Archive for category Uncategorized
NASA Ranks In the Top 5 Best Places to Work In The Federal Government/ Goddard Best In NASA
Posted by Jim in Continuing Education and Seminar Marketing, Satellites, Space and Satellites, Systems Engineering and Project Management, Uncategorized on September 1, 2010
The Partnership for Public Service 2010 ratings for the “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government placed NASA as number 5.
NASA’s workforce continues to score well on the survey among the 32 large federal agencies. The best places to work index is based on employee responses to questions about whether they are satisfied with their jobs and organization. A key factor is also whether employees would recommend their organization to others as a good place to work.
In addition to this overall index, agencies and subcomponents also were scored in workplace environment categories such as effective leadership, employee skills/mission match and work/life balance. NASA was among the leaders in several categories, including effective leadership, support for diversity, teamwork, training and performance based rewards. The complete listing of the rankings and scores for federal components is available at:
The Best Places to Work rankings are the most comprehensive and authoritative rating and analysis of employee satisfaction and commitment in the federal government. The 2010 rankings are the fifth edition of this ongoing series, following the 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009 versions.
2010 Overall Index Scores
Rank Agency 2010 2009 % Change
1 Nuclear Regulatory Commission 81.8 80.7 1.30
2 Government Accountability Office 81.6 76.6 6.60
3 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 79.2 0.00
4 Smithsonian Institution 76.2 0.00
5 National Aeronautics and Space Administration 74.2 71.7 3.50
6 Social Security Administration 71.6 67.0 6.80
7 Department of State 70.8 69.1 2.40
8 General Services Administration 69.8 67.5 3.40
9 Department of Justice 69.3 68.0 1.90
10 Intelligence Community 69.0 70.9 -2.60
Of the subagency rankings NASA Goddard ranked highest for NASA
7 7 Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA) 79.5 74.5 6.80
11 11 John C. Stennis Space Center (NASA) 77.0 72.0 7.00
12 12 Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (NASA) 76.7 78.7 -2.50
Are You Interested in Space, Satellites or NASA? If So, Join Me At LinkedIn
Posted by Jim in Analysis and Signal Processing, Continuing Education and Seminar Marketing, ENGINEERING, General, Satellites, Space and Satellites, Systems Engineering and Project Management, Uncategorized on June 13, 2010
Are You Interested in Space, Satellites or NASA? If So, Join Me At LinkedIn
I am Jim Jenkins, President of ATIcourses, and I am using LinkedIn to maintain my connections to others who work in NASA and Space and Satellites. If you want to increase you connections in those areas, send me a request to add you to my network. I will accept all connection requests of all who are working with NASA, Space, Satellites or Aerospace. Mention your interest area in your request. I currently have 348 connections and growing, so you get a running start at connecting with a large group of my connections.
You can also join the group ATI Courses and get updates about Space and Satellite news and announcements of new courses.
Join at http://www.linkedin.com/
The following describes LinkedIn. I have found it useful to join for the latest in professional news and making connections.
Latest LinkedIn Facts
· LinkedIn has over 70 million members in over 200 countries.
· A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second, and about half of our members are outside the U.S.
· The Defense and Aerospace group has 16,000 + members
· The NASA group has 3,000 + members
View the LinkedIn video at http://press.linkedin.com/
Relationships Matter
Your professional network of trusted contacts gives you an advantage in your career, and is one of your most valuable assets. LinkedIn exists to help you make better use of your professional network and help the people you trust in return. Our mission is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. We believe that in a global connected economy, your success as a professional and your competitiveness as a company depends upon faster access to insight and resources you can trust.
When you join, you create a profile that summarizes your professional expertise and accomplishments. You can then form enduring connections by inviting trusted contacts to join LinkedIn and connect to you. Your network consists of your connections, your connections’ connections, and the people they know, linking you to a vast number of qualified professionals and experts.
If you enjoyed this information:
Additional information about NASA New Space Plans
Posted by Jim in Uncategorized on May 12, 2010
Additional information about NASA New Space Plans. Have you read and reviewed the recent NASA plans published?
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B-ocLfVN8v3ONGVlNzIyNDItOGEwZC00OTJmLWE1OTUtZWY2NTJiYzlmNWUw&hl=en
http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B-ocLfVN8v3OMDIwYTU4YjYtNDFhNC00ZWIxLTg2NTEtZGFkYzE2ZjkwNDAw&hl=en
If you enjoyed this information:
Can Private Companies Safely Launch Astronauts Into Space – Continued
Posted by Jim in ENGINEERING, Uncategorized on January 25, 2010
This Week in Space with Miles O’Brien Interviews SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. As a decision nears from President Obama on the future of the manned space program, Elon Musk of SpaceX denies his rockets will be unsafe for astronauts.
SpaceX CEO Musk makes the point that the Aires launch system will not be ready until 2017. The cargo version of SpaceX Falcon rocket is ready for testing now. Design for the crew escape vehicle is expected to take 3 years, but again well ahead of the Aires.
ATI Addresses 60 Minutes Special on Cyber Warfare
Posted by Val in Defense, Including Radar, Missiles and EW, Uncategorized on November 9, 2009
Watch the 60 minutes video now.
Register today to reserve your seat. The Applied Technology Institute (ATI) announces a new two-day professional development short course, Theory and Fundamentals of Cyber Warfare, offered to the public on Jan 19-20, 2010 in Beltsville, Maryland. The course is offered in response to the growing need for businesses and military facilities to quickly gain an understanding of cyber threats and institute cyber security defenses. It is targeted especially to DoD analysts, specialists and engineers in security related facilities in the Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland metro area, which has the largest concentration of DoD national security related facilities in the United States. Those facilities, along with the research and development contractors they work with, are building their resources to tackle the growing need for cyber security experts.
Cyber Warfare is all over news headlines. World leaders, including the United States, Russia, South Korea and Great Britain, are scrambling to organize against the rapidly increasing varieties of threats such as spyware and malware, spoofing, phishing and botnets that are having devastating effects around the world. Digital intelligence experts have labeled these escalating cyber threats as a “Global Cyber Cold War”.
The instructor for ATI’s new Theory and Fundamentals of Cyber Warfare course is Albert Kinney, who brings more than 20 years of experience in research and operational cyberspace mission areas including the initial development and first operational employment of the Naval Cyber Attack Team. Kinney says, “ I designed the course to focus on providing a top-down view of both the challenges and opportunities encountered in this new warfare domain. Attendees will gain insight to emerging requirements and trends affecting the implementation of cyber warfare systems, policy, and operations that will inform your strategy and focus your efforts in cyberspace.”
Maryland Governor, Martin O’Malley, was recently interviewed on 103.5 FM WTOP radio identifying Maryland as the next, “silicon valley” of cyber security. “Cyberspace has emerged as a mainstream warfare domain on par with air, land, sea, and space domains. This advancement to a bona fide battle space arises from the de facto behaviors of entities ranging from international superpowers to improvised non-state organizations. As a result, government and military organizations are developing new doctrines, establishing domain-focused operational hierarchies, and acquiring new systems capabilities to maintain cyberspace as a viable resource serving the national interest,” Kinney explains.
The topic of cyber security first gained momentum when President Obama announced in May that his administration will pursue a plan to secure America’s digital infrastructure and that, “Protecting this infrastructure will be a national security priority.” The President’s plan will involve nearly all sectors of local and national government and military.
Prospective attendees can view the full Theory and Fundamentals of Cyber Warfare course description by clicking on:
Last night 60 Minutes on CBS reported on the very real and escalating threat of cyber warfare attacks. Interviews included top experts in national security, Mike McConnell, former vice admiral in the U.S. Navy and former Director of the National Security Agency, as well as Jim Lewis, Director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Sandia’s James Gossler, a leading authority on cyber warfare strategies. They each emphasized the United States vulnerability to cyber warfare attacks, revealing serious breaches in both the government and private sector, affecting financial institutions, energy and transportation infrastructures and national security computers.
ATI’s new course, Theory and Fundamentals of Cyber Warfare is offered January 19-20 in Beltsville, MD. Seats are going quickly.
http://www.aticourses.com/theory_fundamentals_cyber_warfare.html
The Applied Technology Institute (ATI) specializes in professional development seminars in the technical areas of space, communications, defense, sonar, radar, and signal processing. For over twenty-five years, ATI has presented leading-edge technical training to defense and NASA facilities, as well as DoD and aerospace contractors. ATI courses provide a clear understanding of the fundamental principles and a working knowledge of current technology and applications. ATI has the unique capability to schedule and deliver courses in a matter of weeks. They offer customized on-site training at your facility anywhere in the United States, as well as internationally and over 200 annual public courses in dozens of locations. World-class design experts lead courses. To register or for an on-site quote, call (888) 501-2100, or visit them on the web at www.ATIcourses.com
Unmanned Aircraft Systems
Posted by Lisa in Defense, Including Radar, Missiles and EW, Uncategorized on October 20, 2009
Yesterday, instructor Mark Lewellen was explaining some of the background to UAVs: from aerial attacks on Venice through Marilyn Monroe to sizes of UAVs and likely future uses. If prospective attendees knew they would enjoy the thought-provoking subject half as much as I did, ATI would be running this course once a month.
Sound Levels and Mammal Mitigation
Posted by admin in Uncategorized, Underwater Acoustics and Sonar on September 11, 2009
The effect of mid-frequency sonar on marine mammals is a controversial topic. This was originally posted on a Navy web site.
Comparing Mid-Frequency Active Sonar to a Saturn V Rocket
For several reasons, it is inaccurate and misleading to claim that the sound of mid-frequency active sonar in water is equivalent to a Saturn V rocket. Sound levels in water and sound levels in air are expressed very differently*, and therefore comparing sound levels in water and air must be done carefully.
As an example of the difference in the way sound levels are received in air versus water, note that a sound level of 120 dB sound pressure level in air (similar to a rock music amplifier 4-6 feet from the listener) can cause hearing damage or distress to humans and animals, while human divers and animals receiving 120 dB sound pressure level underwater experience no such issues.
1. Saturn V Rocket is 10x Louder: At 1000 yards (914 m) from a Navy ship, the receive level for mid-frequency active sonar is approximately 175 dB in water. At the same distance in water, a Saturn V rocket would register 197 dB. This 22 dB difference means that the Saturn V rocket would have approximately ten times greater intensity than mid-frequency active sonar at the same distance. Temporary threshold shift (TTS), which is the National Marine Fisheries Service’s baseline for non-permanent effects on marine mammals, is 195 dB, so the Saturn V rocket would have the potential to cause TTS to marine mammals at 1000 yards, whereas mid-frequency active sonar at the same distance would not.
2. Saturn V Sound is Continuous, Mid-Frequency Active Sonar Sound is Intermittent: Rocket engine noise is a continuous sound source, lasting for many minutes at a time. By comparison, sonar pings are intermittent, with each ping lasting one second or less and being repeated about every 30 seconds. Over the course of one minute, ship and animal movement at sea would make it very unlikely that a marine mammal would be exposed to even two sonar pings. By comparison, marine mammals would be far more likely to be exposed to the continuous “roar” of rocket engine sound during a similar timeframe.
3. Saturn V Frequencies Would Potentially Affect More Species: Rocket engine sound is a broadband sound, spanning as many as five octave frequencies. Sonar signals are limited to a narrow band, typically 1/3 octave frequencies or less. The greater number of frequencies from the broadband rocket sound would make it likely that more types of species would be affected by the rocket sound than by the narrow band sound of mid-frequency active sonar.
*All sound levels in water are referenced to 1 microPascal (μPa). All sound levels in air are referenced to 20 microPascal (μPa), often expressed as sound pressure level (SPL). Sound waves with the same intensities in water and air have relative intensities that differ by 61.5 decibels (dB). Therefore, 61.5 dB must be added to relative intensities in air to obtain the relative intensities of sound waves in water.
Seafloor mapping – the many uses of multi-beam sonar
Posted by Jim in Uncategorized on July 8, 2009
Scientists on board a federal fisheries research vassal in Alaska’s Pribilof Islands are using multi-beam sonar to survey and map seafloors. According to ecologists, mapping this vital crab habitat is an important step in preserving deteriorating king crab populations.
The primary goal of current mapping pilot project is to test the usefulness of multi-beam sonar systems for finding “shell hash” (deposits of crushed crab shell believed to be important in the survival of young crabs). In the past efforts to monitor, crab populations and record vital habitats were limited to trawl and pot surveys.
Although these surveys could inform ecologist which habitats were being used as nursery grounds for immature crabs they could not provide much needed information regarding the habitat itself. Today’s current multi-beam sonar technology has the potential to drastically transform ecologist’s ability to monitor and preserve critical habitats of declining sea species. These technologies, however, do not come without a cost. According to Michelle Ridgway, the ecologist in charge of the shell hash project the systems currently being tested cost over $3,000 an hour to operate.
After the initial data is, collected Ridgway will compare the newly collected sonar imagery to seafloor samples, side scan sonar imagery, and remotely operated vehicle video that have already been collected to help interpret the acoustic backscatter images.
http://www.alaskajournal.com/stories/062609/fis_img9_001.shtml
Vandenberg AFB Uses Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) to Provide Base and Launch Security
Posted by Val in Defense, Including Radar, Missiles and EW, Uncategorized on June 15, 2009
Vandenberg continues to pave the way as the West Coast’s premiere space and missile establishment
Vandenberg AFB is home to the 14th Air Force, 30th Space Wing, 381st Training Group, and the Western Launch and Test Range (WLTR). A peninsula location on the Pacific Coast makes it ideal to easily launch satellites into polar orbit. This, along with its location relative to the jet stream, makes Vandenberg a good site to launch reconnaissance satellites.
Everyday thousands of Team Vandenberg members come together and work as a single force to further space power on California’s central coast. Only one unauthorized person in a critical area during a launch window can shut the operation down. Much of the base is rugged, mountainous, and undeveloped, so it can be difficult to patrol and monitor all areas of the base in the hours prior to a launch.
Vandenberg is paving the way for other bases security requirements. It has established an innovative program using a small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), called the Raven for base security. The RQ-11 Raven weighs 4.5 pounds, has a five-foot wingspan and stretches only 38 inches in length. It is equipped with a video camera which streams live feed to an operator on the ground. The Raven is launched by hand, has about an hour of flight time on a single battery charge. The system includes spare batteries and a charger that plugs into a Humvee.
Recently, the Raven found three unofficial persons on Point Sal beach just prior to a launch, which could have caused a delay or stop the launch. Day and night, live video capabilities let the Raven greatly assist with the overall situation awareness picture helping ensure mission success. Based on this success, Vandenberg is interested in more unmanned aircraft than just the Raven.
Vandenberg has requested that in early July, Mr. Mark N. Lewellen, one of Applied Technology Institute (ATI) instructors, teach ATI’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems and Applications course at Vandenberg AFB. This one-day course is designed for engineers, aviation experts and project managers who wish to enhance their understanding of UAS.
The course provides the “big picture” for those who work outside of the discipline. Each topic addresses real systems (RQ-11 Raven, the RQ-7 Shadow, the MQ-1 Predator, and the RQ-4 Global Hawk) and real-world problems and issues concerning the use and expansion of their applications.
Topics covered include:
History of UAS
Categories of current UAS and their aeronautical capabilities
Major manufactures of UAS
The latest developments and major components of a UAS
What type of sensor data can UAS provide?
Regulatory and spectrum issues associated with UAS
National Airspace System including the different classes of airspace
How will UAS gain access to the National Airspace System (NAS)?
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