Eumetsat and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have agreed on a data-denial plan that ensures Eumetsat and U.S. public-service providers real-time access to data from NOAA instruments on Eumetsat's Metop polar-orbiting satellites. The agreement specifies that service providers may retain real-time data access, as well as the technical mechanisms involved in implementing data denial. This will apply only to data that are no more than 3 hr. old.
NASA will tell the heads of the Japanese, European, Canadian and Russian space agencies meeting here this week that launch of the next space shuttle mission to the International Space Station will remain targeted for mid-May, pending resolution of key external tank and space shuttle main engine issues. The partners will discuss the manifesting of key ISS assembly elements under checkout here with specific shuttle flights remaining until the shuttle is phased out in four years.
During National Engineers Week (Feb. 19-25), a coalition of more than 70 engineering and educational societies and 50 corporations supported activities to promote math and science education for students in Grades K-12. Engineers visited schools and hosted game show-style competitions to engage students and showcase the impact of engineers on the world, and students visited manufacturing facilities and participated in Engineering Design Challenges.
Boeing has received a $148-million U.S. Air Force contract to start work on the fourth Wideband Gapfiller satellite. The money also covers engineering activities to avoid parts obsolescence. The Boeing 702-based spacecraft is slated for launch in 2007.
Thales also announced the sale of TopFlight flight decks for 18 Airbus A319s to be delivered to low-cost carrier Germanwings. In addition to a full glass cockpit, the TopFlight line includes a flight management system, developed with Smiths Aerospace; and the T2CAS terrain and traffic collision avoidance system, designed with Thales/L-3 Communications joint venture ACSS.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Brian A. Arnold (see photo) has been appointed vice president-national space programs within the Raytheon Co.'s El Segundo, Calif.-based Space and Airborne Systems Strategic Systems organization. Arnold was commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center of Air Force Space Command at Los Angeles AFB.
The FAA and the Indian government are in the process of finalizing a memorandum of agreement to cover air traffic/airspace management in the coming traffic boom. Its signing has been held up over a liability clause, but should be cleared by August, according to a senior Indian government official. In the same month, the FAA is also to hold a meeting in India preceding India's Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In April 2005, U.S. Transportation Dept. Secretary Norman Y. Mineta and U.S.
The Eurofighter Typhoon team has entered a new phase in development of the multirole fighter, with a heavy focus on air-to-ground weapons delivery capability. Test personnel are now trying to assess how the flight control system of the inherently unstable aircraft handles the heavy loads associated with large stores. The flight test program, which will involve all Eurofighter partner countries, began Feb. 21 at the EADS Military Air Systems facility at Manching, Germany. The so-called Instrumented Production Aircraft No.
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) selected Smiths Aerospace to provide the next-generation health-and-usage monitoring systems (HUMS) for the South Korean Helicopter Program. Valued at more than $20 million, the program will include 250 aircraft for the army, plus a potential to retrofit legacy platforms in that country. Localized production, which will include supply from Smiths' facilities in Southampton, England, and Michigan, are set to begin in 2010, with delivery slated to start in 2011.
British and Indian defense officials are striving to keep alive a deal to find a second home for at least some of the Royal Navy's Sea Harrier F/A2 aircraft. Attempts to secure an agreement that could have seen the bulk of the British F/A2 fleet transferred to India seem to have failed. The two countries are now only discussing the provision of 6-8 aircraft to be used solely for training.
Alcatel Alenia Space has been selected to supply an 8-kw., 24-trans- ponder K u-band telecom spacecraft for Turksat. Turksat 3A is to replace the Alcatel-built Turksat 1C at 42 deg. E. in early 2008. The in-orbit delivery contract covers modernization of the ground segment and training services.
Indiana-based Deloro Stellite Group plans to open by late this year a new high-technology, high-velocity oxy-fuel coating facility in Montreal to focus on needs of the aircraft landing gear industry. The company has a strategic alliance with Placage Tecnickrome Inc., a Montreal-based company that provides advanced metallic surface treatments to the industry.
An improved IFR route structure is needed to allow helicopters to exploit the growing possibilities of GPS navigation at a time when they are being equipped with more capable avionics systems.
Marcel Klaus has been named chief financial officer of Swiss International Air Lines, effective in June. He will succeed Ulrik Svensson, who has resigned. Klaus has been executive vice president-corporate controlling and accounting.
The fate of NASA's troubled Sofia observatory program will be decided following an "intensive" review due to conclude in April, agency officials say. NASA zeroed the $57.1-million Fiscal 2007 budget request for the airborne observatory in light of a two-year schedule slip and cost growth due to technical problems (AW&ST Feb. 13, p. 44). If the April review determines "that Sofia should continue, there is definitely a commitment from us that funding will be put back," says Deputy Administrator Shana Dale.
Intelsat has received rights to operate its new IA-8 K u-/K a-/C-band telecom satellite in Brazil. Launched in June 2005, IA-8 offers six 72-MHz. C-band and 12 36-MHz K u-band transponders over Brazil and the other countries of Latin America.
The Mars rover Spirit will be forced to abandon temporarily its examination of the heavily layered Home Plate feature to head for a nearby north-facing slope to prepare for the coming Martian winter. Once winter is over, the rover science team plans to drive Spirit back to Home Plate to continue investigations. By late February, Spirit needs to begin the trip of several hundred meters to McCool Hill, where it can point its solar arrays more directly at the Sun to generate electrical power for its heaters.
A senior marketing executive for a household name among U.S. aerospace manufacturers said it all when asked her feelings about the new Hong Kong aerospace exhibition that's planned for September 2007. She had stepped from the comfort of an air-conditioned chalet into the sticky heat of tropical Singapore during last week's Asian Aerospace, a.k.a. the Singapore air show.
Eddie D. Mayenschein has become vice president-flight at Ameriflight Inc., Burbank, Calif. He was a captain at US Airways. Mayenschein succeeds John Hazlet, who was promoted to vice president-safety and standards, and continues as director of operations.
The days of Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing officials having to worry about the V-22 program's status are clearly over. The Pentagon is starting the paperwork to put in place a multi-year procurement contract for the tiltrotor, something that it's supposed to do only after a program is stable. Multi-year production would begin in 2008 and run through 2012, covering the purchase of 185 aircraft. The bulk of them, 159, would be Marine Corps MV-22s; the other 26 would be Air Force Special Operations CV-22s.
First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen Simon & Schuster, 2005, 784 pp., $30.00 Historian James R. Hansen's book First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong rounds out an eclectic trilogy of authorized accounts of Apollo XI, adding to such previous works as Return to Earth (1973) by Buzz Aldrin and Carrying the Fire (1974) by Michael Collins.
Aloha Airlines faces multiple challenges this year including high fuel prices, a restructured arch rival and potential new island competitors, but industry veteran and CEO David Banmiller is feeling confident after successfully guiding the airline through bankruptcy reorganization.
Arianespace was poised for a new attempt to launch a Spanish military telecommunications satellite, Spainsat, and Eutelsat's Hot Bird 7A commercial telecom spacecraft on Feb. 24. The Ariane 5 launch, initially set for Feb. 21, was interrupted because of a failure in the nitrogen heater circuit under the launch table. Engineers also replaced a gyro on one of the strap-on boosters, because it showed an anomaly during launch preparations.
You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or call Lydia Janow at +1 (212) 904-3225/+1 (800) 240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada Only) Apr. 5-6--U.S. Defense Dept. Budgets and Programs Conference, Arlington, Va. Apr. 25-26--MRO Military Conference, Phoenix. Apr. 25-27--MRO USA Conference & Exhibition 2006, Phoenix. May 16-17--MRO Military Europe, in conjunction with ILA air show, Berlin. Sept. 19-21--MRO Asia Conference & Exhibition, Xiamen, China.
