The Mars ascent vehicle (MAV) will be very different from the ascent stage of the Apollo Lunar Module, the only craft ever to carry humans off the surface of another planetary body.
China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force is testing examples of two high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) aircraft in the same size and weight class as the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk.
A Royal Australian Air Force Airbus KC-30A multi-role tanker transport is expected to continue tanking tests with a USAF Lockheed Martin F-35A through October.
Airbus Helicopters has asked engine manufacturers for information on higher-power turboshafts for the U.S. Army’s UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopter.
The FAA needs to provide the government with more details to justify increasing its budget for regulating the space launch industry by 9%, the GAO says.
The U.S. Navy is letting contracts for upkeep and upgrades of the current submarine fleet to mitigate expected sub force shortfalls in the coming decades.
Top NASA managers are pledging further reforms in managing the cost and schedule of major programs in response to recommendations from the agency’s IG.
HARRIS CORP. has $390m U.S. Special Operations Command contract for tactical communications next-generation handheld radios. Work to be complete August 2020. THALES-RAYTHEON SYSTEMS CO. has $22.7m U.S. Army foreign military sales contract for Sentinel AN/MPQ-64F1 radars, spares, interactive electronic technical manuals, test equipment, associated equipment, Sentinel operator training and Sentinel maintainer training for Latvia. Work to be complete Oct. 31, 2016.
During Pope Francis’ East Coast visit, crowds have been following his every move. The skies, however, are free of UAVs, which the FAA banned from airspace along the Mid-Atlantic coast with the prospect of fines and criminal charges. Drone pilots flying in skies near the pope were threatened with potential legal action by FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “If you plan to attend any of the Papal visit events,” he warned, “please leave your drone at home.”
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Sept. 30-Oct. 1—Space Technology & Investment Forum, Hilton San Francisco Financial District, San Francisco, California. For more information go to www.spacetechforum.com/
Spectroscopic data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have confirmed that dark streaks appearing on Martian slopes are the result of liquid water.
India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, Astrosat, has been successfully launched into orbit with six foreign satellite secondary payloads.
