Malaysia Airlines System has taken delivery of its initial Boeing 777-200ER, marking the first use in the Asia-Pacific region of Boeing's Electronic Flight Bag digital document system.
Lindajean Heller Western has become assistant vice president-communications and marketing at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla. She was director of marketing and communications for Kent (Ohio) State University's College of Continuing Studies.
ITT Industries has snagged a $6.8-million contract modification to upgrade the Western Range Operations Control Center Central Command Systems. The project ensures time-critical corrections are made in missile flight termination system command transmitters.
NASA's Mach 10 scramjet flight last week on top of its Mach 7 acccomplishment in March brought flight test reality to a way-out field. It's one that has been trickling along for more than four decades since GASL founder Antonio Ferri ran the first successful modern supersonic-combustion ramjet in 1961. But with success declared and the budget now gone, NASA's scramjet staff is upset that their good work is poised to go nowhere.
The implementation of congestion pricing might be one effective step to minimize peak hour traffic at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, but a more effective system would charge the same average fee for all aircraft operations during each particular time slot, regardless of weight (AW&ST Oct. 25, p. 106). After all, the congestion is caused by the limit on the number of takeoffs and landings per hour. Regional jets require as much air traffic controller attention as widebodies.
President Abdul Kalam (center) outlined his vision of India's future for Senior Space Technology Editor Frank Morring, Jr., (left) and Contributing Editor Neelam Mathews (right) during an interview in his New Delhi office. The session capped a week of news-gathering by the AW&ST team, who visited space facilities in Bangalore and Sriharikota for the special report on India's growing space program that begins on p. 46. Kalam led development of India's first satellite launch vehicle, and has strong views on his country's role in space.
Closed-loop life support is one of the critical technologies needed for eventual human exploration of Mars and beyond. Now NASA reports crewmembers on the International Space Station will begin testing new water recycling technology for deep space exploration by about 2008, the latest estimated launch date for the new Water Processor Assembly (WPA) under development by Hamilton Sundstrand and Marshall Space Flight Center.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Raytheon a $158-million contract for production of AIM-9X dogfight missiles. The USAF would receive 178 of the missiles, the U.S. Navy 93, Poland 178, Denmark 60 and South Korea 41.
ROCKWELL COLLINS HAS EQUIPPED about 40 aircraft with controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC) and says it has 50 more systems on order. The equipment is being used in operations over Eurocontrol's Maastricht ATC area but no longer in Miami Center now that the FAA has canceled a similar project. Jim Grace, data link program manager at Rockwell Collins, says CPDLC sales could accelerate if Europe mandates the system by 2009.
Smart-1, the European Space Agency's first Small Mission for Advanced Research in Technology, has demonstrated that solar-electric propulsion can get a spacecraft to the Moon. The 370-kg. (814-lb.) spacecraft entered lunar orbit on Nov. 15 after a spiraling journey from low-Earth orbit that consumed 59 of the 82 kg. of xenon propellant on board for its xenon-ion engine. Overall, Smart-1 orbited the Earth 332 times since its Sept. 27, 2003, launch on an Ariane 5.
India's space program, built up on a shoestring during the past 41 years to benefit the poor and the military at home, is poised to take on a larger role beyond the subcontinent. From launchers to spacecraft to lunar orbiters, India is pushing its largely indigenous space industry into the international arena as buyer, seller and potential exploration partner.
Continental Airlines, the last of the Big Six U.S. legacy carriers to ask employees for concessions, says it needs $500 million in annual pay and benefit cuts, effective Feb. 28, 2005. The company intends to meet with each work group to develop reductions in pay and benefits and increases in productivity, with pay cuts accounting for about half the savings. Continental says it will improve profit-sharing and retain bonuses for on-time performance and perfect attendance. Top executives have agreed to cuts in pay and bonuses.
It's a familiar story: A dynamic, low-cost American airline with a strong balance sheet, healthy profits and a robust stock. It flies domestically, using only Boeing 737s, and is rapidly expanding its route network.
James R. Wertz, who is president of Microcosm Inc., El Segundo, Calif., has received the Space Systems Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He was cited for his work on "the first Earth/Sun/Moon autonomous navigation system on the TAOS mission; the first fully autonomous onboard orbit control system on the UoSat-12 mission; and for creating the Scorpius ultra low-cost launch vehicle program."
A new U.S. company is preparing to usher an Israeli-made countermeasure system through the FAA certification process and market the system initially to U.S. business jet and air cargo operators. It has yet to be seen how the FAA will handle the requested certification of the Flight Guard countermeasures system being installed on El Al aircraft now. The system is halfway through the Israeli civil aviation certification process (AW&ST May 17, p. 41), but must be certified by the FAA to be operated by El Al or U.S.-registered aircraft in U.S. airspace.
In their new business partnership, Airservices Australia and SITA Inc. aim to foster a regional network of satellite-based ATC surveillance in the Asia-Pacific region with the goal of cutting costs and improving safety.
Spacecraft engineers in India are proud of an old photo that shows their first geostationary communications satellite loaded on a bullock cart. Later launched on an Ariane rocket, the Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment (Apple) satellite was built to help bring the benefits of a space infrastructure--communications, weather forecasting, land-use remote sensing--to citizens who might not have expected to use technology more advanced than the bullock cart in their lifetimes.
New York's Museum of Modern Art is featuring a fan blade from the General Electric GE90-115B engine in its Architecture and Design collection. MOMA acquired the blade for the beauty of its three-dimensional aerodynamic design. The nearly 4-ft.-long blade is forged of carbon fiber polymeric material and a titanium leading edge that gives it a distinctive black color. Twenty-two such fan blades pull air into the engine. The curved design enables the blades to withstand supersonic airwaves generated during flight. The GE90 powers Boeing 777s.
World News Roundup 18 C-17, Global Hawk, AFATDS and DAGR win awards at conference 19 America West considering offer for ATA aircraft in Chicago 19 Boeing reiterates it expects 200 com- mitments for 7E7 by year-end 20 Preflight of new Ariane 5 ECA slips until early next year World News & Analysis 24 X-43A tests to continue with military, but NASA's role becomes unclear 27 Major review focuses on stream- lining USAF combat power
Several airlines at London Heathrow Airport are looking for a services provider to replace insolvent Swissport UK, a subsidiary of Swissport International. The company employed 750 staff. Airlines hit by the failure were: Aer Lingus, El Al Israel Airlines, Icelandair, Cyprus Airways, Swiss, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Hellas Jet, Middle East Airlines, Air China and Turkish Airlines, according to the British Airports Authority.
GenCorp rejected a $770-million takeover offer from shareholder Steel Partners II, calling the $17-a-share bid "inadequate," and proceeded with planned stock and debt offerings. On Nov. 17, GenCorp priced a public offering of 7.5 million shares of its common stock at $16 per share, a sale that is expected to raise $114 million. GenCorp also priced a public debt offering of $80 million.
Arianespace says the preflight of its new Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift launch vehicle, initially slated for this month, will slip until early next year because of delays in final system verifications.
The TSA's final order requiring airlines to deliver passenger name record data for Secure Flight (formerly Capps II) passenger-screening system tests this winter makes no concessions to privacy groups. The agency denies that it's invading anyone's privacy and promises a "robust redress program" to handle complaints from passengers who believe they have been unfairly singled out for additional screening.
The U.S. Army has completed flight tests of a Patriot PAC-3 system against two ballistic missiles arriving at the same time. One target destroyed was a Storm, and the other was a Patriot that represented a short-range ballistic missile. Two PAC-3s were fired in quick succession during the test at the Army's White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
