Fiscal 2002 budget requests for defense, aviation, space and other federal funding will be submitted by President-elect George W. Bush, not incumbent President Bill Clinton. Under transition guidance issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget, Bush is expected to present a broad outline of his fiscal and budgetary recommendations in early February, then submit more-detailed proposals in March or April. Republican lawmakers expect to ask for a sizable defense increase, although he was noncommittal in the campaign about a total dollar figure.
USAF Col. J. Douglas Beason has been elected a fellow of the American Physical Society. He is the Phillips Research Site commander and deputy director of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M.
Arianespace has rescheduled the launch of the Eurasiasat-1 (Turksat 2A) telecom satellite to Jan. 8-9. Initially planned for early December, the liftoff had been delayed because of a failure in the control signal transmission circuit. The launch company closed out its 2000 manifest late last month with the launch of a pair of telecom satellites, GE-8 and Astra 2D, on an Ariane 5.
Kenneth M. Rosen, president of Concepts NREC, White River Junction, Vt., has received Vice President Al Gore's Hammer Award for his role in the development of the National Rotorcraft Technology Center as ``reinvented government.'' The award, named after a $400 hammer that came to symbolize government inefficiency, is presented to teams of federal employees and their partners for their impacts on customer service, bottom-line results, government streamlining, cost savings and problem-solving.
A defense business group is lobbying the Pentagon to prune its Gordian fiscal tangle, but critics say more basic change is needed. Business Executives for National Security (BENS) says the incoming Bush Administration should seize on the pending quadrennial defense review to streamline the Pentagon's 40-year-old Planning, Programming and Budgeting System (PPBS).
Mark W. Peterson has been named director of corporate communications for Allegiant Air, Fresno, Calif. He held similar posts with AirCal Airlines, Newport Beach, Calif.; and WestAir/United Express Airlines in Fresno.
Dottie Hall has been appointed vice president-marketing and Chris Herzog vice president-supply management for the Eclipse Aviation Corp., Albuquerque, N.M. Hall was president of a high-technology marketing consultation firm, and Herzog was founder/president of EuroBridge Inc.
The Year of the Dragon ended on a good note, with Hong Kong's tourism industry showing signs of recuperation from Asia's financial slump. The Hong Kong Tourist Assn. reported 1.12 million visitors in November, a 7.2% increase compared with the same month in 1999. There were 11.83 million visitors to Hong Kong in January-November 2000, a 15% increase compared with 1999. The association predicts that the final tally for 2000 will nearly equal the 1996 record of 12.97 million.
U.S. Navy Rear Adm. (ret.) Thomas J. Jurkowsky has become vice president-communications and public affairs for Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics&Surveillance Systems in Baltimore. He was chief of naval information for the USN.
The U.S. Air Force and Boeing have devised a scheme to try to entice U.S. airlines to buy a commercial version of the C-17 airlifter for cargo transport, with the assurance that some Pentagon business would flow their way. But major trade, export and certification hurdles will have to be cleared.
The European Space Agency will broaden the mission of its Far Infrared and Submillimeter Telescope following recommendations made by scientists at a meeting in Toledo, Spain. FIRST--now renamed the Herschel Space Observatory, after the discoverer of infrared light--is to be launched in February 2007 primarily to study stars and galaxies. In addition, it will search for water and other compounds in space and closely observe comets and so-called transneptunian objects to help reconstruct the history of our solar system.
U.S. Air Force officials hope to complete most required F-22 milestones in time for a rescheduled acquisition review Jan. 11, after missing deadlines of Dec. 21 and early January. One ``exit criteria,'' first flight of the sixth F-22, won't be completed until mid-month, however. Nevertheless, Pentagon officials are allowing the Air Force to tap some of the Fiscal 2001 money they need to keep the program going.
Mechanics at Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), an Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines subsidiary, which feeds mainline flights at Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth, have rejected union representation by the International Assn. of Machinists (IAM). The National Mediation Board announced that just 13.4% of 299 eligible voted in favor of IAM representation. ASA pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., can't begin contract negotiations until Sept. 15, 2002, the date their present contract becomes amendable.
French defense procurement agency DGA has released a report pinpointing responsibility for a propeller failure that sent the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle back into dry dock last month (see p. 58). The report attributed the failure to production flaws and a poor quality control system that failed to identify the flaws. It recommended that the prime contractor, state-owned shipyards DCN, sharply reinforce the quality control processes in its operations and that the DGA expand the scope of responsibility of its own inspectors in contractor oversight.
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and NASA have formed a consortium to study the elimination of failures in computer systems that are essential to society, such as air traffic control, the Internet, space exploration, and power grid and health systems. CMU has signed up 12 major information technology companies to join the high-dependability computing consortium (HDCC), which may be established on a branch campus it is developing at Moffett Field, Calif., home to NASA's Ames Research Center.
DGA has awarded EADS Defense and Civil Systems Div. a 231-million-euro ($212 million) contract covering the first production batch of air-to-surface ramjet-powered ASMP-A nuclear missiles. They will equip air force Mirage 2000Ns and navy Super Etendards, as well as air force/navy Rafales, ``before the end of the decade.''
Robert B. Spiker has become corporate vice president/controller of the North- rop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles. He was vice president-finance/controller for the company's Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector of Baltimore.
France plans to devote more attention to enabling aerospace technologies in an effort that could ultimately set the stage for a next-generation supersonic transport. Nevertheless, this long-term target is unrelated to uncertainties surrounding the Concorde in the aftermath of the crash of Air France Flight 4590 last July, French government officials stressed. They maintain that no specific SST program is envisioned.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. has modified its drug and alcohol testing rule issued in 1988 for employees in safety-sensitive positions in transportation companies. Airline pilots, flight attendants and mechanics are covered under the rule. Some of the changes issued at the end of last year include a new requirement that a physician review test results suspected of being adulterated or substituted. Employees will now be able to obtain from a different certified laboratory a test of a portion of the specimen to make sure that the original laboratory didn't make an error.
Two of the Boeing Co.'s maintenance software products have been accepted by the FAA as equivalent to paper or microfilmed documents. For U.S. airlines, the action streamlines the process of obtaining regulatory acceptance of the use of digitally based information systems for aircraft maintenance in place of the traditional paper or microfilmed manuals. Previously, each airline was responsible for proving to the FAA that the digitized maintenance information was current and accurate for each aircraft model in the carrier's fleet.
Ferdinand Schmidt has become chairman, Klaus Stoger financial director, Capt. Christian Fitz head of flight operations and technical services, and Ronald Kraftner head of legal and international affairs, aircraft financing and information technology, all at Lauda Air.
Recent disruptions caused by severe winter storms may cost some major North American airlines more than just the goodwill of their customers. Earnings for the fourth quarter as well as the full year also could suffer appreciably.
The German government and the European Commission have approved the takeover of charter carrier LTU by German retail giant Rewe, further boosting the trend toward vertical integration of the European leisure travel market.
The Voyager 1 spacecraft might reach the beginning of the boundary region dividing the solar system and interstellar space (see rendering) sometime between early next year and the end of 2003. The indication will be arrival at the termination shock where a pressure wave backs up from the heliopause, where interstellar space begins. JPL officials said pressure of the solar wind is counter balanced by pressure of the interstellar wind somewhere about 100 or more times farther from the Sun than the Earth is.
