It's still not clear whether the loss of Columbia involved the reinforced carbon-carbon wing leading edge, but analyses and experience show it is a worthy suspect. Loss of a full panel would be catastrophic, as would holes of just a few square inches.
Launches of three U.S. Air Force military spacecraft from Cape Canaveral have been rescheduled because of technical issues with mission hardware and the disruption in planning caused by loss of the shuttle Columbia. Work on Eastern Range system upgrades also played a major role in shifting the launch dates. The launch of a Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) spacecraft on a Boeing Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) is now set for launch on Mar. 8. A Boeing Delta II is scheduled to launch a new GPS navigation satellite on Mar.
Qantas has reported an after-tax profit of A$352.5 ($210.8 million) for the six months ending December 2002, compared with A$154 million in the same period 2001. The greatest growth came in the Australian airline's international ops, with earnings of A$263.9 million before interest and tax. Revenue for the same timeframe edged to A$5.9 billion, an increase of 9.3%. The carrier faces declining bookings in the next 16 weeks to Japan, Europe and the U.K.
Mar. 2-4--American Society for Quality Aviation--Space & Defense Div. Conference. Radisson at The Port Hotel. Cape Canaveral, Fla. Call +1 (254) 776-3550 or see www.asdnet.org/cqsdi. Mar. 3-7--American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics' First Missile Defense Conference & Exhibit. Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, Washington. Call +1 (800) 639-2422 or see www.aiaa.org/events/defense.
WORLD NEWS ROUNDUP Crash puts Iranian aviation safety record in spotlight again 302 killed as Il-76 goes down in mountainous terrain 16 First flight this week for Bombardier G5000 Provisional certification eyed for early '04; deliveries start later in year 16 Raytheon looks to U.K. contract to launch new Paveway While battling to maintain position as a supplier of strike weaponry 17 THE SHUTTLE LOSS Rough wing + debris = a fatal combination?
When 40 Thai Airways International pilots complained about safety conditions at three small airports in Thailand, they were threatened with dismissal by Thailand's Ministry of Transport, which called the claims "exaggerated." Deputy Transport Minister Pichet Sathirachawal instructed Thai President Kanok Abhiradee to investigate the claims. "Pending investigations, the pilots would be suspended. Should we find that the complaints have tarnished the image of the airline and the country, the pilots would be dismissed," Pichet said.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will standardize on EDS' Unigraphics NX and I-deas computer-aided design, manufacturing and engineering analysis software. . . . The FAA has accepted Green Hills Software's certification package for its Integrity real-time operating system to DO-178B Level A standard. Integrity was used as the operating system on Rockwell Collins' avionics display system for the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter, which was recently certified by the FAA.
USAF has awarded Lockheed Martin and Raytheon a combined $2-billion-maximum ceiling contract to build laser-guided bomb kits. The scope of the work and its division will be determined later. The contract runs through February 2008.
Delivering a combative performance, top BAE Systems managers last week rebuffed any suggestions of resignation over two wayward programs--resulting in some $1 billion write-offs--while arguing that their campaign to re-cast elements of U.K. procurement policy is beginning to pay dividends.
NASA still hopes to fly its X-43A HyperX hypersonic vehicle this fiscal year, but the agency doesn't have much margin left. According to Jeremiah F. Creedon, associate administrator for the Office of Aerospace Technology, the mission is scheduled for Sept.30--the last day of the fiscal year. The vehicle is slated to reach Mach 7. The trial is part of an aggressive hypersonic vehicle test and development program planned by NASA and the Pentagon.
Raytheon Co. has completed contractor acceptance and inspection for the FAA's Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), a key component of the FAA's next-generation space-based navigation and landing technology. This critical milestone clears the way for the agency to initiate operational test and evaluation, with certification for instrument flight rule navigation to follow later this year.
The first series production standard of the Eurofighter Typhoon for the British Royal Air Force had its maiden flight Feb. 14. The two-seat aircraft, designated BT001, flew for 21 min. First-production aircraft for the air forces of Spain, Italy and Germany have also been flown.
Stephen J. Cabot's view that binding arbitration should be imposed on unions is a welcome solution, especially if top executives accept salary caps at 10-15 times the top union wage instead of the multi- million-dollar packages that forgive all sins and reward dismissal. Executives get to stay in their hometowns and make bad decisions for big salaries while flight attendants get to be away, often for salaries lower than if they were supervisors at Wal-Mart. Who's the bigger problem? Alex Torralbas Stamford, Conn.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Alexey Komarov (Moscow), Frank Morring Jr. (Washington)
International Space Station managers are finalizing plans for a replacement crew to ensure continued manning of the orbital facility while NASA's space shuttle fleet is grounded. They also are considering near- and medium-term options from Europe and Russia to meet logistics requirements.
Sheila Widnall, when she was Air Force secretary, used to joke that the Earth is covered two-thirds by water--and one-third by launch studies. That was true nearly a decade ago, and is still true today. Americans have studied the national policy options and prescriptions for new launchers until the studies themselves have become a virtual cottage industry. And every time we've looked at the technology costs associated with building a new reusable launcher, we've blanched at the price tag and complexity.
Arianespace has been selected to launch the WildBlue 1 dedicated Ka-band satellite, getting the beleaguered launch firm off to a good commercial start in 2003 and marking another key milestone in the newly resuscitated WildBlue project. The win also served as a fitting counterpoint to the final Ariane 4 mission in mid-month as Arianespace completed its transition to the heavier Ariane 5, which will launch the new satellite.
Entry into service of the Nimrod MRA4 has been delayed at least until 2009, with the British Defense Ministry now unwilling to commit to production until it is satisfied development aircraft meet its requirement.
David Paddock has been promoted to vice president from a director within the asset management practice and Christopher Dailey to consultant from researcher/analyst within that group, for New York-based SH&E.
The Russian Federation and European Space Agency have signed a new cooperation and partnership agreement that is expected to sharply expand their collaboration in space. Replacing a previous pact signed in 1990, the agreement expands cooperation to areas such as launchers and manned and unmanned planetary exploration. The accord could lead to Russian participation in ESA's Aurora planetary exploration and future launcher technologies programs and installation of a Soyuz launchpad at its Kourou, French Guiana, spaceport
Embedded avionics systems can be overloaded by the desire for rapid transmission of video, audio and data. InfiniBand is a high-speed interconnect architecture being pushed as a solution to the problem. Besides having a 10-gigabit/sec. data rate, it is fault tolerant, low delay, secure and compliant with DO-178B avionics standards. "A switched, serial I/O technology such as InfiniBand provides the performance required for networking tomorrow's avionics platforms together today," said Kent English, a Boeing Phantom Works research and development engineer.
