Engineers are troubleshooting a second failure of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope, after an apparent electrical short tripped a fuse in the backup power-feed, but they don't expect to regain use of the instrument. Nor are astronauts likely to repair or replace it, given the full schedule on the planned Hubble servicing mission in September 2008 and the inaccessibility of the ACS inside the orbiting observatory.
AirBridge, an investment group affiliated with the Russian airline alliance AirUnion, has won a tender on Hungarian national Malev airline privatization. In coming months, AirBridge, Malev and APV, the Hungarian privatization agency, are expected to close the deal. AirUnion, headed by Russia's fifth largest airline, Kras Air, which is based in Krasnoyarsk, includes five domestic carriers that cumulatively carried 3.342 million passengers last year.
The aerospace industry isn't attracting anywhere near the number of skilled workers it will need to replace the legions of baby boomers who will retire over the next few years. The looming shortfall is casting a long shadow across the industry from military scientists to commercial pilots to maintenance, repair and overhaul technicians. But the danger is most acute in engineering, where a shortfall could sap the industry's competitiveness and make it harder for the U.S. military to maintain its technological edge. Is enough attention being paid to the gathering storm?
EADS and Northrop Grumman, which are teamed as EuroHawk GmbH., have won a €430-million ($555-million) contract from the German defense ministry for development, test and support of an unmanned signals intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.
Worried that Iran's fleet of ancient F-14As could be given new life through illegal purchases of surplus U.S. military items, the Pentagon has stopped sales of the fighter's spare parts. A review will examine the dangers of allowing parts associated with aircraft and missiles to be released into the poorly policed commercial world. Iran is the only nation still flying the venerable, two-seat, variable-sweep fighter, and U.S. government sting operations have intercepted surplus F-14 items on their way to Iran. However, in at least one case, the parts made it. Sen.
The French government has agreed to the merger of Thales's naval systems into shipyard DCN. Under the plan, Thales will transfer all of its French naval activities except equipment manufacture to DCN, along with €100 million ($129 million) in cash, in return for a 25% share in the naval systems contractor, and reserves the right to increase its stake to 35% for two years.
The future of the technical workforce in the U.S. is a top priority for Raytheon Chairman/CEO William H. Swanson. The veteran engineer is co-chair of a Business-Higher Education Forum initiative to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics. He also is this year's chairman of the Aerospace Industries Assn. Swanson discussed the workforce challenge with AW&ST Editor-in-Chief Anthony L. Velocci, Jr., and Senior Business Editor Joseph C. Anselmo. Excerpts follow. An open valve
Although the offer is still open, space entrepreneur Robert T. Bigelow doubts any company will enter his $50-million America's Space Prize contest now that NASA has made manned orbital transportation a downstream part of its commercial orbital transportation services (COTS) program.
Lockheed Martin's Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter features a new 1394B serial data bus with three high-speed processors that will provide the future warfighter with a robust, triple-redundant air vehicle systems management network.
Reader "Name Withheld by Request" (AW&ST Nov. 20, 2006, p. 6) makes argu- ments about ATC ownership but displays ignorance of credit-side airline economics. After (and sometimes before) destination service and convenience, a traveler only cares about total ticket cost. Upon learning it, he decides to fly, drive or stay home.
William McMeekin has become director of operations at Boeing subsidiary Alteon Training's centers in Japan and South Korea. He was director of operations and international relations at Boeing office in Seoul.
The U.S. and Germany will jointly undertake a long-planned $600-million aerial infrared astronomy mission, following the conclusion of a new Memorandum of Understanding.
Jeffery Houk (see photo) has been promoted to manager of FlightSafety International's Cessna Learning Center, Wichita, Kan., from manager of courseware support. Houk succeeds John Hansen, who is retiring.
A European Space Agency-led team is demonstrating an experimental digital audio radio system that could offer two advantages over existing hardware in hybrid digital audio radio service (DARS) networks such as XM and Sirius. The system uses a special conformal antenna that allows signals to be received from K u-band satellites only, potentially obviating the need for a costly terrestrial ancillary component. It also features a cache memory preventing signal loss in tunnels or behind obstructions.
Delivery of Boeing 737 AEW&C aircraft for Australia's Wedgetail project has slipped again, by six months to March 2009, contributing to a $274- million charge against the manufacturer's fourth-quarter profit. The extra delay was expected, however. Boeing says it is completely committed to delivering the operational capability. The delays, now totaling two years, have arisen from integrating such subsystems as the radar, communications gear and radar-warning receiver.
The Italian government needs to find out in the next few weeks who is really interested in buying Alitalia, after a total of 11 bidders signed up in the first round of the airline's sale.
Lars Persson has been appointed president/CEO of the Swedish Space Corp., effective Feb. 16. He has been CEO of Marratech AB and will succeed Claes-Goran Borg, who will be retiring.
The recent article entitled "Flight 5191's Legacy" (AW&ST Jan. 22, p. 38) highlights a simple but profound improvement to the airfield Notam system. Human factors theory concerning pilot situational awareness identifies three fundamental processes: perception (information input), cognition (thinking) and projection (staying ahead of the situation). The Jan. 9 advisory issued by the FAA Airport Safety and Operations Div., AAS-300, offers the means for an effective perceptual improvement for pilots by simply updating the format of an airfield Notam:
The U.S. Army has ordered five additional Aviation Combined Arms Tactical Trainers to supplement 15 in service. Initial delivery is scheduled for December of this year, with the remainder occurring every two months. Four of the units will be delivered to U.S. Army Reserve Component training sites, while a fifth will be installed at a joint-use active Army Reserve location, according to Link Simulation and Training. The simulators represent AH-64A/D, OH-58D, UH-60A/L and CH-47D helicopters.
If you liked the partisan bickering that marked the 109th Congress, you'll love what's coming this year, says Stanley Collender, a former Budget Committee staffer in both the House and Senate. Even though the Democrats have taken control of both houses, their majority is razor-thin, especially in the Senate. And that's likely to lead to more partisanship--not less--going into a presidential and congressional election cycle, says Collender, now managing director of Qorvis Communications. He says there's no consensus in Congress or the administration about the budget.
Sea Launch reports "limited" damage to its Odyssey Launch Platform after a Zenit-3SL booster exploded seconds after ignition as it was trying to lift the SES New Skies NSS-8 satellite into orbit.
Baby boomers are retiring, the professional pilot pool is rapidly draining, and world traffic growth is increasing. What to do? Industry has launched fast-track programs to meet world demand for pilots and maintenance technicians.
Investigators working for NASA's inspector general have confiscated computers and interviewed political appointees in the agency's public affairs shop as a congressionally requested probe into political spinning of government-funded climate-change research results comes to a head. Among those who have had to turn over their laptops to the IG's gumshoes is Dean Acosta, Administrator Michael Griffin's former press secretary, who has since left the agency.
Bombardier still can't attract a launch customer for its proposed C-Series, despite updating its design for the 110-130-seat aircraft with composites and new engine technology. The Canadian aircraft builder last week again postponed a launch decision for at least two months. JPMorgan analyst Joseph B.
Senior Editor Craig Covault (right) interviews Peter Harvey, the Themis project manager from the University of California at Berkeley, in the Astrotech commercial space processing clean room at Cape Canaveral. The five NASA/Swales Aerospace Themis spacecraft are in the background, being prepared for launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta II on Feb. 15 on one of the most complex smallsat missions ever flown (see story, p. 26). A control center at Berkeley will maneuver Themis into a line stretching halfway to the Moon to obtain data on Earth's auroras.
