In an effort to focus federal efforts to combat terrorism and deal with its aftermath, U.S. senators representing several key committees will conduct hearings May 8-10. "These hearings are an important first step toward a coordinated federal effort to combat terrorism," said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) in announcing the hearings. "They represent a willingness among congressional committees to join forces to address this important national security issue."
Three miniature robot airplanes equipped with sophisticated instruments have been buzzing over the Arctic sea ice near Barrow, Alaska, providing University of Colorado-Boulder researchers and North Slope residents with critical new data on atmospheric and environmental changes. Known as aerosondes, the three-foot-long, 30-pound drones made a series of flights last month to help researchers monitor temperatures, humidity and wind speeds, said Judith Curry, an aerospace engineer at the university.
COMPUTER SCIENCES CORP. of Falls Church, Va., has had its information services contract with NASA extended by the space agency. The latest option, valued at $108 million, extends from May 1, 2001 to April 30, 2002, continuing services the company has provided since the Program Information Systems Mission Services (PriSMS) contract was originally awarded in 1994.
XM SATELLITE RADIO has set May 8 as the new launch date for XM "Roll," the second of two satellites built by Boeing Satellite Systems for the company, which plans to broadcast 100 channels of digital-quality radio programs. The satellite, a Boeing 702 model, will launch from the Sea Launch platform in the Pacific Ocean. The first XM satellite, "Rock," launched from the Sea Launch platform on March 18.
CYBERNET SYSTEMS, an Internet research and development company in Ann Arbor, Mich., has had its gesture recognition technology selected by NASA for use at the space agency's new Bioastronautics Exhibit at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. At the exhibit, scheduled to open in August, visitors will be able to lead their own virtual reality tours of the International Space Station by commanding a computer with a series of simple hand gestures.
The U.S. Army has awarded Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. a $219.7 million research, development, test and evaluation contract to upgrade UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, the company announced May 3. The program will ultimately involve the modernization of as many as 1,200 aircraft over the next 25 years, according to Sikorsky. "This program will marry the latest technology to a venerable battle-tested machine," said Dean Borgman, Sikorsky's president.
Israeli military favors dual capability Maj. Gen. Isaac Ben Israel, the head of the research and development department in the Israeli Ministry of Defense, told reporters that the Raytheon-made AMRAAM is "still a very good missile" that belongs in Israel's arsenal. But he said Israel wanted to develop its own new medium-range missile to keep its technological edge over its potential rivals, some of whom may be able to buy the AMRAAM from the U.S.
MD ROBOTICS, a subsidiary of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Assoc. Ltd., of Brampton, Ontario, has received a $38.5 million contract from NASA's Johnson Space Center to provide continued engineering support to robotics elements on both the space shuttle and the International Space Station. The contract adds to sustaining engineering services already provided to NASA by MDA to support their "Canadarms" on the space shuttle fleet and the recently installed Robotic Work Station on the space station.
NASA has awarded three $8 million contracts to Balle Aerospace and Technologies, of Boulder, Colo., ITT Industries, of Fort Wayne, Ind., and Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing, of Goleta, Calif., for formulation phase work on an advanced imager for the next generation of geostationary weather satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Spacehab, Inc. has been awarded the first Bigelow Prize for contributing the most toward the promotion and use of space for private enterprise purposes. Spacehab, which leases its modules to NASA and commercial users, will receive a $10,000 award and trophy at a ceremony this summer. The prize was announced by Robert T. Bigelow and the Space Transportation Association.
TRIMBLE announced it has been awarded a $2.7 million contract from the Boeing Co. for the U.S. Air Force KC-10A Aircraft Global Air Traffic Management upgrade program. The Sunnyvale, Calif., will incorporate Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module capability into its TASMAN ARINC-12 GPS navigation receiver and make other improvements to the TA-12.
Britain's House of Lords voted April 30 for fresh investigations by a select committee into the 1994 crash of an RAF Chinook HC.2 helicopter, which killed all 29 occupants. The vote reflected continuing long-term public disquiet with the findings of the original official enquiry, which attributed the loss of the Chinook to "gross negligence" on the part of the two highly experienced pilots. The Chinook flew into high ground in bad weather while returning over the Irish Sea from Ulster.
Based on the findings of the recent Space Commission report, the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) eventually will be placed under Air Force Space Command, predicted Lt. Gen. Eugene L. Tattini, the center's commander. Tattini, who is three weeks from retirement, also said he believes the Air Force eventually will provide Air Force Space Command its own 4-star commander, rather than "dual-hatting" its commander.
Capitol Hill proponents of missile defense praised President Bush's call for the country to "move beyond" the constraints of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and build a missile defense shield, but skeptics said the speech didn't answer some difficult questions. Speaking May 1 at the National Defense University at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., Bush said, "we need a new framework that allows us to build missile defenses to counter the different threats of today's world" (DAILY, May 2). Speech drew GOP praise
The Pentagon's former director of operational test and evaluation (DOT&E) was surprised to hear that the MV-22 program manager testified before Congress Tuesday that he did not know about catastrophic failures occurring in the aircraft's hydraulic system until days before the hearing.
Raytheon Co. has received a $61 million Lot 5 contract award from the Air Force Electronic Warfare Product Group, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Ga., for towed decoys and infrastructure equipment supporting the AF's ALE-50 towed decoy system. The award is part of an original contract that began in 1996. The Lot 5 award calls for 2,477 towed decoys, 111 launcher/controllers for AF F-16 aircraft, 57 dual compatible launchers for B-1B aircraft and 19 fault isolation testers.
Boeing has launched a Longer-Range 747-400 freighter with the first aircraft, one of five, going to International Lease Finance Corp in a order valued at $1 billion list price. ILFC will receive the first aircraft in October when it will be leased to Qantas Airways, Aerospace Daily affiliate Aviation Daily reported.
Despite continued enthusiasm for the concept on the part of the Air Force, single-stage-to-orbit could sap critical resources from more promising approaches to advancing launch technology, according to United Space Alliance Chief Operating Officer and former shuttle astronaut Mike McCulley.
NASA officials will meet with their Russian International Space Station Alpha partners to discuss what space tourist Dennis Tito may have cost the U.S. in terms of missed work and lost research time, NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin told members of Congress. "The Russians have agreed that we will do an assessment after the mission and that we will get reimbursement for the costs," Goldin told members of a House Science Committee panel on May 2.
Israel's Rafael has teamed up with a major American defense contractor in hopes of selling its Black Sparrow missile to the U.S. military for use in missile defense testing, company officials said May 2. In testing its now-operational Arrow missile defense system, Israel used the air-to-ground Black Sparrow to emulate an incoming Iraqi Scud ballistic missile. Rafael believes the Black Sparrow would be useful to the U.S. in conducting test shootdowns or radar tests for several missile defense programs in development.
The U.S. Navy has awarded an additional $106.5 million to Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of the Northrop Grumman Corp., for continued work on the construction of an eighth WASP (LHD 1) Class large-deck, multipurpose assault ship. Under the modified contract awarded May 1, Ingalls will buy long-lead material, develop planning for the ship's construction, perform design work and buy spare equipment.
Rating service Fitch changed its rating outlook for the Raytheon Co. from negative to stable on May 2 following improvements in operating cash flow and profit margins in the company's core businesses. Those businesses include Raytheon's Electronic Systems; Command, Control, Communication and Information Systems; and Technical Services. These units account for 80% of the company's revenues and have all produced solid financial results over the past three quarters, Fitch said.
Avexus Inc., of San Diego, announced May 2 it has acquired Impresa, a leading provider of software for the management of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) activities on long-life, highly engineered assets used in the aerospace and defense industries. The company acquired Impresa - a division of Epicor Software Corp. - to build a leading position in the MRO enterprise software category. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
BOEING/McDonnell Douglas of St. Louis, Mo., was awarded a $320 million indefinite quantity type contract for a three-year base period for procurement of F-15, F-18 and AV-8B weapon systems, the Pentagon announced May 1. This is a sole source contract.
California Microwave Systems (CMS), a unit of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector, has been awarded a $10 million increment as part of an estimated $27.4 million contract by the U.S. Army to begin work on a sixth RC-7B Airborne Reconnaissance Low-Multifunction (ARL-M) aircraft.
