Senators on the Appropriations Committee who oversee NASA spending have agreed on a funding measure for the rest of fiscal 2011 that is $412 million more than the level approved by the full House, but still cuts out the open-ended technology-development program sought by the Obama administration.
U.S. analysts worry that man-portable surface-to-air-missiles like the SA-7 and rocket-propelled grenades, which are a threat to helicopters, are being looted from Libyan government stockpiles for sales to international black-market operators. Large groups of Libyan rebels have been seen with assault rifles, machine guns, light anti-aircraft guns like the ZSU-23/2, mines, grenades and various types of anti-tank missiles.
The U.S. government’s ongoing failure to devise a spaceflight plan for NASA after the shuttle fleet is retired raises the specter of more workforce cuts in the 50-year-old U.S. launch industry, with serious industrial-base implications for the nation, according to the head of rocket-engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR).
LOS ANGELES — After a day of delays due to weather and a valve change, the U.S. Air Force’s second X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-2) was successfully launched at 5:46 p.m. EST March 5 from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., marking the start of a classified mission that could extend into November.
SES S.A. will consider Sea Launch as a provider of future launch missions following the launch services company’s reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, adding a lucrative potential customer base to the unique operation. Under a “framework understanding” announced March 7, Sea Launch will provide Luxembourg-based SES with detailed technical data on its Zenit-based launcher, which lifts off from a ship-based launch platform positioned in the equatorial Pacific for maximum lift.
ARMY General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, Calif., was awarded on Feb. 28 a $335,504,000 fixed-price-incentive-fee contract. The award will provide for the purchase of system hardware applicable to the Extended Range Multi-Purpose Unmanned Aircraft System. The work will be performed in Poway, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2012. One bid was solicited with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, AMCOM Contracting Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W56RGZ-10-C-0068). NAVY
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HOUSTON — Discovery’s astronauts surveyed the heat shielding on the shuttle’s wing leading edges and nose cap on March 7, after departing the International Space Station (ISS) for the last leg of the fleet leader’s final journey into orbit. Discovery undocked at 7 a.m. EST, as the two spacecraft sailed more than 200 mi. over the Western Pacific Ocean.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Mar. 7 — SpeedNews Aerospace Raw Materials and Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference, Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills, Calif. For more information go to www.speednews.com MAR. 8 — Aviation Week Laureate Awards, Andrew Melllon Auditorium, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
HOUSTON — With their assembly and supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) extended by two days, Discovery’s six astronauts hustled on March 4 to offload new science gear from the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) they delivered, including the final Express payload rack.
LANDING JOBS: About 20 cities are competing to become the home of the Atlantis or Endeavor space shuttles after they retire this year, with an announcement expected as early as April 12, according to Houston promoters. Houston, home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum both have publicly lobbied for an orbiter. According to Houston’s boosters, the shuttle would lead to an annual increase in the regional economy of $46 million, with a total of 750 jobs created.
SAN FRANCISCO — For the second time in two years, a payload fairing that did not open during an Orbital Sciences Taurus XL launcher’s ascent has cost NASA an Earth sciences satellite mission. Liftoff from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., at 2:09:43 a.m. PST March 4 was nominal and “exactly on time” for the four-stage, solid-fueled Taurus XL 3110 that was carrying the $424 million Glory mission, says NASA Launch Director Omar Baez. But then Glory and the two upper stages of the Taurus XL launcher fell into the southern Pacific Ocean.
The decision by EADS North America not to protest its loss in the $35 billion U.S. Air Force KC-135 replacement refueling tanker contract competition is largely being based on its adjusted price, which came in a full 10% above that of rival Boeing, according to senior company officials.
MILITARY COMMERCIAL: After the final space shuttle flight later this year, NASA managers probably will continue the practices started by President Dwight Eisenhower of choosing military pilots to make up at least some of its astronaut corps. Early commercial crew vehicles are likely to be capsules, and most U.S. astronaut time will be spent on the International Space Station (ISS), so there will be little call for the piloting skills required to fly an orbiter back through the atmosphere to a runway.
MYSORE, India — India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) is doing extensive research to counter low-intensity chemical warfare—such as the deliberate contamination of air or water—and bioterrorism. Leading the work is DRDO’s Defense Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) in Mysore. DFRL Director A.S. Bawa tells Aviation Week the lab has developed a test kit for detection of four different groups of pathogenic microorganisms like the salmonella, E. coli, shigella and proteus.
MYSORE, India — India’s Defense Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) is working on new foods for military personnel that are expected to enhance performance and reduce stress. Top DFRL scientists are testing plant extracts on white mice before they are incorporated into any final product. “We take extracts from plants with anti-fatigue features,” a source says. “We have noticed that the mice [that] are fed with the extracts swim for a longer time.”
NEW DELHI — The shortlist for the six contenders for India’s Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program is to be announced in the first week of April. Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik had declared at Aero India on Feb. 10 that he was optimistic that price negotiations would start within a few weeks and a deal could be signed by September, “provided dissatisfied vendors do not put a spoke in the wheel and delay proceedings.”
LOST WAGES: A shutdown of the federal government would not immediately affect national and domestic security efforts, but government contractors — including a historically large force supporting the Pentagon — could be irreparably affected, trade advocates warn.
General Dynamics executives are expressing concern over the lack of orders for the M1A2 Abrams tank after 2013, which leaves a gap until modernization orders slated to begin in 2016. Mike Cannon, senior vice president for ground combat systems, tells Aviation Week that “we are very, very concerned about the tank industrial base, because it’s unique . . . we have nothing to keep that base going between 2013 and 2016.”
BENGALURU, India — Indian aerospace powerhouse Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) is bracing for top management changes, as many senior officials prepare for retirement. With multiple programs set to push the company’s order book beyond the $22.22 billion mark this year, insiders are wary of what these changes could mean to the company’s fortunes. Their fear is that the lack of a firm succession plan might hurt the company. This will be the first time in its 70-year history that HAL will see so many top-level personnel changes in a span of six months.
