The Technology Directorate of the U.S. Homeland Security Dept. will be working closely with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the Commerce Dept. to develop technical solutions for homeland security. A recent memorandum of understanding between the departments gives the Technology Directorate greater access to NIST work on the detection of chemical and biological agents as well as explosives. NIST also will assist industry in bringing homeland security technologies to market, including helping companies meet requisite standards.
The European Commission has cleared EADS' acquisition of BAE Systems 25% share in space company Astrium. This gives EADS sole ownership of the company.
The FAA has issued a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) for an airworthiness directive that would require operators of Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft to conduct detailed inspections of the rudder travel limitation units. The NPRM was issued after the French DCAG airworthiness authority advised the FAA it had received reports of abnormally stiff rudder pedal application in flight and ground tests.
Arturo A. Rosales, director of Americas programs and business development for Boeing Satellite Systems, has been named one of the U.S.' 50 most important Hispanics in business and technology by Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology magazine. He is responsible for executing commercial satellite programs in North and South America, and has overseen commercial and government programs based on the Boeing 601 satellite product line.
Michael A. Dornheim (Los Angeles), Craig Covault (Cape Canaveral)
Rover Launch Delayed The first of two U.S. Mars Exploration Rovers will be launched at least three days later than planned--no earlier than June 8--following a NASA decision that project managers need at least three extra days to complete critical prelaunch reviews tied to both vehicles.
Michael Tuttle has been appointed general manager of the Aviation Div. of the Omni Energy Services Corp., Carencro, La. He was regional sales manager for Gulf of Mexico operations for Air Logistics.
Ukraine last week dispatched accident investigators to Tabzor, Turkey, to help Spanish and Turkish aviation officials determine the cause of the May 26 crash of a Yakovlev Yak-42 that killed all 12 crewmembers and 62 Spanish military personnel on board. According to the Ukrainian news agency, the charter flight operated by Ukrainian-Mediterranean Airlines (UM Air) was en route from Kabul to Zaragoza, Spain, with service members returning home from a four-month peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.
GA Riding 'Highway-in-the-Sky' General aviation aircraft are finally catching up with some of the advances found in the latest commercial transports and military cockpits, and in one particular sphere--display innovations--GA is actually taking the lead.
BARTER BOGEYS NASA may not have gotten its money's worth from about $1.5 billion in barter deals with its international partners on the space station, but there's no way to know because the procedures for estimating and documenting the value of goods and services received were inadequate. That's the conclusion of a September 2002 audit report by the agency's inspector general, obtained last week under the Freedom of Information Act. The report suggests NASA may have low-balled the value of shuttle and communications services in bartering for station hardware.
SWITCH HITTER Military space operators can now configure their own communications systems to reach satellites via remote tracking stations--the largest fundamental change in space operations during the past 15 years. Officials of the 50th Space Wing say data fed to and from space operations centers are now automatically switched through tracking stations, freeing 31 technicians who had previously handled the switching manually.
Executives of EurocopterUSA in Grand Prairie, Tex., said its operations in North Texas will not be shut down and moved to a new site in Columbus, Miss. Instead, the company plans to expand the Grand Prairie facility in the near future to handle increased deliveries of helicopters to the North American market, and in particular to customers in the U.S. Operations at the Mississippi facility would center on the manufacture of certain parts, while the personnel in Texas will continue to focus on assembly and completion of new helicopters shipped from France.
Exploring the Envelope Investigators at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory here are now advocating two series of flight tests to fully explore the hypersonic propulsion potential of hydrocarbon-fueled supersonic combustion ramjets.
Well-financed efforts to change the U.S. Railway Labor Act are gaining favor in Washington. Legislation to require "baseball-style arbitration," in which a third party would choose labor's or management's last and best offer, has appealing aspects. Unfortunately, best-offer arbitration would be bad public policy.
WEIGHT WATCHERS Added weight is the scourge of man--and machine. And the FAA last week proposed a regulation aimed at combating its effects on aircraft. The rule announces the establishment of a Weight and Balance Control Program Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) that is to comprehensively review and revamp the agency's Advisory Circular 120-27C, which sets forth overall aircraft weight and balance guidelines. The ARC, which is to meet for the first time June 24-25 in Washington, grew out of the Jan. 8 crash of an Air Midwest Beech 1900D at Charlotte, N.C.
Soyuz Booster to Kourou A half century after inaugurating the space era from the steppes of Central Asia, the venerable Soyuz launcher is about to embark on a new career in South America.
Rolls-Royce Chief Executive Sir John Rose told those attending the company's annual general meeting on May 29 that despite continuing uncertainty in the civil market, performance remained on track for a "positive cash flow" for 2003.
Mark Ureda, Karin Flanagan and Larry Harrell have been promoted to vice presidents from directors of business strategy in the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Strategy and Technology organization. Ureda will oversee coordination with the Space Technology and Electronic Systems sectors and Flanagan with the Information Technology and Mission Systems sectors. Harrell will be head of systems and platforms with oversight for coordination with the Newport News Ship Systems and Integrated Systems sectors.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration is rolling out its program for screening U.S. Postal Service packages weighing 16 oz. or more at most major U.S. airports. After Sept.11, 2001, this size of parcel was barred from cargo holds of passenger jets and U.S. airlines lost a substantial source of revenue. But a pilot project between TSA and the USPS, using canine teams for explosive detection, has proved successful at 11 airports during the past six months. Now the program will expand to cover most major airports by year-end.
SPRINGTIME ON NEPTUNE Astronomers from the University of Wisconsin and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have detected what appears to be changes in the atmosphere of Neptune that correspond to solar-driven seasons lasting for decades. Using the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the planet in 1996, 1998 and 2002, the researchers found the brightness of cloud bands in the southern hemisphere has increased steadily. "This change seems to be a response to seasonal variations in sunlight, like the seasonal changes we see on Earth," stated Wisconsin's Lawrence A.
AT YOUR LEISURE Midwest Airlines last week released details about a low-fare product it intends to launch in August. "Saver Service" targets the leisure traveler, a market segment the airline noted was growing more rapidly than business travel, and is part of Midwest's strategic plan to return to profitability (AW&ST Mar. 10, p.43). Beginning in August, five MD-80s from Midwest's fleet will be used to operate nonstop leisure services from Milwaukee to Denver (Aug. 1), Orlando (Aug. 8), Las Vegas (Aug. 15), Phoenix (Aug.22) and Los Angeles (Sept. 12).
RF PROTECTION Boeing has picked BAE Systems to supply a fiber-optic towed decoy to protect special operations MC-130s and AC-130s against radar-guided surface-to-air missiles. Industry officials hope the move will spark interest in enhanced self-protection gear among users of other large aircraft, such as C-17 transports or B-52H bombers. The Air Mobility Command is mulling a similar upgrade for at least a small number of its C130 transports.
Falcon Heads for Italy The Italian air force will take delivery this month of the first of 34 F-16 aircraft it is leasing to provide an interim air defense platform. Four additional airframes will be used to generate spare parts. Under the Peace Caesar program, the Italian air force will operate the 34 fighters for up to 10 years, using a pay-by-the-hour arrangement. The U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin will provide maintenance and training services. The ongoing program covers an initial five-year period with an option for a five-year extension.
EARTH DATA NASA's Earth Science Enterprise has awarded Raytheon Information Systems a five-year contract potentially worth $500 million for data and information support services on the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). Based in Upper Marlboro, Md., the Raytheon unit will service the EOSDIS Core System that it developed under a separate contract to handle processing, archiving and data distribution for NASA's Earth-observing satellites.
Fuel Cells Debut AeroVironment has flown a small drone powered by a fuel cell to demonstrate the potential for longer endurance electric flight. Company officials believe it is the first time a hydrogen fuel cell has solely propelled an aircraft. The 6-oz., 15-in.-span "Hornet" micro air vehicle (MAV) in theory could fly for several hours--about twice the endurance of a similar "Wasp" MAV powered by high-performance lithium-ion polymer batteries that the company flew last October for 107 min.
