A Boeing Delta II launched NASA's Aqua Earth-imaging satellite May 4 into a 680-km. (422-mi.) temporary Sun synchronous orbit (see photo). It will be raised to its working altitude of 705 km. later this month as instrument checkout and calibration continues. Built by TRW Space and Electronics, Aqua is designed to study water, ice and atmospheric moisture as part of a broader NASA effort to build a global climate model (AW&ST Apr. 1, p. 50). It is expected to be operational in July.
The risk of further in-service-date delays for Europe's so far ill-starred A400M military airlifter looms. Spain and Portugal have still to sign off on the eight-nation program, and development of a new engine is now a key factor on the critical design path. Concern over the development time line is such in some quarters that the British Defense Ministry has begun to talk openly about alternative plans to purchase Boeing C-17s should A400M delays continue. The acquisition of 11 C-17s is believed to be the optimum number within the ministry. The U.K.
North Star Over My Shoulder A Flying Life By Bob Buck Simon & Schuster 446 pp. Hardcover, $26.00 This is the fifth aviation-related book by Buck. His earlier tomes were well-written and informative, as is this. It is a book with ``heart,'' in which he recounts learning to fly as a teenager, and the many solo flights he took to disparate locations in the U.S., Cuba and Mexico in his Pitcairn Mailwing and Lambert Monocoupe. Airline pilots who entered the field in the 1930s had similar experiences, but Buck's early flying stories have a quality of adventure beyond most.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines' management remains ``prudent'' about the economy's recovery but nevertheless expects to restore profitability during the 2002-03 fiscal year. KLM in 2001-02 incurred a 156-million-euro ($143-million) loss, compared with a modest $69-million profit during the previous year. In contrast with most international carriers, KLM in the post-Sept. 11 period has maintained robust passenger yields despite a lower demand: An 8% cut in seating capacity helped to retain a healthy 78.7% load factor.
The Space Activities Commission, Japan's senior space policy body, is to codify the fact that the H-IIA medium-lift launcher has priority for all government-funded payloads. Since the 1970s, the Japanese government has used foreign launchers only three times, but its preference for Japanese rockets has been an informal policy. Space Systems Loral's decision to drop a launch reservation contract it held with Rocket System Corp., the H-IIA's business unit, left it with only one signed contract, to launch the Transport Ministry's MT-SAT multifunctional satellite.
Richard F. Raybon has been appointed vice president-finance for the Iselin, N.J.-based Northrop Grumman Corp. Component Technologies Sector. He succeeds Bill Morgan, who is retiring. Raybon held the same post at the Navigation Systems Div. of Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems Sector, Woodland Hills, Calif.
Press-shy Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart, already head of U.S. Space Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, also has been designated as the first chief of U.S. Northern Command, subject to approval by Congress. With responsibility for preserving national security for Americans where they live and work, he would bear responsibility for ordering the shooting down of a U.S. airliner if it were in the hands of terrorists. ``We will . . . prepare for the inevitability of uncertainty and surprise,'' Eberhart said.
Using current technology in new ways and sharing information already available are keys to defeating terrorism, according to industry and government executives. Hugo Poza, Raytheon Co.'s senior vice president for homeland security, said, ``A lot of the technology is there, but we now have to personalize it with purpose. It is not just finding more technology.
The Defense Dept. notified Congress last week that it intends to approve sale of a fifth Aegis anti-aircraft naval system to Japan. Lockheed Martin is prime contractor for the $578-million system that is centered on the SPY-1 radar for detecting and firing on up to 100 targets at a time. Japan is the only ally to have received Aegis, although the Defense Dept. has approved sale of three systems to South Korea worth an estimated $1.2 billion.
The Pentagon's decision not to build a system dedicated to terminal sea-based missile defense is sparking efforts to upgrade other projects to fill the gap. The main participants will be the Navy's air-defense Aegis weapon system with the Standard Missile 2 Block 4 (SM2-Blk IV) and the much longer range mid-course ballistic missile defense system that employs the Standard Missile 3. Initially, the Pentagon will try to determine if the SM2-Blk IV, designed to intercept aircraft and cruise missiles, can also defend against short-range ballistic missiles (100-300 km.).
Mike Cosentino has become director of Joint Strike Fighter international programs for the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. of Fort Worth. He was deputy program manager for the C-130J.
A government decision on whether the Netherlands will participate in the U.S.-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter system development and demonstration (SDD) phase has been deferred until June 12, at the earliest. However, an SDD decision hinges on the outcome of a Dutch general election scheduled for May 15, and could be delayed further by fallout from the murder of Pim Fortuyn, a right-wing politician. Counted as a supporter of Dutch participation in JSF development, Fortuyn was gunned down on May 6 shortly after conducting a radio interview.
DRS Technologies has received a $2.1- million order from the Royal Australian Navy to install up to 30 EAS3000 deployable cockpit voice and data recorders on Westland Sea King SK-50 and -50A and Sikorsky Sea Hawk S-70B-2 helicopters.
Inspired by the ability of living organisms to heal injuries, University of Illinois researchers are attempting to create mechanisms that would allow composite materials to autonomically heal themselves when cracks develop. Composite aircraft wings and microelectronics that use thermosetting polymers are susceptible to damage from cracks that often form deep in the structure where detection is difficult and repair is virtually impossible. Prof. Scott R.
Kaman Aerospace Corp. has received a contract from Boeing Commercial Airplanes to supply aircraft fuselage, wing and tail subassemblies for 747, 757, 767 and 777 aircraft.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last week initiated court proceedings against Qantas Airways for anticompetitive practices. The ACCC alleges Australia's dominant airline ``misused its market power'' on the Brisbane-Adelaide route by substantially increasing the number of available seats on the route and engaging in fare wars in reaction to low-fare carrier Virgin Blue's entry into the market in December 2000.
James E. Keenan has become vice president-engineering and technical support at United Airlines' Maintenance Operations Center in San Francisco. He was general manager of engine maintenance.
Alfred J. (Jack) Smith, 3rd, has been appointed senior vice president-customer service for AirTran Airways. He succeeds Tommy Kalil, who has retired. Smith was vice president-global operations for Northwest Airlines.
The Italian air force has selected General Electric CF6-80C2 engines to power four Boeing 767 Global Tanker Transports, under an $80-million order. Deliveries will begin in 2005.
Raytheon Air Combat and Strike Systems will upgrade U.S. Air Force APG-63 (V) 1 radars on F-15s under a $116-million work order. Raytheon will deliver up to 36 radar systems, spares and test equipment. Additionally, India has signed an agreement with the U.S. government to purchase eight Thales Raytheon Systems' AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder counter-battery artillery radars with related support components.
The U.S. Air Force has overestimated, to the tune of $463 million, the amount of spare parts it will need when it reengines the C-5 using the General Electric CF6. The reason? Air Force analysts projected an engine removal rate of 0.12 per 1,000 engine flying hours. But that is much higher than commercial users experience and GE doesn't expect that removal to be reached until around 2035, which will be 30 years after the engine enters service on the C-5, according to an Air Force internal audit.
After identifying a slow market recovery, Airbus does not plan to further curtail commercial transport deliveries in the next two years. According to Chief Executive Noel Forgeard, the company's performance is ``extremely encouraging'' so far. In spite of difficult market conditions, he says the European manufacturer enjoys ``continued commercial success.'' Airbus has delivered 103 aircraft since Jan. 1 and plans about 300 deliveries in both 2002 and 2003. Last year, Airbus delivered 325 aircraft and had anticipated boosting production to close to 400 units.
Mark Kachmar, a master's degree candidate in Earth and atmospheric sciences at the University of Alberta, has won the 2002 Space Imaging Award for the Application of High Resolution Digital Satellite Imagery. His study ``Remote Detection of Live Forest Residuals'' will use satellite imagery to detect residual forest patches left standing after a forest fire to help strengthen the forestry industry's ability to estimate the total volume of standing timber remaining after a fire.
