TRW SPACE&ELECTRONICS completed assembly of NASA's Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility and began prelaunch testing. Earlier delays in building the $1.4-billion orbiting X-Ray telescope forced its launch on a space shuttle to be delayed to December from August.
The DDP 502 series of high-luminous intensity LED lamps incorporate a 0.59-in.-dia. clear Fresnel lens to maximize viewing angle and light dispersion. The light emitting diode lamps are available in red, orange, amber, green and blue. They can replace standard T-4 1/2 candelabra-style light bulbs used for panel indicators in both the cockpit and cabin. A cluster of four LEDs that comprise one DDP 502-series lamp produces high intensity over a viewing range of 160 deg. Data Display Products, 445 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, Calif. 90245-4630.
THE CABLE CAR AT WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE that is used to test missile warning systems (MWSs) was struck and severely damaged by a missile recently. It was testing three different MWSs--the Lockheed Martin AAR-47, the company's new AAR-57 and the Litton Industries AAR-60. The accident does not challenge the effectiveness of these MWSs because ejection of protective flares from the cable car is preprogrammed rather than being controlled by the MWS. Normally missiles head for an infrared source mounted under the cable car's belly which is easily replaced if struck.
The Indian air force has awarded Sextant Avionique a pair of contracts to supply smart multifunction, color LCD displays for 40 new Sukhoi Su-30MK fighter/bombers and 37 upgraded Sepecat Jaguar fighters.
The premature shutdown of the Mitsubishi/IHI LE-5A second-stage motor that put Japan's $375-million Comets satellite into a bad orbit is believed to have been caused by a hole in the outer casing of the motor's exhaust nozzle. Officials in Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) are uncertain why exhaust gases burned through a 0.77-sq.-in. hole in the LE-5A's nickel alloy casing during the second of the engine's two planned burns on Feb. 21. The initial 304-sec. burn went normally (AW&ST Mar. 2, p. 34).
THE FIRST TWO OF THE FOUR 767 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft that Japan's air force has bought from Boeing are to be delivered by Mar. 25. At $449 million each, the aircraft are the most expensive the Japanese air force has ever bought. The third aircraft is undergoing installation and checkout of its mission equipment. The rotordome on the fourth is to be installed in April. Since testing began last August, the first two 767 AWACS have logged 194 flights and nearly 800 flight hours.
This version of the SeamMaster ultrasonic fabric welder is customized for use by The Mexmil Co., a Santa Ana, Calif., company that manufactures insulating blankets for transport aircraft. The new machine has a larger wheel that provides more clearance for the thick blankets. The material must be fed manually because the blanket seams are curved to ensure a tight fit in the aircraft. The SeamMaster uses high-frequency vibrations to cut and weld the coated polyester film used for the insulation blankets. Sonobond Ultrasonics, 887 S. Matlack St., West Chester, Pa.
Robert E. Wulf, vice president-engineering and technology for the Northrop Grumman Corp. in Los Angeles, has been elected chairman of the Aerospace Industries Assn. Technical Operations Council for 1998. He succeeds James M. Sinnett, vice president-technology in Washington for the Boeing Co. William F. Ballhaus, corporate vice president-science and engineering of the Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md., was elected vice chairman.
The Pentagon is moving quickly to put the brakes on escalating Joint Strike Fighter requirements, which industry officials say have pushed the projected cost of the next-generation stealthy fighter to more than $40 million per copy. ``There is an exercise to scope down the requirements of JSF to keep costs low so that there will actually be the high-low [F-22 and JSF] mix that Air Force wants to replace the F-15 and F-16,'' a senior aerospace industry official said.
THE U.S. NAVY HAS TAPPED SMITHS INDUSTRIES AEROSPACE to provide solid-state voice and data recorders for F/A-18 and AV-8B Harrier aircraft. Deliveries for the upgrade program will start late this year. The U.K. company's VADR will be installed on the first eight WAH-64 Apache helicopter flight test aircraft being built for the British army.
AMERICAN AIRLINES HAS CHOSEN GEC-MARCONI to supply 75 head-up displays for its new 737-800 aircraft. The company has a second option for 425 HUDs, which would cover its entire 737-800 fleet. The company estimates the market for civil HUDs at 10,000-16,000 systems over the next 10 years. GEC-Marconi Avionics' Mission Avionics Div. in Rochester, England, will be responsible for the program.
Albert E. Smith has become president of Lockheed Martin Sanders, Nashua, N.H. He was president of the Electronics Systems Sector of the Harris Corp., Melbourne, Fla. Smith succeeds John R. Kreick, who is retiring.
FAA HAS DECIDED AGAINST Washington Consulting Group in its protest of the award of the $1-billion-plus NAS Implementation Support Contract (NISC 2) to Lockheed Martin Services Inc. In denying the protest filed on Dec.12, 1997, FAA Administrator Jane Garvey accepted the recommendation of General Services Administration Chief Judge Stephen Daniels.
THE BIG ASTEROID that some astro- nomers said last week would come perilously close to Earth has ``zero chance'' of hitting the planet, another group said. The Spacewatch group at the University of Arizona said mile-wide 1997 XF11 would pass within 30,000 mi. of Earth on Oct. 26, 2028, and might hit. But astronomers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory found some old pictures from the Palomar Observatory that showed more of the asteroid's orbit than anyone had seen before. They reworked calculations and said the asteroid would pass 600,000 mi. from Earth.
As large markets for new military aircraft disappear, countries that buy two dozen aircraft now loom large in the minds of contractors for whom such a sale could mean years of additional production. Many manufacturers see such deals as opening the door for more lucrative civilian aircraft sales and coproduction arrangements that will extend their influence into regional markets. Latin America, with aging military aircraft and changing views of military roles, may be the new template for the use and sale of 21st century aviation products.
LANDSAT 7'S JULY LAUNCH will have to be delayed so engineers can redesign faulty electrical power supply hardware on the spacecraft's main instrument, the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus, NASA said. The power supply failed twice during instrument-level thermal vacuum tests. The Earth science spacecraft is set to launch on a Delta 2 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
GENCORP AEROJET successfully test-fired a modified Kuznetsov NK-33 engine for the first stage of the Kistler Aerospace K-1 reusable launch vehicle in Sacramento, Calif., last week. The engine had received a 45-sec. startup test on Feb. 27, but last week's burn was the first under full operating conditions. The 145-sec. burn varied from 96-104% of the engine's full operating thrust of 340,000 lb. Fourteen additional tests are expected by the end of May.
Lockheed Martin still sees a strong market for the in-development KTX-2 advanced trainer/light fighter despite South Korea's financial crisis. The reason: The program is geared to USAF's plan to replace its aging T-38s. The KTX-2 is a clean-sheet design by South Korea's Samsung and Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft and is receiving its final funding commitments from Korea despite the economic downturn, according to Micky Blackwell, president of Lockheed Martin's Aeronautics Sector. Korea has 38 T-38s to replace and plans to use the KTX-2 as an F-5 replacement as well.
While Teledyne Ryan's Global Hawk drone was basking in the glory of its Feb. 28 first flight, DarkStar engineers at Lockheed Martin and Boeing were trying to make their steed go in the proper direction on the ground. DarkStar attempted to taxi on Mar. 5, but when the engine was throttled up the unmanned aerial vehicle diverted 45 deg. to the left, toward the dirt. The crew was able to stop it in about 20 ft. Many ``stop'' switches have been added since its crash two years ago.
With forecasts that Asia's economic crisis will continue through 1999, Japan's three major carriers are tightening their belts another notch as they stare at renewed red ink.
Spurred by increasingly stable economies and the need to replace or expand fleets of aging aircraft, the Latin American region is poised to strengthen its position as a major market for the sale of new business jets and helicopters in the next five years.
An Israeli company has developed a flexible ceramic armor for protecting aircraft that it says will stop a 7.62-mm. armor-piercing round. Initially the new armor developed by Plasansasa Composite Materials is being offered for protecting helicopter pilots, but it also could be used for VIPs in transport aircraft. ``We are going with the minimum area of protection,'' said Oded Sheshinski, the company's vice president of international marketing. ``We are protecting the pilot.''
Europe's largest low-fare airline Ryanair has placed an order for 25 Boeing 737-800s with options for 20 more as it moves to expand its operations in Europe. The aircraft will be powered by CFM56-7 engines. The 25 firm orders are worth $1.1 billion, with the options bringing the value of all 45 aircraft to $2 billion. ``The new aircraft will allow Ryanair to continue to launch more new routes in 1999 and beyond,'' Chief Executive Michael O'Leary said.
Since 1982, the U.S. Congress has appropriated more than $25 billion to modernize the National Airspace System (NAS). To say the FAA has mismanaged much of this work would be a vast understatement. The effort has been riddled with cost overruns, schedule slips, fired contractors, canceled projects, performance shortfalls and scaled-back objectives. With shortcomings in the agency's own organizational culture, the FAA has bungled its overall modernization roadmap, cost estimating and software acquisition.
