HOUSTON — NASA’s curation of rare and scientifically valuable Moon rocks, meteorites, comet and interstellar dust samples is in need of sweeping reforms, according to a Dec. 8 audit by the agency’s inspector general. The audit of the Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at Johnson Space Center uncovered faulty record keeping, lapses by outside researchers in returning irreplaceable astromaterials out on loan and other control issues. One scientist managed to hold a loaned lunar sample for 35 years without carrying out a single study.
PARIS — EADS-Astrium will serve as prime contractor for a gap-filling environmental monitoring satellite under a €45 million ($60 million) contract awarded by the European Space Agency (ESA), the company’s U.K. satellite manufacturing division announced Dec. 8. Dubbed the Sentinel-5 Precursor, the 7-year mission to monitor pollution in the Earth’s atmosphere comprises the 2015 launch of a single satellite designed to maintain a steady stream of science data before Europe’s Sentinel-5 instrument becomes operational near the end of the decade.
With a week before a continuing resolution funding the Defense Department expires, lawmakers are hoping to reach an agreement to move nine different spending bills together. “We need to act quickly to keep the government operating,” says Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, during a meeting kicking off the process of reconciling the House and Senate versions of all of the bills.
Iran is circulating a video of the crashed RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aircraft that shows, as Tehran claimed, a largely intact aircraft with damage only to the underside. However, the video also shows that the aircraft has suffered no fire or weapons damage from missiles or anti-aircraft artillery.
PARIS — French electronics giant Thales Group announced a deal Dec. 7 to acquire tactical satellite communications terminal maker Tampa Microwave, a privately held U.S. company that will operate as a subsidiary of Clarksburg, Md.-based Thales Communications, a Thales USA company. The acquisition is expected to give Thales Communications the ability to support growing demand by the U.S. Defense Department for wideband voice, video and data technology at the tactical level.
After conducting a series of intensive reviews, the Pentagon expects to send a revised number to Congress on the cost of ownership for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter early next year, says Vice Adm. David Venlet, the government’s JSF program executive.
PARIS — Science chiefs from the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos have begun laying the ground work to redesign a two-pronged robotic Mars mission to accommodate greater participation by Russia. The ExoMars mission was upended earlier this year by uncertainty surrounding NASA’s ability to fund the joint campaign.
LANGKAWI, Malaysia — Australia’s air force appears dead set on getting its Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF), and is reluctant to entertain the idea of adding more Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets. When asked if there may be an opportunity to sell more Super Hornets to Australia, the chief of the Australian air force, Air Marshal Geoff Brown, says “there’s always an opportunity.” But he is also focused on ensuring the JSF procurement is a success.
ARMY LAYOFFS: The U.S. Army has announced which of its commands will be hit by its previously announced goal of cutting 8,700 civilian positions by Sept. 30, 2012. On Dec.
LANGKAWI, Malaysia — Australia needs to examine upgrading its air bases in the northern part of the country, now that it is clear they will also be used by the U.S. military, says the chief of the Australian air force, Air Marshal Geoff Brown.
The leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee are following up on an internal Pentagon memo, asking Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to delve more deeply into concerns raised about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s training program. In an Oct. 21 memo, the Pentagon’s top testing official, Michael Gilmore, laid out a number of safety concerns about beginning training flights at Eglin AFB, Fla., saying that starting to train on the conventional-takeoff-and-landing version of the aircraft before it is mature increases the possibility of “a serious mishap.”
PARIS — Franco-Italian Thales Alenia Space signed an agreement with China Great Wall Industry Corp. Dec. 5 to launch the Turkmenistan government’s first telecommunications satellite. The agreement follows a November meeting at which Thales Alenia Space and the Turkmenistan Ministry of Communications signed a contract for the design, manufacture and on-orbit delivery of the spacecraft.
Global spending on cybersecurity programs amounted to about $60 billion in 2011, and is expected to grow about 10% every year over the next three to five years, according to a new analysis published by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The report identifies the U.S. as the largest market, accounting for more than half of total spending, followed by Japan, then the U.K.
The recent successful submarine operations of U.S. Navy SSN attack boats and SSGN guided-missile vessels showcase the need to maintain and augment the strike potential for the subs, as well as the value of performing or supporting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
Advocates for LightSquared are using a time-honored Washington technique in arguing that the company should be allowed to proceed with plans to build a 4G wireless broadband network — they’re reframing the debate, painting objections about interference with GPS signals as needlessly complex. “Our opponents have turned basic engineering issues into a political debate,” LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja told a Capitol Hill audience Dec. 7.
HEAVY LIFTING: On Dec. 15 NASA will host an industry day at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., to share information on the advanced booster for the agency’s Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket. Marshall leads SLS development for NASA. The 130-metric-ton SLS will require an advanced booster with a significant increase in thrust over existing U.S. liquid or solid boosters, according to the agency. Its first full-scale test flight is set for 2017.
NEW DELHI — India has issued a letter of request to buy an additional nine more C-130J transport aircraft, Defense Minister A.K. Antony told parliament Dec. 7. On Oct. 26, the Pentagon notified the U.S. Congress of a possible sale to India of six Lockheed Martin C-130Js, plus associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support, for an estimated $1.2 billion, on top of six of the airlifters ordered for the same price in 2008.
HOUSTON — At a time when other NASA contractors have been downsizing to adjust to the post-shuttle era, Qinetiq North America has seen its workforce grow as it helps the agency tackle future challenges in life-support systems and other areas. At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Qinetiq North America is attempting to place biological approaches to advanced life-support system development for human deep-space exploration on a par with traditional physical/chemical strategies.
LANGKAWI, Malaysia — Indonesia’s air force wants more Lockheed Martin C-130s and to also have a modern airborne early warning (AEW) capability, but these two procurements appear to be further down the line.
NEW DELHI — India’s indigenous Airborne Early Warning & Control System (AEW&C), which is being built on a modified Embraer EMB-145 aircraft in Brazil, made its first flight Dec. 6.
LOS ANGELES — The long-running saga of selling F-16s to Iraq has come to an end with Lockheed Martin winning an $835 million foreign military sales contract to provide 18 aircraft. The Defense Department award on Dec. 5 covers 12 F-16C and six F-16D Block 52 aircraft, plus spares and support, and runs through May 2018. The work is expected to keep the production line in Fort Worth running through 2015 and is the first firm F-16 order for Lockheed Martin in more than a year.
House and Senate lawmakers have agreed to fund defense at $518 billion for fiscal 2012, lawmakers and defense lobbyists say. The bill is likely to be included in an omnibus spending package that could clear both chambers before current continuing resolutions expire Dec. 16. And although problems on policy issues involving spending bills could make the process bumpy, lawmakers and aides are hopeful of reaching agreements that will avert a government shutdown.
