FLYING BLOCKED: A federal administrative law judge says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) may not fly its Gulfstream IV-SP jet near the center of hurricanes until it thrashes out the details with its employees' union. Judge Richard Pearson, sitting in Atlanta, says NOAA illegally bypassed the National Weather Service Employees Organization when it began sending the twin turbofan jet closer to hurricanes' eyes at 45,000 feet altitudes during the 2005 storm season.
AEGIS UPGRADES: Lockheed Martin said July 6 that it has been awarded at $30.3 million contract to upgrade the AEGIS weapon system on four of the Spanish navy's F100-class frigates. The work will include combat system engineering, computer program support, system integration and test, ship integration and test, staging, FMS program management, and integrated logistics support including training and technical manuals. The Foreign Military Sales work will take place in Moorestown, N.J., and Spain, and is expected to be finished by December 2008.
SECURITY RULES: The FAA is institutionalizing its security rules on Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flying over and around Washington in an attempt to reduce the number of pilots that stray into the capital's Area Defense Identification Zone (within 100 nautical miles of the Washington VHF Omni-Directional Radio-Range/Distance-Measuring Equipment) and Flight Restricted Zone (within 15 nautical miles).
The crew of STS-121 conducted "focused inspections" of six areas of interest on the space shuttle's thermal protection system July 7, including two tile gap-fillers that apparently shook loose during ascent and might have to be removed, as was done on Discovery's flight last year.
General Dynamics will provide the U.S. Army with 103 more Stryker Combat Vehicles under a $127 million contract, the company said July 6. The work will be done in Anniston, Ala.; Lima, Ohio; and London, Ontario. More than 1,500 Strykers in all have been delivered to the Army by General Dynamics. In fiscal 2006, 409 of the eight-wheel Strykers have been ordered.
ARABSAT: Arabsat has picked Arianespace to launch its recently ordered BADR-6 satellite in 2008. The launch contract, the tenth the company has received from Middle East customers, was signed July 6 in Paris. The 7,495-pound (3,400-kilogram) BADR-6 will be built by EADS Astrium and Alcatel Alenia Space, based on the Eurostar 2000+ platform. It will carry 24 C-band and 20 Ku-band transponders providing mostly video broadcasting services for the Middle East and North Africa. Based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Arabsat has launched five spacecraft on Ariane rockets so far
SEA TRIALS: Canterbury, New Zealand's 8,000-ton multirole vessel set for commissioning in 2007, underwent two days of sea trials in Holland last week and is slated for more trials July 16, the country's defense ministry says. The trials included testing of the ship's main propulsion, bow thrusters, Integrated Platform Management System, radars, navigation and mission systems. The vessel then returned to port for a planned dry-docking to allow a hull underwater inspection. Canterbury was launched on Feb. 11.
July 11 - 13 -- Aircraft Combat Survivability Short Course, Kent Space Center, Boeing Company, Seattle Wash. For more information go to http://jas.jcte.jcs.mil/. July 16 - 18 -- Summer Legislative Issues Conference, co-sponsored by AAAE & ACI-NA, Washington, D.C. For more information contact Ashleigh de la Torre at 202-293-8500, email [email protected] or go to www.aci-na.aero. July 17 - 23 -- 45th Farnborough International Airshow 2006, Farnborough Aerodrome, Hampshire, England. For more information go to www.farnborough.com.
In a new report, the National Academies' Space Studies Board (SSB) criticizes the lack of a Mars sample return mission in NASA's current plans, and urges the agency to begin technology development to support such a mission as soon as possible.
The Aerospace Industries Association believes U.S. industry sales will exceed its previous forecast by about 10 percent in 2010, but government spending plans make up more of the current forecast than the old one.
MONA LISA: Germany may be going to the moon. The German aerospace center DLR and Bremen-based space contractor OHB-System will jointly undertake a preliminary definition study for a small German national lunar exploration mission. The 10-month, 500,000 euro ($635,000) study will determine the technological/economic feasibility and scientific interest of a mission around 2010 based on the OHB lunar lander concept, dubbed Mona Lisa, that was presented at the Berlin Air Show in May.
NEW DETECTOR: Sofradir will design a new detector for the visible/near infrared imaging spectrometer to be carried on the European Space Agency's BepiColombo Mercury mission. Designed with a 30 micron pitch and covering a spectrum from 0.4 to 2.3 microns, the 500 x 256 short wave detector will serve to capture surface mineralogy data. A sample detector is to be delivered next year for the mission's two orbiters, which are to be launched in 2013.
Concerned over the possible ramifications of Senate defense authorization language that would require fixed-price contracts for most Defense Department development programs, the Aerospace Industries Association is urging Congress to explore other methods to control costs. The Senate's fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill (S.2766) would mandate the used of fixed-price contracts for research and development (R&D) unless the secretary of defense determines that the program is too complex and risky.
North Korea's Fourth of July test firing of a barrage of missiles - including one long-range missile that could reach parts of the U.S. - has members of Congress calling for sanctions against the regime in Pyongyang and close monitoring of its missile activities. At least six missiles were fired July 4 - including a Taepodong-2 - over the Sea of Japan. All splashed down harmlessly. A seventh missile reportedly was launched July 5. Pyongyang's last long-range missile test was in 1998.
Zachary R. George, Maj. Gen. John J. Marcello (USA Ret.) and Charles S. Ream have been elected to the board of directors. Clifford C. Christ, Jay R. Sculley, and Harry H. Warner will resign from the board in October 2006.
Uzi Rubin, an Israeli missile defense expert and head of Rubincon Consulting in Israel, says that Iran's Shahab 3ER ballistic missile has been tested about 10 times since 1998 with a dismal success rate. The Shahab 3ER is based on North Korea's No Dong medium-range ballistic missile, according to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, and Rubin said it can travel about 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) to Ankara, Turkey; Alexandria, Egypt, or Tel Aviv. Of the known Shahab 3ER tests, 50 percent appear to be successful.
