The Department of Defense is considering plans to revamp the commander-in-chief (CINC) military structure, which might include establishing a new CINC for homeland security, Army Secretary Thomas E. White said Oct. 26 at the Pentagon. Asked if there would be a new CINC for homeland security, White replied, "All those options are on the table." DOD is considering "not only the arrangements for homeland security, but global arrangements" for the CINC structure as well, he said.
The International Space Station program has been awarded the 2001 Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation, the European Space Agency announced Oct. 26. Sixteen nations are cooperating to build the station. A ceremony was held in Oviedo, Spain, capital of the principality of Asturias. H.R.H. Felipe de Borbon, the prince of Asturias, presented the award to ISS partner representatives from the United States, Russia, Canada and Spain.
Northrop Grumman elected three executives as corporate officers of the company: Robert P. Iorizzo, recently named president of the company's Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector (ES3), headquarted in Baltimore, Md. Frank G. Brandenberg, president of the company's Electronic Components and Materials Sector, based in Florham Park, N.J. Sandra Wright serves as corporate controller with company wide responsibility. Gary Ervin has been appointed to the new position of vice president and deputy of its Air Combat Systems business area.
STEADY: An experimental "powered shock absorber" system intended to protect experiments from vibrations on the International Space Station is being tested and readied for its operational debut next year. The Active Rack Isolation System (ARIS) uses actuators that react like shock absorbers to counter vibrations from crew activities on the station. Such vibrations could have a negative impact on delicate experiments that depend on the station's microgravity environment.
Robert Leduc, executive vice president and COO, will take leadership of the Large Commercial Engines business as its president. Stephen Finger, currently president of Military Engines, assumes the additional role of executive vice president of Engineering and Operations.
KC-135 'CANARY': As the Air Force continues to operate the half-century old B-52 bomber, it should look to the KC-135 mid-air refueling aircraft - which is of similar vintage - as an indicator of things to come, according to John Tirpak, senior editor at the Air Force Association. "The KC-135 may be the 'canary in the coal mine,'" says Tirpak. "These airplanes are starting to have real problems from corrosion, not because they've been badly maintained, [but because] corrosion seeps down and gets into all kinds of places you weren't expecting to find it.
Rolls-Royce plc will supply its BR710 engine as the powerplant for the Bombardier Global 5000 business jet, the company announced Oct. 26. That engine is already in use in Bombardier's Global Express. "Our confidence [in the BR710 engine] is based on the proven success of the Bombardier Global Express aircraft currently in service as well as our longstanding relationship with Rolls-Royce," said John Holding, the executive vice president for engineering and product development at Bombardier Aerospace.
GPS CONTRACT: Spar Aerospace Ltd. will supply, install and integrate a commercial Global Positioning System in 32 CC-130 Hercules aircraft for the Canadian Department of National Defence.
Although NASA's third-generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV) isn't scheduled to come online until 2025, engineers in the Advanced Space Transportation Program (ASTP) at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. are already developing the technologies that could make efficient, aircraft-like single-stage-to-orbit flight a reality.
GOLDIN'S LEGACY: NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin, who plans to retire in November (DAILY, Oct. 18), has done a "remarkable job" of moving the agency from an "Apollo mindset" to one more suited to the 21st century, according to former U.S. Rep. Robert Walker (R-Pa.), the new chairman of the congressionally mandated Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry. Walker says Goldin made progress in downsizing the agency into a more manageable form and in getting NASA's centers to no longer think they have to be part of every major mission of the agency.
BIRTHDAY: The International Space Station marks its first year of continuous human presence on Nov. 2. The Expedition One crew opened the hatch on Nov. 2, 2000. The Expedition Three crew is now aboard.
INTERIM C-130J: "I personally look at the [C-130]J as the interim [requirement]" for the Air National Guard, says Gen. Paul Weaver, the guard's director. "We are looking for a common wide-bodied aircraft like the [Boeing] 767 to take on the challenges [we face], like by the 193rd [special operations squadron]," says Weaver, who is about to retire. The Air National Guard now has a number of C-130s and Boeing 707 platforms, which Weaver says are aging rapidly. "We're flying some very old C-130s.
Lockheed Martin Corp.'s win in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) competition positions the company to dominate the fighter market beginning in 2008, as the Defense Department begins to replace aging A-10s, F-16s, early model Navy F/A-18s, and the Marine Corp's AV-8B. The final JSF production contract could be worth "in excess of $200 billion," said Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, speaking at the Pentagon Oct. 26.
Daniel W. Paterson, president of Lockheed Martin Aircraft&Logistics Centers, retired after more than 30 years with the company. NASA, Washington, DC David Saleeba has been appointed director of the newly formed Office of Security Management and Safeguards. Glenn Mahone has been named Acting Associate Administrator for Public Affairs. Dr. Arun K. Sehra has been named director of Glenn's Aeronautics Directorate. Dr. Gary T. Seng has been named director of Glenn's Aeropropulsion Research Program Office.
X-VEHICLE ADVOCATE: Walker says the U.S. should be doing more work on X-planes. He is particularly disappointed with the recent decision by the Air Force and NASA not to continue the X-33, which was intended to demonstrate a single-state-to-orbit launch capability (DAILY, March 2, Sept. 7). "There is a need for us to do some projects that have a fairly short time frame but are very, very risky, high-tech kinds of programs that may in the end never fly," Walker says.
Bill Walthall has been appointed to the newly formed position of vice president, Customer Relations. Brian Gora has been appointed president, Landing Gear Systems. Theunis Botha has been appointed vice president and general manager, Landing Gear Systems.
Democratic senators say they are pleased with the Bush Administration's Oct. 25 announcement to suspend missile defense tests that would have violated the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (DAILY, Oct. 26). "I think the Administration did the right thing," Senate Armed Services Committee member Max Cleland (D-Ga.) said. "We need Russian support right now."
NANO-RELIABILITY: Nanotechnology could one day allow hypersonic engines to operate with a reliability comparable to commercial jet engines, according to Jim Taylor, lead program engineer for NASA's Advanced Space Transportation Program. Nanotechnological fabrication offers the potential "to develop skins and structural components that are orders of magnitude lighter, with the same strength as what we have today," says Taylor.
HSAD PLAN: Contracts for the Navy's High Speed ARM Demonstration (HSAD) program are slated for award next March. The program, funded by the Office of Naval Research under the Future Naval Capabilities effort (DAILY, Oct. 19), is intended to demonstrate technologies that could meet the Navy's interest in increased range and speed - as well as internal carriage - of the AGM-88 High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile, according to Naval Air Systems Command.
