Posts from GovConDaily 04/27/2017

House Republicans Introduce 1 Week Stop-Gap Funding to Avoid Shutdown

House Republicans introduced a stop-gap funding measure late Wednesday night to keep the government funded through May 5, while lawmakers hammer out final legislation that would fund the government through September…

The Department of Veterans Affairs has unveiled additional exemptions to the moratorium on federal hiring efforts following a previous move to lift restrictions for some professional fields in January…

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will fund eight research projects at seven universities under a four-year program that aims to explore how stimulation of the human body’s peripheral nerves can help facilitate cognitive learning…

SpaceX is preparing for the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket on Sunday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to send a classified payload into space for the National Reconnaissance Office, Space News reported Wednesday…

President Donald Trump will issue an executive order to establish an accountability and whistleblower protection office at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Military Times reported Wednesday. Leo Shane III writes Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin told reporters the VA’s future Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection could help accelerate the termination of underperforming employees and reduce corporate staff across the department…

Cameron Chehreh, chief technology officer at Dell EMC‘s federal business, has said converged and hyper-converged technologies will become “great focal areas” for Dell EMC, FedScoop reported Wednesday…

Lockheed Martin has secured contracts of undisclosed value to update the sensor systems of Japan’s AH-64DJP Apache attack helicopters and carry out performance based logistics support. The company said Wednesday it will supply 14 laser designation kits through 2020 to upgrade the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor systems of the Japanese army…

NASA is planning a joint mission with the European Space Agency to study potential signs of life on Jupiter’s Europa moon, New Scientist reported Monday. Andy Coghlan writes Michel Blanc, a scientist at France’s Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology, said at the annual European Geosciences Union meeting that the Joint Europa Mission could be deployed in mid-2020s for a more than six-year expedition…

Charles River Analytics has received a contract to design and build a traumatic injury prediction tool for the U.S. Army as part of efforts to help combat lifesavers, medics, civilian and military first responders lower the incidence of preventable deaths…

DARPA has completed flight-testing of a sub-scale version of a novel aircraft design as part of its Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) X-Plane program, and is proceeding with work to develop a full-scale version of the groundbreaking plane…