External Payload Carrier (XPC): R.J. Bodkin and Jeff Herath participated in a telecon with Dr. Paul Schallhorn (KSC Launch Services Program) to discuss the status of the XPC (External Payload Carrier) concept and discuss its potential benefit to EDL technology and the agency. This meeting will be followed up with another meeting in a month.

HIADS Project HIADS on Antares: RJ Bodkin reports the formulation team traveled to Orbital Sciences Corp, in Dulles, VA for a TIM.  The TIM focused on interface issues and the concept of operation. Participants were able to share ideas and concerns and both groups left with action items to allow the HIAD on Antares proposal to progress to toward the design stage.

Tommy Jordan, Mike Logan, and Garry Qualls met with representatives of Virginia Tech (Wed, Feb 26) and the University of North Dakota (Thursday, Feb 27) to discuss possible collaboration related to the selection of the universities as FAA designated UAS Test Sites.  Discussions centered on the universities’ plans for the test sites and Langley’s UAS capabilities along with tours of the UAS Airspace Operations Challenge Lab and the Small Unmanned Aerial  Vehicle (SUAV) Lab at the Center.  Both VT and UND were very interested in LaRC’s process for UAS mission approval and would like further information, possibly adopting the process.  Internally, Langley needs to agree on a level of support for these activities and a funding stream.