38The Military Engineer l November-December l 2009 and pulled by agricultural tractors out?tted with cold-weather gear. A prototype cargo sled variant of this design was success- fully tested on the return trip from South Pole to McMurdo in January 2008. The ?rst production SPoT, an eight-tractor ?eet, arrived after a 39-day trip from McMurdo at South Pole on Dec. 17, 2008, delivering approximately 934,000-lbs of payload. In to- tal, the SPoT offset 40 ?ights by ski-equipped LC-130 Hercu- les polar transport aircraft, saving more than 100,000-gal of fuel that would have been used for the delivery, with an envi- ronmental emissions footprint of less than 1 percent. (For more information, contact Megan Holland at megan.hol- land@usace.army.mil) Airmen Use Space to Develop Warfighting Technology A group of airmen at the National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) Johnson Space Center is using space to help develop technology for the war?ghter. As the staff of the Department of Defense (DOD) Space?ight Payload Of- ?ce, these airmen work in a small of?ce deep inside the cen- ters mission control, where they support missions involving shuttle and international space station payloads and deploy- ing payloads on the outside of the space station. These payloads usu- ally consist of experi- ments or research proj- ects that may one day apply lessons learned from space to create advancements on the battle?eld and in mili- tary aircraft. Were already seeing some new technologies being used by our war?ghters because of experiments conducted in space, said Capt. Aaron Landenberger, USAF, a Payload Test Manager. These technologies include new biological bandages that contain healing properties and a new medical intravenous delivery system that works in any position, including hang- ing upside down or lying ?at. While the airmen arent involved in the creation of the ex- periments, the space?ight payload specialists work to get these experiments on as many missions as possible. For many of the experiments, DOD is the owners best chance for getting the idea into space. Larger payload programs, like those performed by NASA, are wary of sending untested experiments into space, said 1st Lt. Matthew Gartmann, USAF, a Human Space Flight Manager. So, if we send these new ideas into space, then they have a ?ight history and the larger programs will then pick them up and give them more time in space. In turn, these experiments often become operational capa- bilities for the military and other agencies. We are a technology-development unit, Capt. Landen- berger said. The DOD is really helping pave the way for sci- ence. One of the of?ces most recent accomplishments was the successful deployment of two spherical satellites using a can- ister payload deployment system for satellites. The two satel- lites will measure the actual drag on satellites in the Earths atmosphere. With a better model of the Earths atmosphere, we could dramatically improve theater operations for military satel- lites, Lt. Gartmann said. We are always planning for future events and forward thinking. Getting these payloads ?own is very important because these systems can help our war?ght- ers in the future. (Contributed by Staff Sgt. Matthew Bates, USAF, Defense Media Activity-San Antonio) USACE Lab Named 2009 Army Research Laboratory of the Year ERDC was recently named by the Army as the 2009 Re- search Laboratory of the Year for the third consecutive year and the ?fth time in the last eight years. This is the ?rst time an Army laboratory has received this prestigious award for three consecutive years. ERDC is the research and development organization of the Technology News (continued) Register Today for SAME U Online Registration for SAME U in San Antonio closes Nov. 10 Choose fromthe following workshops developed by SAME, CMAA and IFMA. • LEED for DOD Projects • Best Value Source Selection for DOD Projects • Design-Build for DOD Projects • CMAA: Construction Management Standards of Practice Course • Project Management for DOD Projects • IFMA: Certi?ed Facility Manager Review Course Register today at www.same.org/SAMEU. 2010 Schedule Feb. 2-4, Seoul, South Korea July 12-14, Frankfurt, Germany Nov. 17-19, San Antonio, Texas