VETO THREAT I When the executive branch lets Congress know what it thinks of bills-in-progress, it doesn't exactly threaten a presidential veto; it says the President's senior advisers will recommend a veto. That's what the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) says about provisions in the House's Fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill that would limit the next round of base realignment and closure authority.
Members of the panel probing why the space shuttle Columbia broke up on reentry plan to issue a few more interim recommendations to give NASA a head start on flying shuttles again, and then will try to grind out a final report before the end of July.
CAPPS II TAKING FIRE ON THE HILL The Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) enhancement to its Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, known as CAPPS II, comes under fire in Congress. In an amendment by Rep. Martin O. Sabo (D-Minn.) to the Homeland Security Appropriations bill, the General Accounting Office (GAO) and National Academy of Sciences would have to review CAPPS II. The amendment was passed by the Appropriations Committee last week and now will be considered by the full House.
John H. Young, Jr., has been appointed corporate vice president-contracts and pricing for the Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles. He succeeds James L. Sanford, who has become corporate vice president/treasurer. Young was a vice president/deputy business area leader for Airborne Early Warning and Electronic Warfare Systems in Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems Sector.
When you see the V-22 Osprey with massive engines that must rotate in unison to keep the aircraft flying, it is evident that this is a very complex vehicle that always will have maintenance problems. I have no problem flying in any aircraft, but I would never fly in one for which engines must be rotated to land and take off. Such an aircraft will have more failure modes than other types. The V-22 has killed 23 Marines. After more than 10 years of problems, the design should be canceled.
The Paris air show last week at Le Bourget will be remembered as one of contrasts--lackluster static and flight displays set against a background of real work and deal-making in the chalets and behind the scenes; a dearth of top government and aerospace officials but a proliferation of hopeful signs of turnarounds in some sectors of aerospace.
Loy Montes (see photos) has been named director of maintenance services and Lance Applegate general manager for government programs for UAL Corp.'s United Services. Montes was manager of market development, while Applegate was general manager for line maintenance operations.
Boeing has begun low-speed wind-tunnel tests of the 7E7 midsize jet, and has nearly completed models to be used in the first round of high-speed tests. Four distinct wing designs were tested in the Boeing Transonic Wind Tunnel in Seattle. Tests of nose sections (shown) begin next month.
Michael A. Dornheim begins his article "Red Rover, Red Rover" (AW&ST May26, p. 54) by stating: "Early next year, Mars should be under direct observation by six spacecraft . . ." Since it appears that landers are also being counted as spacecraft, I assume "early next year" encompasses January, when both Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) are planned to be operational on Mars' surface. There then should be seven spacecraft placing the red planet under "direct observation:" Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Beagle 2, Nozomi, MER-A and MER-B.
MUSICAL CHAIRS Top-level personnel shifts at NASA continue. Roy D. Bridges, director of Kennedy Space Center, has been moved to the same post at Langley Research Center, effective Aug. 10. With Bridges' departure from the Florida launch facility, new directors or acting directors will be in place at all four field centers associated with human spaceflight--Johnson, Stennis, Marshall and Kennedy. Bridges will be replaced by his deputy, James W. Kennedy, on an acting basis that is expected to be made permanent.
Capt. (ret.) J.T. Bertrand, Continental Airlines (Newport Beach, Calif.)
Brad Bartholomew's Viewpoint is probably correct that the Railway Labor Act (RLA) needs overhaul (AW&ST June 2, p. 58). While I am not familiar with the Communities for Economic Strength Through Aviation (Cesta) proposals, I am suspicious if top airline executives are behind changes to the RLA.
You can now register ONLINE for Aviation Week Events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or call Ryan Leeds at +1 (212) 904-3892/+1 (800) 240-7645 (U.S. and Canada Only) Sept. 16-18--MRO Europe, Cardiff, Wales. October--Network-Centric Conference. Washington. Oct. 28-30--A&D Programs & Productivity Conference & Exhibition. Arlington (Tex.) Convention Center. Nov. 11-13--MRO Asia Conference & Exhibition. Bangkok Intercontinental Hotel.
Annette Murphy has been appointed senior vice president-passenger sales and service, Stephanie C. Ackerman senior vice-president-marketing and external affairs, and Randy A. Laser vice president-pricing and revenue management, all at Aloha Airlines.
Russian missile seeker manufacturer Agat arrived at the show revealing an active-radar seeker design it said is capable of detecting targets at ranges of up to 70 km. Iosif Akopyan, Agat's general designer, said the seeker is intended for surface-to-air and air-to-air applications.
LOCKHEED MARTIN PLANS TO TEST GPS receivers with upgraded anti-spoofing modules for wind-corrected munitions. First-phase contracts for the GPS receivers went to two sources: Interstate Electronics Corp., and the team of Rockwell Collins and Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Owego, N.Y.
Craig Covault (Le Bourget), Michael A. Taverna (Le Bourget)
By working more closely with the European Union, the European Space Agency has succeeded in elevating commercial space issues and space applications to "the highest levels in the offices of prime ministers" across the continent, according to Antonio Rodota, outgoing ESA director general. There were also indications that those closer ties with the EU will be used to exploit ESA programs more in the European military space realm, through the implementation of civil/military dual-use spacecraft.
SOLAR SURFACE An international team of solar physicists has found complex structures on the Sun's photosphere that may explain why solar irradiance increases as sunspots spread, even though they appear darker than the surrounding "surface." Using a new 1-meter solar telescope in the Canary Islands, scientists from Norway, Sweden and the U.S. produced the highest resolution images ever made of active regions near the Sun's visible edge.
SPACE AVAILABLE Loss of the shuttle Columbia and its seven-person crew apparently hasn't dampened enthusiasm for a chance to fly in space among the nation's schoolteachers. NASA has received more than 1,600 serious applications for its "Educator Astronaut" program, and will begin winnowing them this summer to fill 3-6 slots. The selected teachers will train as regular mission specialists, but they will apply their classroom talents from orbit along with their skills at extravehicular activity and robotic arm operation.
Although Dassault Aviation has only just been selected to build and fly by 2008 the French military's first unmanned strike aircraft, engineers are already fleshing out the design and operational details.
UNITED STATES Editor-In-Chief: David M. North [email protected] Managing Editor: James R. Asker [email protected] Assistant Managing Editors: Stanley W. Kandebo--Technology [email protected] Michael Stearns--Production [email protected] Senior Editors: Craig Covault [email protected], David Hughes [email protected] NEW YORK 2 Penn Plaza, Fifth Floor, New York, N.Y. 10121 Phone: +1 (212) 904-2000, Fax: +1 (212) 904-6068
VETO THREAT II For the civil sector, OMB waved the veto flag at a provision in the House FAA reauthorization bill that would prohibit shifting air traffic control functions from FAA employees to the private sector. This lent an in-your-face flavor to Senate adoption of similar provisions in a floor amendment to its version of the bill--the OMB warned the Senate about a veto on June 12, the day of the vote. Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) opposed the amendment, but the Senate approved it anyway, 56-41.
Ian Douglas Smith, deputy general manager/senior scientist of the Pulse Science Div. of the San Diego-based Titan Corp., has received the first award from the Global Energy Prize International Committee. He was cited for "giving birth to a new direction in the subject of energy through fundamental research and development in the field of powerful pulse energy that has led to unique pulse energy systems and equipment being designed and used around the globe."
Industry consolidation, potentially through mergers or acquisitions, may reduce the number of big U.S. hub-and-spoke airlines from six to four or five within five years, Delta Air Lines CEO Leo Mullin said June 19 in a speech in Washington. This would enable the surviving carriers to rationalize their hubs and reduce excess capacity, he said. Low-cost point-to-point airlines still would prosper, but hub carriers would remain essential to the aviation system, he said.
Denver International Airport will dedicate a 16,000-ft.-long, extra-wide runway this month, giving the mile-high airfield claim to the longest runway in the U.S. It also will further improve the flow of air traffic at what has been called the nation's most efficient airport, as measured by annual delays.
Robert Stangarone has been named vice president-marketing and public affairs of the Safire Aircraft Co., Opa-Locka, Fla. He was managing director of Broadgate Consultants Inc. of New York and had been vice president-corporate communications for Fairchild Dornier.
