got geoint?

Welcome to the Monday Morning News Kick Off. We hope everyone had a restful weekend and enjoyed watching the Packers takes the Super Bowl last night, as a well as the Black Eyed Peas showcasing why they are better lip synchers than actual singers. But, alas here we are. It’s Monday and time to shake off the remnants of the football fun and get back into work life. As always, we have compiled all the actionable news you need to kick start your work week. So, as we always say, fire up that second cup of coffee and read on.

U.S. Military Launches Secret Satellite to Test Space Spy Tech
A trailblazing payload for the National Reconnaissance Office successfully rocketed (pictured) into orbit on a Minotaur 1 booster Sunday, beginning a secret mission testing new ways to collect intelligence from space. The mission was codenamed NROL-66 in the agency’s rocket acquisition naming system. The payload is also called RPP, which is short for Rapid Pathfinder Program. “I commend everyone who made this launch successful,” said Robert Brodowski, director of the NRO’s advanced science and technology directorate. “This mission is just one example of our ability to rapidly build and launch small spacecraft with on-orbit capabilities that increase the value of NRO systems to our nation’s future.” Read the full Space.com post here.

Russians Lose Spy Satellite Hours After Launch
Russia has reportedly lost contact with its newest military satellite just hours after launching it into space today (Feb. 1), according to Russian reports. The satellite, called Geo-IK-2, blasted off atop a three-stage Rockot booster from Russia’s northern Plesetsk Cosmodrome at about 5 p.m. Moscow Time (9 a.m. EST, 1400 GMT). But just two hours after liftoff, the satellite went missing, according to Russia’s Itar-Tass and Interfax news agencies. “There is no contact with the satellite,” Russia’s Interfax-AVN news service quoted an unnamed Russian space industry source as saying. Read the full CBS News post here.

Saudi Arabian Archaeological Sites Discovered Using Google Earth
New Scientist has reported on the discovery of close to 2000 Saudi Arabian archaeological sites by University of Western Australia academic David Kennedy — without a shovel’s worth of dirt being moved. Instead, Kennedy uncovered the sites thanks to Google Earth. New Scientist reports that he scoured 1240 square kilometres of Saudi Arabia using Google Earth’s imagery, and discovered 1977 “potential archaeological sites.” Read the full PC World story here.

A Sampling of 2010′s Defense Deals
ast year saw no shortage of transactions big and small among area defense and government contractors. Here are a few noteworthy deals from 2010. Arlington-based CACI International logged its 5oth acquisition when it bought Fairfax-based Applied Systems Research, a small firm that uses chemical and biological sensors, infrared imaging and other methods to convert data into usable intelligence. The purchase of ASR, which has 50 employees and boasts that almost all have high-level security clearances, was intended to improve CACI’s offerings in geospatial intelligence. Read the full Washington Post story here.

Bill Nye on America’s “Horrible” Science Education
Popular Mechanics interviews Bill Nye the Science Guy on the state of US science education (Nye: “It’s horrible.”). He’s anxious that science education ramps up too late (“Nearly every rocket scientist got interested in it before they were 10.”) and, of course, that teachers are intimidated out of teaching the good science of evolution and other controversial subjects…read the full BoingBoing post here.

NGA’s Shifting Analysis – Challenges and Opportunities of the New Direction
In her recent keynote address, the new director of the Nation Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), Letitia Long, unveiled her new vision, which recognizes certain realities of the operating environment and implicitly touches upon profound implications for the GEOINT analytical community. This unveiling suggests the need for a deeper look at the environment, those implications, and the obstacles to successful implementation. Read the full Imaging Notes article here.

Happy Monday!!

Tags: Australia and US Spy Satellite Deal, CACI, CACI and Applied Systems Research, Defense Deals Washington Post, GEOINT, geospatial intelligence, Google Earth and Saudi Arabian Archaeological Sites, got geoint?, Imaging Notes, National Reconnaissance Office, NGA Shifting Analysis, NRO launch, Russians Lose Spy Satellite, USGIF