Boeing is putting a model of its proposed 747-500X airliner through 1,000 hours of wind tunnel testing in the U.S. and England to help engineers evaluate performance of a new, larger wing, which would also be used on the 747-600X. Low-speed tests are being conducted at the Defense Research Agency in Farnborough, England, and high-speed tests are underway at the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tullahoma, Tenn. The main engine in Boeing's own 50-year-old wind tunnel is being replaced.
The U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., is bringing back a veteran aircraft. In a recent Commerce Business Daily notice, the Center says it's looking for a full-scale replica of the Bell X-1 airplane as it appeared on Oct. 14, 1947, the day it became the first plane to break the sound barrier, with Chuck Yeager at the controls. And the Air Force doesn't want a rough copy. It's asking for overall dimensions within a one-inch tolerance. Next year is the fiftieth anniversary of the flight, and of the Air Force itself.
Don't look for Herb Lanese to be replaced immediately as head of McDonnell Douglas Aerospace. MDC President and CEO Harry Stonecipher tells reporters in Washington on Friday that this will take at least 90 to 120 days. He says without elaboration that there are certain changes he wants to implement in the meantime.
Orbit International Corp., Hauppauge, N.Y., recorded $741,000 in net income on $4.8 million in sales for the third quarter, but the company continues to post a loss for the first nine months of 1996 as it rids itself of apparel segments and returns its focus to electronics.
Stonecipher also says he doesn't see timing of the firing - just before the Nov. 18 Joint Strike Fighter downselect - as a problem. He says that "if I believed it affected [the downselect] to any degree, I would not have done it." MDC announced the action on Oct. 25.
The U.S. Navy and Air Force are changing the software of the High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile as part of the Block 5 upgrade, but Navy Capt. William Belden tells The DAILY that HARM will also get "a new capability, which is home-in on ground-based jammers." The HARM receiver always could support the anti-jammer mission, but the software didn't support it. The new capability will be fielded in fiscal 1999.
Russia has slipped its planned Nov. 16 launch of the Mars '96 mission to the Red Planet four days because of technical problems with the Proton booster that will lift it from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Officials see no show-stoppers, and the delay won't impact the overall mission. Meanwhile, NASA is preparing to launch its first mission to Mars since the ill-fated Mars Observer on Wednesday. A McDonnell Douglas Delta II is scheduled to lift the Mars Global Surveyor at 12:11 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla., with a second opportunity at 1:16 p.m.
Graduate students at Stanford University have brought GPS techniques originally developed for satellite orbit control down to Earth with a project for a robotic tractor. Working with the John Deere company, the students are developing a satellite-based navigation system able to produce position data accurate enough for autonomous operations even with a tractor pulling a heavy plow through uneven soil over rough terrain.
At the same time, House National Security Chairman Rep. Floyd Spence (R-S.C.) issues a report prepared by the majority staff that is highly critical of the Clinton Administration for "not taking the necessary steps to ensure the safety and reliability of the nuclear stockpile and longer-term viability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent." Said Spence in a statement: "The past four years have witnessed the dramatic decline of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex and the uniquely skilled workforce that is responsible for maintaining our nuclear deterrent."
The Joint Direct Attack Munition suffered an early test program setback last week when it failed to acquire Global Positioning System satellites in its first GPS-aided flight. In two "cold" passes at the Eglin AFB, Fla., range, JDAM "worked fine," with the guidance tail kit receiving GPS data. When it was released, however, it "did not receive GPS signals" and reverted to inertial navigation system guidance, Oscar Soler, the Air Force JDAM program manager, told The DAILY Friday.
House and Senate Republican and Democratic caucus leaders hope to tackle many housekeeping issues and decide committee leadership posts this month, but it may take a lot longer than they expect. While many of the chair slots could be filled, there are a some runoff elections, in Texas, for instance, that won't be decided until the first week of December. And, because there are so many close races this year, results may not come back as completely and quickly as some lawmakers would like.
Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) has completed work on the ground facility it will use to control experiments aboard the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) once it's attached to the International Space Station after the turn of the century. The Space Station Operations Facility (SSOF) at NASDA's Tsukuba Space Center near Tokyo will be staffed around the clock to help Station astronauts operate JEM systems and experiments, although primary control of the Station will reside in Mission Control Centers in Houston and Moscow.
The U.S. Navy has begun collecting information in support of a new mission needs statement (MNS) for a anti-radar missile that would be faster than the existing Texas Instruments High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), a Navy official said yesterday. "I've been tasked to look at writing a mission needs statement for a higher speed weapon [with] potential to replace HARM," John Heidt, the Navy's HARM requirements officer, told The DAILY in an interview.
ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. aborted the launch of a NASA-funded Pegasus XL again Wednesday, about five seconds before it was to be dropped from its converted L-1011 carrier aircraft. A pin holding one of the winged rocket's fins in place could not be disengaged quickly enough, and the battery powering the fins ran down. A NASA spokesman said Orbital didn't believe the problem was serious and could make another attempt Saturday. It was the company's second try at launching satellites supplied by Argentina and MIT from the airspace off Wallops Flight Facility, Va.
ELBIT LTD., Haifa, Israel, said it has signed a contract to upgrade helicopters of the Romanian Air Force. The contract, worth about $100 million, extends through 2001 and includes development, production and supply of upgraded helicopters. The Romanian Ministry of National Defense also expanded an existing contract with Elbit to upgrade the Air Force's MiG-21 fighters. The $35 million extension lasts through 2001, according to the company.
NASA is working with other spacefaring nations to organize an international survey of the environment at geostationary orbit to see if there is an orbital debris problem at that altitude that could threaten spacecraft operating there, the U.S. space agency's orbital debris expert said yesterday. George M. Levin of the Office of Space Flight told the NASA Advisory Council that four U.S. observing campaigns conducted since 1992 have produced some evidence of debris at GEO, but more information is needed.
AMERICAN MOBILE SATELLITE CO. reported a net loss of $103.4 million for the first nine months of 1996, reflecting "somewhat disappointing" subscriber and revenue growth in the words of Gary Parsons, who took over as AMSC president and chief executive two months ago. At the end of September the company had about 13,400 subscribers for its satellite-based mobile communications services, and had shifted its marketing away from the dual-mode satellite/cellular voice service it launched early this year (DAILY, Jan.
During a recent exercise, a U.S. Navy combat identification system demonstrated its interoperability with Army and Air Force command, control, communications, computers and intelligence systems, the Marine Corps said.
Small planes and helicopters were among targets tracked by Lockheed Martin's "Sea Sentinel" Undersea Coastal Surveillance System (UCSS) during a demonstration last month in Puget Sound for visiting allied navies, the company reported. In addition to targets near, but above the ocean surface, the coastal and harbor defense system tracked more traditional sonar targets such as speed boats and large surface vessels, said Lockheed Martin. It noted that "all [are] methods of transportation used by those engaging in terrorism and other illegal activity."
Lockheed Martin is undertaking research and development of an air-to- air/air-to-ground hypersonic missile intended originally as a boost phase interceptor.
HUGHES' DIRECTV INC. unit signed up its two millionth subscriber for its direct-to-home satellite broadcast service this month, a 100% increase over the past 11 months. The U.S. service was launched in June 1994 and now equals the seventh largest multiple system cable operator in size, Directv said. The fast-growing company said it is continuing to expand into new markets beyond its single-family home service, including multiple-family dwellings, commercial establishments, recreational vehicles and boats.
Despite a 6% drop in sales, Olin Corp., Norwalk, Conn., recorded the highest third quarter net income in its history, the company said. It earned $37.8 million on sales of $748.6 million. It made $31.1 million on revenues of $796.4 million in the same quarter last year. Sales in the Ordnance and Aerospace division fell from $202.9 million last year to $184.4 million this year, but aerospace profits improved due to the elimination of certain programs.
