Fast on the heels of the X Prize win and Richard Branson's vow to build a space tourism business (see p. 34), backers of a bill that was supposed to help the nascent industry are trying to quash a Senate version they say would do just the opposite. The bill that passed the House in March would streamline licensing of commercial suborbital flights and make clear that paying passengers are "spaceflight participants" who understand the risks.
European helicopter industry managers are modestly optimistic that plans to create an annual operators show patterned after the Helicopter Assn. International event in the U.S. will be a success, and help drive growth of the slow-moving civil rotorcraft sector.
One of the "Original Seven" Project Mercury astronauts, U.S. Air Force Col. (ret.) Leroy Gordon (Gordo) Cooper, Jr., died on Oct. 4 in Ventura, Calif. He was 77. Cooper flew both Mercury and Gemini orbital missions and described the experience of flying in space as "humbling." Selected in 1959 along with Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Virgil I. (Gus) Grissom, John H. Glenn, M. Scott Carpenter, Walter M. (Wally) Schirra, Jr. and Donald K. (Deke) Slayton, Cooper flew the final mission in Project Mercury.
US Airways and United Airlines already are in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Delta Air Lines is fighting to avoid it, and relentless price competition from low-cost carriers is wiping out gains in passenger loads. Can it get any worse for the legacy U.S. airlines? You bet. Futures contracts for crude oil surged to $52 a barrel last week, an increase of more than 50% since the year began. With jet fuel being one of airlines' biggest expenses--after labor--the impact of the oil shocks is overshadowing any progress that airlines are making in cutting costs.
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Rex Geveden, deputy director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., has received the 2004 Outstanding Alumnus of Kentucky Award from the Kentucky Advocates for Higher Education. Geveden, a graduate of Murray (Ky.) State University, has led research and development projects in several fields including space science and space optics. He headed the NASA Gravity Probe B program, whose hardware was launched earlier this year, and was project manager for the Optical Transient Detector and Lightning Sensor Earth-orbiting satellites.
Arianespace says the planned reflight of its Ariane 5 ECA heavy-lift booster is likely to slip from the planned Oct. 27 launch date. CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall has indicated that the reflight might be moved behind France's Helios 2 intelligence satellite, which French defense ministry officials say is set for year-end.
Business jet manufacturers are rebounding from the doldrums of the last two years and should gain steam heading into 2005, buoyed by the rollout of new models and a rebounding U.S. economy. But the industry is just beginning the climb, and deliveries of new business aircraft are not expected to return to their 2001 peak of $12.4 billion until 2011, according to Honeywell Aerospace's 13th annual Global Aviation Outlook.
Researchers have developed a "traveling-wave thermoacoustic" system that relies on sound waves to generate electrical power on deep-space vehicles. A University of California scientist working at Los Alamos National Laboratory with researchers from Northrop Grumman Space Technology designed a traveling-wave engine/linear alternator system that they say more than doubles the efficiency of radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs).
Eurofighter Typhoon partner nations are investigating exploiting an enhanced synthetic aperture radar capability to provide sub-metric-resolution air-to-surface targeting data, and "identification," at ranges in excess of 50 mi. An improved SAR mode for the ECR-90/Captor radar will be introduced in the Tranche 2 standard for the aircraft. A priority for Tranche 2--irrespective of British government-industry politicking over final inking of the production contract--is to quickly introduce and expand the Typhoon's latent air-to-surface capability.
Douglas Barrie (Velizy-Villacoublay and Bourges, France)
An improved-range variant of the Anglo-French Storm Shadow/ Scalp EG air-launched cruise missile could be available by 2007, one of a number of spiral development steps toward midlife update in the next decade.
Europe's XMM-Newton spacecraft has delivered X-ray imagery of two galaxies colliding a mere 800 million light-years from Earth, providing the clearest picture yet of the way the overarching structure of the Universe is forming. Surpassed only by the Big Bang in energy output, collisions between galaxy clusters generate shock waves of 100-million-deg. gas that radiate in the X-ray spectrum.
The current dire financial condition of the large airlines was not caused by the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedy. It was caused by mismanagement. Before Sept. 11, there was a surplus of airline capacity, yet the airlines were on a buying frenzy to see who could acquire more Boeing 777s.
EADS has established a new organization to be able to better operate in the U.S. defense market and comply with security requirements. EADS North America Defense Co. will operate under a so-called Special Security Agreement (SSA) that provides for industrial security and export control. The SSA allows a non-U.S. owner to retain control over the business except for work on classified contracts. Outside directors have to be named and approved by the government. They must be U.S. citizens with security clearances, to help oversee the operation.
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Three more Japanese companies--Minebea, Showa Aircraft and Komy--have been tapped for the Airbus A380. Minebea will supply engineered rod ends, bearings and rod assemblies; Showa Aircraft, composite parts; and Komy, mirrors for overhead stowage bins. Twenty-one Japanese companies now collaborate on the mega-transport.
Finmeccanica CEO Roberto Testore has resigned, with his job being assumed by Chairman Pier Francesco Guarguaglini. The two men presided over a period of fast expansion at Finmeccanica, including the acquisition of a controlling stake in aero engine maker Fiat Avio (now Avio) and pending alliances with Alcatel in space and BAE Systems in defense electronics. But analysts noted that having separate top executives complicated the management structure.
Raytheon researchers say they are transforming the U.S. Air Force's search for a Hunter-Killer UAV by offering not an aircraft, but an operating system and architecture that can be adapted to any platform or list of intelligence collecting requirements. If researchers attract interest with the offering, Raytheon would then seek teaming arrangements with companies that build airframes, a process that company officials say is already underway.
Adam Aircraft has received FAA Type Inspection Authorization for its A500 twin-engine, piston-powered business airplane featuring centerline thrust. FAA pilots can now begin flight evaluations leading to final certification in the third quarter of this year.
On Sept. 12 at about 2:30 p.m., I observed an unusually loud airplane overhead. However, the airplane making the racket appeared to be 15-20 mi. east--headed away--and judging from the contrail, above 40,000 ft. What interested me most, besides the noise, was the appearance of the ubiquitous "donuts-on-a-rope" or "puff balls" emerging from the contrail about 30 sec. behind the airplane. Certainly it was a pulse jet, probably not supersonic at the time (no boom) so could it be that the "Aurora" finally has become operational?
Curators from the space-sample storage facility at Johnson Space Center in Houston have recovered a complete set of solar-wind samples from the wrecked Genesis probe.
Germany's parliament is expected to give the nod to the tri-National Medium-Extended Air Defense System (Meads) late this year or early next, allowing the country to formally follow the U.S. and Italy into the $3-billion design-and-development program. The industry team of Lockheed Martin, EADS and MBDA last week signed the contract for the air and missile defense project following months of occasionally tense negotiations over technology sharing. Italy and Germany plan to field initial equipment in 2012, with the U.S. to follow in 2014.
Following an in-depth strategic review, The Society of British Aerospace Companies has created Farnborough International Ltd. to allow a dedicated team to focus on the entity and its various enterprises as a stand-alone business, while ensuring that SBAC retains overall control of the biennial air show. Colin Way, previously with Marshall Aerospace, has been named director.
The International Air Transport Assn., which speaks on behalf of 277 member airlines, is submitting to governments and civil aviation authorities proposals for drastic reforms covering security, insurance costs, restructured air traffic management, liberalization and other critical issues. If IATA's unprecedented effort to revitalize the industry happens, it could translate into a much needed modernization. However, revising prevailing rules would require reconciling a host of governments, all with distinct views on air transportation.
