INDUSTRY NEWS Northrop Grumman Completes NASA Global Hawk Flight Control Test — Northrop Grumman announced that it successfully completed a flight control test of a NASA Global Hawk from its Grand Sky facility near Grand Forks, North Dakota.  Following takeoff of the NASA Global Hawk by a crew at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) in California on October 10, the flight team at Grand Sky took control and executed a series of flight maneuvers to demonstrate operational performance of the Transportable Operations Center in its Grand Sky Mission Control Center. The in-flight test control operation is a first for the Grand Sky facility which opened in April 2017. The flight took off and landed at NASA’s AFRC at Edwards Air Force Base where the remainder of the flight was controlled. NASA and Northrop Grumman are partnered under an agreement that allows for use of the NASA Global Hawk system to explore new mission capabilities. NASA Selects First Mode and ASU to Develop Marathon Moon Rover, Intrepid —  First Mode, a system design and engineering firm, has been selected by NASA to develop a pioneering lunar mission concept with Arizona State University (ASU). The effort will be funded through NASA’s Planetary Mission Concept Study program. The Intrepid mission would develop and deploy the Intrepid rover to traverse the furthest distance of any rover in NASA’s history. The next-generation, 425-kilogram rover — roughly the size of a quad-ATV — will explore an unprecedented 1,800 kilometers over four years as it examines the geology of the lunar surface, preparing NASA for human exploration as it investigates over 100 major sites which have been viewed only from orbit. Powered by a plutonium-based, multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator, Intrepid will identify hydrogen (a proxy for water content) in the lunar regolith. Most strategies for a sustained human presence in space require mining water to support life and provide fuel. Additionally, Intrepid will map radiation, solar wind, and the chemical makeup of the regolith, helping to ensure the safety of future astronauts. The study will be helmed by ASU’s Professor Mark Robinson who has been the principal investigator for NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera for the past decade, which has mapped Apollo landing sites and almost the entire surface of the Moon with high-resolution images. Robinson is an expert in the field of planetary geology. He will lead a consortium of scientists from multiple NASA centers and universities with First Mode designing and configuring the system. Back to 2019-11-06 issue of C.E. Weekly Back to Members Base Camp Back to CJHunter Home Page