NO LOADING TEST: There will be no space shuttle external tank cryogenic propellant loading test on Pad 39 at the Kennedy Space Center pad in early June, NASA has decided. Some managers had argued for a test that would have been done about June 1 to assess the performance of tank sensor modifications under cryogenic thermal loads. But others were concerned that the test, along with one or more STS-121 launch countdowns, could itself increase chances of foam cracking in flight.
LPD 17 AIR: The U.S. Navy's newest amphibious ship, the first-of-class USS San Antonio (LPD-17), is being tested for certification for various Marine Corps aircraft. Testing began on April 10 and is expected to conclude in early June, with results expected to be released six months after completion, the Naval Air Systems Command said May 1. LPD 17s are supposed to be able to field the Marines' largest helicopter, the CH-53E, in addition to smaller helicopters such as the CH-46, AH-1H and the UH-1H.
May 8 - 9 -- SpeedNews Fourth Annual Aerospace & Defense Suppliers Conference, Park Hyatt, Century City, Los Angeles, Calif. For more information call (310) 203-9603 or go to www.speednews.com. May 8 - 9 -- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' 12th AIAA/CEAS Aeronautics Conference (27th AIAA Aeronautics Conference), Hyatt Regency, Cambridge, Mass. For more information call (703) 264-7500 or go to www.aiaa.org.
Sweden's Esrange Space Center has recently added six polar-orbiting satellites at once for its controllers to track and launched two sounding-rockets in less than a month.
An award-term contract decision for the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater recapitalization program's next arrangement with Integrated Coast Guard Systems is expected to be announced soon, the latest Deepwater newsletter says. ICGS, a joint venture of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems and Lockheed Martin, expects another multiyear award like the five-year contract that ends in June 2007 (DAILY, March 29).
The House Armed Services Committee, in its version of the fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill, has included provisions sponsored by its Republican leadership that would require the Defense Department to carry out quick assessments of whether costly acquisition programs can compete parts or whole systems.
'SPACE FLORIDA': Florida is reorganizing its commercial space funding, management and economic development efforts under a new organization designated "Space Florida." The new organization will fall under Enterprise Florida, the state's privatized economic development organization. The state legislature is providing Space Florida with about $43 million in initial funding, most of it incentives that will be used to aid whichever contractor team wins the NASA Crew Exploration Vehicle competition late this summer.
BUMPER CROP: EADS Astrium CEO Antoine Bouvier is predicting Astrium will land five telecom satellite awards by mid-year as the company emerges from several years of slow satcom sales. Sources in India say one of these is likely to be a new order for a small satellite line being marketed in partnership with the Indian Space Research Organization's Antrix arm, set up in mid-2005. The first order under this alliance, for Eutelsat W2M, was placed in February. On May 4, Astrium was selected to supply Eutelsat's Hot Bird 9 - the manufacturer's third satcom win of the year.
NASA's Centennial Challenges program will join the X-Prize Foundation in offering $2.5 million in prizes to teams that develop lunar lander analogs and demonstrate them in a competition scheduled this October in New Mexico. Contestants will demonstrate rocket-powered vehicles that can take off vertically, fly a course, hover and land to simulate a trip from the lunar surface to orbit and back again. Prizes ranging from $150,000 to $1.23 million will be offered in the Oct. 22 competition, which will involve two levels of difficulty.
NASA can't accomplish all that is on its plate with its current and projected budgets, and science at the agency is threatened as it bears the brunt, according to a new report from the National Academies' Space Studies Board (SSB). "NASA is being asked to accomplish too much with too little," the May 4 report says. "The agency does not have the necessary resources to carry out the tasks of completing the International Space Station, returning humans to the moon, maintaining vigorous [science] programs, and sustaining capabilities in aeronautical research."
Industry competition and open systems are the cornerstones of the new philosophy adopted by the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) program, according to Joint Program Executive Officer Dennis Bauman. "We intend to do full and open competition on all the hardware development," Bauman said during a teleconference May 3. JTRS doesn't want to have a sole-source relationship with anyone, he said, and ideally will hold open competitions for hardware lots in each year of production.
Lynn M. Cortright will retire in June as president of the climate and industrial controls business. Thomas F. Healy has been named to replace Cortright.
Raytheon officials are hoping they have weathered the worst of a mini-scandal spawned by the revelation that many of Chairman and CEO William H. Swanson's "Unwritten Rules of Management" in a booklet the company distributed had been lifted from other sources.
John D. Micheletti has been named assistant director of the Advanced Technologies Department in the Training, Simulation and Performance Improvement Division.
SPACE RECON: The Russian Military Space force is beginning to reconstitute its dwindling space reconnaissance capability. The Cosmos 2420 reconnaissance spacecraft is undergoing initial checkout in a 200 x 100 mile orbit inclined 67 degrees following launch May 3 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on a Soyuz booster. The launch saved the Russians from an extended period with virtually no space reconnaissance capability.
Led by the House Homeland Security Committee chairman, the Republican-controlled House declined to call for a large increase in the U.S. Coast Guard's Deepwater program funding next fiscal year.
The Senate on May 4 passed its roughly $109 billion fiscal 2006 supplemental spending bill, setting up a contentious congressional conference with the House while ignoring a veto threat from President Bush. The Senate passed the bill 78-20, including $65.7 billion for the Defense Department, but did not include amendments to allow the U.S. Navy to retire the USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier early nor a proposal to force a spending offset to the total $70.9 billion allocated in the bill for fighting the so-called global war on terror (DAILY, May 4).
As part of the $512.9 billion fiscal 2007 defense authorization bill it marked up late May 3, the House Armed Services Committee legislated $100 million for at least 10 manned persistent surveillance aircraft to patrol Iraqi and Afghan roads and areas where insurgents' improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are most likely to be. These surveillance platforms will be tactical assets controlled by ground commanders in combination with quick reaction forces to prevent IED emplacement and secure the roadways, according to HASC staff.
