Friday, June 29, 2018
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Orion Program Update:ESM Construction at Full Speed in Germany;Capsule Software and Display Mini-Sim;Prepping for AA-2
Here is some of the Orion Program work being carried out as the launch of the uncrewed test Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) rapidly draws near (as early as December 2019) and the first crewed mission,EM-2,is not too far over the horizon (2023):
At the Airbus Defence & Space clean room in Bremen,Germany,the Orbital Manoeuvering System engine for EM-1's European Service Module (ESM) has been mated to the ESM.The OMS engine is the main engine for getting the Orion spacecraft into deep space.It is the 33rd and last engine for the ESM.The others include 8 auxiliary thrusters and 24 attitude control thrusters.
The first ESM is on a full-rate production schedule,as Airbus technicians work in shifts 24 hours a day to meet the goal of shipping it to the US this summer.
Also in Bremen,the structure of the second ESM,to be used for EM-2,the first crewed Orion mission that will take humans farther into outer space than ever before,some 40,000 miles beyond the Moon,has arrived.Technicians have begun installing its almost 7.5 miles of cables;fuel;water;air tanks;computers;engines;and so on that support the crew module and up to four crew members.
The ESM also protects the spacecraft from launch energy and vibrations from the new Space Launch System rocket;moreover,it shields the crew from micrometeoroids and space debris.*
Congratulations to the ESM Assembly,Integration &Test team from Airbus,ArianeGroup and NASA for their excellent work.*
Meanwhile,the Orion Rapid Prototype Lab (RPL) team of astronauts and flight controllers designed and executed complex,innovative simulations of newly prototyped Orion crew on-orbit burn display formats and electronic procedures.They thus gained valuable experience using the displays and procedures in a more realistic scenario for the crew members and ground controllers,NASA said.This will help validate or identify areas needing updates so key changes can be made more expeditiously and economically in the software development cycle.
Also on the team for this fifth in a series of mini-sims were members from Aerospace Applications North America;Barrios Technology;NASA Ames Research Center;and interns from NASA and Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies Inc.*
At NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans,Louisiana,Lockheed Martin technicians completed the forward structure to cone weld on the EM-2 crew module pressure vessel.The Orion Program team members at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston from LMT and NASA continued outfitting the Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) capsule for its critical flight test at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,Florida in April 2019.*
At the Airbus Defence & Space clean room in Bremen,Germany,the Orbital Manoeuvering System engine for EM-1's European Service Module (ESM) has been mated to the ESM.The OMS engine is the main engine for getting the Orion spacecraft into deep space.It is the 33rd and last engine for the ESM.The others include 8 auxiliary thrusters and 24 attitude control thrusters.
The first ESM is on a full-rate production schedule,as Airbus technicians work in shifts 24 hours a day to meet the goal of shipping it to the US this summer.
Also in Bremen,the structure of the second ESM,to be used for EM-2,the first crewed Orion mission that will take humans farther into outer space than ever before,some 40,000 miles beyond the Moon,has arrived.Technicians have begun installing its almost 7.5 miles of cables;fuel;water;air tanks;computers;engines;and so on that support the crew module and up to four crew members.
The ESM also protects the spacecraft from launch energy and vibrations from the new Space Launch System rocket;moreover,it shields the crew from micrometeoroids and space debris.*
Congratulations to the ESM Assembly,Integration &Test team from Airbus,ArianeGroup and NASA for their excellent work.*
Meanwhile,the Orion Rapid Prototype Lab (RPL) team of astronauts and flight controllers designed and executed complex,innovative simulations of newly prototyped Orion crew on-orbit burn display formats and electronic procedures.They thus gained valuable experience using the displays and procedures in a more realistic scenario for the crew members and ground controllers,NASA said.This will help validate or identify areas needing updates so key changes can be made more expeditiously and economically in the software development cycle.
Also on the team for this fifth in a series of mini-sims were members from Aerospace Applications North America;Barrios Technology;NASA Ames Research Center;and interns from NASA and Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies Inc.*
At NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans,Louisiana,Lockheed Martin technicians completed the forward structure to cone weld on the EM-2 crew module pressure vessel.The Orion Program team members at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston from LMT and NASA continued outfitting the Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) capsule for its critical flight test at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,Florida in April 2019.*
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Air Force Issues First Guidance to Troops About Space Force
Air Force Issues First Guidance to Troops About Space Force: Air Force leaders have broken their silence following President Trump's order to create a new military service branch.
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
General Hyten Lays Out US STRATCOM's Leadership Role in Space
On 13 June 2018,US Air Force General John E. Hyten,Commander,US Strategic Command,gave the annual John Glenn Lecture at the Smithsonian Air&Space Museum in Washington.Speaking in generalities to protect classified information,GEN Hyten noted that only 13% of Americans thought that sending US astronauts back to the Moon was a top priority,and only 18% considered sending a crewed mission to Mars a top priority,according to the latest Pew Research poll.This shows a disappointing lack of enthusiasm for space exploration.We need to return to dreaming,GEN Hyten said,to emphasise how important the STEM disciplines are,and to make sure we protect space so these dreams are always possible.Today,STEM is mainstream.Six percent of all workers are in STEM fields,and they earn 12% more than other workers.The cool kids are becoming the geeks.STRATCOM shuts down without a flow of these cool people.*
GEN Hyten,who has 162,000 service members under his command,said that they have two imperatives:
1.To operate within space to defend our nation;and
2.We have to defend space so our children can use it.
Basic research is where the next great idea is going to come from.For decades,it was thought the enemy could only hurt us through massive damage.That's no longer the case.Now they can hurt us in space and even cyberspace.Our adversaries get a vote.This is not the world I wish there was;this is the world that is,and the world that is has threats to our space capabilities;and because it has threats to our space capabilities,we have to be willing to do something about it.
When we have adversaries such as Russia and China that openly declare that they are going to build weapons to take away our space capabilities,we have to do something about it.So we're going to change.We're going to change the way we look at space.We're going to look at space,and we're going to define our future,and we're going to treat space as if it's a warfighting environment.There's actually no such thing as war in space;there's just war.
We have adversaries that are building weapons to take away our use of space,so we have to do something to prevent them from doing that.So we're going to build different systems,and different ways of doing business,and we're going to build operators that think about space as a warfighting domain;so that every adversary that looks at us will not try to contest us in that area,because,if they do,they'll realise that they'll lose.And that will prevent war from extending into space.We're taking measures so that any attack on our space architecture will be met in a manner,time and place of our own choosing.That's what our current national security strategy says.We're going to put a priority on building new capabilities to defend ourselves.Space superiority is not our birthright;Russia and China are building weapons that are going to challenge us.*
This is an exciting time to be in the space business.If you think about what's going on in SpaceX;in Blue Origen;in NASA;in the Air Force;in small companies.I've never seen a time like this;but now we have to take the steps forward;we have to push back;we have to support NASA in their desire to move back out into space with humans.Our nation's leadership is aligned like I've never seen before.From the White House,to Congress,to NASA,the Pentagon-across the Government,it's a great thing to see;but we have to take advantage of it.Now is the time.The big dreams and innovation of the sixties and seventies were only the beginning,and we're taking steps that will ensure that the benefits of space will be protected for future generations.With dreams,we can make our own history.*
STRATCOM deals with space in large part through one of its component commands,US Air Force Space Command,headquartered at Peterson AFB,Colorado.*
The Air Force's highly classified Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is often suspected to be an integral part of space warfighting research and development.
GEN Hyten,who has 162,000 service members under his command,said that they have two imperatives:
1.To operate within space to defend our nation;and
2.We have to defend space so our children can use it.
Basic research is where the next great idea is going to come from.For decades,it was thought the enemy could only hurt us through massive damage.That's no longer the case.Now they can hurt us in space and even cyberspace.Our adversaries get a vote.This is not the world I wish there was;this is the world that is,and the world that is has threats to our space capabilities;and because it has threats to our space capabilities,we have to be willing to do something about it.
When we have adversaries such as Russia and China that openly declare that they are going to build weapons to take away our space capabilities,we have to do something about it.So we're going to change.We're going to change the way we look at space.We're going to look at space,and we're going to define our future,and we're going to treat space as if it's a warfighting environment.There's actually no such thing as war in space;there's just war.
We have adversaries that are building weapons to take away our use of space,so we have to do something to prevent them from doing that.So we're going to build different systems,and different ways of doing business,and we're going to build operators that think about space as a warfighting domain;so that every adversary that looks at us will not try to contest us in that area,because,if they do,they'll realise that they'll lose.And that will prevent war from extending into space.We're taking measures so that any attack on our space architecture will be met in a manner,time and place of our own choosing.That's what our current national security strategy says.We're going to put a priority on building new capabilities to defend ourselves.Space superiority is not our birthright;Russia and China are building weapons that are going to challenge us.*
This is an exciting time to be in the space business.If you think about what's going on in SpaceX;in Blue Origen;in NASA;in the Air Force;in small companies.I've never seen a time like this;but now we have to take the steps forward;we have to push back;we have to support NASA in their desire to move back out into space with humans.Our nation's leadership is aligned like I've never seen before.From the White House,to Congress,to NASA,the Pentagon-across the Government,it's a great thing to see;but we have to take advantage of it.Now is the time.The big dreams and innovation of the sixties and seventies were only the beginning,and we're taking steps that will ensure that the benefits of space will be protected for future generations.With dreams,we can make our own history.*
STRATCOM deals with space in large part through one of its component commands,US Air Force Space Command,headquartered at Peterson AFB,Colorado.*
The Air Force's highly classified Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is often suspected to be an integral part of space warfighting research and development.
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Monday, June 11, 2018
Special Report:US Soldier KIA in Somalia Identified - Green Beret had intel links
The Pentagon has identified the US Army Soldier killed in action by the al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab on Friday in Somalia as SSG Alexander W. Conrad,26,of Chandler,Arizona.The native of Mesa,Arizona was a member of 1st Battalion,3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) out of Fort Bragg,North Carolina.SSG Conrad was serving alongside Somali National Security Forces and Kenyan Defence Forces in Jubaland State when they were attacked around 1445 hrs by mortars and small arms fire.He was killed by indirect enemy fire,i.e.,mortar shells or an IED.Four other US Soldiers and a Somali Soldier were wounded.
The allied forces were on a clearing operation to remove al-Shabaab from contested areas and villages and establish a permanent combat outpost to expand the control of the the Somali Federal Government.*
According to 3rd Special Forces Group,SSG Conrad had joined the Army in 2010 and,following basic and follow-on training,was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord,Washington State,as a human intelligence (HUMINT) collector.While stationed at the Joint Base,he pulled two tours in Afghanistan.Subsequently,SSG Conrad advanced his HUMINT collection skills by completing the French Basic Language Course at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey,California in 2016.He was consequently assigned to 3rd SFG as a HUMINT Non-Commissioned Officer.*
By way of context,it should be noted that,indeed,3rd SFG has from its inception in 1963 been oriented to Africa and the Middle East,being nearly continuously active in the wars in Afghanistan and,somewhat less,in Iraq as well,at the peak of those conflagrations.As the US role in these wars was reduced,3rd SFG began to shift its emphasis to Africa and the rise of militant Islam on that continent.
Before SSG Conrad's death,3rd SFG had sustained four other KIAs in Africa in October 2017,when four of its Soldiers were killed in Niger in West Africa.
The remaining al-Shabaab stronghold in Somalia is the regions around the capital,Mogadishu.At the time of the Jubaland engagement,the 3rd SFG was providing advice,assistance and aerial surveillance to the African forces there by means including an armed UAV. *
SSG Conrad was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Meritorious Service Medals.He had also been decorated with the Army Commendation Medal (3rd award);Army Good Conduct Medal (2nd award);Combat Action Badge;Basic Parachutist Badge;and Meritorious Unit Commendation (second award).*
"Greater love hath no man than this,that a man lay down his life for his friends."
- John 15:13 '
The allied forces were on a clearing operation to remove al-Shabaab from contested areas and villages and establish a permanent combat outpost to expand the control of the the Somali Federal Government.*
According to 3rd Special Forces Group,SSG Conrad had joined the Army in 2010 and,following basic and follow-on training,was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord,Washington State,as a human intelligence (HUMINT) collector.While stationed at the Joint Base,he pulled two tours in Afghanistan.Subsequently,SSG Conrad advanced his HUMINT collection skills by completing the French Basic Language Course at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey,California in 2016.He was consequently assigned to 3rd SFG as a HUMINT Non-Commissioned Officer.*
By way of context,it should be noted that,indeed,3rd SFG has from its inception in 1963 been oriented to Africa and the Middle East,being nearly continuously active in the wars in Afghanistan and,somewhat less,in Iraq as well,at the peak of those conflagrations.As the US role in these wars was reduced,3rd SFG began to shift its emphasis to Africa and the rise of militant Islam on that continent.
Before SSG Conrad's death,3rd SFG had sustained four other KIAs in Africa in October 2017,when four of its Soldiers were killed in Niger in West Africa.
The remaining al-Shabaab stronghold in Somalia is the regions around the capital,Mogadishu.At the time of the Jubaland engagement,the 3rd SFG was providing advice,assistance and aerial surveillance to the African forces there by means including an armed UAV. *
SSG Conrad was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Meritorious Service Medals.He had also been decorated with the Army Commendation Medal (3rd award);Army Good Conduct Medal (2nd award);Combat Action Badge;Basic Parachutist Badge;and Meritorious Unit Commendation (second award).*
"Greater love hath no man than this,that a man lay down his life for his friends."
- John 15:13 '
Saturday, June 9, 2018
East Africa War:US Special Operator Killed in Somalia Firefight
A member of the US Special Operations Forces was killed Friday and four others wounded when their position came under attack by al-Shabaab militants in Jubaland State,about 217 miles SW of the Somali capital Mogadishu.A Somali Soldier was also reportedly wounded in the mortar and small arms ambush by the Islamist extremists,who have formally been a unit of al-Qaida since 2012.US SOFs and about 800 Somali and Kenyan forces were on an operation to clear al-Shabaab from the area north of the port of Kismayo.US Army Green Berets,US Navy SEALs and US Marine Raiders are all active in the unstable nation in East Africa,serving in US Africa Command in an advise and assist capacity for the local forces.*
In October 2017,al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a VBIED attack that killed more than 500 people in Mogadishu;while in May 2017,another US Soldier was killed in an al-Shabaab attack about 40 miles west of Mogadishu.*
US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) reportedly has a fleet of armed Reaper drones in Somalia for self-defence airstrikes or assistance to East African nations;while the CIA has a covert base at Mogadishu airport,possibly sending up both armed and unarmed surveillance drones,not to mention deploying members of its ultra-secret Ground Branch paramilitary division.
JSOC has also used attack helicopters;AC-130 gunships;and fighter jets to help both Kenya and Ethiopia in their struggle against al-Shabaab.*
The US has been involved in counterterror operations against militant Islam in Somalia since the early years of this century.Around 500 US troops are believed to be in Somalia.*
The US Marine Corps Raider Regiment is the principal combat component of Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC).
In October 2017,al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a VBIED attack that killed more than 500 people in Mogadishu;while in May 2017,another US Soldier was killed in an al-Shabaab attack about 40 miles west of Mogadishu.*
US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) reportedly has a fleet of armed Reaper drones in Somalia for self-defence airstrikes or assistance to East African nations;while the CIA has a covert base at Mogadishu airport,possibly sending up both armed and unarmed surveillance drones,not to mention deploying members of its ultra-secret Ground Branch paramilitary division.
JSOC has also used attack helicopters;AC-130 gunships;and fighter jets to help both Kenya and Ethiopia in their struggle against al-Shabaab.*
The US has been involved in counterterror operations against militant Islam in Somalia since the early years of this century.Around 500 US troops are believed to be in Somalia.*
The US Marine Corps Raider Regiment is the principal combat component of Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC).
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Orbital ATK to Launch NASA ICON Mission from Remote US Army Facility
On 15 June local time/14 June EST,Orbital ATK will launch NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) satellite,the first ionospheric probe to be launched in 10 years.The mission will attempt to fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge about this mysterious transition zone between Earth's atmosphere and outer space,where a plasma of charged particles from the Sun can distort or even completely disrupt telecommunications and GPS signals,and which can be difficult for spacecraft to navigate because of the variable drag they may experience there.The spacecraft will be launched on Orbital's Pegasus XL rocket which will be dropped from under the wing of their Stargazer L1011 aircraft,a converted Lockheed airliner.
Our increased situational awareness of the region will help protect astronauts and satellites alike,NASA said.*
On 6 June,the Stargazer will ferry Pegasus to US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA),Republic of the Marshall Islands,in the distant reaches of the Pacific Ocean,by way of a refueling stop at Hickam Air Force Base,Hawaii,on a 12-hour flight in total.Kwajalein Atoll,a group of 11 islands the US Army leases from the Marshall Islands,is home of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site,informally called the Reagan Test Site (RTS),which is primarily a test facility for US missile defence and space research programmes.The Site,under the US Army Missile and Space Command, provides range instrumentation;missile launch facilities;a mission control centre;range safety;meteorological support;and support for space operations.
A suite of unique instrumentation on the Atoll's islands includes precision metric and signature radars;stationary and mobile telemetry;optical recording;and a secure fiberoptic data network.RTS is a tracking station for crewed spaceflight and NASA research,as well as a facility for ICBM tests;ABM interceptor tests;meteorological sounding rockets;and a commercial spaceport for SpaceX on Omelek Island.*
The islands of Kwajalein Atoll encircle a huge central lagoon that is a splashdown site for US Strategic Command's ICBM re-entry vehicles (warheads),for example.The broad range of sensitive national security activity at the RTS encompasses hypersonic weapons tests;NASA research projects;ICBM tests;and Ballistic Missile Defence Tests (main US facility).Bechtel Corporation provides logistical and other support functions at RTS,and a civilian workforce of Marshall Islanders is employed there.*
The US Army's Lockheed Martin Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) was developed at RTS.*
Orbital ATK (OA),Lockheed Martin (LMT)
Our increased situational awareness of the region will help protect astronauts and satellites alike,NASA said.*
On 6 June,the Stargazer will ferry Pegasus to US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA),Republic of the Marshall Islands,in the distant reaches of the Pacific Ocean,by way of a refueling stop at Hickam Air Force Base,Hawaii,on a 12-hour flight in total.Kwajalein Atoll,a group of 11 islands the US Army leases from the Marshall Islands,is home of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site,informally called the Reagan Test Site (RTS),which is primarily a test facility for US missile defence and space research programmes.The Site,under the US Army Missile and Space Command, provides range instrumentation;missile launch facilities;a mission control centre;range safety;meteorological support;and support for space operations.
A suite of unique instrumentation on the Atoll's islands includes precision metric and signature radars;stationary and mobile telemetry;optical recording;and a secure fiberoptic data network.RTS is a tracking station for crewed spaceflight and NASA research,as well as a facility for ICBM tests;ABM interceptor tests;meteorological sounding rockets;and a commercial spaceport for SpaceX on Omelek Island.*
The islands of Kwajalein Atoll encircle a huge central lagoon that is a splashdown site for US Strategic Command's ICBM re-entry vehicles (warheads),for example.The broad range of sensitive national security activity at the RTS encompasses hypersonic weapons tests;NASA research projects;ICBM tests;and Ballistic Missile Defence Tests (main US facility).Bechtel Corporation provides logistical and other support functions at RTS,and a civilian workforce of Marshall Islanders is employed there.*
The US Army's Lockheed Martin Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) was developed at RTS.*
Orbital ATK (OA),Lockheed Martin (LMT)
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