NASA may be abandoning its best resource for studying the effects on astronauts and their equipment of a voyage to Mars, even as it embarks on the early steps of the journey. In a new draft report, the National Research Council's space station panel faults the U.S.
Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport plans to launch a Registered Traveler program allowing enrolled passengers to get through security faster. Verified Identity Pass Inc. has been contracted to design and manage the pass service.
Scientists expressed surprise at atmospheric data provided by the Huygens probe that visited Titan in January. Data released last week showed haze present from higher altitudes on down to the surface, contradicting pre-mission models. The probe's payload also found strong turbulence in the upper atmosphere, along with a second ionospheric layer and possible lightning signatures. In addition, atmospheric data provided the first confirmation of super-rotation phenomena and revealed an unexplained layer of high wind shear of 60-100 km. (see p. 33).
A prototype of the Crew Launch Vehicle that NASA hopes will take humans on the first step back to the Moon could fly with a dummy upper stage for a Mach 6 escape-system test in 2008, giving the U.S. agency's exploration effort some much-needed visibility. As the agency begins to tighten its focus on moving beyond the space shuttle/International Space Station (ISS) era, early planning sees smaller-scale crew escape system flight tests as soon as 2007, says Scott J. Horowitz, associate administrator for exploration systems.
The U.S. Senate has passed a bill directing the Interior Dept. to study the suitability and feasibility of establishing memorials to the crew of the space shuttle Columbia at four locations in Texas. Sponsored by Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, both Texas Republicans, the bill identifies four parcels of land where large pieces of debris from the fatal flight were recovered. Columbia disintegrated during reentry on Feb. 1, 2003, killing all seven astronauts on board.
European air forces are confronting the implications of efforts to rationalize and expand airspace utilization. Under the banner of the Single European Sky (SES), Brussels is pushing ahead with the planned overhaul of European air traffic infrastructure and operations. The aim of providing increased capacity and "flexible" airspace is having an impact on military aviation. The parallel effort to establish the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) also affects military aviation across the board.
Orbital Sciences Corp. will build Space Technology 8 (ST8), the next testbed in NASA's New Millennium line of spacecraft. Based on Orbital's Microstar bus, the 385-lb. satellite will carry four technology experiments designed to generate data on a large flexible solar array, a 40-meter (131-ft.) deployable boom, electronics able to function in a high-radiation environment and a thermal radiator demonstration. Overall, the experiments could help future designers develop missions propelled by large solar sails.
Determining Thales's future continues to run into political hurdles. The German government late last month opposed Thales's acquisition of Atlas Elektronic--a Germany-based BAE Systems naval systems subsidiary that the British defense company is trying to unload. Thales has emerged as the highest bidder, but Germany wants a sale to local ThyssenKrupp, which is allied with EADS.
On its second touchdown, Japan's Hayabusa appears to have succeeded in collecting samples from the surface of the asteroid Itokawa, but the weakened spacecraft will have problems returning them to Earth. A faulty valve in the spacecraft's reaction control system (RCS) positioning gas jets may have caused a leak that the JAXA mission control team was still trying to isolate late last week after Hayabusa pulled away from Itokawa.
Contrary to the claims of Henry Vanderbilt (AW&ST Nov. 7, p. 8), Jim Hillhouse is not mistaken. He understands the foolishness of the International Space Station-type piecemeal assembly. Evidently Vanderbilt doesn't understand the problem of boil-off inherent in Legoblock assembly, with the delays between Delta IV launches showing that rocket to be as much a pad-sitter as Titan or the shuttle.
Vladimir Nesterov, a department head in the Russian Space Agency, has been appointed general director of Khrunichev State Space Scientific and Production Center. He succeeds Alexander Medvedev, who headed Khrunichev for four years and was a target of criticism from the European Space Agency regarding poor communications during the failed launch of ESA's CryoSat atop a Khrunichev-EADS Rockot booster in October.
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, sees selection of the AgustaWestland US101 helicopter for the Marine One presidential mission as an example of how the U.S. needs to work with strategic partners like Great Britain and Italy, rather than trying to handle its defense needs alone. AgustaWestland already builds the single-turbine A119 for the civil market at its Philadelphia facility, and now plans to build as many as 24 AB139 medium twin-engine helicopters a year there, too.
As a Delta pilot, I believe the article about our "quandary" (AW&ST Oct. 24, p. 40) is misleading. Delta pilots have given the company $5 billion in concessions--not simply $1 billion as is often mentioned. It's $1 billion per year for five years. This equal- ed a cut of 33% (not including benefits).
Two years after being driven into bankruptcy by its failed Globalstar mobile communications network, Loral Space & Communications has completed a reorganization and re-emerged as a publicly traded company. Loral, which includes satellite builder Space Systems/Loral and satellite services provider Loral Skynet, exited Chapter 11 on Nov. 22 with $180 million in cash and $126 million of debt but $1.4 billion in order backlog.
Supersonic Aerospace International (SAI) chief J. Michael Paulson says the group has completed Phase 1 development of a proposed Quiet Supersonic Transport. The program is now entering Phase 2, which will include drag reduction work, engine downselect and formation of a consortium to move development forward. He says SAI has signed a letter of intent with a "major manufacturer," but declined to identify the company. According to Paulson, SAI has made only minor changes to the airframe, including a new cabin window design.
Aviators who've been to "the edge of the envelope" definitely know the name "Chuck Yeager." On Oct. 14, 1947, the legendary test pilot became the first person to fly supersonic, breaking the so-called "sound barrier" in a rocket-powered Bell X-1.
The Army Aviation Museum's unannounced destruction of the XCH-62 Heavy Lift Helicopter prototype, the largest rotorcraft ever built in the U.S., has upset a number of historians and engineers. Some consider the timing poor because of the current interest in large helicopters from the Army-led Joint Heavy Lift program. Designers often seek to gain ideas by looking at prior aircraft, but this is now no longer possible.
A mobility study from U.S. Transportation Command is driving Air Force leadership crazy. It basically says the service has everything it needs for the moment and--to everyone's frustration--recommends yet another new mobility study by March. Critics in the Pentagon say the study fails to project airlift needs in five years and 10 years, and now is the time for the early decisions needed to address those future shortages.
Boeing CEO James McNerney told Wall Street analysts his chief concern is making sure the company's supply chain keeps pace with a planned increase in aircraft production by 36% in 2006. McNerney is acutely aware of a supply chain meltdown that struck Boeing in 1997 and forced an embarrassing shutdown of the 747 series assembly line. He is especially concerned about the ability of lower-tier suppliers to meet demanding schedules, which is one reason Boeing refuses to further increase rates next year to make up for a strike by machinists this past September.
When Homeland Security Dept. officials combined the aviation assets of two units--Customs and Border Protection with the Border Patrol--last month, they said they were creating the world's largest law enforcement air force. Now, two members of Congress are asking whether that was such a good idea. Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) want the House Appropriations Committee's Homeland Security subcommittee to investigate whether the merger, instead of streamlining operations, is actually "putting our national security at risk."
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency says a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense interceptor made a successful flight on Nov. 22 that started a new round of development tests of the Block 2004 design. The launch took place at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and tested flyout and controllability; there was no target. The flight was in high endoatmospheric conditions, including operation of divert and attitude control rockets that provide final hit-to-kill guidance.
Regarding your article "Contrary Views," the NASA concept of using expendable launch vehicles for a Moon/Mars program will lead to excessive annual costs that may prove to be a dead end for the program (as for Apollo with Saturn V and eventually for the space shuttle). Also, using ELVs represents a high risk due to their inherent unreliability (AW&ST Oct. 24, p. 26).
Saab has started flight testing of the demonstrator for its Filur--Flying Low-Observable Unmanned Research effort. The 10-min. inaugural mission took place at the flight test center at Vidsel, Sweden, on Oct. 10, but wasn't disclosed until last week. A follow-on test series is slated for next year.
EasyJet is reporting that full-year, pre-tax profit is up 68 million pounds ($117 million), a 9% year-over-year increase, based on 11% growth in the second half. The profit was driven by a 21.1% increase in passenger count, improved load factor (85.2% versus 84.5%), and 2% growth in revenue per seat mile. The low-fare carrier achieved 17% ancillary revenue growth. The across-the-board improvement allowed the airline to deliver a profit despite the 47% full-year increase in fuel prices, or 68% in the last six months.
Italy and France are finally ready to embark on a vast program to build a fleet of multimission frigates to carry land-attack cruise missiles and other advanced weaponry in support of European out-of-theater forces. But some French military and political leaders are concerned about the possible impact of the 11-billion euro ($13-billion) undertaking on other projects.
