Eglin gets Marine F-35 next week

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The first Marine F-35 is expected to arrive at the Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Training Center in Northwest Florida next week. The F-35C will be flown from the Lockheed Martin manufacturing center in Fort Worth, Texas, by the military's first F-35 pilots, according to the base. There are three variants of the F-35, one a conventional takeoff and landing variant, one designed for carrier landings and one a vertical takeoff and landing version. The arrival of the F-35 at Eglin will bring to seven the number of F-35s at the base. Eventually, the base will have 59 Joint Strike Fighters. (Source: Tcp, 12/09/11) Previous post on F-35 "hot spots."

SSC to test Blue Origin engines

Another commercial engine will be tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., next spring, according to NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver. She made the announcement while visiting Blue Origin in Kent, Wash., Thursday. The company is one of NASA's commercial partners developing systems to reach low Earth orbit as part of the Commercial Crew Development Program. Garver said Blue Origin has delivered its BE-3 engine thrust chamber assembly, the engine's combustion chamber and nozzle, to SSC, where testing will begin in April 2012 on the E-1 Test Stand. The company is developing a reusable launch vehicle, designed to take off and land vertically, and an escape system for its crewed spacecraft. "We're delighted Blue Origin is taking advantage of Stennis, a center with a long record of propulsion testing from the dawn of the Space Age, to test the rocket engines of the future," Garver said. (Source: NASA, 12/08/11)

Base marks 20th as "Tree City"

MILTON, Fla. -- Naval Air Station Whiting Field marked its 20th consecutive year as a National Arbor Day Foundation "Tree City, USA." The base celebrated the platinum anniversary of its green leadership by planting a sapling river birch on the grounds of the air station's fire department Tuesday. The National Arbor Day Foundation sets four standards that a town or installation must meet in order to achieve the designation. Whiting is the longest-serving military "Tree City USA." (Source: NNS, 12/08/11) The base in Northwest Florida trains naval helicopter and fixed-wing aviators.

Workers OK contract extension

Unionized Boeing machinists approved a four-year contract extension that likely ends a federal complaint over the opening of a non-union assembly plant in South Carolina. Union officials say that 74 percent of voting members chose to approve the deal. The union represents 28,000 workers in Washington, Oregon and Kansas. Boeing promised that if workers approved the pact, the company would build the new version of the 737 in the Puget Sound region. (Source: AP via Fox News, News Tribune, Business Wire, Seattle Times, 12/07/11) Gulf Coast note: Boeing has several operations in the Gulf Coast.

SLS booster to be discussed

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- NASA will host an industry day at the Marshall Space Flight Center to share information on an upcoming NASA Research Announcement for the Space Launch System's advanced booster. Marshall is leading the design and development of the SLS. The 130-metric ton vehicle will require an advanced booster with a significant increase in thrust over existing U.S. liquid or solid boosters. Its first full-scale test flight is set for 2017. The industry day is Dec. 15 at 9 a.m. CST in the Morris Auditorium in Marshall's building 4200. (Source: NASA, 12/07/11) Gulf Coast note: Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, are involved in the SLS project.

Contract: Raytheon, $34.6M

Raytheon Co., Andover, Mass., was awarded a $34,627,623 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide for the development and management services for the systems under the Product Management Office for Integrated Tactical Systems. Work will be performed in Andover, Mass., Huntsville, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla., with an estimated completion date of May 31, 2012. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/07/11)

Upgraded powerpack ready to test

J-2X powerpack at A-1 stand. NASA photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- An upgraded J-2X powerpack has been installed on the A-1 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center and will be tested next month. The powerpack that was installed Monday consists of a gas generator and turbopumps. The powerpack pumps liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the J-2X's main combustion chamber to produce the needed thrust. The Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne J-2X is designed to provide 294,000 pounds of thrust, up from the 230,000-pound capability of the original J-2 used in the Apollo program. It took two years to modify the A-1 stand for the test series. (Source: NASA, 12/06/11)

Manned, unmanned share intel

SAN DIEGO -- A Fire Scout unmanned helicopter successfully sent sensor data to the cockpit display of a MH-60 helicopter during a Navy and Northrop Grumman demonstration in October. The demonstration near Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., paves the way for improving the speed at which field commanders can make decisions during military operations. Until now, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data gathered by Fire Scout has been sent to its host ship for further dissemination. During the demonstration, crew members aboard a nearby Coast Guard boat also viewed Fire Scout's sensor data in real time using a remote terminal. (Source: Northrop Grumman, 12/06/11) Previous: New squadron to use MH-60 and Fire Scout. Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.

Third flight academy launched

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Escambia High School became the third school in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties to create a flight academy. The National Flight Academy at Naval Air Station Pensacola partnered with the district to create an Aviation Classroom Experience, a game-based learning environment that aims to teach students skills in science, technology, engineering and math. The classroom is equipped with 31 computers with flight simulator software, along with three full-sized flight simulators. The other area schools with flight academies are Warrington Middle School in Escambia County and Milton High School in Santa Rosa County. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 12/05/11)

Millions in work on the table

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is ready to put $200 million of work for the heavy launch Space Launch System on the table. NASA announced its intentions Dec. 1 and modified the announcement Dec. 2 on the government contracting website fbo.gov. The agency said it will issue a "Draft Research Announcement" around Dec. 12. NASA is seeking research proposals to meet the "goal of reducing risk in the areas of affordability, performance, and reliability" in the new rocket's booster, scheduled to make its first flight in 2017. (Source: Huntsville Times, 12/05/11) Gulf Coast note: Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, are both involved in the SLS project.

Big biofuel purchase made

F/A 18 with green markings. Navy photo

WASHINGTON -- The Defense Logistics Agency is buying 450,000 gallons of drop-in biofuel, accelerating demonstration of a homegrown fuel source that can reduce dependence on foreign oil. The biofuel is made from a blend of non-food waste from the Louisiana-based Dynamic Fuels LLC and algae produced by Solazyme. The fuel will be used in the Navy's demonstration of a Green Strike Group in the summer of 2012 during the Rim of the Pacific Exercise. The biofuel will be mixed with aviation gas or marine diesel fuel for use in the demonstration. In preparation for the demonstration, the Navy recently completed testing of all aircraft, including F/A-18 and all six Blue Angels and the V-22 Osprey, and has successfully tested the RCB-X (riverine command boat), training patrol craft, self defense test ship, and conducted full-scale gas turbine engine testing. (Source: NNS, 12/05/11) Gulf Coast note: Dynamic Fuels, a joint venture of Tyson Foods Inc., and Syntroleum Corp., is building a synthetic fuels plant in Geismar, La., between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, to turn animal byproducts such as beef tallow and pork and chicken fat into renewable diesel; the Blue Angels are based at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.; riverine craft are used by special warfare units at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Orion water landing test set

A test version of the Orion crew capsule will take its final splash of the year Dec. 13 at the Hydro Impact Basin of NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. Testing began this summer to certify the Orion spacecraft for water landings. Since July, engineers have conducted six tests from different angles, heights and pitches to simulate varying sea conditions and impacts Orion could face upon landing in the Pacific Ocean. The Hydro Impact Basin is 115 feet long, 90 feet wide and 20 feet deep. (Source: NASA, 12/05/11) Gulf Coast note: Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans assembles the Orion crew capsule.

F-35 alt engine work ends

General Electric and Rolls Royce stopped financing their F136 turbofan designed for the F-35. The two companies had been privately funding the developmental effort after the Defense Department formally terminated the project in April. The decision marks the end of a 15-year effort to develop an alternative to the Pratt and Whitney F135 engine that powers the Joint Strike Fighter. (Source: Defense News, 12/02/11) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the F-35 training center; Rolls-Royce and GE have operations in the Gulf Coast region.

Measure protects Eglin research

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said he succeeded in passing a measure he believes can prevent Eglin's Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation function from being snatched away by another base during any pending Pentagon cuts. There is no companion measure in the House version. A conference committee is to be selected to combine the House and Senate versions of the bill. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 12/02/11)

Contract: Boeing, $125.9M

Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $125,917,979 firm-fixed-price contract for a quantity of 4,977 Lot 16 Guided Vehicle kits procured for Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) purposes. The JDAM weapon system provides the Air Force and Navy with an improved aerial delivery capability for existing 500-, 1,000-, and 2,000-pound bombs. The JDAM is a strap-on kit with Inertial Navigation System/Global Positioning System capability. This procurement action is an option exercised as a separate contract. Work will be performed at St. Charles, Mo., and is expected to be completed May 31, 2014. ACC/EBDK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/02/11)

Contract: GCC and CCI, $10M

GCC/Thomco 1, LLC JV, Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and CCI Group, LLC, Shalimar, Fla., are being awarded a $10,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to contract for Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements maintenance, repair, and minor construction efforts. Work will be performed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. AAC/PKO, Eglin Air Force Base is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 12/02/11)

JSF testing reveals "hot spots"

Testing of the F-35 has shown more "hot spots" in the airframe than expected, the program chief said. Vice Adm. David Venlet recommends slowing production of the fighter until the issues are resolved. The fatigue hot spots are not a threat to safety or the mission, but need to be fixed to make sure the plane's structural parts last the 8,000 hours of service life required, he said. (Source: AOL Defense, 12/01/11). Meanwhile, a senior Defense Department official said the Marine Corps could start training new students to fly the F-35B short take-off vertical landing version of the F-35 in August 2012. (Source: Defense News, 11/30/11) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the center that will train F-35 pilots.

J-2X combustion stability tested

J-2x combustion stability test. NASA photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - NASA conducted a stability test firing of the J-2X rocket engine Thursday on the A-2 test stand at Stennis Space Center in South Mississippi. The upper-stage engine is being developed to carry humans farther into space than ever before. The 80-second test firing focused on characterizing the new engine's combustion stability. During the test, a controlled explosion was initiated inside the engine's combustion chamber to introduce an energetic pulse of vibrations not expected during nominal operations. Data from this and future combustion stability tests will help engineers understand more about the engine's performance and robustness during operation. The engine is being developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and will provide upper-stage power for NASA's new Space Launch System. The SLS will carry the Orion spacecraft, its crew, cargo, equipment and science experiments to space. (Source: NASA, 12/01/11)

SSC security contract awarded

NASA has selected ISS Action Inc. of Jamaica, N.Y., to provide protective services at the agency's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss. The firm, fixed price contract consists of a base period of eight months and four one-year option periods; with a total value of $25.9 million. ISS Action Inc. will provide security services at Stennis, including physical security operations, personnel security, access control, badging, 911 dispatch center, access monitoring, traffic control and locksmith services. (Source: PRNewswire, 12/01/11)

Video game feature MOAB

A huge bomb developed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is a featured weapon in a video game. A digital version of the Massive Ordinance Air Blast, or MOAB, is a featured weapon in the game "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," published by Activision for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. When the 30-foot, 21,600-pound MOAB was developed in 2003, it was the largest non-nuclear weapon in the Air Force's inventory. It was detonated at Eglin twice. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 11/30/11)