Although NASA knows of 44 Near Earth Objects (NEOs) in orbits that could be accessible given a heavy-lift rocket roughly equivalent to the canceled Ares V, only three meet the necessary requirements for a future visit by astronauts, according to NASA officials speaking at a NEO event in Washington Aug. 10. The list of asteroids was winnowed down according to mission constraints, including that any visit by astronauts be no longer than 180 days round trip, and any object visited be larger than 50 meters (164 ft.) across.
AEHF LAUNCH: The U.S. Air Force’s first Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications satellite is slated for launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Saturday, Aug. 14, during a launch window of 7:07-9:06 a.m. EDT. In the event of a scrub, the next attempt will be on Aug. 16, during a window of 6:59-8:58 a.m. EDT. The single Lockheed Martin-built satellite should provide more capacity than the entire Milstar constellation.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) founder Elon Musk says plans laid out recently by a company official for growth beyond International Space Station resupply and missions beyond low Earth orbit are not official SpaceX policy. Referring to a presentation given at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Joint Propulsion Conference in Nashville, Tenn., by McGregor rocket development facility director Tom Markusic (Aerospace DAILY, Aug. 5), Musk says, “Tom was throwing out a bunch of ideas for discussion.”
September 29-30, 2010 ExCeL, London, UK Learn to maintain military assets longer; sustain aircraft beyond forecast; recover from budget cuts, delays and program cancellations, and develop new strategies required to deliver and support equipment. Learn more at www.aviationweek.com/events
HOUSTON — NASA’s International Space Station mission management team gave formal approval on Aug. 10 for two additional spacewalks by Expedition 24 flight engineers Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson to replace a failed circulation pump on the Loop A cooling system. The two astronauts were thwarted during an Aug. 7 spacewalk in their efforts to remove the bulky 780-lb. pump by an ammonia coolant leak. Current plans
COASTAL EXCHANGE: The Indian Coast Guard is holding discussions with a visiting Korean Coast Guard delegation. Talks are touching on maritime search and rescue, combating marine pollution, technical assistance for responding to natural disasters and exchanging information on crimes at sea, including smuggling and illicit trafficking. At Mumbai’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, the two groups also will discuss the Indian Ship Reporting System (INDSAR).The visit is a follow-up to a memorandum of understanding signed between the two maritime services in March 2006.
HOUSTON — NASA’s International Space Station program estimates at least two more spacewalks will be necessary to resolve a vexing external cooling system failure, following a grueling weekend excursion in which two astronauts were prevented from replacing a failed pump motor assembly by an ammonia leak. The second in the series of spacewalks by Expedition 24 flight engineers Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Johnson is tentatively set for Aug. 11 at 6:55 a.m. EDT.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) this week is set to begin prelaunch checks of the first fully operational Dragon spacecraft destined to be launched under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. The demonstration will be the first of up to three COTS flights set up under plans made in 2006 designed to encourage private companies to develop commercial space transport capabilities.
Traditional weapons programs like shipbuilding and emerging capabilities like cyberwarfare may be beneficiaries of the one-third, three-year cut in services support contracting that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates outlined Aug. 9. The steps announced were at once sweeping and seemingly nibbling, but all will be up for what promises to be a contentious congressional review in the Fiscal 2012 budget process.
HUMMING ALONG: Northrop Grumman says with delivery this week of the center fuselage for the F-35 designated AF-14, delivery intervals have now dropped to 10 days from 30 in two years. By early 2011, it should fall to eight days, the company says. “Over the last month or so, during the latter phases of assembling the center fuselage for BF-12, an F-35B Stovl aircraft ...
CUT OFF: U.S. House members, including the second-ranking Republican and the Democratic chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, are calling for Congress to stop roughly $100 million in 2011 assistance to the Lebanese armed forces, saying the embattled country’s government is too complicit with the Hezbollah militant group. “Lebanon cannot have it both ways. If it wants to align itself with Hezbollah against the forces of democracy, stability and moderation, there will be consequences,” Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.) said Aug. 9. Cantor said that since 2006, the U.S.
The U.S. Army needs to tighten up controls for certain fund balances of its overseas contingency operations, according to the Pentagon Inspector General (IG). “The Army had no assurance that unliquidated obligations valued at approximately $125.8 million represented valid Army needs,” the IG says in its July 19 report. “The line of accounting used for identifying the Army’s use of contingency operations funds was not reliable, and we could not identify specific contracts as supporting the effort,” the report says.
GUIDING VEGA: Elv has been tapped to provide new guidance and control software for the Vega launcher, following French armaments agency DGA’s decision to embargo the original software because of its potential applicability to ballistic missiles. The small rocket is slated to perform its first launch in early 2011, carrying the Lares satellite. The first missions will use the older software, developed by Eads Astrium, but it will be replaced on later vehicles. Elv will deliver the new software within two years.
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TRAINING ATTENTION: A new Rand Corp. study finds that 40%-50% of U.S. soldiers in deploying units, both active and reserve, have been in that unit for less than a year. Consequently, the turnover prompts reserve units to try to schedule much of their training during the last few months before mobilization, when unit staffing is more stable.
Steve Loranger, the chairman, president and CEO of ITT Corp., has had a tough couple of weeks. On July 30, the company reported declining profits and sales in its Defense & Information Systems unit, a 49% drop in new orders and said 2010 revenues would be $500 million lower than previously forecast.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has launched a massive relief and rescue operation in Leh, which was hit by flash floods Aug. 6 following massive storms. The death toll so far has exceeded 150, with more than 500 still missing. The relief operation got a boost when two IAF IL-76s and four AN-32s landed at cleaned-up Leh Airport with 125 rescue and relief personnel from the National Disaster Response Force with medicine, generators, tents, portable X-ray machines, emergency rescue kits, and other gear.
