As the Space Shuttle Endeavour's crew prepared for a second spacewalk yesterday to install S-band antennas on the new International Space Station, telemetry showed developmental Global Positioning System (GPS) units on the Shuttle were performing well after software fixes to correct problems detected earlier.
Rockwell International said Clayton M. (Clay) Jones has been selected to succeed John D. (Jack) Cosgrove as president of Rockwell Collins. Cosgrove, 64, said he intends to retire on Jan. 1. Jones, 49, executive VP of Rockwell Collins, will become president on Jan. 1. He will report to Rockwell Chairman and CEO Don H. Davis. Jones has also been elected a corporate senior vice president.
ROBERT B. SIECK, director of Shuttle processing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, is retiring. His deputy, David A. King, will succeed him as processing director, while Ralph R. Row Jr., will continue as KSC launch director on a permanent basis. Sieck was honored this month with NASA's Distinguished Service Medal for his work in Shuttle management, including overseeing a total of 52 Shuttle launches as launch director. King served as launch director for three missions.
Litton Industries said it won a $250 million damage verdict from a Federal District Court jury in Los Angeles in a retrial of damages following a finding by an earlier jury that Honeywell had illegally monopolized the commercial aircraft market for inertial reference systems. U.S. District Court Judge Mariana Pfaelzer will review the verdict as well as post-trial motions by the parties and decide whether to enter the verdict as judgment. If the verdict is entered, the amount is trebled to $750 million and undetermined attorney's fees, Litton said.
Unconfirmed by either company, on-going negotiations between British Aerospace and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA) appear to have stalled for the moment over the question of hegemony. Some U.K. press reports claim that BAe is seeking a 65% shareholding for a controlling interest in a proposed $23 billion joint grouping, but neither company will comment on progress of discussions, which they say are simply part of a wider debate on European aerospace consolidation.
The U.S. Air Force plans to spend about $50 million between fiscal 1999 and 2005 on the U-2 Multi-sensor Agile Reconnaissance System (MARS) program, intended to allow the aircraft to provide more timely targeting information.
Northrop Grumman will cut 1,100 more jobs next year "as a direct result" of Boeing's announcement last week that it will cut commercial aircraft production, a Northrop Grumman spokeswoman said yesterday. At the same time, Cordant Technologies Inc., Howmet International Inc. and Coltec Industries Inc. said the Boeing cutbacks would not affect their 1999 sales forecasts.
BOEING CO. named William C. Hampton as director of the company's U.S. Air Force Delta programs. He will replace Walt Wilson, who will retire early next year. In the interim, Boeing said, Wilson will continue working on the Delta III return-to-flight plan. Hampton has been Boeing manager for Motorola Launch Services.
Senior U.S. Army officials have launched an aggressive effort to develop a mobile variant of the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) for deployment to South Korea to protect U.S. troops there from a short range missile threat. The first THEL, a fixed device, is expected to be deployed to Israel next year.
Rolls-Royce is entering two joint ventures - one in engine leasing with GATX Capital, and another in aircraft leasing with Pembroke Capital. GATX Capital will be a 50% partner in Rolls-Royce and Partners Finance, one of the largest engine companies with a portfolio of 90 engines. Rolls will merge its Aircraft Finance and Trading with Pembroke.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense is looking to sign a 20-year, fee-for-services deal to replace its fleet of aging VC-10 and TriStar tankers under its Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program. The long-term arrangement would include options to extend the deal as well as for early termination, the MOD has told industry. The tanker service provider will be held to a still-to-be-determined readiness goal. If the goal isn't met, there could be financial penalties or contract termination.
NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter is set for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., tomorrow aboard a Boeing Delta II that must push it into a 10-month cruise to the Red Planet as the first of two "Mars '98" probes. Liftoff from Pad A at Launch Complex 17 is scheduled to come at 1:56 p.m. EST tomorrow, with a second instantaneous launch window to come at 3:02 p.m. EST. The overall planetary launch window for the orbiter will remain open through Dec. 25.
NASA has picked 12 small business to negotiate for about $6 million in Phase 2 contract awards under its 1997 Small Business Transfer Program. Culled from 45 proposals by peer reviews of both technical merit and commercial potential, the grants are intended to stimulate innovation and help small businesses become better able to meet NASA's technology development needs. All selectees are required to form partnerships with research institutions.
Sandia National Laboratory will reduce the power consumption of Intel Corp.'s Pentium chip and harden it to radiation under a deal that will increase the chip's attractiveness to military and commercial users. The deal gives the government a license to use the chip's design. Sandia will spend the next three years building a prototype of the enhanced processor, which will be able to withstand space radiation as well as the electro-magnetic pulse of a nuclear detonation. A production program would start in about four years.
NASA has picked Boeing to negotiate for a four-year cooperative agreement to develop the first Future-X orbital flight testbed that would be the first x-vehicle flown both in orbital and reentry regimes, as well as another $24 million worth of separate flight experiments that were also designed to advance space transportation technology.
The International Space Station got its first reboost yesterday, gaining about five and a half miles in altitude with a push from the Space Shuttle Endeavour in what will be a regular feature of future Station operations.
Australia is considering an expansion of its tanker fleet to allow it to move beyond a training capability to an operational capability that could support forces in East and West Australia. The Royal Australian Air Force operates four Boeing 707-300s, each outfitted with a drogue air-to-air refueling system. However, they are used mainly for training. A force of six aircraft would be required to support operational requirements, a RAAF official said.
The U.S. Navy has awarded Boeing a $62 million contract to start production of the third lot of F/A-18E/F strike fighters. The contract will buy 14 single seat F/A-18Es and 16 F/A-18Fs, the Pentagon said Monday. The Navy allowed the program to proceed after it completed its operational test program. The aircraft got the highest possible mark during that review, although remaining issues were identified.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a West Point graduate and company commander in the 82d Airborne Div., has been named to fill the last Democratic vacancy on the Senate Armed Services Committee, his office confirmed. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a captain the Army Reserves from 1973 through 1986, was also named to SASC. Reed and Sessions were added when the panel was expanded from 18 to 20 members. The new committee ratio will be 11 Republicans and nine Democrats.
December 4, 1998 Flight Safety Services Corp., Englewood, Colo., is being awarded a $9,234,966 face value increase to a firm-fixed-price contract to provide for FY 1999 operation, maintenance, and support of the Aircrew Training System for the C-141 aircraft. Expected contract completion date is Sept. 30, 1999. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity (F33657-95-C-0048-P00036).
GKN plc, London, entered into a merger agreement to acquire The Interlake Corp., Lisle, Ill., for $553 million, including the assumption of about $292 million of debt, GKN reported yesterday. GKN will begin a tender offer for all outstanding common shares of Interlake at $7.25 per share.
Corporatization of Europe's Airbus consortium, scheduled for the end of 1999, is likely to be postponed once again following an open dispute between France's Aerospatiale and two of its Airbus partners, British Aerospace and DASA of Germany. Last Friday in Toulouse, the chairmen of Airbus shareholders were scheduled to exchange information on the activities they intend to merge in the future Airbus Plc. But the exchange never took place because of French concern about a planned merger of BAe and DASA, according to the Germans.
Five astronauts and one cosmonaut aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour laid the "cornerstone" of the International Space Station Sunday, linking modules built in Russia and the U.S. to form a single structure that will support the orbital laboratory as it grows over the next five years.
