Saturday, November 26, 2016

Week in review (11/20 to 11/26)

We know we have a lot of entrepreneurs in the Gulf Coast region. We had a cover story about entrepreneurship in the October issue of the Gulf Coast Reporters’ League Business Quarterly, so I know there are plenty of innovators.

So for all you idea folks, here's one you might find interesting: It's the "Space Poop Challenge." NASA has launched the contest to come up with the best solution to get rid of waste while astronauts are stuck in a space suit for days on end.

Here's the deal. When those high-flying adventurers are in the International Space Station, there are specially designed waste collection systems. But when they are stuck in their space suits, they are fitted with absorbent diapers. That's fine for short-duration stays in the suit, but they sometimes have to be there for 10 hours at a time. And once they start venturing into deep space, they can expect to be in them even longer. Thus the NASA challenge.

NASA vowed to award up to three $30,000 prizes for the most promising in-suit waste management systems. The goal is to test them within a year and start using them within three years. Inventors have until Dec. 20 to submit designs for a personalized, hands-free system that routes and collects waste and takes it away from the astronaut’s body for up to six days.

You can see the details at the contest website. Take a look. I promise it won't be a waste of time.


Airbus
An A321 built in Mobile, Ala., for Delta Air Lines was scheduled to perform a flyover Saturday at the Iron Bowl game between Alabama and Auburn at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The A321 flyover was scheduled to be after the National Anthem and before kickoff. The plane had its first flight Nov. 12 and will be delivered to the customer in December. (Post)


F-35
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $7.2 billion modification to a previously awarded advance acquisition contract for F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The Lot 10 modification provides for the procurement of 90 aircraft, including planes for the Air Force, Navy, Marines and foreign customers.

Work will be done in Texas, California, Florida, New Hampshire, Maryland, the United Kingdom and Japan and is expected to be completed March 2020. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is home of the F-35 integrated training center and reprogramming labs. (Post)


F-22
Pratt and Whitney, East Hartford, Conn., was awarded a $93.2 million modification to a previously awarded contract for F119 engine sustainment. The engine is used in the F-22 Raptor fighter. The contractor will provide engine sustainment labor, data and combined test force operations and support.

Work will be done in Connecticut, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, Virginia, Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma and at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2017. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity. (Post)


Other contracts
Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, was awarded a $267.2 million modification to a previously awarded contract for additional joint performance-based logistics support for the Marine Corps MV-22, and the Air Force and Special Operations Command CV-22 aircraft. Work will be performed at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and sites in Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New Mexico, Virginia, California, Arizona, Hawaii, and various locations outside the continental U.S., and is expected to be completed in November 2018. … Raytheon Co., El Segundo, Calif., was awarded a $9 million modification to an order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement to manufacture and deliver three AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array Radars in support of the F/A-18 E/F and EA-18 aircraft. Work will be done in Forest, Miss., Dallas, El Segundo, Calif., and Andover Mass. (8 percent), and is expected to be completed in August 2018.

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