Deep Impact scientists suspect that comet 9P/Tempel 1 has a fluffy makeup that is held together more by gravity than by the cohesiveness of its materials, based on early data from the flyby and strike of the body that kicked up more material than most imagined. The flyby spacecraft and its instruments are in excellent shape after the close pass by the dusty comet. Later this month, controllers will fire thrusters to target an Earth flyby in January 2008, to prepare for a not-yet-approved extended mission, possibly to the comet Boethin.
German low-fare airline DBA faces an uncertain future following majority owner Hinrich Bischoff's decision to pull out of the company this month. DBA bought back Bischoff's 64% stake after only four contentious months involving bitter disputes about union influence and operational standards. The move leaves the company without a financially powerful backer, but Chairman Hans-Rudolf Woehrl insists that this will not affect day-to-day operations.
The Boeing Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft development program will move to mission systems flight tests later this year after completing the basic aircraft performance and flight phase of the evaluation program in California and Arizona.
After waiting out bad weather and a bad part, the Vickers Vimy replica of the first airplane to fly nonstop across the Atlantic has recreated that 1919 flight. Above, the aircraft crosses into Ireland on July 3, just before landing safely on a golf course at Clifden.
THE NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSN. (NBAA) WILL HOST the first Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (Abace) Aug. 9-11 in Shanghai. The purpose of Abace is to place a focus on business aviation in Asia, which is a potentially strong market not only for new airplanes, but also for products and services associated with owning and operating business aircraft in the region. According to the NBAA, more than 40 exhibitors will attend the show. More information can be found at www.abace.aero.
Another round of export control issues has put Boeing in line for fines of up to $47 million for alleged Arms Control Act violations. The State Dept. says Boeing delivered 96 737s to foreign customers starting in 2000 that contained microchips with military applications and, therefore, are subject to export control. At issue is Concord, Calif.-based BEI Technologies' QRS-11 gyrochip, used in the 737's Thales navigation system. The same chip is used by Airbus and others. The State Dept. told Boeing to stop but Boeing disputed its authority to act.
Continuing its effort to reduce Europe's reliance on offshore space hardware, the European Space Agency awarded Saab Ericsson Space two contracts to develop Application Specific Integrated Circuits for future agency programs. ESA wants a Cole chip ASIC that combines a Leon2-FT Sparc processor with bus interface support protocols to handle spacecraft processing/control and to control mass memories and payloads. Saab will also develop a 700,000-gate SpaceWire remote terminal controller for scientific instruments.
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The slump in spaceflight continues, with only 25 orbital launches worldwide through June. That matches the lackluster pace of 2004, which also saw only 25 orbital missions through June and the lowest launch rate overall since 1961 (AW&ST Jan. 31, p. 18). According to Britain's Airclaims consultancy, the bulk of the payloads continues to be carried by three rockets that date their heritage to the dawn of the space age--Soyuz, Proton and the Delta II. Those vehicles serve both government and commercial operators.
Despite its protracted and problem-plagued development, Britain's Nimrod MRA4 represents a tribute to one of aviation's most historic airplanes (AW&ST June 13, p. 94). It has been nearly 56 years since the maiden flight of the de Havilland Comet 1. Although the world's first jet transport was plagued by its own problems after entering service in 1952, the modified Comet 4 became the first transatlantic jetliner in 1958. In another guise, the basic Comet 4 airframe entered service as the Nimrod MR1 maritime reconnaissance aircraft in 1969.
Separately, Thales' D-HUDS head-up display is being flight tested on an A340-600 transport. The system, which has been approved for installation on all Airbus fly-by-wire models, is said to be the first using LCD screen technology to be employed on a commercial transport. The D-HUDS will subsequently be installed on an A380 ultra-widebody and a narrow-aisle unit to complete overall fleet certification.
The Boeing 787 will trust its fly-by-wire control system to a commercially available real-time operating system from an outside vendor, instead of the proprietary or simpler systems that are being used on existing fly-by-wire airliners.
Japan's JAXA and French space agency CNES are discussing the installation of a pair of radiation measurement instruments on the next-generation U.S.-European Jason 2 oceanographic satellite. The instruments would replace a wide-swath ocean altimeter that was to have been supplied by NASA. CNES officials say a green light for the new payload, expected in mid-October, will depend among other things on guarantees that it will not further delay the launch.
The $1-billion sweeping overhaul of flawed space shuttle management and engineering carried out over the last 2.5 years by 20,000 NASA and contractor personnel is moving toward test here this week for the hypersonic transport's return to flight. Weather permitting, Discovery and its seven-member STS-114 crew, commanded by USAF Col. (ret.) Eileen Collins, are aimed toward a liftoff at 3:50:47 p.m. EDT July 13 on 7.4 million lb. thrust (see p. 56).
Lufthansa plans to increase its stake in Swiss International Air Lines to 49% in the coming days, following last week's regulatory approval from U.S. and European competition authorities to proceed with the deal.
Lockheed Martin pilots have completed initial test flights of the first F-16 built for the Chilean air force. The aircraft is to be delivered to Chile in early 2006. The next milestone will be acceptance this month of the first three F-16s by the U.S. government. One aircraft will be used for flight testing. The others will be detailed for maintenance training of Chilean technicians. Deliveries of the 10 aircraft in the order are to be completed by July 2006.
NASA engineers on the Hubble Space Telescope program are actively preparing a shuttle mission to service the orbiting observatory, perhaps as early as 2007, pending a safe return to flight of the shuttle fleet.
A U.S. Air Force MQ-1L Predator unmanned aerial vehicle ran out of fuel and crashed in Southwest Asia on Jan. 14 after operators lost control of the aircraft during a mission, it was reported last week by an Air Combat Command accident board. The $3.5-million UAV, was being operated by the 15th Reconnaissance Sqdn. at Nellis AFB, Nev., when a malfunction of the computer control system caused all communication links to fail.
The VVV-Avia factory in Samara, Russia, is planning to introduce its new Sigma light-sport airplane at the Experimental Aircraft Assn. AirVenture show later this month. Powered by a Rotax 912 engine, the two-place Sigma features an aluminum alloy airframe, a composite "pod" for the pilot and passenger, a steerable nosewheel, disc brakes and a landing gear designed for operations on rough fields. Maximum speed is 126 mph. with a cruise speed of 109. Takeoff roll is a mere 335 ft. and landing distance, 492 ft. A 17-gal. fuel tank allows the airplane to fly for nearly 4 hr.
The terrorist attacks on subways and a bus in London appeared to have little immediate impact on air travel other than causing travelers some delays at airports there. But BAA plc reported the day of the attacks that all airports it operates--including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted--remained open with flights operating normally. Train service to these airports was suspended for awhile, however.
Privatization of German air traffic control provider Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) is expected to be delayed, after Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder lost a vote of confidence in the German parliament and now that national elections are becoming more likely in the fall.
State-owned Pulkovo Airlines, Russia's third largest carrier, has taken delivery of its first Boeing 737-500, and expects four more later this year. The aircraft, which will be leased for a five-year period, will have a two-class, 106-seat configuration. They will replace fuel-inefficient obsolete Tu-134s on routes connecting Pulkovo's base in St. Petersburg with Western and Central European destinations.
Claude Luisada suggests traffic lights should be installed at runway intersections to reduce incursions and radio congestion, and says government agencies don't understand the advantages (AW&ST May 16, p. 8).
Gregory Olsen, the 60-year-old founder of Sensors Unlimited, has signed a $20-million deal to become the third space tourist to visit the International Space Station. Olsen, whose company specializes in indium gallium arsenide arrays, could fly as early as October in the third seat of the Russian Soyuz vehicle that is scheduled to deliver a new ISS crew then.
