If the results from the Lcross lunar impact turn out to be less definitive than hoped—given the lack of a demonstrable ejecta plume—and if it is important for future manned lunar exploration to determine if ice resides in polar lunar craters, I suggest a more direct approach: a dedicated polar lunar lander (AW&ST Oct. 19, p. 36). If NASA could soft-land five Surveyor spacecraft on the lunar surface beginning in 1966, surely it will not be too challenging to replicate the feat now.
Middle East carriers remain committed to growth despite global economic turmoil, but that is not to say that business plans for these airlines—which have spurred much of the Airbus and Boeing order intakes in the past decade—have not taken a big hit. That mood should be reflected in lower order activity at the Dubai Airshow, Nov. 15-19, even if some deals are on the horizon.
Patrick J. Finneran, Jr., (see photo) has been named president/CEO of the Sabreliner Corp. of St. Louis. He was a vice president of Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems. D.C. Iain Glendinning has become chief information officer, but remains head of the company’s Independence, Kan., operation.
Jim Thompson has been appointed general manager and Buddy Tobin senior project manager for King Aerospace Commercial Corp. , Addison, Tex. Thompson was a project manager for King. Tobin was president of BaySys West.
Kenneth E. Gazzola, Former Executive Vice President and Publisher AviationWeek Group (McLean, Va. )
I applaud Aviation Week & Space Technology for the integrity of your Oct. 19 editorial “Come to Wichita, Mr. President” (p. 78). In football, President Barack Obama’s comments would have resulted in a penalty for “piling on.” The depressed economy has delivered enough of a blow to business aviation without the president adding negative attention to the whole industry, due to the inexcusable blunders of a few CEOs.
Six NASA astronauts will use the next-to-last mission of the space shuttle Atlantis to begin preparing the International Space Station for the day when there will be no shuttles to keep the station supplied.
Stanley O. Kennedy, Jr., has been named vice president/general manager of the Space Products Group of Comtech AeroAstro , Littleton, Colo. He was vice president of CAA’s Advanced Products Group.
K. Radhakrishnan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, will succeed G. Madhavan Nair as the top Indian space official. A 38-year veteran of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Radhakrishnan was named chairman of the Space Commission, secretary of the Space Dept. and chairman of ISRO on Oct. 31. Radhakrishnan started his career in 1971 as an avionics engineer at Vikram Sarabhai and has been particularly active in remote-sensing.
Jack LoSecco has been appointed product and service area director for the Syracuse (N.Y.) Research Corp. He was director of the ITT Cyber Assurance Dept., Rome, N.Y.
All Nippon Airways aims to double its planned cost cuts by finding another ¥100 billion ($1.1 billion) in annual savings by reducing head count and consolidating group airlines. ANA also will shift 20% of its 6,000 administrative workers to roles closer to the front lines. A plan to hire 3,300 people to exploit expansion of Tokyo’s airports has been scrapped.
By the middle of next year, Etihad Crystal Cargo is slated to take delivery of the first Airbus A330-200F freighter, which completed its first flight Nov. 5 from Toulouse.
Qian Xuesen, a U.S.-trained rocket scientist who became the father of the Chinese space program, died on Oct. 31 in Beijing. He was 98. For his role in establishing China’s increasingly influential space sector, Aviation Week & Space Technology named Qian as its Person of the Year for 2007 (AW&ST Jan. 7, 2008, p. 56).
Use of business jets has risen 18% since bottoming out in March, another sign that the beleaguered industry is stabilizing. An analysis by UBS Investment Research finds that bizjet takeoffs and landings rose in five of the past six months. But flight activity was still 9% lower in September than a year earlier and 27% off its peak in mid-2007.
Engineers are poring over a treasure trove of flight data following NASA’s successful launch of its Ares I-X testbed from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., but financial data are much more likely to determine the ultimate fate of the Ares I crew launch vehicle. Two days after the flight test, NASA’s Constellation Program recommended dropping a planned follow-on “Ares I-Y” demonstration in 2014 because it does not have the funding necessary to get an upper-stage engine ready in time.
Your editorial “Come to Wichita, Mr. President” was disingenuous to the president. Detroit had been losing market share for years and through indifference or ineptness, ignored that it messed up. Now Detroit wants corporate welfare, but to “live high on the hog” on taxpayers’ money.
Piyasvasti Amranand (see photo) has become president of Thai Airways International . He was chairman of the advisory panel to the CEO of the Kasikornbank Bank and had been the country’s energy minister.
The Saab Gripen NG demonstrator aircraft has re-entered the flight test program, now fitted with a Selex Galileo active, electronically scanned array radar. The aircraft was returned to flight test at the end of last month.
Middle East Airlines continues to defy assumptions. Having delivered a profit in 2006 when its Beirut base came under attack during the Israel-Hezbollah war, the carrier this year expects to increase its profitability in spite of the global economic problems ravaging most airlines.
The French aerospace industry is looking to tap a planned public bond issue for billions of euros’ worth of new projects, including a medium-lift helicopter, intercontinental business jet, and engines and other hardware to equip them.
Eutelsat reported an 11.8% jump in revenues in the first quarter of its 2009-10 fiscal year, driven by growth in video and a surge in data and value-added services, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. A new satellite, W7, is scheduled to be launched on Nov. 23 to serve this fast-growing market. Eutelsat’s performance mirrored third-quarter results at SES, which included a 2.4% rise in revenues and a 4% improvement in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
I fully concur with David Tussey regarding the use of angle of attack in the cockpit as a baseline indicator of aircraft performance and safety (AW&ST Oct. 19, p. 9). I used to sell AOA products and rapidly became convinced that AOA indication is a basic safety device in any aircraft. It is inexpensive and guaranteed to save lives.
Australian composites manufacturer Quickstep is to sign with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to produce components for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter potentially worth A$700 million ($636 million) in a 20-year period. Perth-based Quickstep expects to reach a long-term agreement by March 2010 to supply up to 21 components for the F-35, including lower skins, access panels and weapons bay doors, in one of the largest F-35 contracts awarded to Australian industry.
The National Mediation Board (NMB) is considering changing its interpretation of a 75-year-old U.S. labor law governing airline and rail union elections, a politically charged proposal that could open the door for more unionization in the industry. For a sector that is already stumbling financially and facing collective bargaining pressure from unions over past concessions, any changes to the law that could make it easier for unions to take root are being strongly opposed.
