Keep your cell phones "off" in flight. The Federal Communications Commission has halted proceedings on its December 2004 proposed rule to lift the ban on use of cell phones in flight. Current FCC regs require that cell phones be turned off once an aircraft is airborne to prevent possible interference with ground-based cellular network systems. The FAA, in sync for its own reasons, restricts use of cell phones and other portable electronic devices out of concern for possible interference with aircraft navigation/communications systems. In an Apr.
Michel Laroche has been appointed executive vice president of Paris-based Safran Aerospace Technologies. He has been chairman/CEO of Snecma Propulsion Solide. Laroche will be succeeded by Jean-Luc Engerand, who has been vice president/general manager of the Snecma Military Engine Div. Pascal Senechal, who has been chairman/CEO of Hispano-Suiza, will become chairman/CEO of Messier-Dowty, following Christian Knapp. Senechal will be succeeded by Olivier Horaist, who has been a vice president at Safran.
In addition to the Bigelow Aerospace manned commercial space infrastructure announcement, other National Space Symposium (NSS) highlights this week will involve:
The Bigelow Aerospace commercial inflatable manned space module venture intends to have three large multi-module outposts in Earth orbit by 2015 to serve different user communities. CEO Robert T. Bigelow says his engineers predict 800 paying crewmembers could fly to Bigelow outposts over the next 10 years. The Bigelow plan will headline the National Space Symposium (NSS), to be attended by 7,000 people in Colorado Springs, this week.
Europe's air transport industry could see major structural changes this year, as consolidation efforts appear to gain significant momentum. In a sequence of events, several high-profile takeover scenarios surfaced late last month: Texas Pacific Group (TPG) is looking at acquiring Iberia, Spain's biggest airline, and this could be followed by Lufthansa or British Airways, which could join the bid or sell its existing stake.
USAF Brig. Gen. (ret.) William L. Shields (Tucson, Ariz.)
In "Volatile Mix" and its sidebar, "Covert Chinese Asats" (AW&ST Mar. 5, pp. 24-26), Craig Covault stops short of identifying the threat that these developments pose for what Stephen Budiansky (Air Power) calls "the new American way of war."
An article on a synthetic-fuels emissions test using a rich-quench-lean Pratt & Whitney Talon X combustor (AW&ST Mar. 19/26, p. 106) misstated the results. The test indicated equivalent levels of nitrogen oxide and identical combustion efficiencies compared to Jet A.
Coalition forces should benefit much more from scarce intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) sensor and data exploitation systems if a NATO live demonstration of a new concept for multi-sensor ISR interoperability is successful. The demonstration, Trial Quest 07, is scheduled for September in Norway with the involvement of almost 20 space-based, airborne and land ISR sensor platforms.
NASA's operating plan for Fiscal 2007, still in the works as the agency struggles to accommodate a $528.1-million cut, calls for killing a proposed robotic lunar lander outright, as expected, and slips the initial operational capability of its planned Orion/Ares I follow-on to the space shuttle. But the plan calls for adding funds to two high-profile (and high-cost) space science programs--the Mars Science Laboratory and James Webb Space Telescope--to keep them on schedule for launch dates in 2009 and 2013, respectively.
North Korea proclaimed itself a world nuclear power last Oct. 9 with its nuclear weapon test. Debate about the size or success of the test aside, the event served notice that Pyongyang has mastered the plutonium fuel cycle and at least rudimentary nuclear weapon design and manufacturing capabilities. Because of this, the Initial Actions agreement reached Feb. 13 in six-party talks among North and South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan is a significant step. It will ease the immediate security threats posed by this new nuclear-armed nation.
Your excellent articles on the "50 Years of Spaceflight" in the Mar. 19/26 issue provided a great synopsis of programs put forth to expand our knowledge and presence in the Universe. They also brought back memories of my excitement as these events took place, leading to my aerospace career.
Rolls-Royce has sold Trent 700 and Trent 1000 engines to CIT Aerospace. The Trent 700 order is for four Airbus A330s and seven optioned aircraft, while the Trent 1000s are for the two firm and three options CIT holds for Boeing 787s. Rolls engines will power British Airways' latest 777-200ERs.
French space officials warn that Europe risks falling further behind in space business applications unless it finds a new model for managing such endeavors.
Michael A. Taverna (Kabul and Surobi, Afghanistan)
European NATO members are shoring up their military presence in Kabul and modifying operations in the region to boost security. France also is working closely with its Turkish and Italian partners to build up forces around Kabul, where all three countries share security responsibility.
BAE Systems has begun flying a Royal Saudi Air Force Panavia Tornado fitted with a test round of the MBDA Storm Shadow cruise missile. The weapon is thought to be part of the Saudi Tornado Sustainment Program upgrade.
A gaggle of lawmakers are concerned about the Pentagon's decision to halt work on the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) wide-area surveillance radar, which is designed to track and identify moving targets on the ground and in the air. Among the system's missions for the defunct Air Force E-10 program was a nascent cruise missile detection capability.
Lean manufacturing, an end to cultural silos and a drive to eliminate rework are finding their way into the manufacturing ethos at the Boeing Satellite Development Center here, where the shop floor is filled with spacecraft.
China Southern Airlines will set up a subsidiary in Chongqing. The new airline, to be jointly owned with the city government, will operate three of China Southern's A320s.
A planetary science team is proposing to the British government and NASA that the backup hardware designed for the Beagle 2 lander that crashed on Mars in 2004 be recycled for a joint robotic mission to search for water on the surface of the Moon. If approved, such a concept could give NASA the ability to participate in a robotic lunar surface mission short of the more ambitious unmanned lunar lander the agency was just forced to kill out of its budget (see p. 16).
A News Breaks item on the Airbus A380 maximum-energy rejected-takeoff test (AW&ST Mar. 12, p. 19) misstated the weight of the aircraft. It was around 575 metric tons.
EXECUTIVE JET MANAGEMENT (EJM) HAS OPENED a charter sales and service office at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in Florida. Staffed with bilingual personnel, the office will serve South Florida, the Caribbean, and Latin America, says Jeff Cropper, senior vice president of charter services. Business jets available at the new location include a Dassault Aviation Falcon 2000 and 2000EX, Bombardier Challenger 601, Hawker 800A and a Cessna Citation III.
USAF Lt. Gen. Henry (Trey) Obering, director of the Missile Defense Agency, is dampening expectations for the Airborne Laser (ABL). The Boeing-led program, which puts a chemical laser in a 747-400 freighter, continues to march toward a key boost-phase ballistic missile shootdown exercise in 2009, a slight slip from earlier plans. However, Obering tells reporters the agency likely will pause after that demonstration to consider a "redo," including necessary modifications and possibly a redesign for the second ABL aircraft, potentially a 747-8.
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory is getting ready to launch a new planning process that should provide combatant commanders and other Pentagon strategists a better idea of the capabilities likely to be fielded in the future. AFRL's new planning focus will affect everything from general, overarching operational concepts such as sensor layering--an Air Force plan to be the chief architect for interagency and multiplatform sensor deployment--to specific programs such as the proposed Sensorcraft, tactical satellites and space launches.
With the introduction of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 growing nearer, airline technical managers are preparing for how to keep downtime to an absolute minimum. The efforts, which have been in progress for the A380 for some time and are now beginning for the 787, are addressing such matters as identifying the optimum procedures to minimize downtime. These options could encompass aircraft recovery, ground equipment and spares pooling. This contingency planning is particularly significant for the A380, since its size presents new hurdles.
