Perhaps.
Earlier this month U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., introduced the Licensing Innovations and Future Technologies in Space (LIFTS) Act.
According to the press release, the bill would modernize training for the federal commercial space licensing workforce and promote collaboration with academia and industry by creating a centralized training facility for safety and licensing personnel.
The new facility would be at Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, just across the Louisiana state line.
"Stennis Space Center is the perfect location for training more space professionals to certify the growing demand for commercial space launches in the United States," Wicker said in the release. "This legislation would help ensure the U.S. remains the leader in the commercial space industry and would expand Mississippi's contributions to the future of space exploration and research."
"The federal oversight and licensing of commercial space technologies will require a workforce qualified to certify the safety and efficiency of those breakthroughs. The LIFTS Act would tap the expertise based at the Stennis Space Center to establish a facility to meet this critical need," Hyde-Smith said.
The LIFTS Act would establish a facility to train federal employees to license commercial space activities. The training program would be coordinated between the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA, the commercial space industry, and academic partners. (Release)
Stennis Space Center is packed with activities. It's where NASA and commercial companies test rocket engines. Some rocket engines are also assembled there, and a California-based company plans to print 3D rockets there. It's also home to some 40 tenants involved in a variety of fields, including oceanography.
A tip-of-the-hat to Ed, who drew my attention to this story.
By the way, if you decide to look up the LIFTS Act on the internet, don't confuse it with something called the LIFT Act. That's a plan by Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to provide a cash payment to middle-class households.
Speaking of space, all four RS-25 engines were recently mated to the core stage for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for Artemis I, the first mission of SLS and NASA's Orion spacecraft.
To complete assembly of the rocket stage, engineers and technicians are now integrating the propulsion and electrical systems within the structure. The stage, which includes two huge propellant tanks, provides more than 2 million pounds of thrust to send Artemis I to the Moon.
Engineers and technicians at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans attached the fourth RS-25 engine to the rocket stage Nov. 6 just one day after structurally mating the third engine. (Post)
Military
The Air Force identified the missing airman who fell out of a C-130 over the Gulf of Mexico during a training exercise as 29-year-old Special Tactics combat controller Staff Sgt. Cole Condiff.
The Dallas native fell about 1,500 feet from the plane during a parachute training exercise. His parachute was deployed and he was seen treading water. Condiff was with the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, 24th Special Operations Wing. (Post)
Contracts
Raytheon Co. Missile Systems Division, Tucson, Ariz., was awarded an $18.6 million modification exercising the first option year of three options to previously awarded FA8675-19-C-0004 for fiscal 2020 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) Targeting System (HTS) Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) services. Work will be performed at Tucson and is expected to be completed by Nov. 30, 2020. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.
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