Federal Newscast

After SpaceX failure, NASA says it will strengthen requirements on space launch contractors

In today's Federal Newscast, NASA officials tell a House space subcommittee its plans for making sure its astronauts are safe when using a commercial space laun...

Eric White@FEDERALNEWSCAST

January 18, 2018 8:16 am

4 min read

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NASA told Congress it was toughening its demands on commercial space launch contractors. Associate Adminisrator Bill Gerstenmaier said NASA will require seven successful launches before letting its astronauts sit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Speaking to the House space subcommittee, a GAO auditor expressed caution over NASA’s hands-off approach with its key contractors. But Gerstenmaier said NASA engineers get deeply involved in design of subsystems with the greatest safety risk, such as fuel loading procedures and parachutes. (House Space Subcommittee)

Congress has until the end of Friday to pass a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. House speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is now courting Democrats’ help to pass a four-week stopgap measure unveiled Tuesday. Ryan had to reach out to them after it was revealed he didn’t have enough votes from his own party to pass the measure. (Federal News Radio)

Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are pressing the State Department on its sexual harassment and assault policies. Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Jean Shaheen (D-N.H.) send a letter to Secretary Rex Tillerson asking to analyze data to better understand the scope of the problems at State and USAID as they consider policy changes. (Senate Foreign Relations Committee)

To improve risk management, the Internal Revenue Service is looking toward interagency threat sharing solutions to reduce the government’s payout of tax returns to fraudsters. IRS chief risk officer Tom Brandt said the agency is working with state tax authorities, financial institutions and tax preparers to share information about cybercriminals. The IRS also plans to hold a risk roundtable within the agency before the start of the tax season. (Federal News Radio)

Four key positions at the Veterans Affairs Department have all been open for at least 200 days, something that worries Senate VA Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.). VA has lacked a permanent undersecretary for benefits for more than 800 days. The undersecretary for health and CIO positions have been open for more than 300. VA Secretary David Shulkin said he’s made a selection for the CIO, the candidate is going through the White House vetting process. (Sen. Johnny Isakson)

More than $1 billion over budget and years behind schedule, the new Veterans Affairs hospital in Denver, Colorado will finally open in August. Construction on the new medical center is 98 percent complete. But VA may have to keep the old Denver facility open for another three to five years as the new hospital doesn’t have enough room for the PTSD program, and all primary care teams. VA says it’ll have to buy another building to meet that capacity. (Federal News Radio)

The Veterans Affairs Department announced a pause in its acquisition process for a new electronic health record. It’s reviewing what language on interoperability it should use. in its request for proposal on the new EHR. VA said it picked the MITRE Corporation to coordinate and lead an independent review of this contract language. VA Secretary David Shulkin said the pause shouldn’t alarm anyone. He said it was more of precaution, to make sure the department gets its interoperability contract right. Shulkin initially said contract negotiations with Cerner Corporation would take three to six months. (Federal News Radio)

Three agencies are partnering up to test out cellphone jamming technology. The Justice Department’s Bureau of Prisons, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Federal Communications Commission are using micro-jamming technology to see if they can prevent a federal inmate from using a contraband cell phone. The three agencies test this technology at the Federal Correctional Institution at Cumberland, Maryland. NTIA wants to determine if micro-jamming technology will interfere with radio frequency communications. This is the second time the agencies tried to jam contraband cell phones. The first time was in 2010. (Department of Justice)

The Army’s revamped acquisition office signaled it would startup in March. First on its agenda: A new, long-range rifle. A spokesman said the rifle buy would be part of the 2018 cycle. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said he expects a gun with longer range and greater accuracy. (Federal News Radio)

The Defense Innovation Board is making two recommendations that it hopes will create a more innovative workforce within DoD. The advisory panel said the department should create a specialized career field emphasizing innovation, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or I-STEM. A second recommendation would focus on DoD’s senior leaders, setting up a new technology and innovation training program for those officials. The board decided to hold off on voting on two other recommendations until its next quarterly meeting in April. (Department of Defense)

A new initiative from the Defense Department aims to make military and civilian relations better. The Know Your Mil initiative’s goal is to deepen the nation’s understanding of the military. A recent survey by Blue Star Families found a majority of military families don’t feel they belong in their local civilian communities. (Department of Defense)