NASA's two planned missions to Mars for the 2001 launch opportunity will use a tougher version of the Mars Pathfinder Sojourner rover to move "tens of miles" across the surface, a camera to image the landing site during descent, and a thermal imager to map surface mineralogy from orbit. The agency's Office of Space Science announced the instrument selections last week. The orbiter mission, which will be the first to use aerocapture to gain its planetary orbit (DAILY, July 8), is scheduled to launch in March 2001, and the lander is set to follow in April.
NASA space transportation managers are casting a wide net to find exotic new ways to power spacecraft, sponsoring research into concepts that could one day make trips to Mars as simple as a drive down the block and bring interstellar travel into the realm of the possible. Work in the agency's Space Transportation Research (STR) program ranges from relatively well-understood concepts like pulsed-detonation rocket engines to mind-boggling ideas like gravity modification.
GROUP HUG? Urging the Pentagon to increase its emphasis on jointness, former JCS Vice Chairman Adm. William Owens (ret.) tells Congress that members of the military services should "be proud of each other and hug each other a lot" to break down walls that separate the services. Also, he says, they should have the courage to go to their bosses with bold ideas, and shouldn't be afraid to say things that may seem a little crazy. Some service members in the audience at the House National Security Committee, where Owens made the remarks, think he's crazy.
TAIWAN TRANSFER: The U.S. will be able to transfer missile defense systems to Taiwan under a bill passed by the House that requires the secretary of defense to study development of such systems. The Senate has not yet taken up the bill, which is part of a larger package related to U.S.-China relations. Another bill, passed by the House 414-8, urges the White House to impose sanctions against Chinese organizations responsible for transferring cruise missiles to Iran.
Sabena Technics, Sabena's maintenance and repair division, has signed three contracts covering Boeing and Airbus aircraft. Under a subcontract from British Aerospace Aviation Services, the Belgian company will receive BEF 18 million (US$500,000) in 1998 and a similar amount in each of the following two years to repair or modify major subcomponent parts for Airbus A300 and A310 aircraft.
TOO EXPENSIVE: Looks like the U.S. pressurized modules for the International Space Station won't get a Russian-style vacuum test before they are launched after all. There are two large Apollo-era vacuum chambers in the high-bay facility at Kennedy Space Center where U.S. Station modules are processed for launch, and Russian engineers have suggested vacuum testing the entire U.S. Node, Laboratory Module, Airlock and other pressurized components after they are processed to ensure they don't leak (DAILY, Nov. 5).
Rollout of the Fairchild Dornier 328Jet is planned for Dec. 6 at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, and first flight is scheduled for Jan. 20. Shipment of the first two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW306B turbofans for the plane is set for mid-month, with installation before the end of the month on serial number 3002, the second 328 turboprop. Four test aircraft will participate in the flight-test program, which is expected to culminate with certification and first delivery in March 1999.
WORLD MARKET SHARE: The U.S. Air Force's revised Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle acquisition plan to maintain two contractors into production should help the U.S. capture more of the global launch market, according to Col. Richard McKinney, the EELV systems program director. He tells reporters that "we think we can get at least 50% of the world market." Some estimates, he says, are even higher.
Brazilian manufacturer Embraer last week delivered to U.S. carrier Continental Express its 14th EMB-145 50-passenger regional jet, now called RJ145 by Embraer. It was the 29th production aircraft to be delivered. Continental Express has firm orders for 50 RJ145s plus options for an additional 150. Embraer last week also delivered one of the planes to the Rio-Sul Linhas Aereas subsidiary of Brazilian flag carrier Varig. By the end of the year, Rio-Sul will have seven RJ145s in service of a total of 15 firm orders placed in May.
HANDS TIED: Pentagon policy on congressional testimony by Defense Dept. officials made it tough for Gen. Lester L. Lyles, head of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, when he testified last week to Rep. Curt Weldon. The Pennsylvania Republican, chairman of the House National Security research and development subcommittee, has been pressing a bill that would add $325 million to anti-missile accounts to help offset an anticipated threat from Iran. The amount was based on figures supplied by BMDO. But with Defense Secretary William S.
NEW ROBOTIC ARM for the International Space Station has passed the Canadian Space Agency's acceptance review, according to Space Aerospace Ltd., maker of the system. In the review, Spar said, details of the arms were discussed and "accepted" by the customer. The arm, built under contract to the Canadian Space Agency by Spar, is scheduled for delivery to NASA in August 1998. It will then be tested in preparation for its first flight in June 1999 on Space Shuttle mission STS-99. Astronaut Lt. Col.
NO NTACMS/LASM PICK YET: The U.S. Navy has deferred the decision on whether to buy the Lockheed Martin Navy Tactical Missile System (NTACMS) or the Raytheon Land Attack Standard Missile (LASM) for its ship-based land-attack mission. The issue was supposed to be resolved last week, but has been deferred until a meeting in January of the Chief of Naval Operations' executive board.
MODERNIZATION TAB: The General Accounting Office tells a closed Senate Budget Committee briefing that new members of NATO will have to spend a total of $10 billion to $13 billion over ten years on military restructuring and modernization. It also says a potential cost for the U.S. will be Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grants or loans, International Military Education and Training (IMET) and funding to support participation in NATO training exercises.
A Bethesda, Md., consulting company said it helped the U.S. government buy MiG-29 fighters from the government of Moldova. Virtual Defense and Development International said that in "behind- the-scenes intercession" from July to October, it "convinced both governments to renew negotiations following a June 1997 refusal by Moldova to accept an earlier Pentagon offer." Defense Secretary William Cohen said the aim of the 21-jet deal, announced earlier this week (DAILY, Nov. 5), was to keep the fighters from being sold to Iran.
A Boeing Delta II lifted a replenishment Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite to orbit for the U.S. Air Force Wednesday night, the second replacement GPS launch this year. Liftoff from the Delta pad at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., came at 7:30 p.m. EST Wednesday. The rocket placed the satellite in a transfer orbit measuring 10,988 by nautical 100 miles, which will be circularized to almost 11,000 nautical miles using the satellite's on-board propulsion system.
Increasing harmonization of Europe's air traffic flight management infrastructure appears to have reduced flight delays caused by ATFM problems, according to Eurocontrol. Although there were more ATFM-delayed flights per day during the June-September period than the same months of 1996, the daily average has declined steadily since June, it said. Eurocontrol's Central Flow Management Unit, which handles upper airspace traffic on behalf of 32 nations, said the daily average peaked at 4,500 in June and then dropped steadily, reaching 3,800 in September.
Air Force officials think a problem in the main engine control in a General Electric F110 fighter turbofan is to blame for the April 21 crash of an F-16C from Moody AFB, Ga., but can't pin down whether a manufacturing defect or some other issue caused the problem. "The malfunction caused the engine rpm to rollback in the primary and secondary engine operating modes" making it impossible for the pilot, First Lt. Joseph C. Thomas, to recover or restart the engine, concluded investigating officer Lt. Col. Timothy J.
Sales and earnings rose in the third quarter at RMI Titanium, a major supplier of titanium products to the aircraft engine industry, thanks partly to favorable tax effects but also to the rebound in the aircraft and aerospace sector. Net income effectively doubled to $22.5 million, on sales 34% ahead of last year's pace at $86.4 million. Pre-tax income was up some 77% as "strong demand and pricing for the company's products continued in the third quarter," RMI says in a prepared statement detailing their financial results.
The U.S. Air Force is revising its Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle acquisition plan to go from buying rockets to buying launch services from Boeing and Lockheed Martin. It will nevertheless continue funding development of the rockets it says will be used primarily by commercial customers. DOD has approved an AF plan to award EMD and follow-on launch services contracts to both Lockheed Martin and Boeing rather than downselecting to one contractor (DAILY, Nov. 6). Col. Richard W.
KENNETH GAZZOLA, publisher of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine and executive VP of McGraw-Hill's Aviation Week Group, was awarded the Frank Knox Media Medal Wednesday at the 93rd anniversary dinner of the New York chapter of the Navy League.
Pratt & Whitney PW4158s will power one new Airbus A300-600R just leased by China Airlines from International Lease Finance Corp. and slated for delivery in February, ILFC reports.
The U.S. Senate yesterday gave final congressional approval to the $268.2 billion fiscal 1998 compromise defense authorization by a vote of 90-10. President Clinton is expected to sign the bill into law because it has now passed both the House and Senate by more than the necessary two- thirds vote to override a veto. The vote in the House was 286-123. The Administration had problems with the final version on the contentious military depot issue.
Lockheed Martin will build 20 Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared by Night (LANTIRN) systems for Turkey under a $54 million contract. The buy, for Turkish Air Force F-16s, doubles Turkey's inventory of LANTIRNs. The first 20 pods were bought in 1993. Delivery of the new pods will begin in April of 1999 and be completed that December, Lockheed Martin said.
Lockheed Martin's potential dominance of the Airborne Early Warning market through its merger of Northrop Grumman has come to the attention of the U.S. Dept. of Justice that is reviewing the deal, according to a report by analysts at Prudential Securities. Citing industry officials, Prudential said the worries relate to the companies' involvement in the E-3 AWACS, E-2C Hawkeye, and proposed AEW variants of the C-130.
The main opposition party in Germany would reassess the Eurofighter program if it gains a majority in next year's parliamentary elections. "The Eurofighter, as it exists today, under no circumstances can enter service," Manfred Opel, parliamentary defense spokesman for the Social Democrats (SPD) said in an telephone interview yesterday from Bonn. "The thing isn't any good," he exclaimed. Opel complained that the fighter is overweight and that it doesn't meet the goals set for the program.
