ESA is confident its newest flagship mission, Herschel-Planck, will get off the ground next spring, putting Europe in the forefront of infrared and cosmic-background astronomy. The €1-billion dual-spacecraft mission, which had been set to launch this month, has suffered from a combination of “minor issues,” says ESA science director David Southwood, including a leak on the Planck pressure controller, now being investigated, and nitrogen contamination in Herschel’s helium tank that forced engineers to drain the tank and replenish the helium supply.
Aeroflot’s interim results reflected a 55.2% drop in net profit, with the airline identifying increased fuel and lubricant costs as the cause of the decline. Consolidated revenues for the first six months of 2008 were $473.1 million, up 28.4% from the same period for 2007. Operating expenses, however, grew by 42.1%. Profits totaled $72.2 million.
This week’s planned launch of India’s first mission to the Moon will intensify the search for lunar water ice that could help support future lunar base operations. Crews kept the Chandrayaan-1 mission on track for its Oct. 22 launch date with a move Oct. 14 to the vehicle assembly building at the launch facility on Sriharikota Island in the Bay of Bengal, for mounting atop its PSLV-XL Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
Organizational changes are being introduced at BAE Systems in the wake of Ian King’s appointment as CEO, with the creation of four operating groups. Guy Griffiths, previously managing director of Insyte, becomes international group managing director. He was chief operating officer of MBDA. Nigel Whitehead becomes group managing director for programs and support. He held the same post at Military Air Systems.
Bruce Nobles has been named president/CEO of Air Jamaica . He was its president/chief operating officer from 2002-03. Nobles succeeds William Rodgers, who has been acting president/CEO since the resignation of Mike Conway. Nobles also has been president of The Renwick Co. of Dallas.
European Space Agency managers have dropped plans to seek sharply expanded funding for the agency’s science program, but they still hope to get a real spending increase. Earlier this year, science director David Southwood had expressed hopes for up to €100 million ($135 million) in additional funding—a 20% increase—in the three-year budget plan to be approved in November.
Airservices Australia and Airways New Zealand are using or installing wide-area multilateration systems, but the two air navigation service providers down under have different views on the future role of such technology.
David L. Matthews has been named senior vice president-technical operations and Kevin Layton senior vice president-air traffic systems for SRA International Inc. , Fairfax, Va. Matthews succeeds Layton and was vice president-engineering project management at the Sensis Corp.
Boeing has added another 10 orders in the Ryanair column for 737s, raising total orders for the type this year to 480 and total aircraft orders to 633.
All aircraft programs seem to be late these days for multiple reasons. Boeing, for example, apparently went too far in trusting long-distance partners who couldn’t match the 787 program’s advanced technology and tight schedule. Airbus clearly underestimated the A380 wirings complexity, at least in terms of production, while China’s Avic and Russia’s Sukhoi are discovering that regional twinjets are no simple matter.
Thorny disputes between airlines and their airport and air navigation service providers, usually over the levels of fees and charges, can be avoided in future if recommendations for procedural changes take hold around the world.
Sensis Corp. is installing wide-area multilateration systems in North America, Europe and in the Asia-Pacific region, and the first ones being used in the U.S. may set a pattern for further use of the new technology here.
The Oct. 8 plunge of the Cassini spacecraft to within 15 mi. of Enceladus as both orbited Saturn a billion miles from Earth is providing new data on the water and dust jets firing from the moon of Saturn 300 mi. into space. The deluge of new water-related findings from the fleet of multinational spacecraft exploring Saturn and Mars is increasing the odds that habitable conditions for alien life exist now, or did earlier, in the Solar System.
Tammy Romo (see photos) has been named vice president-financial planning of Southwest Airlines . She was vice president/controller and has been succeeded by Leah Koontz, who has been promoted from assistant controller.
Airbus and Pratt & Whitney are preparing to measure external noise characteristics of the PW1000G geared turbofan engine in Moron, Spain, following an initial set of test flights from Toulouse, France, on Oct. 14 and 15. The first flight on Airbus’s A340-600 testbed lasted 2 hr. and included a takeoff with the PW1000G at full power as well as expansion of the flight envelope to 37,000 ft. and maximum Mach operating number.
On Dec. 1, Dubai-based Emirates plans to increase its service to Cyprus to daily from five times weekly, using Boeing 777 aircraft. According to Emirates, the island of Cyprus, which averages 300 days of sunshine a year, attracts more than 2.4 million tourists annually.
Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Corp. (Ameco Beijing) will add blended winglets to nine Boeing 767-300ERs for Condor under a contract that also includes C checks, beginning in April. Ameco Beijing estimates the winglets will save 4-6% of fuel on medium- and long-haul flights while increasing payload range capability and improving takeoff performance.
Dominic Chow (see photo) has been appointed director of custom power solutions for Crane Aerospace and Electronics , Lynnwood, Wash. He was head of the segment’s business development and business management.
According to “Ares Power” (AW&ST July 28, p. 51), two 5.5-segment solid rocket boosters supply insufficient mass margin for the Ares V. In addition, they are expensive, as every time a solid rocket motor (SRM) is altered, the design, development and testing costs are similar to those for a totally new rocket. The solution is simple. Use three of the flight-proven four-segment SRMs that the shuttle employs, without any changes. This should increase the mass margin to 8-9 from 6 tons.
Pratt & Whitney says it will reorganize a few sectors under a new unit “to drive strategic alignment and improved responsiveness.” The new organization, Commercial Engines & Global Services, will include the Commercial Engines, Global Service Partners and Global Material Solutions units. Todd Kallman will be its president. Pratt will continue to use the Global Service Partners brand for its maintenance, repair and overhaul sales efforts.
U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command awarded General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products two orders to produce Hydra-70 rockets and warheads. The orders, worth a total of about $85 million, were awarded under a five-year contract signed in 2005 that has a total potential value of more than $900 million if all options are exercised. Deliveries will begin in May 2010. Hydra-70 is a family of unguided rockets offering several warhead configurations to enable an aircrew to match a rocket to a specific mission.
The Luftwaffe, with support from the U.S. Army and Lockheed Martin, conducted its first test of the PAC-3 missile using a German Patriot launcher Oct. 13 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. This was the second international test of PAC-3; the first, Sept. 18, was for Japan. During this test, the Army simulated a theater ballistic missile, and the PAC-3 flew a trajectory that would have produced an intercept had a physical target been present.
The first Level D full-flight simulator (FFS) for the Eurocopter EC225 has entered service at HeliSim in Marignane, France. Jointly owned by Eurocopter and simulator manufacturer Thales, HeliSim also operates four FFSs for the AS365, EC155 and AS322L1/L2 helicopters. An NH90 simulator will be added in 2009. Eurocopter, meanwhile, has EC135 flight training devices (FTD) at its plants in Germany and Texas, and will install EC225 FTDs in Aberdeen, Scotland, and Southeast Asia in 2010.
The VH-71 presidential helicopter program continues its budgetary rehabilitation with a $173-million contract plus-up from the U.S. Navy for design and integration of communications, navigation and mission systems.
