The Government Accountability Office has denied protests from both MD Helicopters and AgustaWestland - the losing bidders on the Army's $1.7 billion contract for Light Utility Helicopters.
Launch from Cape Canaveral of the twin spacecraft NASA/European "Stereo" Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory flight is set for late Oct. 25 on a mission aimed at the first 3D imaging of the sun. Liftoff of the Boeing Delta II from Launch Complex 17B is planned at 8:38 p.m. Eastern time at the opening of a 15-minute window dictated by the orbit of the moon. Both spacecraft will make lunar swing-bys to fling one millions of miles ahead of the Earth, and the other far behind Earth to achieve 3D viewing angles of both the Earth and sun.
PRESIDENTIAL PLAY: A VH-71 presidential replacement helicopter test model will land on the White House lawn next month to show off the embattled Lockheed Martin-led program, a company executive said Oct. 24. All test vehicles in the program are ahead of schedule, and the program is slated for a critical design review (CDR) with top defense officials during the first quarter of 2007. Contractors recently completed a successful preliminary CDR, Lockheed's Chris Kubarik said.
Dr. Charles Elachi, director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is being honored as one of "America's Best Leaders" by U.S. News & World Report in collaboration with the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Russia launched a Progress resupply vehicle to the International Space Station Oct. 23 bearing food, oxygen, fuel and spare parts for the station's balky Russian oxygen generator.
BAE Systems will manufacture another 20 Iraqi Light Armored Vehicles (ILAVs) under a $7.8 million Foreign Military Sales contract modification from U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), the company announced Oct. 23. Used to transport allied troops in theater, the 4x4 ILAV includes a V-shaped hull designed to deflect the force of explosions away from passengers. The contract modification follows an initial order for 378 vehicles issued in May. The first ILAV's were delivered to Iraq 90 days after the contract award.
NAVY Bechtel Plant Machinery Inc., Schenectady, N.Y., is being awarded a $44,777,000 cost-plus-fixed fee contract for naval nuclear propulsion components. Work will be performed in Schenectady, N.Y. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was not competitively procured. No work completion date or additional information is provided on naval nuclear propulsion program contracts. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-07-C-2102).
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems' Mariner unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrator has completed its participation in a maritime surveillance trial conducted off the North West Shelf (NWS) of Australia, the company announced Oct. 19. The trial's goal was to assess the potential of UAVs to participate in joint maritime surveillance and support the Australian navy's Armidale Class Patrol Boats, OPC Dash-8s and army troops.
With the U.S. Navy facing funding shortfalls for shipbuilding and sharing other military services' concerns over growing health care and personnel costs, the three-star admiral who has personally spearheaded a potential cost-savings revolution in naval aviation is set to retire.
REPORT DENIED: MBDA Missile Systems has denied a report on the debka.com Web site that an Aster 15 air defense missile battery will be deployed by Italian troops in Lebanon. The company said that the Aster 15 is currently employed only for ship-based area defense, and that the Aster 30-based SAMP-T ground-based variant has yet to be introduced into service.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Video gamer John Carmack's Armadillo Aerospace team plans to go back to the drawing board this winter after its attempt to win a $350,000 NASA Centennial Challenge lunar lander competition ended in failure on Oct 21.
The solar and space physics community needs to coordinate better with NASA's space operations personnel if the agency is to protect astronauts on future long-duration space voyages from the dangers posed by space radiation, according to a new report from the National Research Council.
HARPOON UPGRADES: McDonnell Douglas Corp. has been awarded a $17.2 million contract to provide Harpoon Ship Command Launch Control Systems upgrades, modifications, equipment and spares for Pakistan, Chile, and Turkey, the U.S. Defense Department said Oct. 23. The work will be done in St. Charles, Mo.; San Diego, Baltimore, and other U.S. locations. It is expected to be finished in July 2008. The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md.
PURCHASE CLEARED: Germany's court of appeals has cleared the acquisition of full control in Astra Playout Services (APS) by SES Astra, denying a complaint filed by competitor Eutelsat in early 2005. Eutelsat had argued that the move, approved by Germany's antitrust office in December 2004, would affect APS's neutrality. Eutelsat officials declined to comment on the decision.
NAVY TOUR: Navy officials are touring the U.S. to build up support for the service and boost its public image. With the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and even the Coast Guard benefiting from greater public awareness due to military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and hurricane response - and those services commanding their own headlines in seeking more funds - the Navy must fight for an already tenuous shipbuilding and force structure plan.
The German army is about to field the first NH90 transport helicopter, setting off a series of quickly ramping up deliveries to several customers. The handover comes about two years after the original program plan. Before year's end, NH Industries expects to deliver helicopters not just to Germany, but also to Greece, Finland, and potentially Italy, says Eurocopter executive vice president Lutz Bertling. The first helicopter is already in the German army's hands, but formal acceptance is not expected for at least another two weeks.
HELO AIR FRAME: Aero Vodochody has shipped the second of three prototype airframes for the new Sikorsky S-76D helicopter. The first was delivered in July and the third is to follow next year.
