NASA's Mars Pathfinder has achieved all of its scientific, engineering and technology goals and remains healthy as the Pathfinder nears the end of its 30-day nominal mission life, mission scientists said yesterday.
Lufthansa Technik, the German flag carrier's repair arm, has introduced a new service to change defective GE CF6-80C2 combustors at an airline's location rather than in the shop, speeding re-entry into service. "This costs the airlines much less than would a visit to the shop as the aircraft is ready to take off in no time," Lufthansa says in a prepared statement in which it contends it is the only provider in the world that can do the work on site.
GE On-Wing Support Inc., General Electric's rapid-response customer service venture, plans to open its newest support "hub" in Northern Kentucky "soon," the company says. The site was selected in July 1996. The company may announce selection of a third location later this year. The first center was started late in 1994 out of Heathrow. A GE spokesman says technicians are armed with "credit cards and tools" to rapidly respond to customer needs around the world.
Six companies will split some $148.9 million in contracts awarded by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center for development and design of sensors for the planned National Polar Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). The next-generation weather satellite will mark a "convergence" of military and civilian weather monitoring from orbit under a cost-saving move undertaken by the Clinton Administration in 1994 (DAILY, May 11, 1994).
Raytheon TI Systems and Hughes Aircraft Co. received separate contracts for the U.S. Army's Long Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3). They did not share a single contract as reported in The DAILY of July 29 (page 152).
A simple cost comparison of a carrier battle group and a B-2 bomber ignores the diversity and usage of carriers, according to a Pentagon official who didn't want to be named. The official, commenting to The DAILY about a recent Air Force- chartered study comparing B-2 costs and those of carriers and Army divisions (DAILY, July 28), said the "real issue" is "how often the capability is called upon in a contingency."
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS national security subcommittee chairman C.W. (Bill) Young (R-Fla.) said yesterday he was optimistic that the defense appropriations conferees would be able to work out their differences and clear the House with a compromise measure before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. He made the forecast to The DAILY despite a $1.3 billion difference between the two bills, substantial differences on some major programs, and a veto threat letter that runs to five pages.
An infrared search and track system and laser range finder that could be used by high-flying unmanned aerial vehicles to detect distant launches of theater ballistic missiles will be demonstrated on a E-2C aircraft, under current U.S. Navy plans. The effort would be divided into two phases, risk mitigation for the sensor, followed by integration and flight test, the Office of Naval Research said in a July 28 Commerce Business Daily notice. It said the risk mitigation phase would cost less than $8 million.
Russian and U.S. space officials were able to come to a quick agreement Wednesday to pull Astronaut Wendy Lawrence from the next Mir crew in favor of her spacewalk-qualified male backup, but many issues remain to be settled as the two International Space Station partners struggle to cope with a serious space emergency across cultural lines.
EDO CORP., College Point, N.Y., won a $1.4 million contract from Boeing Defense&Space Group for Weapons Bay Suspension&Release Equipment (S&RE) for the Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstration phase. The contract will be performed by EDO's Marine and Aircraft Systems business unit.
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), chairman of the House National Security research and development subcommittee, said yesterday that there is about a $2.5 billion collective difference between fiscal 1998 programs under his subcommittee's jurisdiction and Administration requests. He also saw "major problems" for the House-Senate defense authorization conference in the R&D area.
China Southern may have raised the stakes in the extended twin operations (ETOPS) derby in the Pacific with its inauguration last week of three-times weekly service between Guangzhou and Los Angeles using a GE90- 90B-powered Boeing 777.
Based Heico Corp. agreed to buy aircraft engine and airframe accessories service specialist Northwings Accessories for $10.5 million, and expects to close the deal by the end of next month. Northwings President Ramon Portela welcomed the deal, which he says should help give the small, fast-growing Miami overhauler the resources it needs to keep expanding.
Pratt&Whitney Canada recently began delivering the first production PT6A-68 turboprop engines to Raytheon Aircraft Company for the Beech MkII Joint Primary Aircraft Training (JPATS) program. Together the U.S. Air Force and Navy are scheduled to buy more than 700 JPATS aircraft, now formally designated the T-6A. The PT6A-68 is flat-rated at 1,100 shaft horsepower and includes an electronic power management system that integrates propeller angle and engine fuel flow control, and a single control lever providing a linear "jet-like" response, P&W says.
Thiokol and United Technologies' Chemical Systems Div. formed a joint venture to support TRW's bid on the U.S. ICBM Prime Integration contract, a multibillion program to combine supply and management of the ICBM force under a single prime contractor responsible for total system performance. The two rocket engine specialists will provide a propulsion system replacement for the Air Force Minuteman III ballistic missile, if the TRW team is selected. Contract award is due in December.
A modified Beech King Air C90B made its first Orenda V8 recip-powered flight in July, climbing rapidly to 4,500 feet and reaching 156 knots during the 10-minute hop, Orenda reports. Acceleration and rate of climb were "simply excellent," says test pilot Dee Haug. "The speed was 10 knots past our rotation target before we realized it. And she climbs at an astounding rate."
HUGHES MISSILE SYSTEMS CO. has delivered its first Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) portable missile test system to Danish Aerotech of Denmark. Hughes said it has given Danish Aerotech exclusive commercial use of the Advanced Missile Test System (AMTS). Danish Aerotech will support European users of the AMRAAM. The companies jointly funded AMTS development.
French enginemaker SNECMA is once again looking for a capital injection - this time a FFr2 billion (US$340 million) top-up by the end of 1998, according to French newspaper reports. "SNECMA expects a lot from the state," says Chairman Jean-Paul Bechat. "Financial backing, as its own equity has sunk FFr450 million ($76.5 million) into the red" and "support to maintain the level of its research and technology capital."
United Airlines signed engine maintenance contracts with Aeromexico, Aeroperu and Mexicana which together will be worth some $60 million over their life. Under the agreements, United will be the exclusive repair and overhaul supplier for all Pratt&Whitney PW2000 medium turbofans powering Boeing 757s flown by the three carriers. United expects the five-year agreements to bring in more than 85,000 hours of work to the mechanics at its huge San Francisco Maintenance Operations Center.
Britain will follow EuroFLAG's example of issuing RFPs for the European Future Large Aircraft through the Airbus Military Company (AMC), U.K. Defense Secretary George Robertson confirmed to Parliament yesterday, but the FLA group would be encouraged to follow the U.K.'s lead in seeking alternative bids to meet Royal Air Force requirements for new transport aircraft.
United Technologies' Sikorsky helicopter unit chose Lucas Aerospace to supply all of the flexible drive couplings for Sikorsky's new 19-passenger S-92 Helibus helicopter. Each shipset includes two high-speed input drive couplings, five tail rotor drive couplings and one flexible tail rotor drive shaft. Lucas Aerospace Power Transmission, Utica, N.Y., will supply the titanium couplings, which transmit power from the main rotor gearbox to the tail rotor.
Will attempt to launch its OrbView-2 commercial remote sensing satellite Friday aboard a Pegasus XL air-launched booster flying out of Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The company bills OrbView-2 as the first privately owned satellite able to provide multispectral imagery of the earth's surface, but it has a long history. Originally named SeaStar, the satellite was developed to carry the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (Sea-WiFS) under a March 1991 NASA data-purchase contract that has been cited by Administrator Daniel S.
CHINA'S LONG MARCH 3B is scheduled to orbit the Mabuhay telecommunications satellite for the Philippines next month in its first launch attempt since an identical rocket exploded in February 1996, destroying the Intelsat 708 satellite (DAILY, Feb. 15, 1996). Xinhua news agency reported another Long March will attempt in September to orbit the replacement for the Apstar 2 communications satellite lost in the liftoff explosion of a Long March 2E in January 1995 (DAILY, Jan. 27, 1995). In June Hughes Electronics Corp.
LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES AND GTE GOVERNMENT SYSTEMS CORP. will compete for $2.9 billion worth of voice, video, and data modernization work for U.S. Navy base-level infrastructure. AT&T Government Markets and Bell Atlantic Federal Integrated Systems were included in the program but withdrew after learning they wouldn't be the sole contractors. Each of the remaining two companies is guaranteed $1 million and will compete for the remaining business.
