WorldSpace is counting on a recent investment by XM Satellite Radio and a looming public stock offering to revive its long-stalled digital audio radio venture.
The Eurosam consortium last week fired an Aster-30 air defense missile as part of qualification tests to have the system enter service in France and Italy next year. The missile engaged an aircraft-type target, which was tracked by the Arabel fire-control system. The missile hit the target 26 km. from the launch site at an altitude of 7 km.
World News Roundup 16 BA609 civil tiltrotor achieved full airplane mode for first time 17 European engine makers post strong financial figures 17 IAE initiative to marry engine upgrades and maintenance 18 PanAmSat to buy EuropeStar from France's Alcatel World News & Analysis 20 Discovery flight-test lessons warn that program still needs work 22 New 100-ft. sensor boom provides confidence in thermal protection
The first mission to Venus in a decade--and the first ever from Europe--is set to lift off this fall on a quest to perform a comprehensive study of the thick atmosphere that shrouds our nearest planetary neighbor.
Evidence that the space shuttle's external fuel tank shed several pieces of insulation large enough, potentially, to damage Discovery during its climb to orbit is unsettling (see p. 20). The video of the largest piece of foam breaking away brings to mind the phrase "dodging a bullet." NASA has no choice but to fix that problem before flying the orbiter Atlantis, which was being prepared for launch in September. And the agency is to be praised for acknowledging this need publicly, even though it was embarrassing to do so in the midst of Discovery's flight.
The Pentagon is sending the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) back to the dark side. Officials had put former Air Force Undersecretary Peter Teets at the helm of its black space and USAF's own white space work in 2001 in an effort to better integrate the technology work and investments of the two institutions. Now, the Defense Dept. says Don Kerr, the CIA's deputy for science and technology, will take over the NRO. Ron Sega, the director of defense research and engineering, so testified last week in his nomination hearing to be Air Force undersecretary.
The Bell/Agusta BA609 civil tiltrotor achieved full airplane mode for the first time on July 22, reaching a speed of 190 kt. Test pilot Roy Hopkins, who was accompanied by Jim Lindsey, made the transition to airplane mode over central Texas. Hopkins said the transition went well, and the tiltrotor "flew as expected and the vibration level was very low."
QINETIQ IS TO LEAD CONCEPT STUDIES into improved accuracy terminal guidance and seekers as part of the British Defense Ministry's "Guided Weapons Tower of Excellence." MBDA, Selex, Roke Manor Research and Thales are also participants. The three-year program will cover several high-risk enabling studies.
AgustaWestland officials are hoping the pending Swiss parliamentary debate over the country's military helicopter procurement plan will put them back in the running for the program to purchase 20 rotorcraft.
Analysis of radioactive elements in meteorites blasted from Mars to Earth by titanic impacts in the past suggests the planet may have been too cold for liquid water for most of its four-billion-year history. According to a report in the July 22 issue of the journal Science, the ratio of potassium to argon isotopes in two different types of Martian meteorites closely matches other isotopic clocks analyzed in the meteorites, even though warm temperatures would have changed the ratios over time by causing the argon gas to diffuse out.
While I agree with your editorial position that the Registered Traveler (RT) program could not have been more bungled, I disagree with your editorial's recommended direction (AW&ST July 18, p. 59).
International air traffic grew in the first half of the year by 8.8% and freight increased by 3.4%, compared with last year, according to the International Air Transport Assn. The slowdown in cargo traffic (it increased 13.2% in the first half of 2004 over 2003) suggests high fuel prices are "softening international trade," says Director General Giovanni Bisignani. Passenger growth in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa and North America was all in double digits. Load factors through June averaged 74%, with North America's at 83.9%.
NASA quietly canceled the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO), set for launch in 2009, by deleting it from the President's budget amendment for Fiscal 2006. The reason is that robotic missions designed to lead to a human trip to Mars, that would have been supported by MTO, have been cut back in priority to focus on manned flight to the Moon, says J. Douglas McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA headquarters.
USAF Brig. Gen. Gregory J. Ihde, who has been commander of the 57th Wing of Air Combat Command, Nellis AFB, Nev., has been appointed vice commander at George C. Kenney Headquarters (provisional) and commander of the Pacific Air Operations Center, Hickam AFB, Hawaii. He will be succeeded by Brig. Gen. William J. Rew, who has been commander of the 35th Fighter Wing, Pacific Air Forces, Misawa AB, Japan. Succeeding Rew will be Brig. Gen. (select) Salvatore A.
Jim Whitehurst has been promoted to chief operating officer of Delta Air Lines from senior vice president/chief network and planning officer. Other recent promotions are: Joe Kolshak to executive vice president/chief of operations from senior vice president; Lee Macenczak to executive vice president/chief of customer service from senior vice president; and Paul Matsen to executive vice president/chief marketing officer from senior vice president. Edward H. Bastian has been named executive vice president/chief financial officer. He was CFO of Acuity Brands Inc.
From ultralights to ultrajets, the bevy of new aircraft, engines and avionics unleashed at the AirVenture 2005 aerial exhibition leaves no doubt that enthusiasm for the future of general aviation is on a trajectory akin to that of the space shuttle--straight up. The EAA's aerial extravaganza, held here last week, drew more than 10,000 aircraft and 700,000 people from around the world. Above all, the show made it clear that an increasing number of people are interested in general and sport aviation and in learning to fly.
The GAO confirms what Russell Chew, the chief operating officer of the FAA's Air Traffic Organization, has been saying for a while: ATO operating expenses will significantly outpace available funding through Fiscal 2010. This will produce an operating budget deficit of nearly $4 billion. The report adds that the Airport and Airways Trust Fund, which is being used increasingly to pay for operations, will fall to $1.2 billion by the end of Fiscal 2006. The FAA and ATO's cost controls and savings initiatives, however, will offset only 12% of the deficit over five years.
SSgt. Sean D. Belding is one of 12 U.S. Air Force service members who has been named Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2005 by the Arlington, Va.-based Air Force Assn. He is an aircraft structural maintenance journeyman with the 653rd Combat Logistics Support Sqdn. of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), Robins AFB, Ga. The others are: SMSgt. James E. Davis, security forces manager, 1st Security Forces Sqdn. of Air Combat Command (ACC), Langley AFB, Va.; TSgt. Michael E.
A nuclear reactor developed to supply power on planetary surfaces could also help scientists analyze the composition of those surfaces with great precision, under a concept developed by a team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Headed by physicist Sam Floyd, the team proposed using neutrons from a space-rated nuclear reactor to perform Prompt Gamma-ray Activation Analysis (PGAA) at asteroids, Kuiper Belt objects and small moons like Mars' Phobos and Demos.
The last sentence of your article on cell phone use on board aircraft reads: "Some airlines see it as a way to differentiate themselves" (AW&ST July 4, p. 46). Absolutely. Carriers that install cell phone service can count me out! Just imagine a long flight with every bubblehead on board calling everyone in their directories to say: "Guess where I am calling from." No, thanks.
Robert Stangarone has been appointed vice president-communications for the Cessna Aircraft Co., Wichita, Kan. He succeceds Marilyn Richwine, who will be staff vice president for the 2006 Citation Special Olympics Airlift. Stangarone held the same position with Rolls-Royce North America and Fairchild Dornier and was vice president-marketing for Safire Aircraft and Liberty Aerospace. Andrew H. Kasowski has become vice president-product development. He was director of structural integrity.
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TSA's Registered Traveler is a facilitation program--not a security program as its intent is to ease the movement of people through security screening, not improve the screening process. One can do both, however, by reducing the number and size of passengers' carry-on articles. I am amazed this solution continues to escape your attention and that of the airlines and TSA.
