Astronauts on the space shuttle Atlantis took a small amount of time from their work servicing the Hubble Space Telescope to tend a commercial drug experiment aimed at finding a vaccine against a deadly staph infection that plagues hospital patients. The astronauts turned a crank in one of the middeck lockers twice during the mission, once to mix liquids in test tubes inside a triple-redundant containment cylinder to start the experiment, and once to inject a fixative to halt it.
For American Airlines, this decade has been defined by a relentless procession of external shocks that have rocked the entire industry. But the airline is proving that even the worst short-term crises cannot distract it from its long-term goals. While many carriers would claim this philosophy, few have adhered to it as tightly as American. This in large part explains why the airline has taken a markedly different approach to problems shared by all of the network majors.
With the continuing problems in the Ares I program and the resulting compromises being forced on the Orion capsule, plus comments from former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin (“I don’t agree that there is a better approach for the money, but if there were, so what”), I can only think that somewhere T. Keith Glennan is growling about what NASA has become. As Glennan, the first NASA administrator, said on Oct. 7, 1958, regarding the space program, “All right.
Boeing was tapped by two of the U.S. services this week: the Navy, to develop and test a Distributed Targeting (DT) system for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter; and the Air Force, for a Combat Track II airborne satellite communications system follow-on. The Navy’s $48.9-million contract is part of its Network-Centric Warfare Upgrades program. The technology-insertion program is geared to help Block II Super Hornets stay current through at least 2025. Development of the DT system began at in February at the company’s St.
Astrium will build two Earth-observation satellites and set up a satellite-integration center in Astana, Kazakhstan, under a new strategic partnership between the EADS subsidiary and Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary, a company linked to the central Asian country’s national space agency. The partners will set up a joint venture to operate the integration center as Kazakhstan establishes a space industry, working with Spot Image and Infoterra to expand the market for its satellite imagery.
The French military is getting ready to field improvements to a number of its helicopters as it tries to introduce new standards of equipment for its navy, army and air force. One of the most extensive efforts is the Eurocopter Panther Mk.2, a major upgrade of the navy’s Panther. A prototype of the new version began flight trials last November with operational trials slated for next year. Panthers are heavily used in anti-narcotics and counter-piracy operations.
The early release of cockpit tapes of the last moments of Colgan Air Flight 3407 is reprehensible, and such activity has been opposed by pilots for years. The NTSB has the tapes and information it needs for an investigation. Public release titillates the public, but puts a chill on pilots’ forthright participation in future investigations, if they think they and their families will be humiliated in the interest of public entertainment.
The Airbus A400M is struggling for survival. Although this is no longer news, it is noteworthy because the airlifter is now truly at a crossroads. By year-end, it will either be relaunched, thanks to an all-new contract with Occar (the European military procurement agency), or vanish. Rather than lament the situation, it is time to devise realistic solutions while acknowledging that huge errors were made six years ago both by governments and contractors.
Emirates suffered an 80.4% drop in margin in the past year, but the airline still managed to generate $268 million in profit as fuel costs increased to represent 36.2% of operating costs. Emirates Group Chief Executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum notes that for the current year, Middle East-related traffic is forecast to grow 1.2%, falling short of the 3.8% increase in capacity planned by airlines. Emirates says it will take delivery of 18 new aircraft this year.
Qinetiq saw profits increase 122% to £114 million ($181.3 million) on a 18% growth in revenue. The company also is looking to increase operating margin by reducing overlap in its home U.K. market by shedding 400 jobs, reducing annual costs by £14 million after a charge of £40 million. Qinetiq also continues to look at strengthening its U.S. operations, which now account for 47% of revenue.
Vital electronic warfare capabilities are at risk of being eroded by “this war-itis,” the preoccupation of military planners on acquiring equipment related to counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least that is the fear of several senior officers, who assert that a critical niche of high-end warfighting capabilities is being neglected.
The Aircraft Fleet Recycling Assn. has issued a second edition of its best management practice guide for disassembly of aircraft engines and frames. Upgrades include defining an airworthiness event and establishing when it is appropriate to disclose information on them to succeeding holders of aircraft parts. The relationship between airworthiness events and hidden damage inspections is discussed. The 2.0 guide also examines how best to evaluate recycling partners. For more information see: AFRA’s web site http://www.afraassociation.org
Bolstering its tactical unmanned aerial vehicle portfolio, Saab is entering what it calls a strategic agreement with rotary specialist Swiss UAV. Saab will add Swiss UAV’s Neo and Koax rotary UAV projects to its larger Skeldar rotary development program as the Swedish company looks to build its product offerings. The Skeldar weighs 200 kg. (91 lb.), while Neo is 75 kg. and Koax 45 kg.
The British Defense Ministry is looking for ways to help pilots evade the perilous threat of small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, which have been one of the primary threats to coalition helicopters operating in Afghanistan and Iraq.
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, which produced thousands of images of the infrared universe, like this one of the Helix nebula, in the past 5.5 years, has used up all of the liquid helium that keeps its detectors cold and will move into its warm observation phase. That means a rise to about -404F from -456F that will knock out of commission two Spitzer instruments, the longer-wave multiband imaging photometer and the infrared spectrograph. But the two shortest-wavelength detectors in the infrared array camera still will work.
A nascent South Korean ballistic-missile defense program is gathering strength, with the defense ministry assessing bids from Thales, Raytheon and Elta to supply radars for the system. The defenses will at first rely on secondhand Lockheed Martin PAC-2 missiles as interceptors, but the ministry says it is looking at trading up to more effective weapons.
Boeing remains on track for the final body join of the first stretched 747 next month by completing the wing stub join as well as assembly of the forward fuselage of the initial 747-8 Freighter, RC501. When the raked wingtips are added, the wingspan will be 224 ft. 7 in., compared to the 747-400’s 211 ft. 5 in.
Capt. Brian T. Wilson, in “A Shout-Out for Corporate Jets,” is so out of touch he thinks they let us eat airline cake in coach (AW&ST Mar. 30, p. 8). The economy has shown his darling executives are not worth $500 an hour, so there is no harm in their wasting time like the rest of us in delays and security lines.
The TSA is ending its five-year, $30-million experiment with puffers. The explosives trace detection portals manufactured by Smiths Detection and General Electric are known as “puffers” because they shoot air blasts over passengers sequestered in a chamber. The puff of air is designed to detect explosives particles on the person or clothing. TSA has spent $6.2 million since 2005 on maintenance because the portals were surprisingly sensitive to dirt and humidity in the airport environment. Problems surfaced in 2004 when the portals first were deployed.
The U.S. Air Force TacSat-3 research satellite and a pair of piggyback NASA payloads are operating in orbit following launch on an Orbital Sciences Corp. Minotaur 1 vehicle. Liftoff came on May 19, after weather and technical delays kept the mission stuck on the ground at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia for two weeks. The four-stage launch vehicle performed as expected.
U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley says the service is providing funding for a technology demonstration program associated with working on some of the capabilities lost when the Pentagon decided to terminate the Transformational Satellite (TSAT) program, which was to be competed by Boeing and Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman. The Pentagon has already spent nearly $3.5 billion on TSAT to date, and it was to be the largest milsatcom satellite ever launched. With the demise of the ambitious effort, both contractors are grappling with what to do with their design teams.
Final elements of the International Space Station (ISS) are moving toward completion in NASA’s Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, where near-term work is focused on completing the payload for STS-127, scheduled for a June 13 launch. Due to be carried on the space shuttle Endeavour’s 23rd flight, the payload will include the Japanese-supplied exposed facility that represents the final elements of the Kibo experiment module.
Defense acquisition reform legislation endorsed by President Barack Obama is headed for swift enactment after Senate and House leaders reached a compromise on competing versions of the bill. Negotiators for both legislative bodies worked out the language for the combined legislation in conference. Last week, it quickly passed both houses by overwhelming majorities.
Lawmakers are still sore about the non-disclosure agreement—they call it a “gag order”—that Defense Secretary Robert Gates had his top military officers sign before they worked on President Barack Obama’s first defense budget. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.), ranking member of the House airland forces subcommittee, describes the relationship between Capitol Hill and the Defense Dept. now as a strained marriage. And, as with many such unions, the two are fighting for control of the checkbook. The marriage is not happy, he said during a hearing on the Air Force budget request.
French military Eurocopter EC725 Caracals are slated to receive a range of upgrades as military officials digest four years of operational experiences, including more than 18 months of service in Afghanistan. Enhancements being considered include increasing firepower, improving communications and upgrading targeting capabilities. The French military is largely satisfied with the EC725’s performance, says the air force’s Lt. Col. Olivier Cero, deputy commander for 1/67 Sqdn. The rotorcraft have also been deployed to Lebanon and Chad.
