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.
NASA-developed Video Image Stabilization and Registration (Visar) technology used by accident investigators to clarify images of the Space Shuttle Columbia launch has been selected as NASA's Commercial Invention of the Year. Visar corrects distortion caused by adverse conditions. It stabilizes camera rotation and zoom effects, produces clearer images of moving objects, smooths jagged edges, enhances still images and reduces video noise or "snow." The corrected footage can then be further enhanced through sharpening and deblurring techniques.
The British Defense Ministry is earmarking several hundred million dollars for a next-generation reconnaissance capability to succeed its aging Canberra PR9 aircraft, and potentially its Nimrod R1 electronic intelligence gathering aircraft. The ministry is now working on finding funds to meet this capability within its future equipment procurement program. The emerging requirement is also beginning to bring to the fore the question of "weaponization" of some of the platforms that may be used to provide this capability.
Runway development at Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted airports is the preferred expansion option of the British Airports Authority. The BAA submitted its choice to the government May 12. The government is pondering its future air transport strategy.
Designed to eliminate aircraft personnel injuries and equipment damage due to static discharge, the tow bar-mounted grounding assembly (TBMGA) provides a low resistance connection of less than 1 ohm to the pavement under any condition. Used during all phases of aircraft handling and preparation, the system is the industry's first static discharge system with a permanent connection to the ground, according to the manufacturer.
The General Services Administration and NASA have issued subpoenas to Titan Corp. requesting billing records for contractual labor services, according to a Titan filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In response, the price of Titan's common shares dropped about 12% last week.
Robert Wall (Washington), James R. Asker (Washington)
The White House's new policy governing commercial space remote sensing systems is being warmly embraced by an industry which views it as an opening for a long-term business base for their still-embryonic ventures.
Robert Wall (Washington), Michael A. Dornheim (Los Angeles)
Pentagon planners realize they'll never reach the goal of dropping only one bomb per target, but operational forces in Iraq came close, indicates an initial U.S. Air Force analysis of the conflict.
US Airways' success as a reborn, lower cost carrier will depend in large measure on the growth of its regional jet business. But its recent order of 170 RJs is no guarantee that the company's carefully crafted operating strategy will work. The carrier still faces some major challenges--not the least of which is intense competition from low-fare airlines. Their operating costs, adjusted for stage length, is still lower than US Airways'.
A cyclical rebound is underway among many airline stocks, as clearly reflected in Aviation Week Airline 25 (see opposite page). The index has gained more than 8% since the start of the year, outpacing the Standard & Poor's 500 by a significant margin. S&P, like Aviation Week, is a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies. What are investors responding to?
India is reported to have test-fired its Astra medium-range air-to-air missile at least three times in early May. The active-radar-guided weapon, now in development, is intended for the Light Combat Aircraft, and may also be integrated on the Indian air force's MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-30MKI Flanker aircraft. The test was conducted from a ground-based launcher with assistance of a booster engine at the Chandipur range near the Bay of Bengal. Astra has a range of 25 mi. and has not yet been fired from an aircraft.
American Airlines gave the Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants official notification of plans to lay off 3,123 attendants effective July 1, bringing the number of layoffs since October 2001 to about 6,000. In addition, American plans to transfer attendants from bases throughout the airline's system to cover personnel shortages stemming from the layoffs, according to the APFA.
The company has introduced a new line of cockpit engine indicators for commercial and military applications, including the H903K-250F turbine inlet temperature indicator, which was originally developed for the U.S. Navy P-3 Orion. A sixmonth evaluation of four H903K-250F indicators logged over 3,000 indicator hours with "no maintenance discrepancies noted since install," according to the company. This indicator has surpassed 15,000 hr., including more than 50,000 power cycles and 7,500,000 pointer sweeps.
