apan's National Space Development Agency has set Dec. 14 for the launch of the Advanced Earth Observation Satellite-2 (Adeos-2) on the fourth H-IIA mission. At 3,700-kg. (8,140-lb.), Adeos-2 would be the heaviest payload ever launched in Japan. Designed to replace the original Adeos that failed in orbit in 1996, Adeos-2 is to be placed in an 800-km. polar orbit. It will also carry three 50-kg. experimental satellites.
Bonnie Dalton has been appointed deputy director for the Astrobiology and Space Research Directorate of the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. She was acting chief of the NASA Ames Life Sciences Div.
NOAA's GOES 9 weather satellite, currently in a parking orbit at 105 deg. W. Long., will be moved to 155 deg. E. Long. under an agreement with Japan's Meteorological Agency, where it will be a temporary replacement for Japan's GMS-5. Japan's weather watchers expected to have the agency's MT-SAT functioning by now, but the original spacecraft was lost in a 1999 H-II launch failure. The agency has pushed GMS-5 well beyond its design life, but the old bird is dying. A replacement MT-SAT is due for launch by an H-IIA next summer but won't be operational until December 2003.
Pilots of NASA's Boeing 757 Aries (Airborne Research Integrated Experiments System) aircraft saw this nighttime view of Chicago during the first real-world demonstration of the agency's airborne computer system, Advanced Terminal Area Approach Spacing (ATAAS). The 757, based at the NASA Langley Research Center, teamed with a Rockwell Collins Sabreliner and a Piper Chieftain to validate the system. The aircraft flew 37 scenarios while performing approaches into Chicago O'Hare International Airport during four nights in mid-September.
Airbags are likely to become more commonplace on airliners, now that several carriers are installing the devices to meet head injury criteria set forth in FAR/JAR 25.562, a rule that requires airline seats to pass 16g dynamic test standards.
Joseph Paresi has become president of L-3 Communications Security and Detection Systems, Woburn, Mass. He was vice president-product development of the L-3 Communications Corp. and president of L-3 Security Systems before the parent company acquired PerkinElmer Detection Systems.
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I have long felt the events of Sept. 11, 2001, did not cause the problems facing airlines but only made them worse. CEOs have, in their chase to improve bottom lines, forgotten why airlines exist.
China Southern Airlines will wet-lease a Boeing 747-400 freighter from Atlas Air for shipments from Shenzhen and Shanghai, China, to Liege, Belgium. It is the third 747-400F that China Southern has put into service this year.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Integrated Systems Sector will use a package of workstation management services provided by EDS to support engineering work for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Northrop Grumman is a key member of Lockheed Martin's team to produce the airplane. Plans call for EDS to deploy and manage the workstations and servers that use the company's product life-cycle management software.
In addition to manned space initiatives, China is also accelerating its development of remote-sensing spacecraft, including those with military applications. On Oct. 27, it launched the ZY-2B digital imaging remote-sensing satellite into a 300-mi. Sun-synchronous polar orbit. The spacecraft was fired from the Taiyuan Space Center south of Beijing on a southern flight path atop a Long March 4B. This is the second satellite in the series, following ZY-2A, launched in late 2000.
By returning Republicans to power in the Senate, the midterm elections gave impetus to an idea already circulating here--extend the Fiscal 2003 continuing resolution through March or so instead of trying to pass 11 separate appropriations or an omnibus money bill during Congress' lame-duck session. The argument: Funds from many departments and agencies will have to be moved into the Homeland Security Dept. once it is established, and it will be better to do it in an appropriation rather than some sort of fiscal bucket brigade.
LANCAIR CO. OFFICIALS HAVE REACHED an agreement with a private company to receive "a substantial equity investment" in the business, according to a company official. Bend, Ore.-based Lancair builds a series of high-performance light aircraft. The company has delivered 54 Columbia 300s and plans to begin work to fill 180 orders for the Columbia 300, 350 and the turbocharged Columbia 400 models, according to President Bing Lantis
Lighter-than-air vessels' assets of extremely long endurance and large payload potential have led the U.S. military to reexamine the use of blimps, with two demonstrations scheduled to begin soon, and a third on the drawing board.
William B. Scott's great article "Northern Command Adds Teeth to Homeland Defense, Security" (AW&ST Oct. 7, p. 29) missed a major point regarding the Posse Comitatus Act (PCA), which generally prohibits U.S. military units from intercepting vehicles, vessels and aircraft, or making arrests on behalf of civilian law enforcement authorities.
Sue Baumgarten has been appointed president of Raytheon International Inc. She succeeds Hansel Tookes, who plans to retire. Baumgarten was vice president-strategy and business development for the former Raytheon Electronic Systems, El Segundo, Calif.
Spirent Systems' Onboard Performance System (OPS) software will be used on the U.S. Navy's VQ-7/E-6 Boeing 737-200 Tacamo and Airborne Command Post missions in support of nuclear deterrence. OPS allows pilots and dispatchers to calculate weight, balance and takeoff/landing performance criteria based on real-time airport, environmental and airport system conditions.
A cruise missile to be carried on new Franco-Italian frigates will provide European naval forces with a land-attack capability nearly comparable to that provided by the Tomahawk for the U.S. Navy. European missile manufacturer MBDA recently began work on a two-year product definition and risk reduction study program for the missile, the contract for which was awarded in September. Full-scale development is scheduled to begin in 2005 (AW&ST Feb. 18, p. 28).
European scientists are now adopting a more optimistic stance about ozone depletion. Although the danger has not entirely disappeared, long-term measures adopted in the 1980s are beginning to show good results. Moreover, scientists tend to downplay the airline industry's responsibility for the greenhouse effect, a position strengthened by the emergence of a new generation of environment-friendly turbofans and absence of sizeable supersonic transport operations.
AEROSANCE HAS RECEIVED FAA APPROVAL to install its PowerLink full authority digital engine control (Fadec) in a number of general aviation piston engines built by Teledyne Continental and Textron Lycoming. The Fadec features an electronic control system that fully and independently varies spark and fuel for each cylinder, allowing the pilot to control power through a single device--the throttle. The system has been installed and tested on Continental IOF240, IOF550 and TSIO550 engines, as well as the Lycoming O360-series powerplants.
Marlin Dailey has been appointed vice president-European sales and Daniel da Silva vice president-customer support for Europe, both bassd in Brussels, for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
France Telecom Mobile Satellite Services has launched a new satellite-based vehicle tracking service for sea, road and air transport. Using compact (1.1-kg.) low-power (2-watt) Inmarsat-C terminals developed by Thrane & Thrane, easyTrack is available in two packages. Under the basic plan, users receive basic position indications every hour and a complete position reading, including speed, every 2 hr. The second plan allows transmission of 120 64-character e-mail messages every month.
Air China has selected International Aero Engines V2500 powerplants for the eight Airbus A319s the carrier has on order. The engines are valued at a total of more than $100 million.
