Digital Government

NASA adds sites for Polar Lander

NASA developed a traffic plan in preparation for curious onlookers seeking realtime sights and sounds from the Mars Polar Lander, which descended toward the planet Dec. 3. The space agency created scores of mirror World Wide Web sites to ease congestion. During the 1997 Mars Pathfinder landing, NA

Digital Government

Mars live: NASA set for flood of Net traffic

NASA expects a flood of people to hit its World Wide Web site looking for real-time images, video and audio from the Mars Polar Lander, which is scheduled to land tomorrow. But the space agency has created scores of mirror Internet sites to ease the congestion.

Digital Government

SBA removes certification hurdles for disadvantaged firms

Companies that already have small, disadvantaged business certification at the Transportation Department now face fewer obstacles to gain certification from the Small Business Administration.

Digital Government

Software to avert airport delays

NASA and Honeywell Inc. have developed technology that may help prevent frustrating delays at some of the nation's busiest airports. Software developed by NASA, the Honeywell Technology Center and Honeywell Airport Systems solves a unique problem at airports that have parallel runways spaced as clo

Digital Government

DOT, MCI team to speed FTS 2001 transition

The Transportation Department and MCI WorldCom last week agreed on a series of steps that would cut the agency's transition time to FTS 2001 in half. The deal was signed Nov. 10 by George Molaski, DOT's chief information officer, and Jerry Edgerton, MCI's senior vice president of government markets

Digital Government

Army takes over Navy's mega-IT contracts

San Diego The Army plans to take the lead in acquiring highend computer systems and databases for the Defense Department and other federal agencies. On Jan. 11, the Army plans to release a request for proposals for the Army Small Computer Program's Mini Maxi and Database contract and plans to m

Digital Government

VPNs could help astronauts send data

NASA astronauts working on a space shuttle or international space station eventually could use Internetbased systems to transfer data to controllers and researchers on Earth through a secure link. Earlier this month, engineers from NASA's Space Communications Office and Veridian Trident Data Syste

Digital Government

Navy adds to IT-21 offerings

The Navy this month awarded a blanket purchase agreement that adds several IBM Corp. products to a list of choices available to its Atlantic Fleet as part of a program to connect its ships and bases with commercial desktop systems. The Navy's Fleet Industrial Supply Center in Philadelphia awarded t

People

Feds ready for Y2K, but local 911 systems remain at risk

With only 50 days left until the first day of the new millennium, 99 percent of the federal government's missioncritical computer systems are prepared to handle the date change, according to the Clinton administration's final Year 2000 report released today.

Digital Government

DOT, FAA say systems are Y2K ready

Systems that operate lighting, emergency response and radio communications at the nation's 565 airports are expected to work properly through the Year 2000 date rollover, according to Transportation Department and Federal Aviation Administration officials.

People

Safety talks move online

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is following the lead of other Transportation Department agencies by launching an Internet-based effort to encourage public involvement in improving transportation safety.

Digital Government

DOT casting emergency net

A lifesaving network to automate emergency response following roadway crashes is the goal of a public/private initiative led by the Transportation Department

Modernization

AT&T seeks FTS 2001 re-bid

Protest asks GSA to terminate FTS 2001 contracts with Sprint and WorldCom and reopen competition