Bill Adkins, just named staff director of the House space subcommittee, has a fallback if his new gig doesn't work out. He can go to work as an auditor. In June 2000, right after Adkins joined the subcommittee staff, he spotted a $590-million discrepancy in NASA's 1999 Financial Accountability Report. The General Accounting Office backed up his finding (although it calculated the error at $644 million), and criticized NASA's accountant for taking the agency's word for things rather than checking them out before passing on the 1999 report. The accounting firm?
Administrator Sean O'Keefe puts out the word he'll brook none of the rivalry that has marked relations among NASA field centers throughout the agency's history. O'Keefe, who is touring all 10 centers as part of his education in the ways of the space bureaucracy, has called for an end to the traditional independence of the centers, which sometimes try to outflank headquarters on Capitol Hill to protect turf through earmarked appropriations. In doing so, O'Keefe continues an effort--dubbed the Strategic Resources Review--started by predecessor Daniel S.
Spanish telecom satellite operator Hispasat has sold 11.6% of its shares to EADS and Eutelsat as part of an effort to stabilize its shareholder base and obtain financial muscle for further expansion. As expected, EADS took 5%, through a 3.5% share purchase and a 1.5% participation in a capital increase, for 47 million euros. In parallel, Eutelsat, already a major shareholder, increased its holding in Hispasat to 27.6% from 21.15%.
Ken Lackey (see photos) and Robin Siegfried have become presidents of the Nordam Group, Tulsa, Okla. Lackey also will be chief operating officer. He was executive vice president/chief financial officer, while Siegfried was president of the Nordam Enterprise Div. Donald R. (Dick) Clark has been promoted to president from vice president of the Repair Div. and Ron Richman to president from vice president/general manager of the Manufacturing Div.
An FAA airworthiness directive issued last week requires Boeing Model 767-200/-300/-300F series aircraft, line Nos. 1-819, to undergo repetitive inspections of the lubrication passage and link assembly joint in the inboard and outboard flaps of the trailing edge for discrepancies. Corrective action, if necessary, is required.
Terrorist organizations seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction are focusing primarily on chemicals ``such as cyanide salts to contaminate food and water supplies or to assassinate individuals,'' the CIA says in an update on weapons proliferation concerns. It is the first time the spooks have included a section on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism in their semiannual report to Congress. The agency says terrorists are interested in toxic industrial chemicals, such as chlorine and phosgene.
The European partners in the A400M military airlifter met last week in Paris in a desperate attempt to cobble together a compromise to accommodate German funding problems, thus averting the growing risk of the program's ignominious collapse. As the Jan. 31 deadline for German signature of the memorandum of understanding came and went, members of the A400M Policy Group tried to keep the project on track and avoid reopening MOU negotiations.
Susan M. Schalk, president of Aerofinity Inc., of Indianapolis, has been elected president for 2002 of the Alexandria, Va.-based Airport Consultants Council. She succeeds Peter J. Muller of Knight Piesold and Co. Other officers of the board of governors are: vice president, Ed Parrish of the LPA Group; and secretary/treasurer, Laddie E. Irion of the URS Corp. Other board members are: Paul Bowers of Airport Business magazine; G. Patrick Brown of the Austin Co.; Charles R. Chambers of Global Aviation Associates; Belinda G.
France is the first country supplying troops for the International Security and Assistance Force in Kabul to reach full operational capability. The French have some 400 troops in Kabul, out of 2,500 contributed to date for the ISAF, which is planned to be a 4,500-man force.
A chart showing lightning distribution has been developed using color variations to show the average annual number of lightning flashes per square kilometer based on space-based optical sensor data (see image). The Optical Transient Detector and the Lightning Imaging Sensor look for changes in the tops of clouds and can spot flashes even under daytime conditions. Officials at NASA's National Space Science and Technology Center said the global observations have been able to show flashes as a function of longitude, latitude and the time of year.
Aircraft parked at storage facilities in the U.S. since the September terrorist attacks could form the basis of a transition that will result in a major upgrade of the world air cargo fleet. Industry officials here said sharp declines in the residual values of many aircraft types during the past four months have resulted in a number of newer generation passenger aircraft becoming viable candidates for freighter conversions. Those newer technology aircraft, in turn, could provide a significant reduction in operating costs to cargo carriers.
The first qualification firing of MBDA's Aster 15 naval missile from an Italian SAAM/IT naval air defense system was completed last week. The Aster hit a target from a distance of 4.5 mi. at 3,300 ft. Qualification tests for the French SAAM/FR defense system, which uses a different radar, have already been completed.
Taiwan's China Airlines bucked the gloom of post-Sept. 11 financial reports among other Asian carriers by posting a pretax profit of T$1.63 billion ($54.33 million) for fiscal 2001 ending Dec. 31. The results were nearly 19% higher than forecast. Operating revenues of T$69.9 billion included T$42.9 billion from passengers and T$23.4 billion from cargo.
Boeing studies of commercial space tourism show that the costs of developing such a capability are currently impractical, according to Vice Chairman Harry C. Stonecipher. Boeing found that development of a two-stage commercial vehicle to provide 50 passengers with short orbital flights would cost at least $16 billion. Tickets would have to cost $150,000 each, and the vehicle would have to fly at least 800 times per year for the project just to break even.
FRANCES FIORINOPIERRE SPARACO CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT FROM PARIS.
The first U.S. domestic air-rail code-share will test the mettle of intermodal transportation as a means of relieving airport congestion and increasing short-haul services to underserved markets. Continental Airlines and Amtrak announced their exclusive four-year code-share venture on Jan. 17. Under the agreement, set to start in mid-March, passengers will be able to connect with air services at Newark (N.J.) International Airport to four cities in Amtrak's Northeast Corridor--Philadelphia, Wilmington, Del., and Stamford and New Haven, Conn.
NASA's EO-1 spacecraft, the first ``New Millennium'' technology testbed devoted to Earth observation, has ended its baseline mission with several advanced technologies deemed ready for space.
C. Phillip Joy has become president-S&S Tug within Stewart&Stevenson Services Inc. of Houston. He succeeds John Keating, who has been named corporate vice president-special projects. Joy was president of Trilectron Industries.
Northwest Airlines and the U.S. Transportation Dept. have reached an agreement, negotiated last autumn, by which the carrier will pay a civil penalty of $700,000 for what the department termed ``numerous violations'' of the law requiring wheelchairs and other help for passengers with disabilities.
After simulating what happens to ground operations during peak stress periods, NASA Ames Research Center is ready to move on to the real thing, using software to help airlines, ramp handlers and air traffic controllers predict trouble and figure out how to deal with it.
Criminal probes do not mix well with aviation accident inquiries. Putting them together puts a brake on reaching an understanding of what went wrong. And that, in turn, slows efforts to make aviation safer.
Edward J. Fred has been promoted to president, in addition to his current responsibilities as chief financial officer/secretary, of CPI Aerostructures Inc., Edgewood, N.Y. He succeeds Arthur August, who will remain chairman/CEO.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN HAS RECEIVED A $23-MILLION CONTRACT from the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, N.Y., to develop and demonstrate the technologies for long-range engagement of moving surface threats. The effort is part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Affordable Moving Surface Target Engagement (Amste) program. The primary focus is on ground moving-target-indication (GMTI) radars which can detect moving vehicles at long range. The ability of vehicles to accelerate from idle to 60 mph.
BRUCE A. SMITHSUMIKO OSHIMAMICHAEL MECHAM CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT FROM SAN FRANCISCO.
Boeing has signed the first of a series of planned advanced technology agreements for the Sonic Cruiser in an effort to get an early start on development of new systems and materials for the high-speed aircraft. The move is aimed at avoiding the possibility of heading down the wrong technology path early in the preliminary design process, which could lead to development delays or an aircraft that ultimately falls short of its performance goals.
The Administration presents its Fiscal 2003 budget to Congress this week, and the homeland defense portion of the request might come close to $40 billion, outside analysts say. The number and definition of operations encompassed by homeland defense vary, and so do the budget baselines, but by the latest congressional estimate, annual spending now stands at $22.2 billion, versus $17.2 billion in Fiscal 2001.
The flight structure for NASA's Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer spacecraft has been cleared for production following successful trials on a Developmental Test Vehicle (DTV). Conducted last fall at Goddard Space Flight Center, the tests included a ``modal survey'' and a centrifuge strength test on the 3,200-lb. DTV, which duplicated the Swift spacecraft structure. Swift is the largest bus Spectrum Astro has built to date.
