NASA's first Mars Exploration Rover (MER), which is scheduled for launch on a Delta II on June 5, is given a final test run in the Kennedy Space Center's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility before integration with its circular cruise stage in background and aeroshell at extreme right. A second MER is set for launch June 25. The flights will mark the first U.S. twin Mars landers launched since Project Viking 28 years ago (see p. 54). Photo by Karl Ronstrom.
Formal launch of the A400M airlifter was slated for May 27 following German parliamentary approval, May21. The German parliament's budget committee finally sanctioned program funding, clearing the way for launch of the seven-nation program.
World Health Organization experts maintain their position that severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) can and must be contained and it may even be possible to eliminate it from human populations. But U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson in Brussels told reporters "I don't think SARS is going away." Last week, WHO extended its travel advisory against visiting Taipei to cover all of Taiwan as 35 new cases were reported and SARS' reach increased.
Mounting test problems may be jeopardizing the start of full-rate production of the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile. Unperturbed U.S. Air Force officials, however, are quietly building up the number of operationally available weapons to bridge a bomber cruise missile gap that has emerged.
A modern airborne tanker fleet and electronic warfare enhancements top the list of new initiatives the Australian government has included in its Fiscal 2003-04 budget request. The proposal released last week calls for defense spending to increase A$2.1 billion ($1.4 billion) between the 200203 and 2006-07 budget years. Total defense spending in the upcoming fiscal period would reach $11.6 billion, a $770-million increase over the current budget.
ROBOT BOMB DETECTOR Los Angeles International Airport has acquired a mobile robot for bomb detection and disposal duties and will deploy it at LAX this fall. The Board of Airport Commissioners approved the $160,000 purchase in March. The manufacturer, Remotect Inc., produced the 3-ft. 8-in. tall robot for the military. At 17.5 in. wide, the slender body can reach fairly confined spaces even on aircraft. It can travel on wet or dry surfaces, climb stairs and cross ditches. Officials said the robot will be controlled by fiber-optic or wireless signals.
The FAA may issue an airworthiness directive, or take other "appropriate" action as early as this week in response to an incident on America West Flight 44, where an oil mist filled the passenger cabin of an Airbus A319 and prompted a diversion.
Don't confuse US Airways' recent $4.3-billion order for 170 regional jets as the harbinger of a recovery in this beleaguered industry sector; it's probably the last big order the two leading RJ airframe makers will snare for a long time.
Paul David Miller, who is chairman/CEO of Alliant Techsystems of Minneapolis, is scheduled to relinquish the CEO post on Oct. 1 to Dan Murphy, who is now group vice presdient-precision systems.
TEHRAN RISING Iran's efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction are increasingly raising alarms. "I am very concerned," says Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.). He indicates Tehran's activities have accelerated since the fall of Baghdad. The House Armed Services Committee member contends classified information shows Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility, which has been the focal point of U.S.
Eiichiro Sekigawa (Tokyo), Michael Mecham (San Francisco)
In a mission combining the latest Ion propulsion techniques and old-fashioned rock blasting, a Japanese spacecraft has set off to explore an asteroid and bring back bits of what it finds. Called Muses-C, the 510-kg. (1,124lb.) spacecraft was lifted into an elliptical solar-transfer orbit May 9 from the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science's Uchinoura launch center at Kagoshima.
Brian Riley has been named vice president-government affairs of the Washington-based General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. He was deputy assistant Transportation secretary for budget and programs.
X-TRA SHORT LANDING The X-31 Vector aircraft completed its extremely short takeoff-and-landing flight testing last month at the U.S. Navy's Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. The demo was designed to show the utility of using thrust vector-control technology to achieve extremely short takeoff and landing (Estol) (see picture). The three-year program culminated in a fully automated, thrust vectored landing at angle-of-attack of 24 deg. During the Apr. 29 mission, the aircraft landed at 121 kt. speed, 31% less than the X-31's regular landing speed of 175 kt..
The FAA last week recommended that operators of aircraft with 19 or more seats adjust average weight calculations for adult domestic passengers and baggage. The agency's Notice 8300.112, under a Weight and Balance Control program, gives operators 90 days to align their programs with the FAA's new weight guidelines. Operators also have the option to complete individual surveys to validate average weights in use in their current program, under FAA oversight.
EUROPE-TO-THE-MOON The first of the Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology (Smart-1) has been scheduled for an Aug. 22 piggyback launch on an Ariane 5, carrying two telecommunications satellites to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) from the European launch center in Kourou, French Guiana. The Smart-1 technology testbed will use solar electric propulsion to move on from GTO to an elliptical orbit around the Moon.
Even within the usually flush market for regional jets, the industry's myriad troubles have exacted a measure of paralysis. The heavy delivery schedules of the past, roughly 300 aircraft in 2002 and slightly more expected this year, are flattening out in coming years. Yet the RJ will play an important role in the restructuring of the world fleet as airlines adjust to meet marketplace realities. Regional jets should constitute more than a quarter of new aircraft deliveries for the foreseeable future.
Ron Kirchenbauer (see photo) has been named senior vice president-human resources for Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was senior vice president-employee and workplace services at Cadence Design Systems, San Jose, Calif.
OUT OF THE WOODS The Army may have finally got the development plan right for the RAH-66 Comanche light attack helicopter. At least that's what the Pentagon's Inspector General seems to think. The IG reviewed the Comanche restructuring approved last fall, which involved adding $4 billion and 33 months to the $12.2-billion development program. "Constructive actions have been taken to restructure, reorganize and improve the program and to reduce the level of program risk," the IG says in a new report. But it's too early for Army officials to breathe easier.
Used to implement Mil-Std-1553 protocol in the aerospace industry, the CT25XX series of high-performance multichip modules (MCM) is a complete Mil-Std-1553 dual-redundant remote terminal unit. The CT25XX series contains two transceivers, two encoder/decoders, bit processors and complete remote terminal logic. It supports all 13 mode codes for dual-redundant operation. The model CT2512 is a pin-for-pin functional equivalent of the industry standard 65112/117, and performs parallel data transfers with a DMA-type handshake. The unit has an operating range of -55C to +125C.
Ron Lane has been named chief marketing officer for the Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo subsidiaries of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc., Purchase, N.Y. He was head of sales and marketing at Polar and had been vice chairman of Evergreen International Airlines. Richard Nuttall has become vice president-sales for the Americas for Polar Air Cargo. He succeeds Peter Burn, who has left the company. Nuttall was director of RPX for the Lenton Group of Hong Kong and had been senior commercial adviser at Philippine Airlines.
