A helium leak forced Arianespace controllers to scrub the planned Mar. 9 launch of a heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA with a pair of communications satellites on board. Another launch attempt was tentatively scheduled for Mar. 10. Held on the ground were the Spainsat military communications satellite and Eutelsat's Hot Bird 7A television and radio broadcast platform. Before that, a series of technical issues--most recently an inadvertent umbilical disconnect that forced a vehicle rollback--repeatedly delayed the mission from its original Feb. 21 launch date (AW&ST Mar. 6, p.
Twin NASA/German spacecraft that measure subtle changes in the mass of the terrain below have detected major melting in the ice sheet that covers most of Antarctica. The discovery by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) suggests a global warming trend is already contributing to a rise in sea level worldwide. The data show that between April 2002 and August 2005, Antarctica lost 152 cu. km. (36.5 cu. mi.) (±80 cu. km.) of ice, enough to raise global sea level about 1.2 mm. (0.05 in.), or about 13% of the actual observed sea level rise during the period.
The U.S. and Japan have completed the first test flight of a Raytheon Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) missile defense interceptor fitted with a Japanese-designed enhanced nose cone. The hardware has been under development as part of a cooperative effort that began in 1999. The flight of Joint Control Test Vehicle-1 took place Mar. 8 from the USS Lake Erie operating in the U.S.'s Pacific Missile Range Facility. The clamshell design eliminates the need for the SM-3 to maneuver to eject the nose cone. The missile was launched at 3:45 a.m.
It's an absolute wonder when, in this global Babel of diverse languages and cultures, a real example of international cooperation such as the Cape Town Treaty emerges.
The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $21-million contract for phased depot maintenance and special structure inspections for up to seven P-3 patrol aircraft for Pakistan under the foreign military sales program.
Mail/express carrier TNT is planning a share buyback and a spate of small acquisitions in Europe and Asia in an attempt to reinforce its position in the market and ward off rumored takeover attempts by FedEx, UPS or private equity firms. The actions will be financed through the sale of the company's logistics unit, which is expected to bring in 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion). TNT posted revenues of 13.1 billion euros last year, including 3.3 billion euros for the logistics business.
Malaysia Airlines wants to become the second member of the SkyTeam airline alliance from Asia, after Korean Air. MAS has turned to founding member Air France for support. Meanwhile, the airline is trying to turn around continued losses with a restructuring that includes opening direct flights on Mar. 26 from Kuala Lumpur to London, Sydney, Perth and Frankfurt. Currently, those flights hopscotch through three other destinations. MAS is decreasing its 10 European destinations to London, Amsterdam, Paris and Rome.
Astronaut Eileen Collins has been named to receive the 2006 National Space Trophy from the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation. The award is presented annually to an individual who has excelled in furthering national goals in the field of space. Collins won the award as NASA's first female space shuttle pilot and commander. She also was commander of the return-to-flight STS-114 mission in 2005.
An ESA science team has validated a new evolution model of Titan, based on data supplied by the Cassini/Huygens joint mission with NASA. Researchers now believe that most of Titan's methane supply might be frozen in methane-rich ice and periodically released by cryovolcanism. The ice is thought to form a crust over an ocean of liquid water mixed with ammonia a few tens of kilometers below the moon's surface.
Sagem's Defense and Security Div. has inaugurated what it claims to be the first civil facility in France authorized to operate acceptance tests on unmanned aerial vehicles. Located in Montlucon in central France, where Sagem's Sperwer tactical UAVs (see photo) are assembled, the facility will train pilots and house two aircraft recently acquired for test and demonstration. To date, 16 Sperwer systems and 90 UAVs have been sold. Three of the six countries operating the system--Canada, the Netherlands and France--are preparing to deploy Sperwers to Afghanistan.
Access to markets, engineering and financial resources is driving a wave of cooperative ventures between Russian aerospace companies and their Western and Asian partners. The verdict is still out on whether these ventures will prove profitable or if government regulations and clashing business cultures will doom them (see pp. 60-64). Images on the cover show a sampling of these undertakings: (clockwise, from top) the Brahmos cruise missile, Proton launcher, Russian Regional Jet, Sukhoi Su-30 and Beriev BE-200. AW&ST file photos.
Airbus is adjusting its product strategy and portfolio, but more changes may be in store. The modifications are taking place across the product line, from the veteran A300/A310--on which Airbus has decided to cease production--to the company's newest product, the A350, which continues to evolve.
Douglas Barrie (London), Michael A. Taverna (Paris)
Portfolio rationalization--real or imagined--continues to color corporate earnings at European aerospace companies. Cobham plc, a diversified aerospace group based in the U.K., used its release of corporate earnings last week to let it be known that additional divestitures of business units are pending. And executives at EADS found themselves fielding questions about acquisitions, divestments and its own ownership structure (see p. 44).
U.S. government lawyers are holding up deliveries of aircraft engines and other military hardware by demanding that contractors certify that metals in every component were made in the U.S., all the way down to screws and wires.
The pending release of an Indian air force request for proposals is focusing the attention of both Russian and Western manufacturers since it is by far the largest of a number of upcoming fighter procurements in the region. India is expected to eventually purchase 126-200 aircraft to meet its medium multirole combat aircraft requirement, so fighter houses are lining up to offer their wares to New Delhi.
The U.S. general aviation fleet experienced 6.22 total accidents and 1.2 fatal accidents per 100,000 flying hours in 2004, according to the Joseph T. Nall Report prepared by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn.'s Air Safety Foundation. By comparison, there were 6.77 and 1.37 accidents, respectively, in 2003. The report states that there were 6.7% fewer total accidents in 2004 than in 2003, while fatal accidents decreased by 7.1%. Nearly 25% of the 45 fatal weather-related accidents in 2004 involved thunderstorms.
Simon Leary has been named sales director for the U.K., Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Robin Deyoe for the Americas and Asia-Pacific, for U.K.-based National Air Traffic Services. Leary was sales and marketing director for Thales, while Deyoe was global business development director for Raytheon.
A Delta Air Line pilots' strike could become reality if the carrier's motion rejecting the pilot contract is approved. That decision now rests with a third-party neutral panel, which is to start its hearing this week and rule by Apr. 15. Meanwhile, the Delta unit of the Air Line Pilots Assn. earlier this month initiated a strike ballot, with the final voting to be completed Apr. 4. Should the panel approve the motion on the pilots' contract, their union says they have the right to strike.
To paraphrase writer Frank Morring, Jr., "water recovered from the Moon's poles . . . can ease the path for explorers bound for Mars and elsewhere" (AW&ST Jan. 23, p. 48), I would appreciate it if someone from NASA would explain this.
Dana Brown, chief of staff of the Federal Air Marshals Service, has been tapped to head the agency. Brown, who joined FAMS in 2003 after 25 years with the U.S. Secret Service, succeeds Tom Quinn, who will be retiring. Quinn oversaw the agency's growth from 33 air marshals on 9/11 to the thousands flying today. Mike Restovich is moving from head of Transportation Sector Network Management at the Transpor- tation Security Administration to become assistant director of security operations/compliance.
It looks like lasers may go the way of the active electronically scanned array radar. AESA radars are made up of thousands of transmitter/receiver modules that can be doing many different jobs or can be focused for long-range observations of very small objects. They can even be concentrated into a beam weapon. Now Raytheon has snagged a $5.8-million USAF contract to build an array of sub-apertures capable of transmitting, receiving and rapidly scanning spatially phased optical energy and images. Each sub-aperture is to be transmissive.
Declaring that launcher reliability is too important to be left to the commercial market, the Air Force and its partner the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) have fully taken back the reins of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. They are returning it to the cost-plus contracts with full government technical oversight that have made up most of the history of the military space program.
L-3 Communications' Canadian MAS subsidiary (L-3 MAS) will design and build the prototype of the center barrel replacement for Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18s under a $17.6-million contract. The aircraft's mid-fuselage section carries the load of the wings and must be replaced to extend the life of the aircraft.
Pratt & Whitney President Louis Chenevert has been promoted to president and chief operating officer of parent company United Technologies Corp. The move fills a post that was vacant for four years and ends the mystery of who is likely to succeed UTC Chairman/CEO George David when he retires. Chenevert's selection surprised many analysts, who had expected Ari Bousbib, president of UTC's Otis Elevator unit, to be chosen for the job.
THE FAA'S CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR COMPOSITES and Advanced Materials within the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University in Kansas is evaluating a new computer modeling code that determines the maximum operating temperature for structural elements of general aviation composite airframes. The code, known as Thermod, calculates temperatures depending on the paint scheme by considering effects of radiation, convection and conduction to arrive at a maximum temperature limit.
