The U.S. Transportation Dept., replacing Polar Air Cargo in the U.S.-Brazil all-cargo market, tentatively chose Evergreen International Airlines over Gemini Air Cargo and Amerijet International for four round trips per week. In a show-cause order, the department noted that Evergreen would provide the most capacity--its Boeing 747-200s average 246,000 lb. per flight versus 192,000 lb. for Gemini's MD-11s, and Amerijet's 727-200s wouldn't fly all available frequencies. The department named Gemini for backup authority.
The Summerfield Book Award will go to the team of Steven J. Isakowitz, Joseph P. Hopkins, Jr., and Joshua B. Hopkins for their "International Reference Guide to Space Launch Systems."
The European Space Agency will fly three astronauts to the International Space Station next year to perform experiments and prepare the astronaut corps for service on Europe's Columbus laboratory, set to be launched in 2004. Two of the missions, involving Spaniard Pedro Duque and Andre Kuipers of the Netherlands, will be Soyuz taxi flights, planned for April and October, respectively. The third, in which Sweden's Christer Fuglesang will take part, will be the Shuttle STS-116 mission in July.
Aging firefighting air tankers are "unsustainable," and there is no engineering basis for ensuring their safety, according to a report issued last week by an independent panel. The report prompted the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to consider grounding former military aircraft modified to deliver fire retardant.
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Frank L. Frisbie, vice president-FAA programs and government solutions for Northrop Grumman Information Technology, Herndon, Va., has received the Glen A. Gilbert Memorial Award from the Air Traffic Control Assn. He was selected for his contributions to air traffic control and civil aviation.
J. Victor Lebacqz, who has been associate director for aerospace programs at the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., has been named deputy associate administrator for the Office of Aerospace Technology at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Dr. Arnauld E. Nicogossian is scheduled to retire on Jan. 3 as senior adviser to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe. Nicogossian will be head of the Office of Medical Policy at George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.
Michael A. Taverna (Kourou, French Guiana), Frank Morring Jr. (Washington)
Satellite operators and manufacturers are attempting to minimize strains caused by yet another contract cancellation that threatens to worsen the already precarious position of the production side of their industry.
USN Rear Adm. (ret.) Craig R. Quigley has been appointed vice president-communications and public affairs for Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems, Bethesda, Md. He was deputy assistant secretary of Defense for public affairs.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. (LMAC) has completed flight testing of F16s fitted with conformal fuel tanks (CFT). The tanks, which have a capacity of 450 gal. (3,050 lb.) of fuel each, "add significantly to the F-16's unrefueled mission radius," according to LMAC officials. The tanks are designed to accommodate the fighter's full flight envelope, including maximum angle of attack, sideslip and roll rate. The tests, conducted recently at the U.S.
Piotr (Pete) Wolak (see photos) has been promoted to vice president-customer service from vice president-customer programs and Mike Rector to manager of production from manager of avionics for Pilatus Business Aircraft, Broomfield, Colo.
On-site Introductory Flight Training (IFT) has returned to the U.S. Air Force Academy, with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University handling cadet instruction under a $14.5-million, five-year contract.
Orbital Recovery Corp., a U.S. startup developing a space tug for aging communications satellites, has signed a deal with the DLR German Aerospace Center to use its robotic capture tool concept. The German-designed system would allow the U.S. company's Spacecraft Life Extension System (SLES) to grapple a target geostationary satellite on its apogee kick motor. Under the arrangement, DLR will provide two capture tools in 2004, and continue to work with Orbital Recovery after that to improve capture-tool hardware and software.
Pilot error and the carrier's failure to implement safety measures are factors that led to the Nov. 11 crash of Laoag International Airlines Flight 7587 into Manila Bay, according to the Philippine Transportation and Communication Dept. The Fokker 27's main fuel valve switch was found in the "off" position following the crash, causing fuel starvation. The crash killed 19 of 34 people on board.
Bell/Agusta Aerospace Co. was set to begin engine runs of the first preproduction BA609 civil tiltrotor on Dec. 6 at Bell Helicopter Textron facilities in Arlington, Tex. Plans call for about 50 hr. of operation to check all systems before it is cleared to fly. No date has been set for first flight. FAA certification is tentatively set for 2007.
The first of two reproduction Messerschmitt Me 262A jet fighters lifts off from the runway at Paine Field, near Seattle, during a check of the airplane's minimum unstick speed, which was determined to be about 85 kt. Flaps were extended to 20 deg. A pilot familiar with the two-seater said it became airborne briefly at 105 kt. at an angle of attack of about 12 deg.
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Now that Delta IV has successfully flown its first mission, Boeing is hopeful the program's emphasis on advanced manufacturing processes to achieve "lowest sustainable unit cost" will enable it to gain 50% of the global market for commercial communications satellite launches.
Robert Wall (Washington), David A. Fulghum (Washington)
Israeli airlines are racing to protect their aircraft against heat-seeking missiles in the wake of the Nov. 28 attempted shoot-down in Kenya. But electronic warfare executives doubt that, barring a catastrophic incident, U.S. airlines will follow suit.
Arianespace is preparing a second shot at launching a powerful new Ariane rocket intended to orbit a critical European telecom research payload. The launch vehicle, the Ariane 5 EC-A, failed to make it through the countdown on Nov. 28 in a first attempt to lift off with a French Stentor technology spacecraft and Eutelsat's Hot Bird 7 telecom satellite on board. The interruption, 3 sec. prior to ignition, was due to problems with external igniters on the launch table that burn off liquid hydrogen used to prechill the main stage Vulcain cryogenic engine.
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Michael A. Taverna (Kourou, French Guiana)
SES Global moves to downplay the effect of the loss of Astra 1K and assurances from Snecma minimizing the potential impact of a solar array problem may bring some calm to the reeling space insurance and investor communities. The failure of a Proton K booster on Nov. 26 to properly orbit SES Global's Astra 1K, a huge telecom satellite with 54 Ku- and Ka-band transponders, stands to cost the insurance industry up to $250million (AW&ST Dec. 2, p. 45).
Researchers at NASA's Ames Research Center are developing a technique to manufacture extremely small electronic structures with genetically modified bacteria. A DNA sequence pulled from Sulfolobus shibatae, a single-cell organism that lives in hot springs, produces a protein that assembles into a two-dimensional lattice and can be further modified to stick to gold or semiconductor material. By cloning the DNA into a harmless version of E. coli bacteria, researchers have been able to grow lattice rings about 20 nanometers across.
A recently released Frost & Sullivan World Unmanned Air Vehicles Market report notes that industry revenues were $1.4 billion in 2002 and are projected to reach $1.8 billion by 2007. The war against terrorism has positioned reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition UAVs in the forefront of much military planning. Government budgets toward development and procurement of UAVs, based on past successes, have increased, and more opportunities beckon. The industry segment is entering a new phase of development with focus on designs for the end of the decade.
