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Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Here are a few of the experiments hitching a ride on the Air Force’s secret space plane

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Categories: ASCF News National Preparedness Bipartisianship

Comments: 0

When the secretive X-37B space plane returns to orbit on May 16, it will be carrying more experiments than it has on any previous mission, including one that will transmit solar energy from space to the ground via microwave energy.

"The X-37B team continues to exemplify the kind of lean, agile and forward-leaning technology development we need as a nation in the space domain," said U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John "Jay" Raymond. "Each launch represents a significant milestone and advancement in terms of how we build, test, and deploy space capabilities in a rapid and responsive manner."

The unmanned X-37B, which returned from its last and longest flight in October, is scheduled to launch May 16 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. While an earlier Space Force launch of a GPS III satellite was delayed due to the COVID-19 situation, the X-37B launch has remained on track. Despite being launched by the Space Force, the X-37B remains an Air Force platform.

The military has been elusive about what the Boeing-built space plane has been doing on its various missions, beyond noting that it has been used for a number of on orbit experiments. The vehicle has spent a cumulative 2,865 days on orbit, with its last flight being the longest at a record breaking 780 days.

In a May 6 press release, the Space Force opened up about some of the experiments that would hitch a ride into orbit aboard the X-37B, most notably one that will deliver solar power to the ground from space via radio frequency microwave energy.

That experiment is likely related to the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research (SSPIDR), an effort to collect solar energy with high-efficiency solar cells, convert it to radio frequency, and then beam it to earth. That technology could provide an uninterrupted energy source to expeditionary forces at forward operating bases that have limited access to traditional power sources.

“The Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research (SSPIDR) Project is a very interesting concept that will enable us to capture solar energy in space and precisely beam it to where it is needed,” Col. Eric Felt, director of AFRL’s Space Vehicles Directorate, said in an October statement on the effort. “SSPIDR is part of AFRL’s ‘big idea pipeline’ to ensure we continue to develop game-changing technologies for our Air Force, DoD, nation, and world.”

AFRL has awarded Northrop Grumman a $100 million contract to support space-based experiments supporting SSPIDR.

The X-37B will also deploy the FalconSat-8, an educational small satellite developed by the U.S. Air Force Academy that will carry five experimental payloads. Also on board will be two National Aeronautics and Space Administration experiments that will study the effects of radiation and the space environment on seeds used for food products.

One reason the vehicle will carry more experiments than prior mission is the attachment of a new service module to the aft of the spacecraft, which will host multiple experiments.

“This launch is a prime example of integrated operations between the Air Force, Space Force, and government-industry partnerships,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein. “The X-37B continues to break barriers in advancing reusable space vehicle technologies and is a significant investment in advancing future space capabilities.”

Photo: The Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle will return to orbit May 16. (Jeremy Webster/ U.S. Air Force)

Link: https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/05/07/here-are-a-few-of-the-experiments-hitching-a-ride-on-the-air-forces-secret-space-plane/

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