Catherine Lamb-Heinz (see photo) has been named director of communications for the Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Baltimore-based Electronic Systems Sector. She was director of communications for several ESS divisions and units plus Asia-Pacific and Americas.
Some European Union states are gradually ramping up research and technology spending, but political leaders still appear reluctant to set firm targets for defense investment accounts.
NASA may use some 40-year-old facilities left over from its last Moon program to test vehicles under development for the next one, but computing advances over those 40 years will give engineers a leg up on their predecessors. ATK Launch Systems, for example, has just bought an advanced supercomputer to help with the design of the planned Crew Launch Vehicle's first stage. The Linux Networx device will deliver 2.24 trillion floating-point operations with 110 nodes, with special displays for large-scale aerospace analysis models.
Market Focus 8 US Airways on post-bankruptcy mend; United has a way to go News Breaks 15 Prototype BA609 tiltrotor passes 100-hr. mark in flight tests 15 ISS spacewalkers move through catch-all EVA 16 Boeing plans lean and perhaps moving production line for 747-8 17 Museum rolls out restored Bell P-59 Airacomet World News & Analysis 20 Russia planning ambitious robotic lunar mission 22 Satcom demonstrator Orbcomm to propel OHB into big leagues
Qatar Airways has started offering service to the U.S. via a code-sharing arrangement with Lufthansa with operations to Houston, New York John F. Kennedy, Newark and Washington Dulles.
British airport operator BAA has nixed an improved offer from Ferrovial. The latter company raised its share offer to 9 pounds from 8.10 pounds ($16.81 from $15.13), but the BAA board uananimously recom- mended rejection.
Crews are preparing Europe's Columbus International Space Station module for checkout at Kennedy Space Center, where it will remain until its planned launch late next year. An Airbus Beluga outsize-cargo transport delivered the 1-billion-euro ($1.28-billion) laboratory module to the Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC May 30 (see photo). First up on the preflight test agenda is four months of pressure testing, followed by systems power-up seven months before launch, which is currently planned for September 2007 (AW&ST May 15, p. 70).
The Air Force has approved a fix to the canopy actuator system of its premier F-22 fighter devised after an incident in April, in which a pilot had to be cut free of the aircraft using chainsaws. The cause of the malfunction was a screw that vibrated loose, blocking the canopy actuator system. The fix involves a longer screw, epoxy and regular inspection, according to the Air Force. F-22s have begun receiving the modification, and installations will continue through Fiscal 2007.
The Planes of Fame museum in Chino, Calif., plans to have the only flying Bell P-59 Airacomet in the first half of 2007, when its 15-year restoration project is set to take flight. The Airacomet was the first U.S. jet-powered aircraft, and made its maiden flight on Oct. 1, 1942 (AW&ST Jan. 13, 2003, p. 425). The No. 1 aircraft is hanging in the main hall of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. There were 66 built, but only six are known to remain.
Big windows are catching on, says Boeing. It has introduced the industry's largest passenger windows on the 787, which are made possible by the rigidity of its composite fuselage. In the updated 747-8, Boeing is using a stringerless window belt design to contain the panes in the aluminum alloy fuselage. This will allow the updated aircraft to have windows 16% larger than on the current 747-400, says Boeing Vice President Jeff Peace. Still to be determined is whether they will have electronic dimmers or shades.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO. IS DEVELOPING a 3D specification system that combines engineering data with options, cost and weight changes for a customer's airplane. The proprietary, interactive software gives customers a real-time visualization of the aircraft, says Cynthia Halsey, vice president for interior design, engineering and development. "Digital 3D systems for basic product specification applications are not new, but most current systems are on the Internet and are really digital product brochures.
NASA field centers get official word this week on the work packages they will handle as President Bush's exploration program moves ahead. Administrator Michael Griffin and Scott Horowitz, chief of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, will brief agency staff and reporters separately June 5 on the changes, which feature a shift of two key lunar-exploration efforts to Marshall Space Flight Center. Rep.
The long-awaited launch of a new telecom satellite is expected to breathe new life into Mexican satellite telecommunications operator Satmex--and its equity partner, Loral Space & Communications--after a three-year battle with bankruptcy.
Jet Airways has introduced India's first Airbus A330-200s powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 772Bs, taking its fleet to 55 aircraft. Equipped with Airbus's Less Paper Cockpit, Jet becomes India's first operator with that electronic document system. Initial services begin June 13 on thrice- weekly flights from Delhi to London Heathrow. Jet uses A340-300Es on the other four days per week.
The University of North Dakota will provide 20 cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., with initial helicopter flight training this month at the UND Aerospace facilities at Grand Forks International Airport. A second group will begin training early in July. UND Aerospace has trained 100 cadets as part of a 2003 agreement with West Point.
Tokyo Narita International Airport is making a big leap toward more efficient connections and operations for airline alliances, thanks to a new concourse and one of the largest terminal reorganizations since the airport opened 28 years ago.
Airbus is striving to cut weight on its A400M military transport while increasing the aircraft's maximum takeoff figure by almost six tons to accommodate fuel. The aim is to drive down structural weight, in what industry executives describe as an "aggressive" effort. "We have a robust weight-reduction program, and it is on target," one Airbus Military executive says. Range and payload are contractually guaranteed, but this is not the case for aircraft weight, he notes.
Randy Davis has been named corporate controller for Spirit Aerosystems Inc., Wichita, Kan. He was corporate controller/chief accounting officer at Vought Aircraft Industries Inc.
Airbus's A340/A350 replacement, which is now in the definition phase, will fly Mach 0.02-0.03 faster than the initial A350 configuration, thanks to a better wing design, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Charles Champion tells the BBC's Hardtalk TV program. That would eliminate a performance deficit the aircraft had against the rival Boeing 787.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley, whose uncommunicative ways make him no friends among reporters trying to cover the air campaign in Iraq and USAF issues since then, gets high marks from the chief U.S. ally in the war, the U.K. Like a fellow Texan, Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who directed the overall Iraq invasion, Moseley was knighted during a ceremony at the British Embassy in Washington, receiving the honorary title of Knight Commander of the British Empire and member of the Order of the British Empire.
SES Americom will use a Land Launch Zenit-3SLB-based booster to orbit its AMC-21 telecom spacecraft in mid-2008 under the sixth contract award for the Sea Launch spinoff. The Land Launch Zenits will begin operating from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, next year. In the meantime, the United Arab Emirates' Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co. will again use Sea Launch to loft its latest satellite. The company soon will take delivery of Thuraya 3 from Boeing Satellite Systems, setting up a January 2007 launch campaign. Thuraya 3 will replace Thuraya 1, which covers Southeast Asia.
BAE Systems has delivered the first electronic warfare system for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, which is to include low-observable apertures and advanced countermeasures. It is composed of electronic surveillance and countermeasures hardware, with software upgrades to follow. The system is to provide next-generation threat identification, monitoring, analysis and countermeasures. The entire array weighs less than 190 lb., but integration of the hardware and software required more than 10,000 steps. BAE Systems is building and testing the initial 20 flight- ready systems.
Plans for European reconnaissance efforts could crystallize in the next few months as governments make important choices on platforms and surveillance sensors. There is a potential for international repercussions based on these decisions.
Chuck Enoch (see photo) has been appointed vice president-space systems for the Raytheon Co.'s Intelligence and Information Systems, Aurora, Colo. He was director of operations and support programs for IIS's National Systems.
