ESA is also getting ready to begin integrating the first structural and thermal model of the Automated Transfer Vehicle, a spacecraft intended to ferry supplies to the International Space Station and to periodically reboost the facility to higher orbit. The service module for the ATV was delivered at Astrium's Bremen, Germany, facility on Nov. 12. After mating with the cargo module, handed over by Alenia in July, the test model will undergo 11 months of acoustic, thermal and vibration tests.
The third Paris international airport, tentatively scheduled for completion by 2015, will be located at Chaulnes, 80 mi. north of the nation's capital. The French government's decision to proceed with the $6.5-billion investment is far from ending a long-running dispute. Moreover, the Chaulnes project is so controversial it might not survive presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for the second quarter of 2002.
Polly Prelinger has been promoted to senior vice president-marketing from vice president-aircraft marketing for the JetFleet Management Corp., Burlingame, Calif.
The U.S. Air Force successfully completed a critical flight test of the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile that should clear the way for the program to start low-rate production. But the development still has several challenges ahead that could overshadow the program and jeopardize its fielding.
Veridicom and Key Source International have developed an all-in-one keyboard that includes biometric fingerprint sensors to verify both airline personnel and passenger identities. The keyboard includes an optical scanner that helps automate passport and airline ticket procedures at check-in counters. The keyboard has a slot for scanning biometrically equipped frequent-flier cards to verify passengers' identification by matching their fingerprint data against the airline's frequent-flier database.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government said it has had to postpone launch of MTSAT (Multipurpose Transport Satellite) because of development delays from Space Systems/Loral, its U.S. maker. It was to be launched with Adeos-IIA as part of next March's mission. The goal was to get it in operation as quickly as possible as a successor to the Himawari V weather satellite, which has surpassed its expected lifetime.
Developed as a defense against bomb blasts, explosions and flying glass, BlastGARD is adhered to the interior side of the window using adhesive. The polyester material makes the glass stronger and nearly impenetrable to small ballistic attacks, according to the company. In the event of a major explosion, BlastGARD helps hold the glass fragments together, preventing flying shards of glass from becoming projectiles. The product also absorbs shock waves, cushioning and dispersing the impact to the window frame.
New ``paradigms'' for air travel will most likely be set in the aftermath of Sept. 11, the president of Embraer told the Aero Club. Mauricio Botelho, CEO of the Brazilian airframer, says people will prefer to fly point-to-point, avoiding big airports and the discomfort caused by additional security measures. He also sees it likely that frequency will supplant capacity on a large number of routes. That would boost the growth of regional jets, which Embraer just happens to build.
Swissair Group, in an intense effort to keep the ailing airline flying, sold its 49.9% stake in German charter operator LTU to Stadtsparkasse Duesseldorf, a partly state-owned savings bank, for 1 euro (89 cents). Swissair Group has been operating under protection from creditors since Oct. 4 and is in the process of being dismantled under the auspices of two Swiss courts. When Swissair could not fulfill its original commitment to back LTU losses, LTU came days away from bankruptcy.
NASA's Genesis probe (shown) will begin collecting samples of solar wind particles this week for eventual return to Earth, having achieved a halo orbit around the L-1 Lagrange point on Nov. 16. A 268-sec. thruster burn sent the $260-million spacecraft into orbit around the imaginary point about 1 million mi. from Earth where the gravity of the Sun cancels that of Earth. It will spend about 29 months there collecting atoms, ions and high-energy particles in hexagonal plates of silicon, germanium, diamond film and other materials picked for their chemical properties.
Joanne Smith has been named vice president-marketing and planning and Chuck Thomson vice president-human resources and labor relations for Chicago-based DHL Airways Inc.
Wolfgang Didszuhn, Airbus' vice president-product integrity, has received the Whittle Safety Award from the International Federation of Airworthiness on behalf of the company's international airworthiness and safety cooperation team.
United Airlines' plan for outside investors to finance future aircraft purchases by its Avolar fractional-ownership business jet subsidiary (AW&ST Nov. 5, p. 39) includes the transfer of a majority interest in Avolar to the investors, United parent UAL Corp. said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. UAL's board authorized up to $250 million in spending last March, and Avolar has agreements with Gulfstream and Dassault Falcon Jet to buy 82 aircraft. Deliveries begin next year.
Dean Ward (see photo) has become manager of the Parts Distribution Group of Hartzell Propeller Inc., Piqua, Ohio. He was manager of customer service of the company's factory service center.
The French naval version of the Aster antiaircraft/antimissile missile has completed its test campaign, destroying a simulated aircraft flying at Mach 1 at a height of 100 meters over the water surface. Missile strike took place 15 sec. after launch, at a distance of 10 km. from the launch point. The French variant, composed of the Aster 15 short-range missile, Arabel radar and Sylver launch system, equips the nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which is due to begin operational duty in late 2001/early 2002.
QUALCOMM WIRELESS SYSTEMS proposes using its 48 low-Earth-orbit Global Star satellites, which have been operating commercially since 1999, to link video, data and voice transmissions to ground stations for hijack alerting. Transmission of camera video from the cabin and cockpit could be initiated by the pilots or cabin crew, or from the ground when the aircraft deviated from its expected flight path. Sixteen voice channels per aircraft give a data rate of 128 Kbps. In demonstration, the video is jerky but usable.
The U.S. Navy is moving forward with an initiative to increase the accuracy of the Joint Direct Attack Munition. The service has indicated for some time it wants more than the GPS accuracy provided in the baseline JDAM now being used daily in the air war in Afghanistan. The Navy is pressing ahead with an effort to have Boeing add a terminal seeker on the weapon to give it about 3-ft. accuracy. The weapon, called Precision JDAM, would be used from all F/A-18s against planned targets.
Edward Talerico has been named global industry director for aerospace and defense of London-based Baan. He was sales consulting director for the Americas.
Indian Airlines has revived a long-pending plan to add 100-, 120- and 150-seat aircraft to its fleet following a cash injection from the government of $677 million. The Finance Ministry had banned new purchases while the carrier was searching for outside investors, but since that effort has fallen through, the carrier has been freed to look at bids by Boeing and Airbus. Still, market growth projections and capacity issues must be cleared before any order can be placed, officials said. . . .
The FAA will continue to give air carriers wide latitude in selecting cabin door upgrades to keep intruders out. Under a final rule published Nov. 21, the agency only asks that carriers submit reports on the temporary modifications by Jan.
