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NASA’s Ames Research Center to Demo Air Traffic Mgmt Simulator
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NASA’s Ames Research Center to Demo Air Traffic Mgmt Simulator


NASA's Ames Research Center to Demo Air Traffic Mgmt SimulatorNASA‘s Ames Research Center in Califonia has created a full-scale simulator designed to mimic a variety of air traffic management scenarios as part of efforts to ensure air travel safety and efficiency this holiday season.

The space agency said Friday that the FutureFlight platform works to help NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and private-sector researchers study how to manage U.S. airspace.

Air traffic controllers and pilots also use FutureFlight to test NASA-developed tools in a virtual environment that can simulate airports under varying environmental and traffic conditions.

NASA’s Ames Research Center will host a demonstration at Los Angeles and Charlotte airports on Dec. 14 to simulate environments at night, day, rain, snow, sleet, sun and other conditions.

Army Vet James Gilman Named Chief Exec of NIH Clinical Research Center; Francis Collins Comments
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Army Vet James Gilman Named Chief Exec of NIH Clinical Research Center; Francis Collins Comments


Army Vet James Gilman Named Chief Exec of NIH Clinical Research Center; Francis Collins Comments
James Gilman

The National Institutes of Health has appointed James Gilman, a retired U.S. Army major general, as the first CEO of NIH’s clinical research center in a move that takes effect January 2017.

NIH said Friday Gilman will oversee the 870,000-square-foot research center located inside NIH’s campus in Bethesda, Maryland, and guide the facility’s safety and care quality measures with the development of new hospital operations policies.

“Dr. Gilman is a cardiologist and highly decorated leader with rich experience in commanding the operations of numerous hospital systems,” said NIH Director Francis Collins.

Gilman previously served as commanding general of the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick and director of health policy and services in the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army Medical Command.

His 35-year Army career also includes leadership roles at various Army hospitals such as Brooke Army Medical Center, Walter Reed Health Care System and Bassett Army Community Hospital.

Gilman retired from the Army in 2013 and joined the Hopkins Military & Veterans Institute in Baltimore as executive director until June.

Collins also announced that John Gallin, former director of the NIH clinical center, has taken a new role as associate director for clinical research and chief scientific officer of NIH.

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Steve Cook, Greg Autry Among Donald Trump’s NASA Transition Team Members
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Steve Cook, Greg Autry Among Donald Trump’s NASA Transition Team Members


Steve Cook, Greg Autry Among Donald Trump’s NASA Transition Team MembersPresident-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has named six additional individuals to the NASA landing team, Space News reported Friday.

Brian Berger and Jeff Foust write Steve Cook, a corporate vice president at Dynetics, has been selected to join the NASA transition team.

Prior to Dynetics, Cook previously worked at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, where he was responsible for the development of the Ares 1 and Ares 5 rocket programs.

Other individuals named to the NASA transition team include Greg Autry, an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California; Jack Burns, senior vice president of the American Astronomical Society and a professor at the University of Colorado; Rodney Liesveld, a former senior policy adviser at NASA; Sandy Magnus, a former NASA astronaut; and Jeff Waksman, a former research fellow at the House of Representatives.

The appointments come more than a week after the incoming administration tapped Chris Shank, former policy director for the House Science Committee, to lead the NASA transition team, the report added.

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White House Establishes Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area Through Executive Order
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White House Establishes Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area Through Executive Order


White House Establishes Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area Through Executive OrderPresident Barack Obama has signed an executive order to establish the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area in an effort to protect the natural and cultural resources as well as the communities in the Alaskan Arctic.

The executive order will create a task force that will work with a Bering intergovernmental tribal advisory council to coordinate federal programs designed to advance community and ecosystem resilience, safeguard cultural values and promote natural resources conservation in support of Alaskan native communities, the White House said in a news release published Friday.

The rule would establish a federal policy that would prohibit bottom trawling operations and require the U.S. Coast Guard to consider recommendations on “areas to be avoided” as part of the port access route study.

Obama also orders the Coast Guard to release its PARS findings by the end of 2016 and relay its conclusions to the International Maritime Organization to facilitate the development of new measures by 2018.

The executive order also covers the withdrawal from future oil and gas leasing of 40,300 square miles of the Norton Basin planning area and some parts of the St. Matthew-Hall planning area.

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Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd: Innovation & Collaboration Key to Counter Threat Networks
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Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd: Innovation & Collaboration Key to Counter Threat Networks


Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd: Innovation & Collaboration Key to Counter Threat Networks
Kurt Tidd

U.S. Navy Adm. Kurt Tidd, head of the U.S. Southern Command, sought to highlight the role of collaboration, innovation and trust between partners to counter adversaries’ finances and threat networks, DoD News reported Friday.

Shannon Collins writes Tidd discussed collaborative ideas for regional security during his opening remarks at the 15th Caribbean Nations Security Conference in San Juan.

“We must seek out and leverage the expertise of civil society, academia, and the private sector, who can bring fresh perspective, unique skill sets and innovative solutions to bear on complex challenges,” said Tidd.

“We must hone the skills and capabilities our forces need to succeed in a transformed security environment.”

The report noted that the two-day event tackled discussions on informational sharing, regional security strategies, security synchronization and transnational threat networks.

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Air Force Academy Students Introduce Cyber Issue Tracker Software
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Air Force Academy Students Introduce Cyber Issue Tracker Software


Air Force Academy Students Introduce Cyber Issue Tracker SoftwareA group of Air Force Academy cadets have developed a new software that can keep track of cyber issues for Air Force Space Command mobile and online applications with the use of a chat room, user ratings and social media features, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported Thursday.

Wayne Heilman writes an AFA design class developed the CyberWorx Responsive Dashboard to feature a chat room, incident response reporting system, glossary of acronyms and an option to click on any part of the map for a detailed view.

The class utilized a “design thinking” concept to determine how to tackle specific issues and how to develop a system that can address such challenges as opposed to having an engineer fix technical problems.

Lt. Col. Michael Chiaramonte, an Air Force Academy associate professor of computer science, told the Gazette another class will start in January which will cover how to rewrite Air Force policies used in cyber personnel command and control systems.

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Boeing to Supply 80 Passenger Aircraft to Iran Air Under $16.6B Deal
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Boeing to Supply 80 Passenger Aircraft to Iran Air Under $16.6B Deal


Boeing to Supply 80 Passenger Aircraft to Iran Air Under $16.6B DealBoeing has entered into a potential $16.6 billion contract to produce and supply 80 passenger aircraft to Iran Air.

The sales agreement with Iran Air was reached under the terms of the U.S. government license that Boeing secured in September, Boeing said Sunday.

The contract covers 50 Boeing-built 737 MAX 8, 15 777-300ER and 15 777-9 passenger planes.

Iran Air expects Boeing to deliver the first batch of airplanes in 2018.

Boeing’s 737 MAX 8 and 777X are scheduled to enter service in 2017 and 2020, respectively.

The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday the aircraft sale is subject to approval by Congress and the departments of Treasury and State because the deal involves a state-owned airline.

Robert Wall and Asa Fitch write the Obama administration encouraged the Iran Air-Boeing transaction and other similar deals as part of efforts to solidify a nuclear agreement with Iran.

The report said the airline also seeks to buy 118 planes from Airbus for an estimated cost of $25 billion.

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Deborah Lee James: Air Force Considers to Waive Fixed-Price Requirement in 2017 NDAA for JSTARS Replacement Program
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Deborah Lee James: Air Force Considers to Waive Fixed-Price Requirement in 2017 NDAA for JSTARS Replacement Program


Deborah Lee James: Air Force Considers to Waive Fixed-Price Requirement in 2017 NDAA for JSTARS Replacement ProgramAir Force Secretary Deborah Lee James has said the service branch has begun to consider whether to use a provision in the fiscal 2017 defense policy bill to waive a fixed-price contract requirement for the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft replacement program, Defense News reported Friday.

“There is also a waiver authority in that language, and so we are also in discussions with [the office of the secretary of defense] about the possibilities there,” James told Defense News reporter Valerie Insinna in an interview.

The fixed-price contract requirement and an authority to waive such a requirement are included in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act that passed both the House and Senate.

James noted that she asked Darlene Costello, Air Force acquisition executive, to reassess whether it is feasible to use a fixed-price contract instead of a combination of firm-fixed-price and cost-plus structures for the engineering, manufacturing and development phase of the JSTARS replacement program, Insinna reports.

The Air Force plans to award the EMD contract in FY 2018 as part of its plan to procure 17 planes under the JSTARS program, according to the report.

The report added that Northrop Grumman, Boeing and Lockheed Martin plan to bid on the contract.

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US to Deploy 200 Troops for Counter-IS Efforts in Syria
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US to Deploy 200 Troops for Counter-IS Efforts in Syria


US to Deploy 200 Troops for Counter-IS Efforts in SyriaThe U.S. government will deploy approximately 200 additional troops to Syria in support of coalition efforts to remove the Islamic State militant group from the IS’ hub in Raqqa, DoD News reported Saturday.

Shannon Collins writes Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at the Manama Dialogue in Bahrain that the additional forces will include special operations forces, trainers, advisers and explosive ordnance disposal teams.

Carter added the new troops will join 300 U.S. special operations forces that are currently in Syria to help organize, train and equip local forces to combat the Islamic State group, Collins reported.

The defense secretary noted Bahrain, U.S. and coalition forces are engaged in a mission to isolate and remove the Islamic State’s control over Raqqa, Syria and Mosul, Iraq, the report stated.

Carter met with Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to discuss the U.S.-Bahraini defense relationship, U.S. presence in Bahrain, U.S. commitment to regional security and the counter-IS coalition’s progress in Mosul and Raqqa, DoD News stated.

Senate Clears Stopgap Measure in 63-36 Vote
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Senate Clears Stopgap Measure in 63-36 Vote


Senate Clears Stopgap Measure in 63-36 VoteThe Senate on Friday voted 63-36 to approve a continuing resolution that would fund the federal government through the end of April, the New York Times reported Friday.

Thomas Kaplan and Jennifer Steinhauer write the Senate passed the stopgap spending bill less than an hour prior to a possible government shutdown and after the lawmakers voted 61-38 to clear a procedural measure to advance the CR.

The House on Thursday approved the stopgap bill in a 326-96 vote.

The upper chamber’s move came after Senate Democrats dropped threats to reject the stopgap measure in order to get a yearlong extension for retired coal miners’ healthcare benefits, according to a report by Burgess Everett, Seung Min Kim and Ben Weyl for Politico.

The stopgap bill would extend for four months the health insurance of retired miners in Appalachian states, according to the report.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucy) told Politico that they will continue the fight for the retired miners’ health benefits in 2017.

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