Italian aerospace research agency CIRA is poised once again to attempt a second transonic drop test with its recoverable Unmanned Space Vehicle (USV), intended to investigate hypersonic reentry and transatmospheric flight. The 140-sec. flight, involving a new test vehicle, Pollux, will be considerably more complex than the first flight in 2007 with the Castor vehicle, which was destroyed when the three-stage chute failed to deploy correctly. Pollux was initially due to fly in 2008 but was delayed because of technical issues and management changes.
Thales listed a number of disparate orders at last week’s Heli-Expo in Houston. Among them were Blue Hawaiian Helicopters’ installation of the French company’s 160-amp. starter generators for its entire fleet of Eurocopter AS350B2s and EC130B4s; Sikorsky’s choice of the TopDeck integrated avionics suite for its new S-76-D; and Eurocopter’s decision to install Thales’s Integrated Electronic Standby Instrument on it range of light and medium helicopters, which include the Ecureuil family—EC135, EC145 and EC155—and their military derivatives.
Bell Helicopter and Rolls-Royce are looking into the potential for retrofitting the Model 206B JetRanger light turbine single with the RR500TS turboshaft and jointly evaluating third-party suppliers to develop supplemental type-certificate kits to replace the Rolls M250 engine now powering the helicopter. A growth version of the 300-shp. RR300 that powers the Robinson R66 light helicopter, the 475-shp. RR500, would offer more takeoff and hot-and-high power, and longer overhaul intervals, than the M250. The engine is scheduled for certification in 2011.
Launch of Europe’s CryoSat-2 ice-monitoring mission, scheduled for Feb. 25, has been delayed due to concern about the second-stage steering engine on its Dnepr rocket, according to the European Space Agency. Engineers worry the fuel-reserve margin on the spacecraft—which will fly in a highly inclined orbit at 88-deg. latitude in order to maximize coverage of the poles—is not as large as specified.
Boeing recently completed the second of a three-phase industrial participation program for the Peace Eagle 737 Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft project for the Turkish air force. The company states that the second step was finished on time and exceeded this phase’s $270-million requirement by $21 million. Phase 1 was completed in 2006 and plans are on track to fulfill all three phases of the overall $930-million initiative for Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense.
Jo Lary, president of Pavement Consultants, and Randy Pope, associate vice president of Burns & McDonnell, have been elected Airports Council International–North America representatives to the ACI World Business Partner Board.
A dark energy mission, an extra-solar planet-finder and a solar probe remain in contention for the medium-sized mission portion of Europe’s Cosmic Vision 2015-25 science program.
European governments signal they have reached an agreement in principle with industry over how to restructure the Airbus Military A400M airlifter, and are provisionally targeting a signing ceremony for Mar. 8 in Paris, according to the French defense ministry. However, adjustments are still possible and industry has signaled it still wants to make sure some issues are clarified.
One piece of technology from NASA’s canceled Constellation Program that may find a role in whatever comes next is the pad-abort system for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Even if Congress goes along with the White House plan to cancel Orion, future commercial vehicles are likely to use the same sort of solid-propellant escape tower to pull a crew away from a failing launch vehicle.
Terry Arden has been named CEO of LMI Technologies Inc. , Delta, British Columbia. He succeeds Len Metcalfe, who will continue as chairman. Arden was chief technical officer.
William C. Bodie has become president of Houston-based Kellogg Brown and Root ’s North American government and defense business. He was vice president-defense programs at DFI International and had been U.S. Air Force communications director.
Congratulations to the Obama administration for keeping NASA’s program appetite within a politically supportable budget, one that seems to represent the U.S. public’s support for space programs. The Constellation Program is unnecessary; travel to low Earth orbit (LEO) has reached a level of maturity comparable to 1930s air travel, making it time for NASA to focus on exploration and give industry the task of lofting payloads to LEO.
The centrist leaders of the Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee are calling on the Obama administration to reverse proposed cuts to the Coast Guard’s budget in Fiscal 2011, specifically by using money that has been proposed for U.S.-based terrorist trials instead. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the panel’s chairman, and Susan Collins (Maine), the ranking Republican, say the budget request would drop the Coast Guard’s funding by $75 million below last year’s budget and reduce the number of uniformed personnel by more than 1,100.
Burt Rutan admits it’s surprising, coming from a dyed-in-the-wool commercial space pioneer like himself, but he has qualms about NASA’s plan to turn U.S. human space access over to commercial vehicles. “No question, it would be good to see commercial companies quickly succeed at orbital access and to take that capability beyond low Earth orbit,” he tells an aide to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) in an e-mail message. “However, I am fearful that the commercial guys will fail; i.e.
Two big battles in Europe between airlines and their unions have hit a brief lull. After initiating a four-day strike, Lufthansa’s pilots union called it off to re-enter negotiations with the airline, at least until Mar. 8. Meanwhile, British Airways cabin crews voted to authorize a strike, but are waiting to give talks time to advance.
:Boeing has brought more fuel-efficient engines, a stretched fuselage, a higher-lift wing and new systems to the 747-8 to extend the brand into its fifth decade. But Boeing is keeping the new airplane’s handling and flight deck close to those of its predecessor -400 so pilots can make an easy transition. While the first flight of the 747-8F provided a spectacular view over Washington state’s Mount Rainier, the test program will quickly shift to Palmdale, Calif. Our coverage begins on p. 42. Photo by Leo Dejillas .
Release of the final request for proposals (RFP) for the U.S. Air Force’s KC-X tanker could lead to a contracting conundrum. If the Northrop Grumman/EADS North America team follows through on its threat not to bid, the Pentagon’s strategy designed to elicit low, fixed-price offers from competitors could backfire. With only Boeing in the running, the Pentagon’s plan could lead to insufficient insight and auditability into the contractor’s pricing.
Defense ministers from Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands have formally approved establishment of the European Air Transport Command (ETAC). It is expected to commence operations in September from its home in Eindhoven, Netherlands, with personnel starting to arrive in July help build the organization. The European partners are hoping to attract other nations to join the effort aimed at pooling and more efficiently employing scarce airlifters and tankers. Spain already is acting as an observer.
The long, turbulent A400M saga continues, as the French Cour des comptes—an oversight agency similar to the U.S. Government Accountability Office—questions the military airlifter’s raison d’etre. Although it is far too late to engage in existential debate about the program’s justification, such negative publicity will likely cause a breach of confidence while a new funding arrangement is being finalized.
U.S. Army Brig. Gens. Genaro J. Dellarocco, Brian A. Keller and Francis G. Mahon have been promoted to major general. Dellarocco is program executive officer for missiles and space at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Keller is military executive for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Bethesda, Md., and Mahon deputy for test and assessment at the Missile Defense Agency in Washington.
Lawmakers are riled about the Obama administration’s new space plan, and particularly its cancellation of the Constellation Program of shuttle follow-on vehicles after NASA spent $9 billion on it (see p. 24). But Republicans in both houses go beyond that bipartisan upset to launch rare personal attacks on a couple of top political appointees at the agency. Sen.
NASA is set to loft the third and final Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) in the GOES-N series on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., on Mar. 2. Liftoff is set for a window that opens at 6:19 p.m. EST and closes an hour later. Designated GOES-P until its checkout in orbit by manufacturer Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems in El Segundo Calif., the geostationary weather satellite will be stored in orbit as GOES-15 until one of the operational spacecraft fails.
Boeing is set to begin assembly of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite K/L spacecraft it is building for NASA following completion of system critical design review and production readiness review. Approval came Feb. 19 after a three-day review by NASA . Launches are set in 2012 and 2013.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) engineers will use results from this final ground test of a space shuttle reusable solid rocket motor (RSRM) to continue work on the five-segment version of the powerplant they are developing as the first stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle.
