NASA awards LN2, LOX contracts

NASA picked three companies to provide liquid nitrogen (LN2) and liquid oxygen (LOX) to six NASA facilities. Linde LLC of Murray Hill, N.J., will supply 256,500 tons of LN2 and 173,000 tons of LOX to Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. The three-year base period has two one-year options with a maximum value of $28.8 million. The contract begins July 1. LN2 is used for pneumatic actuation, purging, cooling and pressurization of equipment and LOX is an oxidizer in cryogenic rocket engines. Companies chosen to supply other NASA facilities are Air Products and Chemicals of Allentown, Pa., and Air Liquide Industrial of Houston. (Source: NASA, 05/29/09)

Push on for Tyndall fighters

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – The news that the Air Force will speed up the drawdown of F-15s at Tyndall Air Force Base is firing up efforts to find a replacement. Rep. Jimmy Patronis wrote to the Secretary of the Air Force asking that F-35s be considered for Tyndall. He pointed out that the community is supportive of the Air Force mission. (Source: Panama City News Herald, 05/28/09) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will become home of the F-35 training center, but all branches of the military are considering additional bases for the joint-service fighter.

Test stand rises over Stennis

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – Structural work has been finished on the A-3 test stand that will be used to test engines for the Constellation Program. Work has now begun on general construction. When completed, the A-3 stand will test J-2X engines that will propel the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. The A-3 can simulate altitudes up to 100,000 feet and can withstand a million pounds of thrust. The stand has a completion date for May 2011. (Source: Sun Herald, 05/28/09)

Early Fire Scout test for Army planned

Northrop Grumman plans to test-fly for the Army its own Fire Scout unmanned helicopter next month in Yuma, Ariz. The Fire Scout, called an XM157 Class IV UAV by the Army, is part of the embattled Future Combat Systems program. The test is coming far earlier than the one the Army plans in 2011. The Fire Scout is already being test-flown by the Navy. (Source: Aviation Week, 05/29/09) Gulf Coast note: Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss.

AMRAAM completes test

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Raytheon’s newest variant of the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile completed its seventh test flight March 19 when an AIM-120D AMRAAM was fired from an F-15D fighter. Initial analysis shows the missile achieved all primary test objectives. The Navy and Air Force have tested AIM-120D on the F/A-18 E/F and F-15C/D fighters. (Source: Raytheon, 05/29/09)

Blue Angels trim practice

PENSACOLA, Fla. – Because of budget constraints, the Navy is cutting one day of practice for the Blue Angels flight demonstration team. The F/A-18 Hornets will no longer practice on Tuesday, but will continue Wednesday sessions. None of the remaining air show appearances are being canceled. The team is based at Naval Air Station Pensacola. (Sources: Pensacola News Journal, AP via Miami Herald, 05/27/09) Note: After cutting two Tuesday practices, the team later returned to Tuesday sessions, according to reports.

Contract: Far East Const., $13.8M

Far East Construction Corp., Pensacola, Fla., was awarded a $13,750,756 contract for construction of parking lots and infrastructure. Buildings include the group support battalion logistics, tactical equipment maintenance facility, organization equipment storage facility and more. Work is to be performed in Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., with an estimated completion date of May 22, 2010. Corps of Engineers Mobile Regional Contracting Center, Mobile, Ala., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/27/09)

Contract: Broadmoor, $5.9M

Broadmoor LLC, Metairie, La., is being awarded $5,950,000 contract under a previously awarded contract for design and construction of a jet engine maintenance shop addition and an aircraft test cell foundation at Naval Air Station - Joint Reserve Base, New Orleans. Work will be performed in Belle Chase, La., and is expected to be completed by June 2010. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Southeast, Jacksonville, Fla., is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 05/27/09)

Tanker now in active wing

Boeing says three KC-767J aerial tankers have achieved initial operational capability and are now in an active air wing in the Japanese air force. The tankers were designated operational after a yearlong technical evaluation. A fourth plane will be delivered in the first quarter of 2010. (Source: Boeing, 05/26/09) Gulf Coast note: The KC-767 is expected to compete against the Northrop Grumman/EADS KC-45 for a $40 billion Air Force aerial tanker contract. Northrop hopes to build its planes in Mobile, Ala.

Airports get FAA funds

Mississippi airports will share $4.7 million in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker. Among them, Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport will get $2.2 million for a covered walkway from the parking area to terminal building. (Source: AP via Sun Herald, 05/27/09)

Eglin fuzed weapon test successful

WILMINGTON, Mass. - Textron Defense Systems said its Sensor Fuzed Weapon smart munition system completed three successful flight tests at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The tests used SFW units assembled at the new McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in Oklahoma. The Textron SFW, a cluster munition, has a redundant system - three modes - that cause warheads to self-destruct if they fail to find a target or are rendered inactive through the depletion of electrical firing energy after hitting the ground. (Source: Business Wire, 05/26/09)

Bolden nominated as NASA chief

Veteran space shuttle commander Charles F. Bolden Jr. has been nominated by President Obama to serve as NASA’s administrator. It's been four months since the departure of former administrator Mike Griffin, a rocket scientist appointed by the Bush administration to oversee the shuttle’s 2010 retirement and development of the Constellation Program, designed to return astronauts to the moon and beyond. (Source: Multiple, 05/23/09) Gulf Coast note: Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and Michoud Assembly Facility and the National Center for Advanced Manufacturing, both in New Orleans, are involved in NASA programs.

Eglin impact study draft ready

The first draft of a study on the compatibility between Eglin Air Force Base and the surrounding communities has been released and a series of public meetings has been scheduled. The study reviews the impact Eglin's mission and the base's projected growth stemming from the Base Realignment and Closure act. Comments from the meetings will be incorporated in the final version expected to be completed by July. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 05/22/09. The study can be accessed at the Daily News web site.)

StenniSphere sports new exhibit

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – The visitor center at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center, StenniSphere, has unveiled its latest permanent exhibit: Science on a Sphere, a 68-inch global presentation of planetary data of the past, present and future. StenniSphere is the third NASA visitor center to offer Science on a Sphere, a computer system that uses four projectors to show dynamic, revolving, animated views of Earth’s and other planets’ atmosphere, geography and more. Science on a Sphere was developed by NOAA about five years ago. Stennis is the 36th site to house the exhibit. (Source: NASA, 05/23/09)

Jet noise topic of meeting

NICEVILLE, Fla. - Sixty residents attended Eglin Air Force Base’s second town hall meeting Thursday to discuss the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center. About a third of Maj. Gen. C. R. Davis' presentation addressed plans to bed down the F-35s at Eglin and the options for noise mitigation. Davis assured the audience that the Air Force was doing all it could to consider ways to decrease noise. He said locating the center at other areas “begging for the airplane” is not an option. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 05/21/09)

Low-flying jet tests radar system

MOBILE, Ala. - A Coast Guard jet made six low passes – 300 to 500 feet – over the Mobile River near Austal USA Thursday, allowing radar tests aboard the littoral combat ship Independence. Austal is part of a General Dynamics Corp.-led team competing to build dozens of the warships. The Independence and a second LCS on order have aluminum trimaran hulls. A team led by Lockheed Martin Corp. delivered the first of its steel-hulled ships to the Navy in the fall and is working on a second vessel. (Source: Mobile Press Register, 05/22/09)

Airport dumps taxi deal

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Just before a federal court was to finish hearing a claim that the New Orleans Aviation Board rigged a competition for curbside taxicab management, airport officials killed the deal and promised to revise their procurement process. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 05/21/09)

AF likely to get tanker oversight

A Pentagon official said the Air Force is expected to resume control over the aerial tanker competition between Boeing and the Northrop Grumman/EADS team, according to Reuters. The Pentagon chief weapons buyer was given control over the program last summer after auditors faulted the Air Force's handling of the competition. Early this week, Aviation Week reported that the Pentagon had not decided if the Air Force or Pentagon acquisition chief would manage the upcoming competition. (Source: Reuters, 05/21/09) Gulf Coast note: Northrop/EADS plan to assemble the planes in Mobile, Ala., if they win the contract.

TSA gets more Rapiscan scanners

The Transportation Security Administration has awarded Rapiscan Systems a follow-on order of about $3 million for its Rapiscan 620DV Advanced Technology X-Ray scanning systems. The award for the baggage and parcel screening system for airports is one of the first made by TSA that uses economic stimulus funds. Rapiscan, of Torrance, Calif., is a global supplier of security inspection systems. (Source: Business Wire, 05/21/09) Gulf Coast note: Rapiscan has a manufacturing operation - Ferson Technologies/Rapiscan - in Ocean Springs, Miss.

Ares I parachutes tested

The first test of the Ares I rocket’s three main parachutes was completed Wednesday at the Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma, Ariz. The largest rocket parachutes ever manufactured – 150 feet in diameter and weighing 2,000 pounds each – they slow the descent of the rocket's spent first-stage motor, permitting recovery for use on future flights. Ares I, the first rocket in NASA's Constellation Program, is designed to launch explorers aboard the Orion crew capsule on journeys to the International Space Station, the moon and beyond. (Source: NASA, 05/20/09) Gulf Coast note: Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, are involved in the Constellation program.