Dennis Tito's plan to send a crew of two around Mars is getting a big assist from NASA via a Space Act Agreement (SAA) with its Ames Research Center (see page 24). While Tito will repay NASA for its work, the agency's inspector general and a powerful member of Congress are examining SAAs—which are less restrictive than standard federal business arrangements—to see if they are being abused. That is one of the charges in a whistle-blower report on alleged malfeasance at Ames (AW&ST Feb. 18, p. 19). Rep.

U.S. defense budgets are declining, but Parker Hannifin, a leading supplier of hydraulics, fluid systems and flight controls, still sees lots of opportunity in aerospace. With major positions on platforms such as the Airbus A350, Bombardier CSeries, Comac C919 and Embraer Legacy 450/500, the company projects annual aerospace sales will rise two-thirds by mid-2016, to $3.5 billion. Roger Sherrard, president of Parker's aerospace unit, and Thomas L. Williams, executive vice president and operating officer, spoke with AW&ST Editor-in-Chief Joseph C.

Growth model of prolific turbine spins off latest engine technology

From NASA to DARPA, an old practice spurs new ideas

Fly-by-wire system provider Parker Aerospace says it has made project management improvements in the wake of a one-year delay for the Embraer Legacy 500 program, but maintains that the schedule slip was caused by factors beyond its control.

Fly-by-wire has become the norm for the larger and more expensive commercial and business aircraft and helicopters, but airframers continue to say the cost-benefit analysis for the lower end of the market has not been favorable to introduce this safety-enhancing and weight-reducing technology.

Swedish authorities have begun certification trials on two virtual control towers and a remote tower center in Sweden after the Saab-built system passed its acceptance tests in February. The r-TWR system, funded by Sweden's air navigation service provider, LFV, consists of one virtual tower and a remote tower center at the single-runway Sundsvall Airport on the east coast of the country, and a second virtual tower at the single-runway Ornskoldsvik Airport, 100 mi. to the northeast.

Solving a problem for NASA carries a cachet that ensures there is a strong response whenever the space agency posts a challenge to any of the online communities it uses to crowd-source new ideas.