Armed with Science | Providing You Information on Military Science and Technology

HIV Vaccine Awareness Day 2011: The Military’s role in Combating HIV

Filed under Life Sciences by Carla Voorhees on May 18, 2011 at 8:50 am {no comments}

Col. Nelson L. Michael, M.D., Ph.D is the Director, Division of Retrovirology, at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and Director of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP), an international HIV vaccine research program that successfully integrates HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment.

Col. Nelson L. Michael, M.D., Ph.D, Director of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program

Today, May 18, marks HIV Vaccine Awareness Day. It has now been 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were reported and more than 33 million people are living with the disease worldwide. With an average age of around 28 years old, many of our service members do not know a world without AIDS.

The U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research has been working to combat HIV for more than 25 years. We aim to develop a globally-effective HIV vaccine which, in combination with other proven prevention strategies, would enable us not only to protect our troops from HIV, but could also help curb the global pandemic.

MHRP supports HIV prevention and treatment in civilian and military communities. Shown here, President Kikwete of Tanzania attends the 2010 International Military HIV/AIDS Conference, where he offered “a very special thanks to the U.S. Military HIV Research Program at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research for the good leadership in HIV research and treatment efforts globally.“

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Countdown to Endeavour: Lightning Protection Is a Must

Filed under Earth Sciences, STEM by Carla Voorhees on May 15, 2011 at 12:46 pm {one comment}

Kathy Winters is an Air Force Civilian Meteorologist at the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. She is the Space Shuttle Launch Weather Officer providing weather support to the Space Shuttle Program at Kennedy Space Center as the Launch Team prepares for the 29 April 2011 launch of Endeavour. You can find out more about the 45th Space Wing at their Facebook page.

Example of Cloud to Ground Lightning Detection System data provided to the Shuttle team to assist in the analysis of whether lightning affected any Shuttle ground or vehicle systems.

As launch day approaches, we are expecting thunderstorms to impact the Florida East Coast, some which could produce severe weather. When meteorologists use the word “severe weather,” we aren’t talking about the everyday, afternoon thunderstorms. Severe weather indicates thunderstorms could produce winds 50 knots or greater, hail, and/or tornadic activity. If severe weather occurs, the Shuttle team inspects the vehicle to ensure weather has not caused any damage. Also, if we have close lightning strikes, we provide detailed lightning data to ensure the team knows if the strike potentially caused damage to the shuttle or any launch pad ground systems.

Lightning protection for launch complexes is a must, and the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station launch pads have a significant amount of lightning protection to protect vehicles and launch pad structures from damage due to lightning strikes. For the Shuttle launch pad, a 1-inch thick grounded wire stretches 1000 feet each direction from the 80-foot fiberglass mast at the top of the structure. A 4-foot lightning rod extends from the mast. All structures on the pad are grounded, including the Mobile Launch Platform. The hydrogen, oxygen, and water storage tanks provide their own ground, and a gridwire system protects hypergolic fuel storage areas. Overall, the area is well protected to minimize damage from lightning.

Endeavour is no stranger to lightning. This photo by an Operational Television Camera captures a lightning strike on Launch Pad 39A in July 2009 while Endeavour was on the launch pad for the STS-127 mission. This is a great example of the lightning protection system doing its job! (Photo courtesy Kennedy Space Center Public Affairs)

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Countdown to Endeavour: Launch Attempt Number Two

Filed under Earth Sciences by Carla Voorhees on May 13, 2011 at 3:24 pm {no comments}

Katherine Winters on the Weather Console

We are getting ready for launch again. The NASA team replaced and re-tested the Load Control Assembly-2 in the aft section of the vehicle, and we are back in the 3-day countdown. Today we issued the launch forecast, Ice Team Forecast, Solid Rocket Booster Recovery forecast, and I briefed weather to the Launch Director and at the Countdown Status press conference. Like I mentioned before, this is like a “do-over.” We have the same forecasts to accomplish during the days prior to launch. Since this is now a morning launch (8:56 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time), the schedule shifts a bit, and we actually started issuing launch forecasts on Thursday, L-4 days before launch rather than L-3 days. We will basically be working a night shift for launch, but our Launch Weather Team has required crew rest rules to ensure everyone is sharp for their launch shift.

Space Shuttle Endeavour sits poised for launch from complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center (Photo courtesy KSC Public Affairs)

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Modeling Human Interface

Filed under STEM, Technology by Julie Weckerlein on May 11, 2011 at 3:22 pm {2 comments}

This blog post was shared with us by the Modeling and Simulation Information Analysis Center (MSIAC). It is the 19^th entry in our 22-part series produced by the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

What’s one of the most complex parts of any weapons system? Most would guess it has to do with some highly technical, highly sensitive manufactured component. Actually, one of the most complex, and often challenging, aspects of any system is the human element — the human beings actually using the system.

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Report from Antarctica: USTRANSCOM Deputy Commander Vice Adm. Mark D. Harnitchek

Filed under Earth Sciences, STEM by Carla Voorhees on May 10, 2011 at 12:07 pm {no comments}

Vice Adm. Mark D. Harnitchek is the deputy commander, United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), Scott Air Force Base, Ill. He serves as a principal advisor and assistant to the commander, USTRANSCOM. USTRANSCOM is the single manager for global air, land and sea deployment and distribution for the Department of Defense. This post was originally written for the USTRANSCOM internal blog.

Vice Admiral Harinitchek, Deputy Commander, USTRANSCOM (Official Photo)

I recently returned from the trip of a lifetime to Antarctica. I was there to visit the National Science Foundation’s facilities at McMurdo Station and Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station; not many folks get to go there so it was truly a thrill to experience that continent in all its majestic splendor — absolutely pristine and unspoiled — and to see firsthand the incredible performance of the mobility team that supports the National Science Foundation.

Literally everything at the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station and outposts on Antarctica is transported there by a TRANSCOM component — by sea via an Military Sealift Command charter vessel, container ship or oiler — and by air via a McChord C-17 or NYANG LC-130 (that’s a C-130 with skis). Equally impressive, everything present at the South Pole station was flown in an LC-130 — and I mean everything. I was lucky enough to fly to the South Pole and see these LC-130 professionals in action on the ice — and that’s literally on the ice, since there’s no concrete on the continent, and no hangers either, so the crews are outside working on this a/c in  subzero temps — talk about impressive! (more…)

45th Weather Squadron Focuses on Atlas Launch

Filed under Earth Sciences, STEM by Carla Voorhees on May 6, 2011 at 2:58 pm {one comment}

With the Shuttle Endeavour launch date postponed until repairs are complete, the 45th Weather Squadron is focused on the Altas V launch Friday, 6 May 2011. Clay Flinn is the Launch Weather Officer for the Atlas V and has been issuing launch forecasts and providing weather support to the 45th Space Wing and United Launch Alliance teams all week. On Thursday, 5 May, the weather was favorable, and the team rolled the Atlas V to the launch pad. On Friday, afternoon cumulus clouds including possibly thunderstorms are expected; the question is whether they will occur during the early-afternoon launch window. See the launch forecast link for the latest information.

Capt Jeffrey Smith monitors the weather during the Atlas V Mobile Launch Platform roll to the launch pad.

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What is a Mission Flight Control Officer?

Filed under Earth Sciences, STEM by Carla Voorhees on May 6, 2011 at 9:44 am {no comments}

Capt James Woodard is a 2006 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) who currently serves as an Air Force Mission Flight Control Officer and Range Control Officer for the 1st Range Operations Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. James is the Mission Flight Control Officer for the Atlas V, Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) mission on 6 May 2011. He is also the Forward Observer Air for the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour for the STS-134 mission.

An Atlas V, shown here, will carry the SBIRS Satellite in to orbit

Even in the midst of several schedule changes with the launch of STS-134 Endeavour, the fast paced range operations here at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) have not been hindered. This Friday, 6 May 2011, we are honored to launch the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) – a satellite that has been on the Air Force schedule for the past 15 years. For this Atlas V launch, I will be the Mission Flight Control Officer (MFCO): I am in charge of ensuring the rocket maintains nominal flight from lift-off until it reaches orbit. (more…)

Modern Missile Defense: SBIRS Satellite Set to Launch

Filed under Earth Sciences, STEM by Carla Voorhees on May 5, 2011 at 11:01 am {4 comments}

By Michael M. Jacobs, Principal Engineer, Aerospace Corporation. The Space Based Infrared System satellite is scheduled to launch on Friday May 6, 2011 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. You can watch the launch at http://www.ulalaunch.com.

An upcoming launch of the United States Air Force Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellite destined for geostationary earth orbit (GEO) will be another step in the transition from the Defense Support Program (DSP), a ballistic missile warning system born of the cold war, to the modernized and multi-mission SBIRS system. SBIRS GEO-1 satellite is scheduled for launch on 6 May 2011 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) carrying a payload with a pair of infrared sensors, both of which bring improved detection sensitivity, increased sensor temporal frame rate, and extremely high pointing agility. Although it is a long time in coming, the SBIRS GEO satellite is expected to continue the evolution of the system, and also to generate a host of new military and civil applications of the infrared data.

SBIRS GEO satellite in final configuration before shipping to CCAFS

This new GEO satellite will add to the modernization that began with the achievement of Initial Operations Capability of the SBIRS Mission Control Station (MCS) in 2001. Mission processing and control of DSP satellites was consolidated into a single Continental United States ground site, the MCS, and significantly improved the accuracy of the missile warning products produced by the system. Modernization continued with successful deployment of new infrared payloads that are deployed on host satellites in a highly-elliptical earth orbit (HEO), with operational acceptance achieved in 2008. The SBIRS HEO infrared payloads are highly sensitive instruments that are providing data collection for SBIRS missile warning and technical intelligence missions, and are also spawning new data exploitation initiatives. Data collected by the SBIRS HEO sensors are rich with new content heretofore not available, and scientists and engineers are seeking new data processing algorithms to dig deeper into the imagery. Indeed, unexpected observations have been discovered, already resulting in support to other government agencies (e.g., analysis of test failure) and new mission areas. (more…)