European Space Agency officials say a revamped undertaking to prepare basic technologies for future-generation launch systems is beginning to show tangible results. However, the effort must be maintained and even accelerated if Europe wants to remain competitive in the launcher sector, they warn.
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee wants Defense Secretary Robert Gates to expand the scope of the U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) is urging Gates to bump up the headquarters’ status to a three-star command—headed by a lieutenant general or vice admiral. Based in Kabul, the upgraded command would improve coordination between U.S. forces and NATO’s International Security Assistance Force on military, political and economic assistance, Skelton says.
Aerospace lecturer William F. Shea has been elected to the boards of directors of the Aerospace Museum of California Foundation and California Transportation Foundation , both in Sacramento. He was FAA associate administrator for airports and first chief of the California Aeronautics Div., director of aviation for the Port of Portland, Ore., founding director of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Aviation Institute and Aviation Dept. chairman at the University of North Dakota.
NATO and Russia are preparing for a key live test of the Cooperative Airspace Initiative on airspace surveillance and air traffic coordination in March, according to NATO. The Cooperative Airspace Initiative (CAI), being developed under the auspices of the NATO-Russia Council, is the first NATO-Russian system of its kind to be fielded and aims to strengthen capabilities required to deal with so-called “renegade” situations in which aircraft are suspected of being controlled by terrorists.
Former U.S. Defense Undersecretary Paul G. Kaminski has been named the Aerospace Industries Assn. representative to the NextGen Institute Management Council. He is chairman/CEO of Technovation Inc. and senior partner in Global Technology Partners.
Intelligence organizations in the U.S. and Israel are examining data on Iranian rocket tests early this month to determine if the Iranians tried and failed to launch their large new Safir space booster, and then attempted to cover up the loss by launching a much smaller sounding rocket that did reach space—but not orbit. Analysts believe there is some evidence for a launch failure because of the odd editing of a launch video shown in connection with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to the launch site.
The crash of a Trent-powered Boeing 777 at London Heathrow Airport last month (AW&ST Jan. 21, p. 20) underscores the fact that we are in a new paradigm of aircraft operations and do not fully realize it.
Over half of the British Royal Air Force’s C-130J Hercules fleet will not presently meet the planned out-of-service date, as far greater than foreseen utilization in harsh operational environments is hitting airframe life.
The flawless landing of the space shuttle Atlantis here Feb. 20 ended the European Columbus delivery flight, clearing the way for the launch in less than three weeks of the shuttle Endeavour with a load of Japanese and Canadian hardware for the International Space Station. The STS-123 Endeavour crew will continue the assembly sequence of the Columbus laboratory using the Canadian Dextre (“dexterous”) manipulator for the station’s robotic arm. Endeavour also will carry a pressurized logistics module for the big Japanese lab to follow later in the spring.
Total cost of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission could reach $2 billion as the program races to surmount its developmental problems and make its scheduled 2009 launch, warns Alan Stern, NASA’s science chief. Originally approved at $1.5 billion, the big surface rover program estimate has reached $1.8 billion and counting, Stern tells the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group. Following an evaluation by an independent cost team, NASA is bracing to shift an estimated $165 million more to keep MSL going.
Walter S. (Woody) Hogle, Jr., has become senior vice president-international business and Washington operations for Rockwell Collins , Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was vice president/general manager of integrated systems for Rockwell Collins Government Systems.
Embraer added 22 E-jet regional aircraft to its order book from three operators. U.S. leasing company Jetscape ordered 10 Embraer 190s with 10 options and 10 purchase rights, for delivery starting in 2009. Virgin Blue firmed up options it held on four 190s, and Regional Air France did the same on one Embraer 170 and one 190. EgyptAir firmed options on six E-170s.
In a more rational world, NASA would be developing more economical and reliable ways of placing payloads into orbit. That would make possible a whole array of exploration and commercial developments that are now infeasible. Instead, NASA has been pursuing a jobs-and-votes program that will never achieve its stated goals. Changing the focus from Moon exploration to asteroids and Mars is only an attempt to extend the pursuit by making the goal more distant.
Airbus and Messier-Bugatti are conducting flight tests of an A340-600 equipped with an electrically operated braking system—a first for a commercial airline transport. Airbus officials say the immediate goal of the tests is research. Although Messier-Bugatti will supply brakes for the new A350XWB, the electric system will not be installed on that aircraft because the technology needs to mature. Boeing is developing a brake-by-wire system for the 787. The electric brake initiative is part of Airbus’s plan to create an “all-electric” airplane.
Last week’s relocated and enlarged Singapore Airshow drew consistently positive responses from exhibitors and visitors. Exhibitors routinely reported a good flow of potential customers dropping by their stands. The show’s new facilities, featuring a compact layout, easy access and a single huge hall for most displays, took away a lot of the inconvenience usually associated with such exhibitions. More than 800 companies from 42 countries participated.
Sukhoi flew the prototype Su-35 variant of the Su-27 Flanker for the first time on Feb. 19. The latest version of the Flanker is the second to use the Su-35 designation. A previous major upgrade of the basic design, the Su-27M, was also known as the Su-35. The Su-27M never entered operational service. The first new Su-35 aircraft, Bort 901, was on static display during the Moscow air show in August 2007. A further two development Su-35 airframes are being built at the Komsomolsk production site in Russia.
The powerpack for the recycled Apollo-era engine NASA hopes to send back to the Moon is moving into hot-fire testing, after an initial 36-sec. run Feb. 15 that apparently met all objectives. Engineers at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi were preparing the J-2X powerpack, installed in historic test stand A1, for a 450-sec. trial, pending final analysis of data from the initial hot fire. The 36-sec. test followed one run Jan. 31 of the pyrotechnic igniter that gets the turbomachinery spinning to pump fuel into the rocket engine’s injector.
Congressional defense committee leaders, concerned about the readiness of the U.S. military after Iraq—especially in dealing with a future potential competitor such as China or Russia—are planning ways to salvage defense spending in post-Bush Washington.
BAE Systems issued its preliminary results for 2007 last week, with the period proving positive for the company. Operating profit rose to £1.17 billion ($2.29 billion) from £1.05 billion while sales grew to £15.71 billion from £13.76 billion. The company backlog increased to £38.6 billion from £31.7 billion. Overall, BAE’s U.S.-led businesses contributed 47% of sales.
After three consecutive record years for orders, Boeing is joining Airbus in predicting that the market is likely to cool off in 2008. Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy expects about 750 orders, a figure he admits may be conservative. The company had 1,341 net orders in 2007. Boeing’s chief forecaster, Vice President Randy Tinseth, was even more conservative, saying only that he expected to exceed this year’s planned deliveries, which he put at 475-480. Last year, Boeing won 1,413 net orders.
I’m just a poor dumb engineer, so would one of you brilliant economists please explain why a complicated, controversial emissions-trading scheme is better than a straight fuel tax increase? Why is a scheme that creates a monstrous bureaucracy, is vulnerable to manipulation, is costly to implement and burdens the airlines with more administrative chores, better than a simple fuel tax that can be set and easily changed by regional governments to fit that area’s needs?
The article “Alternative Paths” (AW&ST Feb. 11, p. 42) mentions such gee-whiz things as GTL (gas-to-liquid), BTL (biomass-to-liquid) and FAME (fatty acid methyl esther), all of which are supposed to make the airline industry “green,” shift its fuel demand from oil-producing countries, and maybe reduce the carbon load on the atmosphere. All of these are nice ideas, but they have not been translated into plans and programs for the real world.
Russian combat aircraft manufacturer MiG is scrambling to offer the MiG-35 to Algeria following its apparent decision to scrap the purchase of the MiG-29SMT. Algeria is believed to have informed Russia it will return the first 15 of the MiG-29SMTs it has already accepted, and that it’s unwilling to take any further delivery of the type. The Algerian air force was due to receive 28 single-seat aircraft, along with six MiG-29UB two-seat jet trainers.
Amy Butler (Washington), Michael Bruno (Washington), David A. Fulghum (Washington), John M. Doyle (Washington)
Even as the technical success of the U.S. intercept of a satellite is being digested, Congress launched its own warning against any further anti-satellite efforts. Meanwhile, Russian officials condemned the mission as a poorly disguised test of an anti-satellite capability for use against other countries for military, political and, possibly, financial gain. Evidence accumulated rapidly that a U.S. Navy missile fulfilled its mission to break up an electronically dead, “experimental” reconnaissance satellite and rupture its tank full of toxic hydrazine fuel.
Joseph J. Ensor (see photo) has been appointed vice president/general manager of the Space and ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) Systems Div. of the Northrop Grumman Corp. ’s Baltimore-based Electronic Systems Sector. He was vice president-space sensors and exploitation systems.
