise to Undergo Digital Revolution in 2022

Brig. Gen. Luke Cropsey, director of the Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate, is expecting the service’s Foreign Military Sales enterprise to experience a digital revolution in 2022, the Air Force Materiel Command reported Tuesday.

Cropsey, the Air Force’s FMS lead, stated that the data visualization and analytics capability and enterprise case portal developed in early 2019 will expand ubiquitous access and data transparency in FMS business systems in the following years.

DVA combines FMS data sources into a single feed for executive analysis and decision making, while ECP serves as a one-stop-shop for storing and sharing FMS case documents.

The two capabilities, Cropsey pointed out, are helping the Air Force change its workforce from its reactive posture to a proactive one in which the service could quickly respond to its partners’ requirements.

Aside from digitalization, the general is also eying the integration of FMS and acquisition operations in 2022, a milestone he said would improve synergy in personnel training and cross-flowing while minimizing overhead for meeting new defense FMS requirements.

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Lawmakers Push Congressional Leadership to Extend Pandemic Telehealth Authorities
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Lawmakers Push Congressional Leadership to Extend Pandemic Telehealth Authorities

A bipartisan group of 45 Senate and House members has urged congressional leaders to extend telehealth authorities as the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic remains indefinite.

In a joint letter published Friday, the lawmakers said Congress should ensure the government spending package they must pass this month will include expanded coverage of technology-based care and offer access certainty for Medicare beneficiaries.

“An extension of the telehealth authorities would provide assurance that the investments will be sustainable over the long term. It would also reassure patients that their care will not end abruptly,” the letter states.

The lawmakers noted an extension would give stakeholders more time to conduct an analysis of telehealth impact data and produce information that may guide Congress’ next legislative actions on the matter.

They added that more than 170 members of Congress support the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies for Health Act.

The missive was addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.

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Gene Dodaro: Federal CFOs Should Work With CIOs to Set IT Investment Priorities
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Gene Dodaro: Federal CFOs Should Work With CIOs to Set IT Investment Priorities

Gene Dodaro, U.S. comptroller general and head of the Government Accountability Office, said federal chief financial officers seeking to improve the state of information technology programs within their agencies should prioritize legacy IT systems, examine the results of audits into such systems and work with agency chief information officers. 

Dodaro told Deloitte in an interview published Friday on The Wall Street Journal that federal CFOs should collaborate with CIOs to come up with an enterprise architecture that employs a systems integration framework.

“A close working relationship between CFOs and CIOs is critical; it will help the CFO set funding and investment priorities and put in place a monitoring program to oversee ongoing IT investments,” he noted.

Dodaro said CFOs should begin establishing priorities once they fully understand the IT needs of their agencies and examine the skills needed for Agile development.

“GAO issued an Agile project guide schedule that can help CFOs and CIOs institute leading practices, including guides on estimating costs and setting necessary requirements for new systems,” he noted.

Dodaro shared his views on the Department of the Treasury’s shared services approach and his insights on the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act and how FITARA helps agencies manage their software licenses and advance use of incremental software development.

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Eric Fanning, Robert Hale, Raj Shah, Ellen Lord Named to Defense Budgeting Reform Commission
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Eric Fanning, Robert Hale, Raj Shah, Ellen Lord Named to Defense Budgeting Reform Commission

Leaders of House and Senate Armed Services Committees have appointed former Department of Defense officials to a 14-member commission tasked with evaluating the effectiveness of DOD’s planning, programming, budgeting and execution process.

The new members of the Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution Reform are Eric Fanning, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association and former secretary of the Army; Robert Hale, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former DOD comptroller and chief financial officer; Raj Shah, managing partner of Shield Capital and former head of the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental; and Ellen Lord, senior adviser at The Chertoff Group and former undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, the House panel said Tuesday.

Fanning, Hale, Shah and Lord are all previous Wash100 Award recipients.

HASC Chairman Adam Smith, D-Calif., and HASC Ranking Member Mike Rogers, R-Ala., named Fanning and Shah, respectively, to the commission. SASC Chairman Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., selected Hale and Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., appointed Lord to the panel.

The appointees will also help explore potential alternatives to the current PPBE process and practices and come up with policy recommendations that will enable the Pentagon to deploy operational capabilities to maintain its advantage over near-peer competitors.

In accordance with the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, the commission should submit its final report to the DOD secretary and House and Senate Armed Services panels no later than Sept. 24, 2023.

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Senators Agree With DNI Over Need to Prioritize Efforts to Improve Declassification System
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Senators Agree With DNI Over Need to Prioritize Efforts to Improve Declassification System

Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said they are encouraged by programs within the Intelligence Community to automate the declassification review process and welcome the move of Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines to recognize the risks posed by deficiencies in the current classification system to national security.

“We agree with the DNI that efforts such as these need to be better prioritized and funded, Wyden and Moran said in a joint statement published Thursday.

“There must also be a process by which the most effective modernization processes are identified as best practices and applied across the government,” they added.

Haines, a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, responded to an October 2021 letter by the lawmakers regarding the need to reform the U.S. declassification system. She also provided examples of declassification efforts that are underway within the IC.

The lawmakers also called for reforms of executive orders that govern classification and declassification.

“We have asked the DNI to coordinate with the National Security Council to make needed updates and we intend to reach out to the Administration to address this critically important reform,” Moran and Wyden noted.

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Anne Neuberger Arrives in Brussels to Prepare NATO for Potential Russian Cyberattacks
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Anne Neuberger Arrives in Brussels to Prepare NATO for Potential Russian Cyberattacks

The White House on Tuesday deployed Anne Neuberger, the country’s deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, to NATO to help allies disrupt potential Russian cyberattacks on Ukraine and prepare for possible retaliatory attacks on the U.S. and Europe once the alliance invokes sanctions on Russia, The New York Times reported.

Neuberger’s visit highlighted intelligence assessments that cyberattacks on Ukraine’s government ministries, electric grid and communications systems would likely come before a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“We have been warning for weeks and months, both publicly and privately, that cyberattacks could be part of a broad-based Russian effort to destabilize and further invade Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement.

Nueberger, a two-time Wash100 Award winner, was scheduled to speak with the North Atlantic Council in Brussels to inform them of possible disruptive cyberactions during a conflict. She will then travel to Poland to meet with officials in charge of cyberdefense efforts.

Ukraine is set to perform experiments in the next few weeks that include connecting to other power grids in Europe and detaching from Russia’s electric supply network.

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Idaho National Lab Completes Prototype of DOE Electrically Heated Microreactor
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Idaho National Lab Completes Prototype of DOE Electrically Heated Microreactor

Machinists from the Idaho National Laboratory have built a full-scale prototype of a microreactor that uses an external electricity source for heating instead of the traditional nuclear fission process.

INL said Monday the Microreactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation system will undergo trials to verify the design of an envisioned 100-kilowatt thermal reactor for a planned U.S. nuclear microgrid.

The MARVEL prototype, developed under a Department of Energy project, will be used to test the reactor’s natural circulation for cooling, electricity-generating engines for removing heat decay, four control drums for absorbing and reflecting neutrons in case of an accident and various remote monitoring capabilities.

According to Yasir Arafat, MARVEL technical and project lead, testing a prototype is required because models alone could replicate flow and heat dynamics inside a reactor to a high degree of reliability and confidence.

Once trials are completed, INL plans to develop and install a demonstration microreactor at its Transient Reactor Test facility and achieve criticality with the energy source by 2024 for external research work.

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