President Clinton last week signed into law a bill permitting U.S. direct-to-home satellite TV operators to carry local stations. DirecTV and EchoStar's Dish Network began offering local stations in select American cities and plan to expand the service to most major markets by the end of 2000.
BFGoodrich Aerospace has strengthened its position in the ejection-seat business, signing a letter of intent to purchase the outstanding stock of IBP Aerospace Group. Together with Moscow-based Zvezda, IBP has adapted the Russian K-36/3.5A ejection seat for U.S. production and installation in American-built aircraft. If the deal, which is subject to government approvals, is consummated, BFGoodrich expects it will be able to offer these ejection seats within three years for use on U.S.-built aircraft.
A Russian electronic ocean surveillance satellite, Cosmos 2,347, was commanded to self-destruct in orbit Nov. 22 by its Russian air force ground controllers as the spacecraft neared the end of its operational life. The explosion left more than 130 pieces of debris in a 230 X 410-km. (142 X 255-mi.) orbit inclined 65 deg. The spacecraft was launched in late 1997 on board a Cyclone booster. The deliberate explosion of Cosmos 2,347 marked only the second time during the last 12 years that the Russians have chosen to dispose of an ocean surveillance spacecraft in that manner.
Hughes Electronics--still smarting from the imbroglio over what may have leaked or been transferred to China when U.S. satellites were launched on Long March rockets (see p. 82)--has decided it needs some top-drawer help. The satellite builder has retained former Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and former Under Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to review its compliance with export controls and recommend to the company any improvements to help it toe the line.
The Franco-German Polypheme missile program will enter the final phase of development in the middle of next year when an 18-month test firing campaign gets underway. The largely company-funded test campaign will include 14 land and ship firings of the fiber-optic guided missile, which will have a range of more than 60 km. (37.5-mi.). No air firings are planned, but some demonstrations are envisaged, notably in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. The helicopter-mounted version was on display for the first time at the recent Dubai Air Show.
Wall Street is frequently accused of being concerned only with companies' short-term financial performance, as measured primarily by earnings per share and stock price. But that isn't altogether fair. While it is unlikely that publicly traded companies will ever be able to escape the pressure to deliver quarterly improvements--what investor, big or small, doesn't want to see the value of their stake rise?--market professionals do take strategic issues into account.
The largest aerospace and defense contractors in the U.S. are finding promise in a suite of Internet-based software tools that allow collaborative design teams to hurdle time and cut costs by working in cyberspace.
NASA EXPORTED RADIATION-HARDENED microcircuit optical coupler parts to Russia for use on the International Space Station in January 1997 without obtaining the export license required from the U.S. State Dept. for sensitive components on the U.S. Munitions List, according to the General Accounting Office (GAO). NASA's export controls were so weak that the agency did not know the rad-hard parts it exported in 1997 were on the Munitions List until 1998, when the U.S.
The U.S. Marine Corps is looking for ways to keep its rapidly aging transport helicopters flying even as most of the service's aviation funds are locked into a few, high-profile programs such as the MV-22 tiltrotor and major upgrades to the AH-1 Cobra and UH-1 Huey.
Michael McCann has been appointed president of the Alliant Ammunition Systems Co., New Brighton, Minn. He was director of medium caliber ammunition and tank ammunition programs for Alliant Techsystems' conventional munitions plant in Radford, Va.
The space shuttle program last week delayed the launch of Discovery on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope by three days until at least Dec. 9 to repair insulation on a wiring harness between the orbiter and external tank (see p. 46). Technicians also used all remaining contingency time for a Dec. 9 launch to replace a leaky quick-disconnect fitting on an auxiliary power unit. Any additional unplanned work would force another delay. The Hubble mission must be launched by mid-December or it will be slipped into January.
The Mexican government last week grounded all airplanes operated by Transportes Aereos Ejecutivos (Taesa) pending an inspection of each aircraft for airworthiness. Investigators are continuing their probe into the crash of a Taesa DC-9-31 on Nov. 9 that killed all 18 people on board. The DC-9's cockpit voice and flight data recorders have been analyzed by the U.S. NTSB in Washington and returned to Mexican accident investigators. A Taesa official said the airline plans to resume operations when the inspections are completed.
The late U.S. Rep. George E. Brown, Jr., (D-Calif.) has been posthumously awarded the Harold Masursky Meritorious Service Award of the Div. for Planetary Sciences of the Pasadena, Calif.-based American Astronomical Society, in recognition of his accomplishments as a champion of planetary science and exploration. Brown, who was a congressman from 1963 until his death last July 15, was cited for his support of scientific research.
Japan has asked U.S. Forces-Japan to return air traffic control for the U.S. Air Force's Kadena base on Okinawa to Japanese authority following a Nov. 11-12 failure of the U.S. Radar Approach Control System (Rapcon). Kadena borders the civil Naha International Airport, and loss of the U.S. Rapcon affected commercial flights--forcing cancellation of 10 and delays of 150 more because U.S. controllers applied longer separation times between incoming aircraft to assure safety in the nonradar environment. The U.S.
NASA's Mars Polar Lander (MPL) is scheduled to arrive at Mars this week, making the space agency's fourth Martian landing and what would be its first lander mission in a polar region of the planet. The spacecraft is scheduled to land Dec. 3 in a broad area of sedimentary ice and dust called the Martian Polar Layered Deposits, located about 800 km. (500 mi.) from the south pole.
Daniel J. Mullaly has been named senior vice president-worldwide sales and R. Larry Brown senior vice president/chief personnel officer of the Federal Express Corp., Memphis, Tenn. Mullaly has been vice president-global sales and freight services and Brown vice president-legal. Mullaly succeeds William G. Fraine, who has resigned. Brown succeeds James A. Perkins, who has retired.
After successfully completing six flights in its first year of operations, the French-Russian Starsem joint venture plans to expand the capabilities of its Soyuz launcher. Those efforts are critical as Starsem tries to attract new customers that have been slow to materialize.
The ``New BAe,'' to be created this week when British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems complete their merger, employs an innovative management model intended to avoid the pitfalls experienced by U.S. companies.
Mary M. Glackin has been named deputy assistant administrator for satellite and information services of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Don't expect Fox Broadcasting Co. to crash a 747 live on prime-time television this spring. The News Corp.-owned TV network in August proposed staging such a crash during the ``sweeps weeks'' earlier this month, a period when a network's audience is assessed as the basis for the rates charged to advertisers. The FAA quashed that proposal, which included loading the aircraft with explosives to add to the spectacle of an impact in the California or Arizona desert. But Fox is back with a plan for the ``sweeps weeks'' in April.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense has awarded contracts to British Aerospace and Thomson-CSF for studies to define its future large-deck carriers, and designated Marconi Electronic Systems--set to merge with BAe this week--as prime contractor for new Type 45 air defense destroyers.
German aerospace and research center DLR will open an institute in Berlin devoted to research in the area of air transport. The institute will focus on integrated transportation systems and dynamic simulation. The DLR also plans aircraft noise and telemedicine centers at its main facility in Koeln-Porz, near Cologne.
