Leading Capitol Hill Democrats have promised a stark fight over President Bush's expanded fiscal 2008 off-budget supplemental spending request for Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, citing current strains on an already stretched military. "The Iraq war is leaving us less secure, unprepared to fight an effective war on terror or respond to the unexpected," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Oct. 22 after Bush formally sent Congress his amended request.
Weather at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla., is a growing problem for the planned Oct. 23 launch of space shuttle Discovery on the STS-120 mission to the International Space Station. "We are concerned about the weather," says Kathy Winters, the shuttle weather officer for the U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing that operates the Eastern Range. Liftoff is targeted for 11:38 a.m. EDT.
Starsem orbited four low-Earth orbit (LEO) communications satellites Oct. 20 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, doubling the number it has launched to augment the constellation until a second generation of spacecraft is ready. The Soyuz rocket with a restartable Fregat upper stage lifted off at 4:12 p.m. EDT (2:12 a.m. Oct. 21 local time), and the Fregat ignited twice to place the satellites in their proper orbits.
Boeing's P-8A Poseidon aircraft program fired its 200th live-fire shot into simulated aircraft sections, putting it well on its way to full-scale live-fire testing scheduled for 2012.
Five "procedural errors" led to a B-52 ferrying nuclear weapons from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., this past August, says Maj. Gen. Richard Newton, U.S. Air Force assistant deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements. "This was a failure to follow procedures, procedures which have proven to be sound," Newton said at the Pentagon Oct. 19. "A series of procedural breakdowns and human errors...facilitated this serious and unprecedented incident." First error
AIR FORCE NDTS Aviation Services Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a contract modification for $10,769,878. This action provides for aircraft backshop maintenance, munitions, and equipment support for the Air Armament Center and for Air Armament and Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence Systems testing for a 12-month period. At this time, $9,642,145 has been obligated. 96 CONS/MSCB, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (F08651-02-C-0085, Modification P00044).
TOKYO - The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) Selene lunar orbiter has lowered itself into its final science observation orbit of roughly 100 kilometers (62 miles) altitude. The orbit lowering was completed Oct. 19 and confirmed by JAXA the following day. On its way down, the probe ejected the Relay and Vrad daughter satellites (DAILY, Oct. 10, 15), with Relay released Oct. 8 with a perigee of 2,400 kilometers (1,500 miles) and Vrad released Oct. 12 with a perigee of 800 kilometers (500 miles).
A Russian state commission will investigate why the Soyuz TMA-10 vehicle returning Expedition 15 and a Malaysian space tourist from the International Space Station (ISS) shifted into a steeper "ballistic" trajectory early Oct. 21 and landed some 340 kilometers (210 miles) short of its intended landing zone.
One of the three NASA Gulfstream Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA) is grounded following an Oct. 19 incident in which the left wingtip of an STA flying a normal aircraft landing approach to the shuttle runway at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., struck the upper branches of a tree during its final approach. Had the aircraft - already flying too low - been just slightly lower, the tree impact could have caused a potentially fatal crash. Steep approaches
A survey of small to medium-sized U.S. aerospace companies found they could not identify a direct return on investment stemming from their participation in international air shows, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported Oct. 22. Sixteen of the 20 companies interviewed by GAO - all with fewer than 500 employees - said they have rented space at major air shows such as Paris, Farnborough and Singapore. Company officials told GAO that the decision to participate in an air show is based on several factors, including cost and potential sales.
The Defense Department's office of operational test and evaluation (DOT&E) hopes to convince senior leaders that greater investment in programs' research and development (R&D) phase will provide greater returns on life-cycle support costs.
General Dynamics announced a $188.8 million work order from Force Protection Inc. to produce 401 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles for the Marine Corps. The companies have teamed up on the vehicles, sharing in production and program management of the contract. Force Protection earlier won a $376.6 million contract to produce 800 MRAPs.
ACQUISITION REFORM: A Senate bill promoted by moderate politicians seeking federal acquisition reform could lead to $70 million in additional discretionary outlays and $180 million in additional direct spending over 2008-2012, but it also could lower federal procurement costs for goods and services, according to congressional scorekeepers.
BUSY DAB: The Pentagon's Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) is scheduled to convene four times during the week of Oct. 29. The meetings are an Oct. 29 review of the Single Integrated Air Picture (SIAP) effort, an Oct. 30 meeting on the restructuring of the U.S. Army's Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program (DAILY, Oct. 11), a Nov. 1 milestone III review for the Stryker Nuclear Biological Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBC RV), and a review of the restructuring of the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter program Nov. 2.
GLOBALSTAR: Globalstar will orbit a final batch of four replenishment satellites for its first-generation network on Oct. 21 aboard a Starsem Soyuz Fregat launch vehicle from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Together with four other spares launched on May 30, the new spacecraft will augment the existing 40-satellite network, built by a consortium led by Space Systems/Loral.
Among the objectives of the next scheduled test of the space shuttle's reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM) is gathering further data on vibration loads that will be experienced by the RSRM-derived Ares I rocket's first stage, according to ATK ATK is both the prime for the RSRM and the first stage of the Ares I, which NASA will use to boost the Orion crew exploration vehicle to orbit. The Ares I first stage will be a five-segment version of the four-segment RSRM. The test is scheduled for Nov. 1. The last test was held in May (DAILY, May 29).
Oct. 22 - 25 - National Defense Industry Assn.'s 12th Annual Expeditionary Warfare Conference. "Fighting Today and Preparing for Future Challenges." Marriott Bay Point Resort Village & Spa, Panama City, Fla. For more information call 703-247-2596 or go to www.ndia.org/meetings Oct. 23 - 25 - Precision Strike Technology Symposium (PSTS-07), "Required Precision Strike Capabilities and Technologies for the Long War," Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab Kossiakoff Center, Laurel, Md. For more information go to www.precisionstrike.org.
EUMETSAT: Canada has agreed to reinforce its collaboration with European weather satellite operator Eumetsat. The new agreement, which builds on a previous accord signed in 2002, will cover participation in Eumetsat Satellite Application Facilities, acquisition and exchange of satellite data and training.
