Susan H. Skemp (see photo), manager of advanced technology planning at Pratt&Whitney, has been named president of the New York-based American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
The Galileo spacecraft missed taking images on its final pass of Jupiter's moon Io on Jan. 17 (AW&ST Jan. 7, p. 61). The spacecraft detected a computer reset and automatically went into a standby mode that froze the scientific instruments, a process that is similar to prior events and is probably caused by radiation. Galileo in its extended mission has been exposed to 3.5 times the design amount of radiation. Controllers hoped last week to reactivate the systems before the Io encounter ended on Jan. 20.
The Pentagon wants to craft a space plan that would project needs to 2020-25. Unlike a previous Space Command study that was fiscally unconstrained, this document would take into account budget realities, says the new space architect, Army Brig. Gen. Steve Ferrell. The analysis will take 6-12 months and should lead to a roadmap that would govern near-term spending. Ferrell also wants to review the military's and spooks' intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance programs--not just those in space, but also airborne collectors and others.
Kollsman's Enhanced Vision System on the Gulfstream V, due to enter service later this year, offers the opportunity for corporate aircraft operators to drastically reduce controlled-flight-into-terrain and runway-incursion accidents.
Mike Toms has been appointed group planning and regulatory affairs director of London-based BAA plc, effective Feb. 1. He was head of airport economics for BAA and was seconded to Airports Council International as chief economist.
Scientists using data from the Hubble Space Telescope believe they have found evidence that stars began forming in a manic flash of light much sooner after the big bang than previously thought, a discovery that--if true--will notch another zeitgeist leap for the 12-year-old orbiting instrument.
Simple rudder motions on the Airbus A300-600R, the aircraft type in the American Airlines Flight 587 crash, can create forces exceeding ultimate load on the vertical stabilizer and possibly break it off, according to an engineering analysis by Aviation Week&Space Technology. The study was prompted by the loss of the A300 last Nov. 12 after takeoff from New York John F. Kennedy International Airport, but the principle applies to transport aircraft in general.
Martin Sweeting, CEO of Surrey (England) Satellite Technology Ltd. and director of the Surrey Space Centre, has been awarded a knighthood in The Queen's New Year's Honors for services to microsatellite engineering. Sweeting was cited for pioneering the concept of cost-effective spacecraft engineering as leader of researchers at the University of Surrey in the design and construction of Britain's first microsatellite (UoSAT-1), which was launch- ed into low-Earth orbit in 1981.
Air Canada on Jan. 14 resumed service between Montreal and Washington Reagan National Airport, operating two daily round trips with 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet aircraft. Because of special security requirements at Reagan National, Royal Canadian Mounted Police will be on board the flights. In November, the carrier resumed Toronto-Reagan National. The carrier service now offers four daily round trips between those two cities on Sundays and five daily round trips other days of the week.
The automated explosives-detection business of PerkinElmer, with its sizable European customer base, will be sold to L-3 Communications Corp. The acquisition will cost $100 million in cash, about equal to Detection Systems' annual sales. The transaction is expected to close by Apr. 1, based on clearance by the government.
European nations supporting the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan continued their buildup last week with troops and other units being flown into Bagram airport. The British-led ISAF will eventually total some 5,000 personnel from the 16 nations so far committed to the effort. The ISAF is intended to act as a stabilizing force on behalf of the interim authorities in Afghanistan.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems-Astronautics Operations will cut approximately 700 people from its workforce this year, many through normal attrition. That amounts to about 10% of Astronautics' total employee count. Most of the reductions, which will occur at Denver-area facilities, are attributed to closing down Titan rocket production. The last Titan IV heavy-lift launch vehicle is scheduled for shipment from Denver to Cape Canaveral in April. Six Titan IVs and three Titan IIs are yet to be launched.
National and military leaders are reviewing U.S. homeland defense and security measures implemented since the terrorist attacks last September, seeking a balance of air-protection measures that could decrease the domestic workload for Air National Guard, Reserve and active duty forces.
What's going on? First, the pro-business Bush Administration's Justice Dept. challenges the proposed American Airlines/British Airways alliance, arguing (among other things) that the carriers should first divest slots at London Heathrow Airport (AW&ST Dec. 24/31, 2001, p. 47). Then, last week, it files to overturn a federal judge's dismissal of the government's earlier complaint that American used predatory practices against low-cost carriers that were trying to establish footholds at American's Dallas-Fort Worth hub. Wow!
Honeywell and Pelorus Navigation Systems demonstrated auto-land flight procedures to each of four runways at Moses Lake Airfield in Washington using GPS and a Local Area Augmentation System. The LAAS monitors signals from GPS satellites and checks them against a specific, surveyed site, then broadcasts corrected data to aircraft equipped to receive the transmissions. In addition, LAAS allows aircraft to fly instrument approach procedures while maintaining proper separation from other traffic.
An orbiting NASA satellite has provided U.S. Air Force researchers with before-and-after hyperspectral imagery of bombing targets in Afghanistan that may simplify targeting and bomb-damage assessment in the future.
Quietly working through its service-level space components and computer network operations teams, U.S. Space Command (USSC) has been a significant behind-the-scenes player in America's war on terrorism.
Richard C. Reid, the British man allegedly carrying a shoe bomb and who was subdued by crew and passengers on American Airlines Flight 63 while enroute from Paris to Miami Dec. 22, was indicted in U.S. District Court in Boston on Jan. 16 on charges of attempting to blow up the Boeing 767 with 183 other passengers and 14 crew. The nine counts against Reid, whom Attorney General John Ashcroft called an Al Qaeda-trained terrorist, include attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder and placing an explosive device on an aircraft. The U.S.
Ukrainian and U.S. space managers are discussing commercial booster, space science and aerospace educational programs that could be undertaken jointly in the two countries. Ukrainian managers recently visited Cape Canaveral to discuss concepts for such cooperation. The delegation included members from the Yuzhnoe State Design Office which builds the Zenit and Cyclone boosters. Officials from Dniepropetrovsk, where the Yuzhnoe plant is located, and other Ukrainian government officials also participated in the visit that was hosted by the Florida Space Authority.
J. Dawson Ransome, who founded Ransome Airlines in 1957 with two Volpar turboprop aircraft and sold it to Pan American World Airways in 1986, died Jan. 9 in Ocala, Fla. He was 81. The Philadel- phia-based commuter carrier eventually flew Dash 7s and over time operated regional service for Delta, Pan Am and the then-USAir. Ransome received the Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross for service in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II, flying transports over the ``Hump'' to China.
European Space Agency head Antonio Rodota believes U.S. attempts to convince Europe to abandon the Galileo satellite navigation project are driven by commercial, not defense considerations, and that the system will ultimately be approved. Rodota indicated the agency has submitted proposals to allay American concerns about frequency interference and signal security. ESA officials said they expected the proposals to satisfy most of the European countries that had been troubled by the interference issues.
Defense ministers from Germany, France, Britain and Italy met in Bonn last week to inaugurate Europe's new joint arms procurement and management agency, Occar. However, the biggest program entrusted to the agency, the A400M airlifter, has yet to be formally launched. German politicians are scrambling to obtain parliamentary budget committee approval that would allow a contract for the airlifter to be signed, perhaps at defense committee hearings on Jan. 30.
Adopting long-term intrusion and ballistic penetration standards for cockpit doors of most U.S. transport aircraft, the FAA said it will consider applying the standards to additional aircraft and setting additional requirements in the coming months. The agency intends to apply the standards to foreign aircraft if other countries don't.
Airbus' first order in the new year comes from U.S. low-fare carrier JetBlue Airways. The carrier, based at New York JFK International Airport, last week placed a firm order valued in excess of $500 million for 10 additional aircraft for its all-A320 fleet. JetBlue currently operates 22 A320s, has 52 aircraft on firm order and holds options for 49. The new aircraft, like the others in the carrier's fleet, will be powered by International Aero Engines V2500, seat 162 passengers in single-class configuration and offer LiveTV satellite television at each seat.
