KickStart …got your back



KickStart … Got Your BackWednesday, December 16, 2015Editor’s note:In the spirit of the casual SMDWG ‘open Mike’ We’re foregoing the usual Powerpoint slides. – I’ve taken the scripts from the KickStart radio clips (more info on KickStart radio at the bottom of this missive), and put them in the usual KickStart business journal format. We’ll get back to normal business next SMDWG (Samdwij) – January 28 when Ms. K. Coviello will visit with us.-Hu- Local[Note typos may run amok – phonetic help with radio script] If you are looking for something to fire up the end of your year and help with your New Year resolve – consider attending HSV’s Space and Missile Defense Working Group. The next meeting is slated for tomorrow …Wednesday, 0800 at Quantum Research (991 Discovery Drive). It’s the December open mike format which should make for some inspiring and eclectic information exchange that promises to inspire. …AT&T is moving gigabit speeds into HSV – It looks like as early as next year we may break into the stratified air of being able to move zeroes and ones around as fast as Nashville. HSV may play a part in the San Bernardino investigation. The IEDs and explosives discovered during the investigation may require the use of the Arsenal’s National Center for Explosives Training and Research. The NCETR was involved in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing... is doing an on-line vote for AL person of the year …looking over the list, apparently hashtags and HudsonAlpha are people too. Joni used to sing about “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”. …Right now The Galaxy of Lights is available for your viewing pleasure …so don’t be a cliché. New business start ups – who can help us understand that better? Check out …and then give Antonio Montoya a call. … has done an interesting promo piece on Intergraph’s new cool, airy and full-of-light digs …Ironically: - this building was designed by the same architects that brought us the brooding, Gotham-esque ADTRAN building…Every time I drive by that I look for gargoyles.HSV has an adolescent geeky side that has to be acknowledged. Anybody that recalls MST3K from the last millennium probly has heard about the KickStarter (no relation) campaign that’s going on. Well, it’s got an H-S-V connection now. Felicia Day, a willowy red head and former Rocket City resident has been cast as a regular. …a fresh GAO news article that spells out how DARPA’s innovation all too often enters a “Valley of Death” when comes to funding and development.…And then check out Ray Garner’s article on UAH and HSV’s strong suite …65 years of R&D. Could it be that we are once again poised to be the industry agent of change. Lets hope so. Dennis Madsen, Huntsville’s long-range planner has brought about a tempest in a tea pot with his announcement that HSV will be the largest city in Alabama in less than a decade. Responses from others include have ranged from “bigger is not always better” to something about Birmingham is drinking its milk or something It’s the Friday before Thanksgiving and that means just one thing - the onset of the Turkey Doldrums. Yes, HSV is attuned to the Holiday Season and it shows. Counting today there are four business days before Thanksgiving day – and it’s less if you have to consider proceed time or the fact that half the staff of your company is going to be doing a 3 day vacation bridge between this weekend and Thanksgiving. Aviation --- UAV has a great story that resonates on several levels – the Virginia based firm of Aurora Flight Sciences has developed a 3D printed 9 foot wide, 33 pound UAV that flies at 150 mphBeltway/WallStreet Our Congress continues perfecting its ‘kick the can down the road’ process – the Senate has extended the Thursday funding deadline by one day in order to avoid a shutdown. …To talk more about mostly anything else but the budget. So, who is filling the breach when the federal government isn’t? A recent Washington Times story says it often falls to the states. …More and more states that have based their economy on military bases are treating them like large corporations that they want to keep in their area. …One example given was how HSV ponied-up for new houses for Redstone Arsenal generals. But we are not alone Connecticut, Massachusetts, Virginia all understand the necessity for keeping these investments viable. InternationalRussia has been quick and expansive in response to the downing of their airline over Egypt. More than 25 Backfire, Bear and Blackjack bombers have flown from Russian airbases …Janes Weekly notes that these strikes mark the combat debut of several bombers and air launched cruise missiles. Defense --- Defense Executives Teledyne Brown continues to play its own type of executive Kabuki. Dr. John Horack has announced his unanticipated departure, whilst Al Pichelli has been appointed the COO of Teledyne. Within the latter announcement, TBE confirmed that Rex Geveden has left the company ‘to pursue other professional opportunities”. Rex is one of the finer corporate minds, and for the longest time was thought of as the obvious successor to Robert Mehrabian – but he has found as many in HSV can attest that the TBE wheels grind slowly, but exceedingly finely. --- Defense Budget In a recent article Jane’s shone a little desperately-needed light on acquisition from the Pentagon perspective …and they delineate a subtle sea-change. The nuclear triad appears at an unacceptable tipping point and will require significant bolstering in the current budget. Janes goes on to posit where the money will come from: the F-35. --- Ground Pounder...When the owners of Mississippi Polymer Technologies in south Mississippi took on the challenge to produce lighter ammo, they considered it a sideline to their polymer manufacturing business. But with research and development funding from the U.S. Marine Corps, the focus shifted.SPECOPS folks don’t often get asked their opinion – but the Rand Corporation did. They have performed a survey of some 7,600 members about the idea of women operators – 85% were opposed to the idea of women in doing their jobs, and 80% thought that they couldn’t do the job. Ash Carter’s announcement throwing the doors open to every military job to either sex has resulted in some level of back chatter – the Marines have asked for a reprieve, and the SpecOps community shows 85% in opposition. One can only surmise that will be different when women get a vote… --- Homeland Defense How To Protect Yourself: A Chronology - If the brain is not effectively engaged, a person is left relying on luck, happenstance and the ineptitude of the criminals — and these are not things prudent people should trust their lives to." --- ISIS / Sandbox French authorities have identified Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 28-year-old Moroccan mutt as the person behind the Paris attacks …he recruited his 13-year-old brother to fight for the Islamic State. --- Missile Defense Boeing to be prime on Missile Defense Agency's RKV project --- Navy Derrick won the Heisman, and Navy beat Army still another time. …the USS Milwaukee, the newest Littoral Combat ship had to be towed 40 miles to an unscheduled port in Virginia whilst on its way to its first command all the more perplexing. Right now it looks like a propulsion problem – but it’s the kind of thing that gets a captain replaced.---NASA Over the weekend NASA smiled on SpaceX. …and gave them the authority to proceed with Dragon’s first manned flight to the International Space Station …maybe as early as 2017. This is cool on a couple of counts – it shows NASA is still in command even though Commercial space is doing the (ahem) heavy lifting. And it helps get the Russian Monkey named “LEO” off America’s back.Lori Garver is NASA’s PR gift that just – won’t – quit –giving. Her latest quote chunks a grenade in the media punch bowl …deriding NASA as having a socialist approach when it comes to dealing with commercial space …as if the race to the moon were market driven.---Space Biz Space Debris - A Growth Industry? … Imagine trying to fly and navigate in this volume with millions of objects all travelling at speeds of over 7 km/sec in all directions. The chances of avoiding any collisions with debris pieces over the lifetime of a satellite are extremely small. XPRIZE Gives Moon Express a GO for 2017 Launch to Land First Private Spacecraft On the MoonThe Soyuz TMA-19M ferry to ISS blasted off from its Kazakh launch pad this morning for a 6 hour chase to the station. It’s international crew comprised of a Russian, an American, and a Britisher replaces TMA 17M, which returned to earth this weekend. SpaceX has let slip that its next landing attempt will be on land, at Cape Canaveral …maybe taking a page from Blue Origin …you probly recall that the past few barge landings have gone not-so-great… one running out of fuel, whilst the latest one just blowed up real good (a technical term)And nobody takes a victory lap like SpaceX …their CEO puts its like this: “When Crew Dragon takes NASA Astronauts to the space station in 2017, they will be riding in one of the safest, most reliable spacecraft ever flown.” --- International Space Station It’s going to be a very busy weekend from the International Space Station perspective. Whilst still unpacking Cygnus, Three crew members are to return earth-side today in preparation for their replacements blasting off Tuesday. Transportation One of the two Hyperloop companies is ready to make a significant test. A guy named BamBrogan is in the Las Vegas desert trying to hit 335 mph in a quarter mile using an oversized vacuum cleaner and roller-coaster-like electric acceleration. …5 million rednecks just said “sign me up!” MiscellaneousChristmas List Don’ts: Drones (FAA ruling to register all drones and implement flight restrictions) Hoverboards (Airlines banning …cheap lithium batteries) also bad excuse not to walk! gadgets The 23 Best Sci-Fi Books and Movies to Give to a Noob …And Star Wars fans are, sadly, doing exactly what you would expect. Fans for the “the Force Awakens” have already queued up at theaters …12 days before they can buy a ticket.Check out KickStart Radio:archive/cn.htmlIf you would like a free 14 day review of KickStart, just drop me a line.Hugh.Stanley@Networking?12160800: SMDWG – Quantum Research – 991 Discovery Drive12161100: MRC Holiday Social – Bldg. 4488, D-107 1216RSA Sgt. Major Association Santa Run – RSA Goss Road Child Development Center12170730: MDA OSBP SBAC Event – Jackson Ctr. 12181700: 3rd Ann. RSA Holiday Gala – S&RC – LTC Timothy Green 450-65491219AUSA Botanical Garden Galaxy of Lights 1225Christmas Day – Federal Holiday101New Year’s Day – Federal Holiday104 15th Dynamics Specialists Conference – San Diego, CA104 18th AIAA Non-Deterministic Approaches Conference – San Diego, CA104 2016 Associate Fellow Recognition Ceremony and Dinner – San Diego104 24th AIAAAHS Adaptive Structures Conference – San Diego, CA104 AIAA - SciTech 2016 conference - San Diego104 American Astronomical Society's 227th meeting - Kissimmee, FL104CoC DC Update – VBC-N – Sen. Shelby 1051730: APMP Meeting – Aerojet-Rocketdyne – Andrea Canerossi: “Facilitating the Win”114CoC State of the County – VBC-N – Commisioner Dale Strong 117 Pacific Telecommunications Council - Honolulu, HI118Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – Federal Holiday1211100: ASMDA 2016 Annual Membership Lunch – VBC – LTG Mann 1281100: CoC 80th Annual Meeting – VBC-N2050700: CoC State of the Schools - Jackson Center 205RSA CWC Fundraiser – The Summit2070800: Army Space Professionals Association Super 5K10K – Columbia High School 215Presidents’ Day – Federal Holiday216Singapore Air Show 221Engineers Week BeginsKickStart CalendarSo, if you’ve got the time and inclination, drop me a line and let me know what you are thinking about. If you’ve got time to sit down for a cup of coffee, I’m usually out and making rounds the afternoons of Tues, Thurs, and Friday [256 612 7814 ? ]..Hugh Stanley(c) 256 612 7814KickStart GroupHugh@Twitter: ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download