Orbital Sciences Corp. and the NASA space science program scored a significant Pegasus mission success here last week, while the Kennedy center itself was given a major new role for long-term modification and maintenance of space shuttle orbiters. Both the $85-million Pegasus mission and orbiter modification decisions were time-critical, coming after substantial delays.
North Korea has tested rocket engines believed to be associated with the Taepo-Dong 2 intercontinental missile, reports the South Korea Times citing local military officials. North Korea has said it would hold off flight testing the missile, but continued its engine and other component development, U.S. intelligence officials note.
Despite the huge boost the Bush Administration seeks with its defense budget, the Pentagon can document only small progress on its modernization themes of transformation, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, space and missile defense. Absent in the $379.3-billion Fiscal 2003 budget request for defense that went to Congress last week--or $396.1 billion when Energy Dept. and other costs are added--are major initiatives such as funding for a new Air Force tanker that has attracted a lot of attention.
United Airlines Chairman and CEO Jack Creighton last week commended the cockpit crew of Flight 855 for taking ``quick action in forcefully and immediately'' thwarting a passenger's attempt to enter the cockpit.
Irwin Price (see photo) has been appointed chancellor of the Daytona Beach, Fla., campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He has been chief operating officer of the residential campus there and was an executive dean at George Washington University. Price succeeds Thomas J. Connolly, who has taken a sabbatical to be visiting international professor of aviation psychology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand.
New York's LaGuardia Airport stinks. So say local residents, who fear the fumes and noise of jet aircraft, along with toxins from nearby power plants and cars on heavily trafficked roadways, pose serious health threats. As a result, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is to launch a study this spring on the effects of noise and air pollution on people living within a 5-mi. radius of the airport. It's the first federal study performed in five years, according to U.S. Rep.
International Space Station operations were disrupted for several hours Feb. 4 when two of three navigation data streams from a computer in the Russian Zvezda service module failed to maintain navigation data flow to a guidance and control computer on the U.S. side of the station. The malfunction generated erroneous data that caused a loss of U.S. gyro attitude control. This put the ISS in free drift, which had the effect of rolling the solar arrays off the sun and mispointing communications antennas.
The Assn. of Flight Attendants' bid to represent the 19,000 flight attendants at Delta Air Lines failed by a large margin but the union has contested the election, alleging the airline illegally interfered. In the Feb. 1 count, the AFA received 5,520 of the 5,609 ballots cast, which represented only 29% of the total eligible voters. The percentage fell short of the 50%-plus vote required by the National Mediation Board to certify an election. The board is investigating the allegation.
Alan W. Crellin has been appointed executive vice president-operations, K. Nigel Adams vice president-inflight services, Kerry J. Carstairs vice president-customer service centers, John C. Honor vice president-human resources and development, Jennifer C. McGarey vice president/deputy general counsel/secretary and S. Michael Scheeringa vice president-resource planning, all at US Airways. Crellin was senior vice president-customer service, and Adams was a dining and cabin services manager.
Boeing plans to decide what new technology to incorporate in the Sonic Cruiser design by the end of 2003, and set the firm design configuration for the high-speed transport the following year. Any delay in Boeing's launch of the program due to the current airline slump--or even slips in the technology and final configuration decisions--will not necessarily result in postponement of the aircraft's availability date, now set for 2008, according to company officials.
Vietnam Airlines has selected Pratt&Whitney PW4084D engines to power four recently ordered Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, in a contract valued at up to $145 million. Thales Air Traffic Management will supply a taxi control system/cooperative area precision tracking system for Fraport, Frankfurt's airport operator. Messier-Bugatti will equip up to 75 Airbus A320-series twinjets with wheels and carbon brakes for Brazilian airline TAM.
FLS Aerospace's largest shareholder, Potagua, intends to sell its 40% stake in the MRO provider. FLS chairman Ib Christensen resigned following the Potagua announcement.
Randy A. Moore (see photo) has been named general manager of Kaman Aero- structures, Wichita, Kan., and the Kaman Aerospace Corp.'s PlasticFab Inc. operations, also in Wichita.
NASA's Aeronautics Blueprint describes a ``technology vision'' that would use technological and educational advances to reshape future architecture of the U.S. aerospace industry. The report calls for new levels of cooperation between NASA, the Defense Dept., Transportation Dept., FAA, industry and academia to transform the agency's vision into reality. It also warns that the steady erosion of U.S. leadership in aeronautics, which is being directly challenged by international competitors, must be reversed.
The British Defense Ministry this week will begin to flesh out plans to sustain its defense aerospace research and technology, which carries fundamental implications for both national level programs and future international collaboration.
What appears to be a 2% decrease in the FAA's budget proposal for Fiscal 2003 actually is a small increase, and aviation money in the overall Transportation Dept. budget will grow nearly 20%, counting Transportation Security Administration (TSA) funds, according to department officials. The Transportation Dept.'s $59.3-billion budget request for Fiscal 2003, sent to Congress Feb. 4, includes $14 billion for the FAA and $4.8 billion for the TSA. The FAA is operating this year with $14.2 billion and the TSA with $1.3 billion.
Howard G. (Jay) Jones (see photo) has been named vice president-strategic planning for BAE Systems' Information and Electronic Systems Integration Sector, Nashua, N.H. He was vice president-business development for the Lockheed Martin Tactical Systems Co.
Dennis Bellar, cofounder/senior vice president of Advanced Laser Systems Technology, Orlando, Fla., has received the University of Central Florida's Professional Achievement Award. He was cited for his company's achievements in designing and manufacturing laser range finders for use on advanced remotely piloted vehicles, in nuclear-powered submarines and on several space flights.
Many surviving Al Qaeda leaders and soldiers have gone to Lebanon where they are forging a partnership with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, says Binyamin ben Eliezer, Israel's Iraqi-born defense minister. In Washington last week, he said, ``How many, what's the depth of cooperation, what they are going to do together, it's too early to answer.
The global helicopter business faces little or no prospect for growth in the next 12-36 months as a weak economic climate and fallout from last year's terrorist attacks force operators to intensify efforts to control costs and survive on razor-thin profit margins.
Zurich-based Gate Gourmet, a subsidiary of the bankrupt Swissair Group, is expected to be acquired soon by U.S. investors. The Texas Pacific Group, a private equity firm, has entered into an exclusivity agreement to buy the airline catering company. The transaction is tentatively scheduled to be completed in the second quarter. Gate Gourmet has 26,000 employees and operates 152 kitchens in 33 countries. Last year, it posted nearly $2 billion in revenues.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said last week that the nation's largest airline screening service, Argenbright Security Inc., will be phased out of all airport operations beginning Feb. 17. Previously, Argenbright was expected to continue its work until November. As a practical matter, the announcement may not mean much. The Air Transport Assn. said it reached agreement with the Transportation Dept. to maintain the status quo for 45-60 days to allow the new Transportation Security Administration to hire federal screeners and implement contingency contracts.
EUROCOPTER REPORTS GROWING DEMAND for its helicopter product line, especially in the entry-level and single-engine segments. According to the company, Eurocopter has received 294 orders for the single-engine EC 120B and has delivered 251 to customers. The EC 130B4 has garnered 27 orders and eight are in service, while orders for the twin-engine EC 135 have reached 258, with 183 delivered. Eurocopter is scheduled to deliver the first EC 145 this month and has orders for 48 of the aircraft, while the EC 155 has captured 50 orders and 26 have been delivered.
Standard&Poor's last week lowered its ratings on Boeing Co. and Boeing Capital Corp., reflecting the likelihood of ``significantly weaker'' commercial aerospace business for the next few years.
The eight nations participating in the planned A400M airlifter have agreed to a compromise proposal to save the embattled program, and have given Germany until Mar. 31 to obtain parliamentary approval for it, French defense ministry officials said last week.
