The next “decadal” survey of the U.S. planetary science community will consider the technical maturity and cost of space missions as well as their scientific value in setting priorities, by applying lessons learned from the delayed Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).
Ashok Nayak (see photo) has been named chairman of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. of Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), India. He succeeds Ashok K. Baweja, who has retired. Nayak was managing director of HAL’s Bengaluru Complex.
Joe Sigg has become director of aircraft spares for SkyWest Airlines . He succeeds Todd Wilkinson, who is now at SkyWest sister carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines.
Boeing delivered the 6,000th 737 on Apr. 16. The 737-800 was handed over to International Lease Finance Corp. for service with low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle. The delivery came 42 years and one week to the day after first flight of the 737 in 1967, and slightly more than 41 years after initial entry-into-service with Lufthansa. The 5,000th 737 was delivered to Southwest Airlines in February 2006, while the 6,000th order came in December 2005. Backlog for the 737 stands at more than 2,200.
Australia’s National Assn. of Testing Authorities has approved Boeing Defense Australia’s application for testing medium-sized military and commercial aircraft, plus a variety of equipment, for electromagnetic environmental effects (E3). The approval supports Australia’s introduction of the 737-derived Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft, but could also be applied to other platforms such as the C-130. Approval is for testing aircraft emitting on frequencies between 4 and 400 MHz.
Air Line Pilots Assn. International President John Prater—leader of more than 52,000 pilots flying for U.S. and Canadian airlines—outlines the challenges facing the professionals who occupy the “front office” of airliners during tumultuous times. Prater met with Aviation Week editors James R. Asker, Frances Fiorino, Jennifer Michels and Graham Warwick to discuss the pilots’ perspective on forging protective labor contracts and maintaining the highest level of airline safety and security.
Dassault’s Rafale is out of the 126-aircraft Indian fighter competition, leaving the Boeing F/A-18E/F, Lockheed Martin F-16IN, Eurofighter Typhoon, RSK MiG-35 and Saab Gripen in the race.
Edward Stewart (see photo) has been named managing director for external communications for Delta Air Lines . He has been senior vice president of Fleishman-Hillard and was senior director of public relations for Southwest Airlines.
Michelangelo Neri has been appointed Thales ’s Security Solutions and Services country director in the United Arab Emirates. He is also director of Thales’s Dubai Integration Center.
Airbus last week formally subsumed the former EADS military transport aircraft division, creating the Seville, Spain-based Airbus Military unit. EADS in December decided to shift management of the A330 multirole tanker program and the A400M, C-295 and CN-235 airlifters into Airbus, hoping to gain efficiencies and better program oversight.
NASA has decided to call Node 3 on the International Space Station “Tranquility,” despite an outpouring of public support for naming the pressurized module after television comedian Stephen Colbert. “We selected ‘Tranquility’ because it ties it to exploration and the Moon and symbolizes the spirit of international cooperation embodied by the space station,” says William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for space operations. Astronaut Sunita Williams announced the name, which was among the top 10 suggestions from the public, on Colbert’s cable television program Apr.
There remains some confusion in the letters of Charlee Smith and Carl Slater regarding the advantages of biofuels (AW&ST Feb. 23, p. 8; Mar. 23, p. 8). The key concept is the source and fate of carbon. Photosynthetic organisms (plants, algae, etc.) take in carbon—as CO2—from the atmosphere and use it, with other elements, to synthesize all of the materials of which they are made. They emit oxygen, which is why the atmosphere contains free oxygen. When biomass is converted to biofuels and burned, carbon is recycled into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
BAE Systems is developing a radar warning receiver (RWR) for satellite use, under a $6.3-billion U.S. Air Force contract. The intent is to alert satellites when they are being “painted” by radar energy, says Eric Rhodes, business development manager for BAE. Initially, the RWR will be able to detect radar energy up to 18 GHz. in bands used for situational awareness. Eventually, the intent is to detect radar energy up to 40 GHz., with frequencies that could be used for targeting satellites.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Bill Sweetman (Washington)
A new, reduced-signature, unmanned aircraft—the long-rumored, 20-hr.-endurance, pure-jet Predator C Avenger—has emerged from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ workshops after a 3½-year gestation period paced by massive growth in UAV production and the use of unmanned designs in combat. The UAV’s undeniably stealthed-up exterior offers several clues about how the aircraft could be employed.
The Newfoundland provincial government has put plans to purchase Bombardier 415 water bombers on hold, saying it could not reach acceptable terms for the C$100-million-plus ($83-million) purchase. The Canadian province’s government says it insisted on having all deposits and advance payments protected against potential losses in the current economic climate, but Bombardier was not prepared to provide adequate security. Instead, Newfoundland will continue to operate its six older CL-215 firefighting amphibians.
As it faces the prospect of a bigger order than originally planned for the joint-services Advanced Extremely High-Frequency satellite constellation, Lockheed Martin has completed thermal-vacuum testing of the second spacecraft and is set to begin a final thermal-vac verification test of AEHF-1 on Apr. 30. The company now has four of the 9,200-lb. AEHF spacecraft in process, although only three are fully funded. It has begun advanced procurement of the fourth under an expected $120-million contract from the U.S. Air Force let last year.
American Airlines put two of its new Boeing 737-800 aircraft into service Apr. 14. The carrier accepted delivery of the two aircraft last week and expects 74 additional new -800s to arrive through the first quarter of 2011. The -800s will join the other 77 737-800s in its fleet and eventually replace the carrier’s 270 MD-80s. Many of the new -800s will be based at the Chicago hub, says Gerard Arpey, chairman and CEO of American’s parent company, AMR Corp. He noted that American, like other companies, continues to finds ways to cut costs.
Gary Rower, founder and senior partner of Century CRM, Peachtree City, Ga., has been elected to the board of directors of the International Council of Air Shows . He also has been chairman of its Safety Management System Development Committee.
SuperJet International, which is marketing and supporting the SuperJet 100 regional aircraft, has received an EASA/ENAC Part 145 certificate. The certificate will allow SuperJet to begin activities at its new completion and maintenance base in Venice, Italy.
The Netherlands parliament this week is expected to decide whether the country should purchase two test F-35As. A decision on a production buy would come later. The F-35 procurement has met stiff opposition in parliament. One of the sticking points for F-35 opponents is lack of a firm purchase price.
Bahrain’s Gulf Air has increased its Boeing 787 fleet to 24 aircraft with an order of another eight 787-8s. The deal is Boeing’s first for the year for the 787, for which there now are 886 total orders from 57 customers. Boeing’s order book is now in the black for 2009 with a net four sales after weeks of being in the red due to 787 cancellations. Besides the Gulf Air deal, Boeing has recorded 24 737 and four 777 orders in 2009.
The U.S. Navy and some of America’s military allies will soon have a broad lineup of aircraft including the EA-18G Growler, P-8A Poseidon, EP-X, F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. A range of unmanned platforms is also available, among them the Broad-Area Maritime Surveillance UAV, helicopter Sea Scout and ship- or air-launched Scan Eagle.
The global financial crisis is prompting France to sell off its military communications satellite network to free up funding for new hardware purchases. The bleak economic situation is also forcing a reassessment of private financing initiatives (PFIs) that had been earmarked for aerial tankers and other programs, perhaps putting some procurements at risk.
