Chinese space contractor CASC has taken a Bolivian order for a communications satellite based on the DFH-4 bus of subsidiary CAST. The TKSat-1 satellite will be fitted with 30 transponders and be launched from the Xichang base by a Long March 3B or 3E rocket, says China Great Wall Industry Corp.
Kobe Bryant has been appointed a global ambassador for Turkish Airlines for two years . Bryant has been named Most Valuable Player of the National Basketball Association finals for the past two years and has won five NBA championships in his career.
I have just finished reading the well-written, interesting historical summary of the Space Shuttle Era (AW&ST Dec. 6, p. 48). As I was reading these articles, I happened to glance at the table that held the Sept. 10 issue, opened to a page displaying a “cluster of galaxies” as they existed “9.6 billion light years ago.” As I studied that image, I realized our efforts to explore space are like a shotgun blast. That is, while we hit one objective, each new blast reveals another mountain of data.
Capt. Clyde Romero’s letter about future cockpits (AW&ST Dec. 6, p. 9) raises another interesting question: Why are the two seats still designed as mirror images? With the advent of fly-by-wire, it would seem logical to equip each seat with duplicate throttle and sidestick in the exact same layout. That way, muscle memory and reflexes would work the same in either seat.
In “Chairman’s Cut” (AW&ST Nov. 15, p. 26), it is stated that a White House-commissioned panel recommends scrapping the Lockheed Martin F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant in order to help reduce the federal deficit. However, before even thinking of doing so, they should scrap the F136 alternate engine program. It is unneeded and a critical waste of money when the F135 engine is already flying. The F136 has yet to make a test flight. Furthermore, a cancellation of the F-35B would produce a critical capabilities gap once the Harrier II is retired.
Russian engine maker Aviadvigatel is targeting April to freeze the design of the first member of a new commercial turbofan family. The Perm-based company has just launched the first series of trials of the PD-14’s gas generator. The engine is being designed for Russia’s MS-21 narrowbody transport and also provides the foundation for an entire family of powerplants.
The first launch of the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., is set for Jan. 11. It will use the reconfigured Space Launch Complex 6 and carry the classified L-49 payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
China and non-state terrorist or criminal organizations are considered the primary threats to U.S. and coalition cybernetworks. But increasingly, just as in conventional intelligence, the most damaging cyberleaks are being facilitated from the inside by trusted people.
U.S. Navy Vice Adm. (ret.) Doug Crowder has been appointed chief operating officer of Kestrel Enterprises , a subsidiary of the Boeing Co. He wascommander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet and deputy chief of naval operations for operations, plans and strategy. As commander, he was responsible for all U.S. Navy forces throughout the Western Pacific and Indian oceans.
Eumetsat officials say the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has signaled its intention to play a role in the next mission in the Jason/Topex-Poseidon altimeter satellite program. Known as Jason CS, the mission will use a satellite bus based on the European Space Agency’s Cryosat, instead of the French Proteus used in previous flights.
Worldwide freight traffic is a leading indicator of world trade; world trade drives business travel; business travel drives airline profits. This was the mantra at the International Air Transport Association’s first-ever cargo briefing Dec. 14 for aviation reporters in Geneva preceding its annual media day. We are likely to hear this mantra a lot more, as IATA intends to step outside of its passenger airline-centric arena and onto the world’s political stage to educate politicians and regulators about the deep economic impacts of air cargo.
U.S. Missile Defense Agency officials are exploring why the Boeing Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system again failed in an attempt to intercept a complex ballistic missile target deploying countermeasures fired from the Kwajalein Atoll, according to the MDA. The Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) was fired from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. This flight was designed as a retest of a January trial, which also failed to result in an intercept. During the Dec.
Colorado businesses will benefit from the services of an “innovation ambassador” from NASA to help push advanced technology developed for space applications into the commercial sector. Under a new agreement signed by Gov. Bill Ritter, Jr., and Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology will set up a “manufacturing park” designed to help turn technology into products in as little as 18 months.
The new price targets for F-35 low-rate-initial-production (LRIP) Lot 4 are likely to factor into the Pentagon’s ongoing debate about how to proceed with the multinational, single-engine fighter program, which is facing additional testing delays and potential cost overruns in the billions. A new program plan is not expected to be unveiled until February, when the Pentagon sends its Fiscal 2012 budget request to Congress.
Richard H. Anderson (see photo), CEO of Delta Air Lines, has been elected chairman of the Air Transport Association of America board. Gary C. Kelly, Southwest Airlines chairman, president and CEO, was named vice chairman.
Waleed Abdalati has been named NASA ’s chief scientist, serving as principal adviser to the NASA administrator on agency science programs, strategic planning and the evaluation of related investments. He has been director of the Earth Science and Observation Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Airbus is pointing to Indian and Chinese domestic air traffic expansion as underpinning growth forecasts for the next 20 years, but also sees the region’s fleet expansion as having a dampening effect on new cargo aircraft. In its newly released outlook of traffic and fleet developments out to 2029, Airbus has cut the number of new freighters and cargo conversions to be delivered in that time to 2,960 units, from 3,439. That comes even as the average annual growth rate for freight ton kilometers is up to 5.9% from 5.2% in last year’s forecast.
Citing projected demand for general aviation aircraft in China, Teledyne Technologies plans to sell U.S. piston aero-engine manufacturer Continental Motors to Beijing’s Avic International for $183 million. Acquisition of Mobile, Ala.-based Continental requires U.S. government anti-trust and foreign-investment clearance as well as Chinese government approval, but is anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2011. Avic is expected to retain Continental’s senior management and headquarters. Teledyne projects Chinese demand for 100,000-600,000 GA aircraft.
Hui-Ying Wen, a Draper Laboratory Fellow, has been honored by the New England Chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society for her research into a simulation framework that could be used to evaluate options for automating tasks or assigning them to the onboard crew in lunar landing missions.
Avicopter is studying a 10-ton helicopter and sees a possible opportunity to build another, smaller aircraft, as it works to become one of a small group of manufacturers with a full range of rotorcraft. A third rotorcraft under consideration, which would be built with Russian Helicopters, would have a gross weight of 30 tons, says Avicopter, the rotary-wing specialist subsidiary of Chinese aeronautics conglomerate Avic.
End the aerial tanker debate. Fire the lawyers, stop the litigation and just split the contract between Airbus and Boeing. Both have aircraft flying, each offering different capabilities. The crews need a new aircraft. I know from old equipment—I flew the KB-29P; the first boom tanker.
