NASA is spending about $500,000 this year to identify technologies for an advanced "X-suit" that an astronaut may someday wear in orbit as the space agency works to develop spacesuits for planetary explorers.
R. Bruce Gerding, formerly vice president and deputy general manager of the Civil and International Systems Division of TRW's Redondo Beach-based Space and Electronics Group (S&EG), has been appointed vice president and manager director of the Odyssey Services Organization. Edward J. Nowacki was named vice president and manager of the Odyssey Systems Program.
Israel Aircraft Industries' Heron unmanned aerial vehicle reached a system best altitude of 32,000 feet during a Feb. 20 test flight. IAI said the flight took place at an undisclosed site in northern- central Israel that it shares with the Israeli Defense Forces. Heron will eventually operate above 35,000 feet and fly for 35-45 hours, IAI said. It also said the UAV's weight was 2,400 pounds and that it could carry a payload of 1,100 pounds.
Michael Blair was appointed vice president, sales and marketing. Previously, Blair was vice president of sales and business development for Comstream Corp.
A draft NASA reorganization plan prepared by a small "red team" of senior agency managers sees Kennedy Space Center as a government-owned, contractor-operated facility in sole charge of the Space Shuttle program, with the private sector taking over the operation of large chunks of other agency assets around the country as well.
W. Glenn Yarborough was elected corporate vice president of Allied Research. Previously, Yarborough was director of marketing of Grumman's Electronic Systems Division.
Pratt&Whitney has started making parts for the first two production- standard versions of the F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter's F119 turbofan, and should have parts ready for assembly in about a year, P&W reported yesterday. P&W's manufacturing facility in East Hartford, Conn., cut the first chips on F119 parts on Jan. 31, but parts are also being made at Pratt plants in Florida, Georgia and Maine, as well as at supplier facilities scattered over 33 states.
Here are the roles and missions suggested for NASA field centers in a senior-level white paper on agency restructuring: -- Ames Research Center: High productivity aerodynamic testing, simulation, computation simulation, information systems technology, rotorcraft, aviation human factors. Shut down space programs, Crow's Landing; transfer centrifuge to Johnson Space Center, all aircraft to Dryden, Moffett Field operations elsewhere.
C.L. (Neil) Hensel, formerly vice president and general manager, Perkin Elmer Corp., Danbury, Conn. operations, has been appointed senior vice president of the corporation and president and general manager of the Titan Systems (East) group.
U.S. Marine Corps officials involved in the withdrawal of U.N. troops and equipment from Somalia may use non-lethal weapons such as sticky goo and tear gas-laced foam for crowd control, a senior military official told reporters. A small number of Marines have received "very extensive" training to use the weapons, which were recommended by policemen who are part of a Marine Corps reserve unit in Los Angeles, the official said Friday during a background briefing at the Pentagon.
MARTIN MARIETTA Astro Space, East Windsor, N.J., yesterday received a $5.3 million increase to a U.S. Air Force contract for concept exploration and definition support of the Nation Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System. The contract was awarded by the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
The U.S. On-Site Inspection Agency (OSIA) on March 1 will begin "very intrusive and very comprehensive" START I inspections in the former Soviet Union, Brig. Gen. Gregory G. Govan, the agency's director, said yesterday. During a 120-day baseline inspection period, OSIA officials will compile a full inventory of strategic nuclear delivery systems in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine, Govan told reporters in a Pentagon briefing.
February 14, 1995 Bath Iron Works Corporation, Bath, Maine, is being awarded a $28,203,173 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-91-C-2800 to exercise an option for Lead Yard Class Services for DDG 51 Class AEGIS destroyers. Work will be performed in Bath Maine, and is expected to be completed by December 1995. Contract funds in the amount of $5,000,000 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-91-C-2800).
Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Group chief Ken Cannestra, poised to become President of the Aeronautics Sector created by the planned Lockheed- Martin Marietta merger, will instead step down when the deal closes next month, Lockheed reported yesterday.
BELL-BOEING Joint Program Office yesterday was awarded an additional $375 million for continued engineering and manufacturing development of the V-22 aircraft. The contract was awarded by U.S. Naval Air Systems Command.
