Astronomers may get a chance to make hands-on observations from above the atmosphere if a new deal between Planetary Science Institute (PSI) and XCOR Aerospace bears fruit.
A space-exposure experiment on the International Space Station is producing promising evidence that commercial off-the-shelf components can be used in high-radiation space environments for nuclear-treaty monitoring. An experiment developed by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has proved “very resistant” to a severe space radiation environment, providing a revolutionary level of performance, reduced costs and greater flexibility for NNSA's treaty-monitoring mission, according to the monitoring agency.
One of the troubles in turning human spaceflight into a business is that one of the biggest potential customers can just as easily turn around and become a formidable competitor. That mercurial partner is NASA, of course.
Boeing's tanker program still has a major thorn in its side: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). His inquiries helped knock down Boeing's pitch to lease tankers to the Air Force early in 2004. Now he is complaining about the cost overruns on the KC-46A that are unfolding (AW&ST July 11, p. 26). After news reports indicated that taxpayers will be on the hook for 60%, or $600 million, in cost overruns on the program that was billed as fixed-price, McCain fumes that Boeing expected to exceed its cost targets all along.
While aircraft carriers are always a target in budget crunches, this year it looks like the chatter is moving out of the realm of the theoretical. Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the Pentagon is considering delaying deliveries of the proposed next-generation Ford-class carriers or canceling one of those being built and reducing the number of larger nuclear-powered carriers in the U.S. fleet from the current 11.
U.S. airlines may have to detail 19 different types of “ancillary revenue” under a new reporting standard proposed by the Transportation Department, which says industry's growing reliance on charges for items beyond the basic air fares has reduced the transparency of air travel costs.
An unidentified U.S. weapon system under development may have to undergo a redesign following a cyberexploit in March. More than 24,000 files containing an unspecified but large amount of data were copied from a defense contractor's internal databases, according to Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, speaking as he unveiled the Defense Department's new cyberwarfare strategy. Lynn did not say whether investigations pointed to a specific nation, but he says a “foreign intelligence service” was involved.
For more than a century, surface warships have been struggling to survive against mines, submarines, aircraft and, more recently, cruise missiles. Now China's rapid development of a sophisticated anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) raises the threat to a new level.
A push by French legislators to encourage France to do more in the realm of ballistic missile defense is very much threat-driven. But they are not concerned as much about Iranian missile proliferation as they are about France falling technologically behind its strategic rivals. In particular, French politicians want to make sure that the U.S. does not dominate Europe's missile defense spending and that Paris's nuclear deterrent is not undermined in the long term.
Details are starting to emerge regarding Iran's latest step to bolster its ballistic missile inventory. The Iranian military has test-fired the Sejil-2 and Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missiles into the Indian Ocean, exercising for the first time the weapons' full range of 1,900 km (1,180 mi.).
The Indian military, which is seeking to close a gap in its short-range surface-to-surface missile inventory, plans to test a new 150-km (90-mi.) battlefield weapon.
NASA and Capitol Hill are in showdown mode over the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) that Congress wants flying by 2016. Agency managers are working with outside consultants to find a way to cover the cost of developing a new government-owned human-rated rocket, while impatient lawmakers are pressing for a faster start to the project and looking to trim the NASA budget at the same time.
Astronaut Sandra Magnus, STS-135 mission loadmaster, floats in the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) by the space shuttle Atlantis on the final mission of the shuttle era.
Despite looming reductions in defense spending, the German air force plans an extensive upgrade of its unmanned aircraft fleet throughout the decade. A key element to realizing that vision will be trials of the Euro Hawk signals-intelligence aircraft, which could arrive in Germany July 19. The UAV—a modified version of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk—will serve to validate not just the feasibility of the sigint version, but also whether Germany should purchase four wide-area surveillance Global Hawks, says a senior German air force officer.
Shortfalls in European defense capacities, which have already been felt during the air war in Libya, could be exacerbated by spending cuts that are beginning to manifest themselves in that arena. The campaign in Libya has been suffering in part because of a shortage of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets, warns a European military official involved in operational planning. He cites as an example a shortage of Predator unmanned aircraft, noting that there are only a few on hand.
The U.S. Air Force's F-22 fighter remains subject to the longest full-force grounding of any combat aircraft in recent history, with no cause firmly identified. Meanwhile, documents show that the focus of the investigation—the onboard oxygen-generation system (Obogs)—has been a flight safety issue for many years on the F/A-18C/D Hornet, increasing the number of cases where aircrew were affected by hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, in flight.
Aircraft and saltwater do not mix well, at least not from the aircraft's point of view. And as a result of that unfortunate fact, the tsunami that devastated northeast Japan in March will lead to a flurry of orders for aircraft. Japanese authorities have started to speak to aircraft manufacturers with a view to making purchases for replacement of some tsunami-damaged aircraft at Sendai Airport and the Matsushima Air Base, say industry executives.
In aerospace and defense, as in so many other sectors, South Korea is often seen as forever trying to mimic and catch up with Japan—whether by developing combat aircraft with U.S. help, building warships increasingly comparable to Japan's or, most recently, setting out plans for space launchers.
As India prepares to spend nearly $100 billion during the next decade on the modernization of its armed forces, Defense Minister A.K. Antony is warning suppliers and vendors of stringent action against corruption in defense deals.
India's insatiable appetite for new defense equipment is just that, underscored once more by the country's push to field a new-generation naval multirole helicopter to augment its existing fleet of 29 Westland Sea King Mk.42s and six Sikorsky UH-3H Sea Kings.
After two years of simmering tensions, Israel and Turkey are looking for ways to put their defense relationship back on a stronger footing. In the 1990s, the two countries were close allies with strong defense industrial ties. But a political shift in Turkey caused the relationship to fray; it reached a crisis point that began during the Gaza War between Israel and Hamas in late 2008 and surged after Israel intercepted a Turkish-led flotilla to Gaza in May 2010.
Temporary challenges” in a “few production areas in the supply chain” have prompted Boeing to initiate a month-long hold on deliveries from major suppliers to the 787's primary final assembly line. The move comes as the company takes the first steps to use a second line so it can ramp up production rates from the current two per month to 10 by the end of 2013.
The change of government in Thailand will have implications for the country's airline industry. The Puea Thai Party's landslide victory over the royalist-backed Democrat Party is good news for Thai AirAsia and bad news for Thai Airways International and its partner Tiger Airways. It could also spell trouble for Nok Air, a carrier that has links to the Thai monarchy.
There are optimistic and pessimistic views of the future of aviation. In the pessimistic view, the industry continues to be dominated by increasingly risk-averse corporations focused on incremental improvements that fail to keep pace with fast-rising fuel prices, climate change and disruptive advances in other industries. In this future, aviation fails to sustain the socio-economic benefit that has fueled its growth for more than 70 years.
Bran Ferren of Applied Minds believes aerospace, particularly the “space” element, needs new inspiration and that NASA, as the world knows it, should be re-born as a pure exploration organization to ensure relevancy for the rest of the 21st century and beyond. “The thing that's missing is called passion,” says Ferren, who is the co-founder, co-chairman and chief creative officer of the California-based special-effects technology, creative design and consulting company with clients ranging from the Walt Disney Co. to Northrop Grumman.
