NASA and the European Space Agency are in the early stages of developing a joint Mars-exploration strategy to pool their limited resources, and could begin mounting joint missions to the red planet as early as 2016.
XCOR Aerospace is scheduled to start rocket tests for its prototype Lynx suborbital vehicle this week, after announcing a partnership with RocketShip Tours which will sell rides to the edge of space for $95,000.
The bluish-white frost visible at the Mars Phoenix landing site in October heralded the end of the spacecraft’s mission, which finally came Nov. 29 when controllers stopped trying to use spacecraft orbiting Mars to contact the lander. Phoenix last communicated with the Mars Odyssey orbiter on Nov. 2, and after one final try to use Odyssey, mission managers gave up the hunt.
Passenger traffic remained negative in October, with freight growth “poor,” according to the Airports Council International. Global traffic stayed depressed at -3.4% as a result of an average 5% decline in worldwide domestic activity. International traffic growth was down 1.4% compared with the same month in 2007. Total worldwide freight decreased 7%, with international freight falling 8% and domestic, 5%. For the first 10 months of the year, passenger traffic remained flat at -0.6%, and total freight was down by -0.3%. The outlook for the immediate future?
Competitors lining up for Greece’s fighter procurement are geared for a delay in the program, with a request for proposals possibly slipping to the middle of 2009, or beyond.
USAF Brig. Gen. Bradley A. Heithold, who has been selected for promotion to major general, has been named commander of the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency, Lackland AFB, Tex. He has been director of plans, programs, requirements and assessments at Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) headquarters, Hurlburt Field, Fla. Heithold will be succeeded by Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Trask, who has been commander of the 23rd Air Force and Air Force Special Operations Command/director of operations at AFSOC headquarters.
A standardization renaissance in Boeing’s 500,000-sq.-ft. Satellite Development Center here has resulted in the development of a pulse production line that draws on lean manufacturing technology—a hallmark of the company’s airplane assembly programs.
One of those technologies—cheap, commercially available digital weaponry—is multiplying faster than the Pentagon can afford to counter them, say top electronic warfare specialists. “If we don’t understand that this is where the threat is going,” says one, then the Defense Dept. will be building systems—“including the F-22 and F-35”—with questionable combat usefulness for the current environment. Even countries with entrenched infrastructures, like China and Russia, are shifting to commercial products.
SLCA, a subsidiary of Safran’s Aircelle unit, will supply composite rudder and elevator flight control surfaces for Embraer’s Legacy 500 and 450 midsize-cabin business jets that are scheduled to enter service in 2012 and 2013, respectively. This is the second contract with Embraer for SLCA; the first was for composite aft-fuselage and cockpit structures for the Phenom 100 very light jet and 170/190-series regional airline aircraft.
With the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, many Americans saw the victory as cause for renewed hope and optimism for a more secure future for themselves, their families and their nation. And that’s not all. In what clearly was a mandate for change of historic proportions, voters also embraced the idea that government has a positive—and in all likelihood larger—role to play in making America a better place. The extent to which Washington can do the same for industry remains to be seen.
Royal Air Force Air Marshal Stephen Dalton (see photo) has been appointed the U.K.’s next chief of air staff, effective July 31. He will succeed Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy. Dalton has been deputy commander-in-chief for personnel. Following Dalton will be Air Vice Marshal Simon Bryant, who will be promoted to air marshal. Air Marshal Christopher Moran has been promoted to air chief marshal and will become commander-in-chief of Air Command and air aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II. He succeeds Air Chief Marshal Sir Clive Loader, who is retiring.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Bettina H. Chavanne (Washington)
The fight between Congress and Pentagon senior civilians about funding production of 20 new F‑22s is not over. Four senior members of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) sent a letter of protest to Defense Secretary Robert Gates Nov. 21 concerning the accuracy of testimony by Pentagon acquisition chief John Young.
Missile defense advocates, worrying about congressional ambivalence for the program, are relying on a documentary film to help make their case. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, is bankrolling the film, 33 Minutes, to publicize the need for missile defense in an uncertain world. The title refers to the time a ballistic missile takes to reach the U.S. “The longest times are typically 33, 34 minutes,” from North Korea or Iran, Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry (Trey) Obering, 3rd, the departing commander of the Missile Defense Agency, says in the film.
Lufthansa is creating a subsidiary in Italy, Lufthansa Italia. The carrier will operate six Airbus A319s starting next year from its Milan Malpensa base. The airline will be fully owned by Lufthansa, but will have its own air operators certificate. Service will start to Barcelona and Paris in February and expand to Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest, Madrid, London and Lisbon soon after. Lufthansa and Air France-KLM continue to battle over a minority stake in Alitalia.
Megan Rae Rosia has been appointed a partner in the Aviation Group of Washington law firm Crowell & Moring . She was assistant FAA administrator for government and industry affairs.
The liquidating trustee for Dornier Aviation (North America) said it began seizing Hainan Airlines assets by garnishing the “first of several” bank accounts Nov. 25, and added it plans to pursue assets worldwide to collect on a U.S. court’s $14-million judgment against the Chinese carrier from August. Most of the $14 million is for parts, services and repairs Hainan acquired from Dornier.
USN Vice Adm. (ret.) John G. Cotton has become senior vice president-maritime and air warfare strategic plans and programs for DRS Technologies Inc. , Parsippany, N.J. He was chief of the Navy Reserve and commander of the Navy Reserve Force.
Judge James Cacheris of U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., is considering a motion by space-tourism travel agency Space Adventures to drop a lawsuit by Japan’s Daisuke Enomoto that charges the Virginia firm stiffed him on a refund when he was bumped from a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station in 2006. The Japanese millionaire paid a reported $21 million for one of the extra Soyuz “taxi seats” brokered by Space Adventures, and argues the no-refunds clause in his ticket doesn’t count.
NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland is investigating the best methods for monitoring pilots’ brain activity to help them realize when their stress, fatigue or distraction levels are edging into dangerous territory. The studies are employing functional near-infrared spectroscopy, also known as fNIRS, and other imaging technology to measure blood flow in the brain’s cortex and the concentration of oxygen in the blood. Researchers hope to improve the interaction between sophisticated avionics and the pilots that operate them, to improve decision-making and safety.
Boeing is admitting that issues on the 737 production line with non-conforming “nutplates,” small anchoring devices for wire and cable bundles, are more widespread than first believed. Nutplates lacking the correct anti-corrosion treatment like those on the affected 737s also have been installed on 747s, 767s and 777s, some as far back as September 2007. Replacing the units is further delaying Boeing’s recovery from the 57-day machinists’ strike, which has already led to a 10-week delay in deliveries of all models and pushed back first flight of the 787 into 2009.
Two factors affecting aviation maintenance training should profoundly influence this segment of the industry for the next decade. The first is the shortage of mechanics and technicians, a problem currently having more impact in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. The second factor is the level of IT skills needed to maintain new-generation aircraft.
Boeing is resuming flight tests of the 767-200SF special freighter in Seattle after a two-month hiatus caused by the now-settled machinists strike. The passenger-freighter conversion program is being developed with Alenia Aeronavali under an exclusive licensing agreement signed in October 2003, but has been hampered by a series of engineering hurdles and is running more than a year late. Unlike a competing 767-200 conversion program developed by Israel Aircraft Industries/Bedek, the modification with Alenia uses the Boeing amended type certificate.
As the Pentagon turns its focus to supporting the war in Afghanistan, a priority of the forthcoming Obama administration, the military services are planning to field new systems to enhance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) collection there.
NASA’s Ares I crew launch vehicle won’t be “significantly different” from today’s Atlas V and Delta IV rockets in the capabilities it will provide space-science missions, but the planned Ares V heavy-lift follow-on could be too capable for frequent NASA science launches, says a National Research Council committee. The panel was formed to evaluate the potential scientific windfall in 2020-35 from the Constellation Program vehicles planned for a human return to the Moon.
International Lease Finance Corp. CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy has confirmed months of speculation by revealing that he is attempting to put together a new ownership group, including the lessor’s current management. Such a deal would disentangle ILFC from current owner American International Group, which is being forced to sell subsidiaries. Udvar-Hazy reportedly says a deal will likely close early in 2009.
