Northrop Grumman has used this half-scale model of the sunshield it is building for the James Webb Space Telescope to demonstrate that it can keep the telescope and its instruments operating at a super-cold 30-35K. Assuring the huge shield's performance is as crucial to the mission as a successful opening and alignment of the multisegmented telescope (see p. 42). Northrop Grumman Space Technology photo by Sally Aristei.
SHORT CIRCUIT Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) plans to isolate a failed portion of the electric circuits for its Nozomi (Planet-B) Mars orbiter in a tricky maneuver this month. Launched in July 1998, the 535-kg. (1,177-lb.) spacecraft has had a troubled passage. A stuck thruster valve robbed it of critical fuel and forced ISAS to rescue the mission with a gravity assist around the Sun that pushed back its arrival at Mars from October 1999 to late this December or next January.
Loral Space & Communications and Alcatel Space have reached a settlement on a long-running dispute that had been holding up decision-making in several of the companies' joint ventures and threatened to weigh adversely on Loral's 2003 operating results.
CONCORDE RETURNS HOME On June 27, Air France's fourth and last Concorde in flying condition flew to Toulouse, its birthplace, where it will be displayed permanently. The aircraft, S/N 9, registration F-BVFC, was delivered to the French flag carrier in August 1976, and accumulated 14,322 flight hours and 4,358 flight cycles. Fox Charlie performed a record-breaking round-the-world flight in 1993 in 35 hr. 20 min., including 17 hr. 5 min. at supersonic speed. Although British Airways' last Concorde flight is scheduled for Oct. 24, speculation is mounting in the U.K.
Bradley Morton has been appointed head of the Eaton Corp.'s Aerospace Operations, Irvine, Calif. He succeeds Steve Eisenberg, who has retired. Morton was vice president/general manager of Eaton's Aerospace Fluid Systems.
Eurocopter's EC130 strikes a practical balance between performance, payload and operating economics that makes it a strong competitor against similar aircraft offered by Bell Helicopter Textron, Agusta and MD Helicopters.
Progress by Russian President Vladimir Putin's administration on the reform of Russian aerospace intellectual property rights, the transfer of defense technologies to the commercial sector and a better definition of technology transfer rules is helping to create an improved legal climate for aerospace projects between Russian and western companies, said Russian managers surveyed at the Paris air show.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $29.4-billion Fiscal 2004 appropriations bill for the Homeland Security Dept. (HSD) by a vote of 425-2 last week with only two Republicans voting no. The funding represents just a 1.9% increase over this year's budget for an entity that consolidated 22 agencies in the largest government reorganization since the Defense Dept. was formed in 1947.
Crucial milestones are fast approaching as Joint Strike Fighter engine makers hone their propulsion offerings for one of the largest aircraft procurements likely to appear in the next 20 years.
CUTTING METAL Safire Aircraft Co. has begun initial production of its six-place business aircraft. The company has established headquarters at the Opa-Locka Airport near Miami and plans to build a new facility at the airport in 2005. The $1.4-million Safire Jet is scheduled to fly with Williams International FJ33-4 turbofan engines in mid-2004 and obtain FAA certification in the first half of 2006. Avidyne is providing the avionics and Metal Craft Technologies is responsible for building the fuselage.
August A. Busch, 4th, and John A. Edwardson have been named to the board of directors of the Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Corp. Busch is president of Anheuser Busch Inc. of St. Louis, while Edwardson is chairman/CEO of CDW Computer Centers Inc.
THREAT WATCH Concerns about weapons of mass destruction (WMD) may soon have to be expanded beyond the chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological weapons, says Bill Schneider, who heads the Pentagon's Defense Science Board. Technologies, such as extremely low-frequency radio devices that can be used to make people ill, are likely to proliferate and provide other means of producing mass casualties at long range, he says. But the Pentagon also needs to be careful how it defines WMD, lest it start lumping more of its own weapons in that category, notes USAF Brig. Gen.
SPREADING THE NEWS The U.S. Air Force Space Command has activated a new facility to expedite missile launch-detection notifications to selected nations and coalition forces. Developed in response to a presidential directive, the Shared Early Warning System (SEWS) Centralized Distribution Facility is designed to "ensure regional stability" while enhancing the mutual security interests of the U.S. and "selected partner nations," said Maj. Gene Ramsey, the command's SEWS project leader.
Russia's Volga-Dnepr Group is on the verge of implementing a long-standing plan to expand out of its speciality outsize freight activity into scheduled air cargo service.
CAPPS II UNDER WRAPS Even Congress knows "too little" about the Transportation Security Administration's improved Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II) now under development, according to Rep. Martin O. Sabo (D-Minn.). Sabo sponsored an amendment to the Fiscal 2004 budget for the Homeland Security Dept. that passed the House Appropriations Committee recently (AW&ST June 23, p. 21). It calls for a review of CAPPS II by the General Accounting Office and the National Academy of Sciences.
Please tell us there was a misprint in the article "Balancing the Scales" (AW&ST May 19, p. 43). The FAA has operators survey passengers and baggage over several days. "The results of that survey provided a reality check: Passengers were 20.63 lb. heavier than the average weight, as were carry-on bags, by 5.72 lb." Let's see, 20.63 lb. plus 5.72 lb. equals 26.35 lb. heavier than the current average for passengers and carry-on baggage that is being used.
P-3S IN ACTION There is a flurry of activity in the P-3 community, which could see a number of countries upgrade their aircraft or expand their fleets. Negotiations between the U.S. and India about providing P-3C maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) are moving forward. The foreign military sales would involve eight excess P-3s, converted to a more modern standard. Washington's talks with India are more advanced than those with Pakistan, which is looking to boost its arsenal beyond the two P-3Cs it already operates.
After years of discussions about an airborne ground surveillance (AGS) platform, NATO finally is ready to select a developer for a system that would cost more than $3.5 billion to field. The increasingly fierce competition pits a team dominated by EADS and Northrop Grumman against one headed by Raytheon and BAE Systems, with the two offerings based on the Airbus A321 and Bombardier Global Express, respectively. NATO is slated to issue the request for proposal as early as this week, with a selection to be made early next year.
A French accident investigation team is seeking to determine why a Bombardier CRJ100 twinjet of Air France subsidiary Brit Air crashed during a nighttime final approach to Brest-Guipavas in Brittany, on June 22. The captain was killed. However, 20 passengers and crewmembers survived with at worst minor injuries. According to information provided by the cockpit voice recorder and air traffic controllers, the flight had been uneventful and the pilots had not mentioned technical problems or a system failure.
NEW ANTENNA TECHNOLOGY Northrop Grumman has received a manufacturing technology development contract from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to embed a satellite communication antenna on top of the rotating radar disc of the advanced E-2C Hawkeye. The company is to deliver an electrically and structurally tested section of the dome featuring an embedded antenna made of fiberglass and graphite epoxy. But curing the composite in an autoclave without damaging the antenna's electrical properties and ensuring it can be repaired are key challenges.
Robert Wall (Washington), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
The Pentagon will go after Boeing and punish the aerospace giant if it is found to have violated the law in the current dispute surrounding the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV). But the Air Force wants to avoid torpedoing its dual launcher strategy and would try to keep the Delta IV program largely unaffected.
Orbital Sciences Corp. launched the Orbview-3 commercial remote-sensing satellite for its Orbital Imaging Corp. spinoff June 26 on a Pegasus rocket staging out of Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The winged solid-fuel rocket dropped from Orbital's L-1011 carrier aircraft at 2:55 p.m. EDT, and deployment of the spacecraft was confirmed at 4:30 p.m. EDT when it passed over its Alaskan ground station.
OUT IN FRONT When the Israel Air Force starts taking delivery of the F-16I in October, the aircraft will provide a leap in electronic warfare technology, particularly when compared with the F-15Is already in service, Israeli aerospace experts indicate. In addition, both the F-15I and F-16I will be eclipsed by a new EW system being designed by Israeli companies for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, even before Tel Aviv has formally committed to buying the aircraft.
Thomas E. Simmons (see photo) has become vice president-combat vision systems for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Fla. He was vice president-domestic business development. Simmons succeeds Michael T. Donovan, who is on a leave of absence.
Louis P. Bartolotta, Jr. (see photo) has become managing director of the Bell/Agusta Aerospace Co. of Fort Worth. He was vice president-marketing for AgustaWestland, Cascina Costa, Italy.
