NASA's 7,000-pound Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer could re-enter the Earth's atmosphere as early as 10 p.m. EST Jan. 30 or as late as 7 a.m. EST Jan. 31, the aerospace agency said Jan. 29. As of Jan. 29, the EUVE was about 124 miles above the Earth and descending at a rate of 15.5 miles per day. The debris field it will create is estimated to be between 500-625 miles long.
MLRS SALE: Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control has received a Foreign Military Sales contract worth $30 million to deliver Multiple Launch Rocket System M270A1 launchers to the Republic of Korea, the company announced Jan. 29. This is the first foreign sale of the launchers.
TEXAS A&M'S DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL AND AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING is working with NASA to devise ways to provide food and clean air to future astronauts by growing plants that can tolerate the low air pressures found on Mars, according to Texas A&M. "If we're going to Mars, we've got to be able to produce our own food and convert the carbon dioxide we exhale into oxygen that we can inhale. Plants are really good at doing all of these things," said Ron Lacey, a member of the department who is working on the program.
TEXAS A&M'S DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL AND AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING is working with NASA to devise ways to provide food and clean air to future astronauts by growing plants that can tolerate the low air pressures found on Mars, according to Texas A&M. "If we're going to Mars, we've got to be able to produce our own food and convert the carbon dioxide we exhale into oxygen that we can inhale. Plants are really good at doing all of these things," said Ron Lacey, a member of the department who is working on the program.
BAE Systems delivered the first of 62 upgraded Jaguar GR.3A ground-attack fighters to the United Kingdom Defence Logistics Organization on Jan. 28. The company is installing Rolls-Royce Adour Mk 106 turbofan engines in the aircraft under a 1998 contract worth 105 million pounds ($147 million at current exchange rates). After completing extensive trials, the first upgraded GR.3A was flown from BAE Systems' factory airfield at Warton on Jan. 24 to the RAF's Jaguar operating base at Coltishall, in Norfolk, for the official delivery.
Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-Mo.), a member of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, introduced a bill Jan. 29 to create a new unified command to coordinate the U.S. military's homeland security efforts. Bond's bill calls for an active duty four-star general to head the command. It also calls for an Army National Guard or Air National Guard officer to be the deputy commander-in-chief to ensure the Guard is fully integrated into the new command.
The Department of Defense is seeking ways to eliminate statutory and regulatory limitation on the use of multiyear leasing, according to an internal DOD memo. In a memo dated Nov. 1, 2001, acquisition czar E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, Jr. and Pentagon Comptroller Dov Zakheim wrote, "Leasing has several potential benefits to the Department and provides greater flexibility in dealing with changing requirements." The Pentagon should consider using leases of capital assets "when it makes good business sense," says the memo.
LAUNCH DATE: Japan's National Space Development Agency has confirmed it plans the second launch of the H-IIA for Feb. 3. The agency had previously said that would be the earliest launch date for the vehicle. The H-IIA was supposed to launch Jan. 31, but that was delayed to allow for replacement of a pressure-regulating valve in the booster's liquid oxygen tank.
Homeland defense needs may boost smaller companies, but they are unlikely to become a substantial part of the business of major aerospace and defense companies, according to Frank Lanza, chairman and CEO of L-3 Communications Corp. The reason, Lanza said in a Jan. 29 interview with the DAILY, is that the potential volume of sales generated by the production of such equipment pales in comparison with the revenue generated by existing programs featuring weapons platforms and subsystems.
Top officials of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) have welcomed the decision by the German parliament confirming plans to acquire 73 Airbus A400M military transport aircraft for the German armed forces. EADS issued a statement from co-CEOs Philippe Camus and Rainer Hertrich that said, "We are pleased by the fact that there is broad consensus between the major German parties, and between government and opposition, on the necessity to acquire 73 military transport aircraft for Germany, and on the European A400M program in general."
SPACE IMAGING of Denver is offering one-meter resolution, stereo imagery from its IKONOS satellite to the commercial marketplace. This imagery was previously only offered to government customers, according to the company. Stereo products consist of two IKONOS satellite images of the same location on Earth, taken from two different perspectives during one orbital pass. One of the images is taken at a high elevation angle of greater than 72 degrees, which can be used to make an orthorectified image.
NEW DELHI - Chief of Naval Staff Madhvendra Singh said the most pressing problem facing the Indian navy is replacing its aircraft carriers, the INS Vikrant and INS Viraat. The INS Vikrant has been decommissioned and turned into a floating museum anchored in Bombay's harbor. The Viraat has had recent upgrades, but has "only a limited amount of life left," Singh said during his first press conference, held earlier this month.
Homeland defense needs may boost smaller companies, but they are unlikely to become a substantial part of the business of major aerospace and defense companies, according to Frank Lanza, chairman and CEO of L-3 Communications Corp. The reason, Lanza said in a Jan. 29 interview with the DAILY, is that the potential volume of sales generated by the production of such equipment pales in comparison with the revenue generated by existing programs featuring weapons platforms and subsystems.
Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-Mo.), a member of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee, introduced a bill Jan. 29 to create a new unified command to coordinate the U.S. military's homeland security efforts. Bond's bill calls for an active duty four-star general to head the command. It also calls for an Army National Guard or Air National Guard officer to be the deputy commander-in-chief to ensure the Guard is fully integrated into the new command.
LONDON - BAE Systems delivered the first of 62 upgraded Jaguar GR.3A ground-attack fighters to the United Kingdom Defence Logistics Organization on Jan. 28. The company is installing Rolls-Royce Adour Mk 106 turbofan engines in the aircraft under a 1998 contract worth 105 million pounds ($147 million at current exchange rates). After completing extensive trials, the first upgraded GR.3A was flown from BAE Systems' factory airfield at Warton on Jan. 24 to the RAF's Jaguar operating base at Coltishall, in Norfolk, for the official delivery.
Battered by the decrease in commercial aircraft orders following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Goodrich Corp. announced a loss of $54 million in net earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001. The company also announced that FY 2002 earnings might fall short of expectations due to decreased aircraft orders from the Boeing Co. and Airbus Industrie.
Battered by the decrease in commercial aircraft orders following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Goodrich Corp. announced a loss of $54 million in net earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001. The company also announced that FY 2002 earnings might fall short of expectations due to decreased aircraft orders from the Boeing Co. and Airbus Industrie.
AEROJET of Sacramento, Calif. has delivered the Deorbit Propulsion Stage (DPS) for the X-38, NASA's full-scale prototype for the International Space Station's Crew Return Vehicle (CRV). The DPS has been delivered to Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston. JSC will conduct acceptance testing and system integration, combined structural testing and other testing leading to a possible flight test in late 2004 or early 2005.
About $58 billion has been provided for homeland security and the war on terrorism since Sept. 11, but the money's allocation is sometimes difficult to track, says a report issued by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington, D.C. think tank. The Jan. 24 says the $58 billion consists of about $18 billion provided in the fiscal year 2002 appropriations bill and another $40 billion from emergency supplemental appropriations.
NEW DELHI - The nuclear-capable Agni ballistic missile that India tested Jan. 25 is a new weapon in the country's inventory, according to sources. The missile, which has a payload capacity of 800-1,000 kilograms (1,764-2,205 pounds), has a range of 700 kilometers (435 miles). It will bridge the gap between the Prithvi, which has a range of 350 kilometers (217 miles) and the Agni-2, which has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles). Agni-2 missiles are now in production.
Rolls-Royce is offering its Trent 500 engine for Japan's C-X next-generation tactical transport program. The C-X is being developed for the Air Self-Defense Force by the Technical Research and Development Institute of Japan's Defense Agency and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The twin-engined C-X is intended to replace Kawasaki C-1s currently in service. The institute also is developing an indigenously designed medium-thrust turbofan engine for the MPX, a four-engined replacement for the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Lockheed/Kawasaki P-3Cs.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) plan to host a conference in March aimed at bringing innovative new technological ideas to the table to help fight America's 21st century conflicts.
The nuclear-capable Agni ballistic missile that India tested Jan. 25 is a new weapon in the country's inventory, according to sources. The missile, which has a payload capacity of 800-1,000 kilograms (1,764-2,205 pounds), has a range of 700 kilometers (435 miles). It will bridge the gap between the Prithvi, which has a range of 350 kilometers (217 miles) and the Agni-2, which has a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles). Agni-2 missiles are now in production.
Although a direct hit was not the primary objective of the Jan. 25 test of the Sea-based Midcourse Missile Defense System, the "fly-by" missile test resulted in a hit-to-kill intercept, according to the Department of Defense. At 9 p.m. EST on Jan. 25, an Aries target missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. About eight minutes later, a developmental version of Raytheon's Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), which uses a kinetic warhead, was launched from the Aegis Cruiser USS Lake Erie.
