There was a time when the U.S. didn't have or need a national policy on space. The idea was to catch up with the Soviet Union's first steps in low Earth orbit, surpass its developing capabilities and be first to put men on the Moon and bring them back.
John Prater is pledging use of strong tactics to restore pilot contracts and the profession as the eighth president of the Air Line Pilots Assn. Prater, a Boeing 767 captain, defeated current President Duane E. Woerth, 24,444-23,524. Prater takes office Jan. 1.
Sergio Vetrella, president of Italian Space Agency ASI and the Italian Center for Aerospace Research (CIRA), will remain at the helm of CIRA, but he has stepped down as head of ASI with the recent change of government. It remains to be seen who Research Minister Fabio Mussi will select to replace Vetrella, or even if Mussi will be tasked to do so because the government may name someone from outside the ministry to perform a top-down ASI reorganization.
Twin NASA/European Stereo solar imaging spacecraft are in the first of four loops from Earth to the orbit of the Moon and back. They are being maneuvered to set up low-altitude lunar flybys that will hurtle them far from Earth for the first 3D imaging of the coronal mass ejections that almost daily blast billions of tons of material off the Sun.
The U.S. Army has established a secretive initiative--Task Forrce ODIN--to provide an integrated array of sensors and weaponized platforms for commanders in the field to tackle the improvised explosive device problem in Iraq. The panoply of systems could include existing systems, modifications and, possibly, new ones. Among those discussed are the I-Gnat UAV and modifications to C-12 aircraft.
USAF Brig. Gen. David L. Stringer Commander (Arnold Engineering Development Center, Tullahoma, Tenn.)
Pierre Sparaco kindly, but incorrectly, credits Arnold Engineering Development Center with the lead for the Assured Fuels Initiative (AW&ST Oct. 16, p. 71). This Fischer-Tropsch synthetic fuel test series is led by Air Force Research Laboratory with Air Force Flight Test Center, Oklahoma Air Logistics Center and AEDC as the biggest hands-on participants.
Marta Brito Perez has been nominated to become chief human capital officer of the U.S. Homeland Security Dept. She was head of the federal Office of Personnel Management's Human Capital Leadership and Merit System Div.
Swiss International Air Lines has seen healthy earnings growth through the first nine months, with results reaching 199 million Swiss francs ($159 million) up from 24 million Swiss francs. Operating revenue was up 11% to 3 billion Swiss francs.
Daniel Tharp has been named general manager for the Vought Aircraft facility in Nashville, Tenn. He was head of aerostructures at the Bombardier Aerospace facility in Wichita, Kan.
NASA's space operations organization and the solar and space physics community will need better coordination to protect crews from space radiation once astronauts start spending extended periods on the Moon and in transit to other bodies, the National Research Council warns. For now, predicting solar activity and space weather is hampered by poor understanding of how the Sun affects the heliosphere and the environments of Earth and Mars, according to the report.
Steven J. Cortese has been named senior vice president-Washington operations for Alliant Techsystems of Minneapolis. He was vice president-programs and budget in the Washington Operations office of the Lockheed Martin Corp.
China's vast appetite for maintenance, repair and overhaul services will be satiated a bit with groundbreaking for an MRO facility managed by Shanghai Airlines, Shanghai Airport Co. and Boeing at Pudong International Airport. The two-phase project is expected to be finished in late 2008 and include two double-bay wide-body hangars totaling 520,000 sq. ft. The project's investment level is $85 million, of which Boeing will front 60% and the other partners, 15% each.
Bombardier plans to produce more turboprops than regional jets next year, cutting its production rate of CRJ700s and -900s to 50 a year, down from 75, due to declining demand. But production of its popular Q400 turboprop will expand, with 65 Q-Series aircraft expected to be delivered in the next fiscal year, up from 50. Bombardier says it will eliminate 1,330 jobs as a result of the lower RJ production.
Andy Nativi (Genoa), Michael A. Taverna (Le Bourget)
MBDA is considering further development of its Marte antiship missile, including the possible introduction of a dual-mode seeker, satellite navigation and a two-way data link. The company has just completed qualification test-firing of the latest Marte, the Mk. 2/S, helicopter-launched version for the Italian navy. A road map for further enhancement, particularly to support the missile's use in the littoral environment, is now under consideration. MBDA was touting Marte at the Euronaval exhibition last week.
Contemporary trends in human factors research have focused on organizational issues in commercial aviation accidents. Recent published research in aviation, space and environmental medicine, and the International Journal of Aviation Psychology, highlights the role that organizations play in promoting a safety culture in high-risk systems. The ongoing issues of delays and political maneuvering at Airbus are causes for major concern. The recent resignation of Airbus's CEO reflects a lack of leadership at the top.
ROCKWELL COLLINS INTRODUCED A NEW GPS-4000S WITH Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) capability at the NBAA show, allowing pilots to use the system for primary navigation en route and during approaches. It will be available early next year with FMS-linked approach capability, with vertical guidance coming online toward the end of 2007. And the company has come up with a light version of its satellite TV system, dubbed Tailwind 300, that will cost less than the Tailwind 500 it is derived from and provide DirecTV programming for super-midsize and larger bizjets.
Prof. A.U. Krishnamurthy (Vaughn College of Aeronautics, New York, N.Y. )
You recently provided in-depth explanations of the problems delaying development and deliveries of the Airbus A380. Problems of weight and fuel consumption are obviously well known. Being the heaviest fly-by-wire aircraft ever designed, the designers seem to ponder adopting the Boeing 777 concept of software in which the pilot has little overriding capability on the computer, especially during landing.
The need for large, light, active, electronically scanned array radars has left designers grappling for answers in some of the less explored corners of microwave technology. Raytheon, for example, has panel array concepts using moduleless architecture that mounts components directly to an electrically insulating PCB substrate designed to connect the transmitter/receiver chipsets. The result, company researchers contend, is a lighter array that's cheaper to manufacture.
On Nov. 23, the International Civil Aviation Organization is scheduled to codify Age 65 as the worldwide standard for retirement of airline pilots. This reflects the practice in nearly all countries of retiring their airline pilots at 65, an older age or an age based on fitness and personal choice.
The two-year delay of a dozen Airbus A380s that Chairman Margaret Jackson calls "frustrating" is prompting Qantas to delay a fleet realignment. The Sydney-based carrier isn't saying which aircraft will be kept in service longer, but since the A380s were to serve long-haul routes such as to London and Los Angeles, the expectation is that its Boeing 747-400s will be kept flying longer than expected.
Paul Dellinger has been appointed director of environmental health and safety for Gulfstream Aerospace, Savannah, Ga. He was safety and environmental manager for technical operations for Delta Air Lines.
German President Horst Kohler has refused to sign a law that would have largely privatized the country's federal aviation safety agency (DFS). He argued the regulation violated the German constitution, which makes aviation safety a federal responsibility, although he indicated he's not opposed to privatization if the law were amended. Politicians have now indicated they will look for a way to make the process compliant with the constitution and restart the process. The federal government would have retained 25.1% of DFS in any case.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) is set to keynote NASA's announcement of a final space shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, based on the continued good performance of the shuttle fleet under modifications made in the wake of the Columbia accident. With external tank foam-shedding issues raised by the disaster apparently resolved after two clean flights, NASA is going ahead with plans for a Hubble mission in 2008, probably in the spring.
