Narrow political views, tight budget constraints and a lack of long-term vision are disrupting Europe's space ambitions. Last month's European space summit held in Berlin, although officially described as a new start, failed to pave the way for long-overdue broader goals.
Stephan Regulinski has become president/CEO of Heath Tecna, Bellingham, Wash., a member of the Britax Premium Aircraft Interior Group. He was an independent consultant and is a former executive with United Airlines.
To battle fuel prices, Japan Air Lines has tried hedging and cost-cutting. But these measures are not enough. With fuel costs expected to continue escalating, JAL says it is "reluctantly obliged to ask its passengers to bear part of the burden." Beginning Apr. 1, the airline intends to eliminate the domestic fuel surcharge it instituted in January 2005 and institute a 3-11.3% increase in its domestic airfares in the Apr. 1-Sept. 30 period. The increase is dependent on stage length, of less than 200 km. (124 mi.) to more than 1,000 km.
The U.S.-German Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace), a pair of satellites that has been measuring tiny shifts in the Earth's gravity below them since 2002, has detected an unusual aftermath of the deadly Indian Ocean earthquake of December 2004--a one part per billion alteration in local gravity. The satellites work by measuring extremely small changes in the distance between them that reflect changes in the mass of the surface terrain (AW&ST Mar. 4, 2002, p. 56).
It's no surprise that low-cost carriers of all sizes are eager to boost their respective networks, secure in the knowledge that consistent, aggressive network growth can widen their cost advantage over legacy rivals.
U.S.-owned elements of the International Space Station will become a national laboratory under the NASA authorization awaiting President Bush's signature, paving the way for more government agencies to conduct--and fund--research on the orbiting facility.
Your editorial "Amateur Hour Is Over for Unmanned Aircraft" (AW&ST Oct. 24, 2005, p. 66) is only too true, and all of us can hope the same mistakes are not made in the UAV program that were made in the remotely piloted vehicle program in the 1970s.
In a 126-page report submitted last week, an independent safety advisory committee criticized the chains of command for Japan Airlines. The committee, called in after a string of safety/maintenance failures last year, called for the systematic use of case studies on safety-related events and encouraged staff to take more initiative in preventing everyday errors.
Michael Pollack has been appointed director of federal sales for Atlanta-based EMS Technologies Inc. He was a director of business development, sales, and technical marketing for Hughes Network Systems.
SES Global, determined to retain the top position in its market, will merge with New Skies to create a new powerhouse in the satellite communications field.
SPACE 2nd PLACE Norm Siegel "Catching the Ring" Gouache 30 X 26 in. Norm Siegel graduated from The Cooper Union in New York. The Norwalk, Conn., resident became a freelance illustrator in the fields of advertising, design, graphics and marketing. He has always loved all things in aviation and space. SPACE 3rd PLACE John W. Clark "Iapetus" Oil 24 X 14 in.
NASA's modified Boeing 747 space shuttle ferry aircraft carried the orbiter over the Mojave Desert on its way back to the Kennedy Space Center. Lori Losey, Lancaster, Calif.
A Dutch AH-64D Apache Longbow astounds the crowd by rolling on its back and firing decoys as it falls at Royal International Air Tattoo 2005 at Fairford, England, last July. Stephen Wolf, Chatillon, France
News Breaks 10 IATA predicts return to airline profitability in 2007 11 Braking a puzzle in Southwest run- way overrun at Chicago-Midway 12 LockMart plans airship prototype that could be missile defense platform World News & Analysis 16 British grapple with imperatives of defense industrial requirements 18 Israel tests improved interceptor, ponders new use of its radar 20 MDA launches first operational interceptor after testing hiatus
Just before declaring its premier fighter ready for combat--three years late--the Air Force decided to give it another makeover. It seems the A in the F/A-22 was just a bit too Navy for USAF Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley, who says, "F/A is not an Air Force bit of nomenclature." The aircraft, which is also capable of contributing to electronic warfare and signals intelligence missions, should not get an FAEWRC-22 designation, Moseley quips.
The U.K. Transport Dept. has approved the Rapiscan Systems MVXR5000 X-ray machine for in-line screening of checked luggage for explosives. Rapiscan says it can process up to 1,800 bags per hour, several times more than possible with explosives detection machines certified by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.
NASA overseers in the House and Senate want the Bush administration to finish the International Space Station, including European and Japanese modules. The Fiscal 2006 NASA authorization conference report, adopted and headed for final passage last week, calls for full funding of the 19 space shuttle flights needed to complete the ISS and service the Hubble Space Telescope one more time. With the White House looking to trim the shuttle manifest to recover the estimated $3-5-billion shortfall it contains (AW&ST Nov. 7, p.
In a major decision, NASA will remove the protuberance air load (PAL) ramps from all space shuttle external tanks to prevent a repeat of the debris-shedding that occurred on the STS-114 return-to-flight mission in July. New computational fluid dynamics analysis indicates the cable tray that the PAL ramps were designed to protect have ample design margins without the ramps. That will be further verified by wind tunnel model tests in February.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. and Greece have signed an agreement for the Hellenic Air Force to acquire 30 additional F-16 Block 52+ fighters. The order includes an option for 10 more airplanes and is valued at about $1.2 billion. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2009.
Seeking to fend off what they say is a "backdoor" attempt by the Bush administration to change the foreign-ownership rules for U.S. airlines, several members of the House Transportation Committee are backing legislation to block the Transportation Dept. from relaxing some of its interpretations. Partly as a trigger for transatlantic aviation reform, the department would enable representatives of foreign investment interests to hold influential positions at U.S. carriers while upholding the letter of the law (AW&ST Nov. 28, p. 46).
JAXA says Hayabusa is likely to return to Earth in 2010 from the asteroid Itokawa three years late because the space agency will miss a deadline this month to begin the return trip. The spacecraft has been placed in a "rescue mode" while its attitude is stabilized. Hayabusa, crippled by inactive reaction control wheels and a failed reaction control system, had been commanded into a roll once every 6 min. to maintain its stability.
Boeing's board of directors has elected Kenneth M. Duberstein, 61, as lead director, replacing Lew Platt, who died earlier this year. A board member since 1997, Duberstein was chief of staff for President Ronald Reagan in 1988-89.
