A second magnetic levitation track has been installed at Marshall Space Flight Center to study how maglev systems might be used to supplement conventional propulsion for space launches in the future. The 44-ft.-long track, installed in a high-bay facility, uses a 10-lb. carrier that is accelerated over a 22-ft. section. Designed and built by Foster-Miller Inc., the system propels the carrier to 57 mph.--traveling the 22-ft. distance in 0.25 sec.
It's difficult to get romantic about a rock. But it brings tingles and misty eyes to scientists at the Johns Hopkins' Applied Physics Laboratory--so much so that they are eagerly awaiting Valentine's Day. That's when the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft they built and fly for NASA is due to arrive at its target--a silicate lump named, appropriately, Eros. NEAR stood up Eros on a previous date. A premature engine shutdown spoiled the first attempt to orbit the asteroid (AW&ST Jan. 4, 1999, p. 30). NEAR has had one recent glitch.
Trends in federal support of research and development in the 1990s present a mixed picture for aerospace and defense, according to a detailed analysis by the National Research Council, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences. Largely as a result of the end of the Cold War and the government's successful effort to eliminate historically high federal deficits, defense R&D plummeted nearly $1.5 billion in Fiscal 1993-97--27.5%--to $3.8 billion.
The head of London Stansted Airport has called for a review of a more than 20-year-old policy designating the facility as the site for aircraft hijacked to the U.K., following the most recent incident which was resolved peacefully last week.
Rolls-Royce and SAirGroup's SR Technics subsidiary have created a maintenance and overhaul joint venture to Trent engines in Europe and Africa. SR Technics will repair and overhaul Trent 500 and 700 engines at its facilities in Zurich, while Trent 800 work will be conducted by Rolls-Royce in Derby, England. Rolls-Royce already has similar arrangements in Hong Kong, Singapore and Texas.
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector has won a $39-million contract from the U.S. Air Force's Warner Robins Air Logistics Center to provide 39 AN/ALQ-131 electronic countermeasures system Block II conversion kits to the Egyptian Air Force.
In its survey of lessons learned from the Kosovo air campaign, Defense Dept. analysts have tallied the toll inflicted on Yugoslav forces by NATO and simultaneously warned that the U.S. revealed several areas of weakness. In the ``Report to Congress: Kosovo/Operation Allied Force After-Action Report,'' analysts warn of concerns with air defense suppression, electronic integration and communications between services and with allies that could be exploited by a technically sophisticated foe.
A recent report by e-business research/analysis firm Gomez Advisers says travel agencies are bearing the brunt of traveler-Internet ties. There are now 15% fewer travel agencies in the U.S. compared to 1997--most of them that folded were independent firms unable to compete with online travel sites. In 1999, $3.5 billion worth of airline tickets were bought online, and according to the Lincoln, Mass.-based firm, that amount is to reach $6.3 billion in 2000.
Cliff Topham has been appointed director of airline sales for Rolls-Royce North America Inc., Reston, Va. He was director of sales for International Aero Engines, East Hartford, Conn.
As costs and strains of fighting in Chechnya increase, Moscow will be inclined to fall back on the threat of first use of nuclear weapons. So says Ted Warner, assistant secretary of Defense for strategy and threat reduction. ``They have been changing their [nuclear weapons] doctrine since the early 1990s,'' Warner says. ``These changes are largely attributable to the fact that their conventional forces have atrophied so substantially. So they have found it useful to threaten [to use] flexible response and limited nuclear options . . .
Richard L. Fuller has been named director of communications for the Boeing Co.'s Government Relations Office in Washington. He was director of communications and community relations for Boeing Aircraft and Missile Systems Southern California in Long Beach. Fuller succeeds Douglas J. Kennett, who is now general manager of communications and community relations for Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems in St. Louis.
Hopes for early selection of a contractor in the Joint Strike Fighter competition are dashed. The deletion of $30 million from the aircraft program in the Administration's Fiscal 2001 budget proposal means the down-select has been pushed back from March 2001 until at least June, say senior industry execs. The spending cut telegraphs the decision of Pentagon planners to give the next administration time to put senior Defense Dept. officials in place and allow them to become familiar enough with the program to make key decisions.
Kurt Kuehn has become vice president-investor relations for the Atlanta-based United Parcel Service. He was vice president-business information and analysis.
CINCINNATI-BASED COMAIR JET EXPRESS is adding a 10-seat Challenger 604 and an eight-seat Learjet 60 to its charter fleet. Wyn Poe, director of Comair Aviation, said the two airplanes will augment the existing fleet and allow the company to accommodate new customers. Comair Jet Express, which is owned by Comair Airlines, also operates a Challenger 604, a Challenger 601-3A-ER, two Learjets and a Bell 407 helicopter.
Lockheed Martin's Sanders has received a $14-million Foreign Military Sales contract from the U.S. Army to provide 17 missile warning systems for the Greek army's CH-47 helicopters.
Northrop Grumman's Ryan Aeronautical Center has won the U.S. Navy's competition to develop a vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle to replace the aging Pioneer reconnaissance drone. The $93.7-million contract will cover engineering and manufacturing development of the UAV system. The system is to provide at least a 110-naut.-mi. combat radius with 3-hr. loiter capability at that range and a payload of 200 lb. or more. The aircraft is a modified Schweizer 330P helicopter with an automatic flight control system.
The quickening ballistic missile threat heralded by last year's National Intelligence Estimate was more a function of lowered evaluative criteria than major advances in missile capabilities, according to Carnegie Endowment's Joseph Cirincione. One change was the assumption that developing nations could deploy their missiles as much as five years earlier by adhering to an austere flight test program--perhaps only one test.
Negotiators for Northwest Airlines and Teamsters Local 2000, representing flight attendants, resumed negotiations last week after the airline's suit against the union, alleging an illegal sickout, was stayed in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minn. The stay order halted a court-ordered search for sickout-related evidence in computer hard drives belonging to the union and to 20 flight attendants. Mike Bloom, attorney for the Teamsters, said union and Northwest lawyers had agreed on a search protocol to protect the privacy of individuals.
Perhaps the most dramatic change in Fiscal 2001 aircraft budget plans is the reduction in C-17 production from 15 aircraft to 12, which was decided upon despite a long-term contract between the Air Force and Boeing.
U.S. manufacturers of general aviation aircraft shipped 2,525 units worth a record $7.9 billion last year, marking the industry's fifth consecutive year of expansion.
The Globalstar telecommunications company is ready to initiate international mobile telephone services following completion of its orbital constellation with the launch of four more spacecraft atop a Boeing Delta II at Cape Canaveral on Feb. 8. The mission cost $110 million including the spacecraft and Delta II 7420 launcher with four solid rocket motors. The European-built Loral satellites, put into an initial 500-naut.-mi. orbit inclined 52 deg., bring the total constellation to 52 spacecraft. This includes 48 primary and four spare satellites.
