Carlo Venturi has been appointed CEO of Alenia Marconi Systems, a joint venture of Finmeccanica and BAE Systems. He succeeds David Singleton, who will return to BAE Systems. Venturi was CEO of the Switzerland-based SIG Beverages. Andrea Pininfarina and Roberto Mazzei have been named to the board of directors of Alenia Aeronautica. Pininfarina is vice president/CEO of Pininfarina Holdings. Mazzei is professor of company finance at Milan Catholic University.
David Hughes (Washington), Frances Fiorino (New York), William Dennis (Singapore)
As the world's airlines brace for the effects of a possible Gulf War2, the most worried are the financially strapped U.S. carriers that are already struggling to survive a 10% drop in demand and soaring prices for jet fuel and insurance. The real question is how long would the war last. "If it is short and quick and reaches a pretty definitive conclusion, you get one answer. If it drags on, you get a different answer," said Boeing Chairman and CEO Philip M. Condit.
NASDA has shipped its fifth H-IIA launch vehicle to Tanegashima Island to launch Japan's first military reconnaissance satellites, but there's still no word on a launch date (AW&ST Jan. 27, p. 26). It's expected in March.
If success equals financial support, unmanned combat and reconnaissance aircraft have arrived. UCAVs snag $4 billion in the future years defense plan (through 2009, see p. 35), and the battle-tested Predator and the faster, higher-flying, turboprop-powered Predator B are earmarked for $1.2 billion. For Fiscal 2004, the Air Force requests $193.6 million for 10 Predators (MQ-1s) and four Predator Bs (MQ-9s), $41 million for R&D and $30 million for military construction. An additional 37 MQ-1s and 49 MQ-9s would be funded in the following five years.
Although it wasn't included in NASA's Fiscal 2004 space flight budget request, the $973-million biological and physical research budget is likely to change because of the Columbia accident. It included a new "human research initiative" that aims to "certify crew safety beyond low-Earth orbit over 100 days by mitigating the highest risks," and to cut the mass of life-support systems by a factor of three.
The FAA has turned down applications from American Airlines and AirTran Airways for extensions of the Apr. 9 deadline to equip all airline fleets with reinforced cockpit doors. American wanted a three-month extension for 15 of its 34 A300s, complaining that Airbus provided poor support--late delivery of service bulletins and parts. AirTran asked that the last 12 of its DC-9s be exempt through Oct. 25, when all of them are to be retired.
Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee named the country's first meteorological satellite Kalpana to honor Kalpana Chawla, the 41-year-old Indian-born mission specialist lost in the Columbia accident. An aeronautical engineer and avid pilot, she began work at NASA Ames Research Center in computational fluid dynamics before being selected as an astronaut. She was India's first woman in space and is a national hero there.
CAE President and CEO Derek H. Burney was incorrectly identified in the items about Aviation Week & Space Technology's 46th annual Aerospace Laurels selections (AW&ST Feb. 3, p. 26).
Gina DeSimone has been appointed vice president-engineering and programs for Boeing Air Traffic Management, McLean, Va. She was senior site executive for Boeing's space and missile defense operations in Huntsville, Ala. DeSimone succeeds Dennis Muilenburg, who has been named vice president-future combat systems at Boeing Integrated Defense Systems and manager for its Milestone B program.
Lower travel since Sept. 11, 2001, temporarily alleviated air traffic congestion, but the issue will reemerge as the summer tourist season begins. The FAA will be challenged to supply adequate numbers of controllers, and questions are being raised as to what the appropriate structure to do so will be. There is speculation that modernization of the National Airspace System would proceed more quickly if some parts of the organization changed to fee-for-service.
Boeing's January assessment of external tank insulation foam striking Columbia's wing appears to tell two tales. The verbiage predicts a safe return but the numbers are unsettling. An Aviation Week & Space Technology review of the assessment raises questions about official statements that it was conservative, and their judgment that potential damage to the orbiter's thermal protection system was not a safety concern.
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
Congress slated NASA for $414 million more than it asked for in its Fiscal 2003 budget request last week as members opened their investigation into the Columbia disaster without seriously questioning whether the U.S. will continue flying humans to space.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Pierre Sparaco (Paris), Douglas Barrie (London)
In a surprise move, BAE Systems has ceded its shareholding in Astrium and U.K. military satellite joint venture Paradigm for no capital gain, marking a total and rather ignominious pullout from the space sector.
The new Homeland Security Dept. will soon have 22 agencies under one roof, but it also has many promises to keep and is likely to need every penny of the President's $36.2-billion budget request.
To purchase Aviation Week & Space Technology on CD-ROM, call toll-free (U.S. only): (800) 257-9402. From outside the U.S. call: (609) 426-5526; Fax: (212) 904-3748
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. is offering the BAE Systems AN/ALQ-204 Matador infrared countermeasures system as optional equipment for two of its business jets--the Gulfstream G550 and G500. FAA certification, however, will include authority to retrofit the special equipment into Gulfstream Vs. The IRCM installation, which also is available for the smaller Gulfstream G400 and G300 jets, warns cockpit crews of ground- or air-launched heat-seeking missiles. So far, the system has been installed in one Gulfstream IV and six GIV-SPs.
This high-intensity flashlight is designed to help aircraft technicians improve inspections in tight spaces or where they must see around corners or past obstructions without producing a glare or shadow. The High Intensity Fiber Optic Flashlight System consists of a high-strength polymer flashlight as well as a 7- or 12-in. flexible fiber and cone assembly with light illuminating from all angles of the thick fiber. The battery-operated system is UL listed for Class I, Div.
Congress is taking a wait-and-see approach to investigating the Columbia accident, apparently opting to let the panel headed by Adm. (ret.) Harold W. Gehman, Jr., do its work before jumping into the fray. While NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe is scheduled for the usual round of budget hearings this month and next, no one plans anything focused specifically on the accident beyond the hearing held last week (see p. 24). That doesn't mean everyone on Capitol Hill is satisfied with the makeup of the Gehman board. Sen.
It will take the airline industry several years to absorb into its fleet all of the modern, Stage 3 aircraft that are parked, according to a Boeing executive. Kent Fisher, vice president of marketing and business strategy for Boeing Commercial Aircraft, estimated the number of parked aircraft at around 2,000. Of those, about 700 are "of recent vintage," he said.
NASA Ames Research Center and the University of California at Los Angeles have formed the Institute for Cell Mimetic Space Exploration (ICMSE) to look into the way biological systems manage information on multiple levels and see if similar structures can be applied to sensors and nanotechnology devices for future spacecraft. With UCLA's engineering, medical and life sciences research pool and Ames' information technology and nanotechnology wellspring, ICMSE will draw on students, as well as scientists.
