KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — Sobering new NASA estimates that cancellation of the space shuttle in 2010 could cost up to 9,000 aerospace contractor jobs nationwide — 6,400 of them here at KSC — are refocusing Congressional pressure on the White House for additional funds to accelerate development of the Ares/Orion shuttle replacement vehicles.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: The first of six Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman completed 25 years of successful on-orbit operations on April 4. The TDRS-1 satellite tracks and communicates with low-Earth-orbiting satellites and NASA manned spacecraft, transmitting voice, television and digital and analog data to control centers on Earth. In total, the six TDRS spacecraft have logged more than 40,000 mission days on orbit, delivering more than 800,000 hours of service.
Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.) are criticizing U.S. Army leadership for its supposed failure to comply with federal standards relating to contracts awarded for body armor.
Eurocontrol plans to develop a road map by the end of 2009 that outlines how unmanned aircraft will be integrated into the European air traffic management (ATM) system in the years to come. The aim is to set the stage for military and civil unmanned aircraft to fly in civil airspace in Europe, something which rarely occurs now.
JLTV PROPOSALS: Proposals are due mid-April for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) family of vehicles, a joint U.S. Army/Marine Corps program with the Army designated as the lead service. The JLTV is the future replacement for High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) for the Army, and consists of 10 sub-configurations in three different payload categories. Army Lt. Col.
IED PARTNERS: Raytheon is trying to recruit potential industry and academic partners to work on counter-improvised explosive device (IED) efforts through a new website. “Coalition forces are still being affected on the battlefield, so we decided to exhaust every opportunity to find the best solutions,” says Jack Costello, vice president of business development and strategic planning for Raytheon Network Centric Systems.
UNMANNED SUPERVISION: Under a $2.4-million, 18-month contract from the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research, Lockheed Martin is developing a framework “to help small teams of naval operators manage groups of unmanned vehicles through dynamic, complex missions.” Instead of having each operator locked to one system, the SUMMIT (Supervision of Unmanned vehicles Mission Management by Interactive Teams) program supports operator collaboration across the team, Lockheed promises.
NASA’s Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) exhibit several key indicators of risk in the development program, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a statement before Congress April 3.
Final assembly of the first P-8A Poseidon long-range anti-submarine warfare aircraft for the U.S. Navy has begun on a new third assembly line at Boeing’s 737 factory in Renton, Wash. The aircraft uses a 737-800 fuselage built by Spirit Aerosystems in Wichita, Kan., and wings built in Renton. Five test articles will be used for the certification program. Delivery of the first test airplane to the Navy is set for next year. The third line is cordoned off from Renton’s two main lines, which are use for civil 737 production.
COTS CONUNDRUM: The Defense Science Board is exploring how the Pentagon can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of programs designed to take advantage of commercial-off-the-shelf items modified for military purposes. This study could provide some pointers for the Air Force’s KC-45 – built on an Airbus A330 – in how to avoid problems experienced by the Navy’s VH-71 Presidential Helicopter and Littoral Combat Ship and the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter.
B-1 INCIDENT: U.S. Air Force officials are investigating an incident and a possible fire April 4 involving a U.S. Air Force Boeing B-1B bomber at Al-Udeid air base, Qatar. No details of injuries or fatalities had been released by 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, but news reports said a fire broke out after landing and the crew escaped. Seven B-1B bombers have been lost in previous operational accidents, the most recent of them in December 2001, and one of the development aircraft crashed in 1984.
A lot of people and organizations were left scrambling last week in the wake of military airlift contractor ATA Airlines’ abrupt shutdown and bankruptcy, including U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command (AMC), which spent the first full day of the shutdown arranging alternate transportation for stranded military travelers. “Air Mobility Command is working with the commercial airline industry to fill near term airlift gaps,” AMC said in a brief prepared statement issued on the evening of Apr. 3.
UH-1 SENSORS: The first of three Mission Equipment Package (MEP) sensors for the U.S. Army’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate has been delivered by FLIR Government Systems and will be integrated on the UH-1 helicopter for flight testing this spring. The system has been three years in development and is designed with Tier II and other small unmanned aerial vehicles in mind. The system only weighs 16 pounds and is 7.25-inches in diameter, but it includes two IR cameras, a color TV camera, a laser range-finder and a laser designator.
The FBI is exploring new law enforcement uses for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with the head of the agency’s Operational Technology Division (OTD) taking in a demonstration by an Insitu ScanEagle at the Quantico Marine Base April 4. FBI Assistant Director Marcus Allen, who helped launch the catapult-projected ScanEagle, has said publicly that the FBI is experimenting with a variety of UAVs.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicated new calendar listing.) April 8 - 10 — Aerospace Testing Seminar, Manhattan Beach, Marriott, Manhattan Beach, Calif. For more information call 310-336-6805 or go to www.aero.org April 13 - 15 — MELAHA 2008, “Global Navigation Satellite Systems: The Next Fontier,” Arab Institute of Navigation (AIN) Conference, Hurghada, Egypt. For more information go to www.ainegypt.org.site/pages.php?ids=20
TERROR NUKES: The Homeland Security Dept.’s chief intelligence officer says nuclear terrorism remains a very real threat. “There is no doubt in my mind” that al Qaeda is intent on obtaining nuclear weapons, Homeland Security Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Charles Allen tells the Senate Homeland Security Committee, which is investigating the intent and capability of terrorists to obtain nuclear materials, build a bomb, transport it, and detonate it.
T-AKE SIX: The Amelia Earhart, the newest T-AKE underway replenishment ship, will be christened on April 6 in San Diego. This T-AKE ship is the sixth in a series of 11 the Navy will use to deliver provisions to U.S. and allied ships at sea. The ship is designed to operate independently for extended periods at sea and can carry and support two helicopters to conduct vertical replenishment.
PARIS – The European Space Agency (ESA) is pushing back launch of its first Earth Explorer research mission, Goce, aboard a Rockot booster from May to August because of a March failure involving the Proton rocket and its Breeze upper stage, which is shared with Rockot. The failure left the SES Americom AMC-14 telecom satellite stranded in a lower than intended orbit — 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles) — following premature cutout near the end of the second of three planned upper stage burns. No report has yet been issued (Aerospace DAILY, March 18).
KFX DECISION: South Korea will not decide whether its proposed KFX stealth fighter is feasible until June. It originally planned to decide last month. A change of government appears to have prompted the deferral. The timetable drawn up under the previous government envisaged a concept study contract in April and selection of a company to carry out exploratory development in November.
April 15-17, 2008 Broward County Convention Center Fort Lauderdale, FL Military and industry leaders assemble in a unique Working Group Seminar designed to develop a realistic plan of action to improve readiness, availability, cost, and cycle time for U.S. fighters, airlift/tanker, rotor wing and complex electronic aircraft.
GOING AHEAD: The U.K. is continuing to order components for its two next-generation aircraft carriers, though it has yet to conclude a deal with its prime contractors for the ships. Last week it agreed to a 13 million pound ($25.9 million) package with Scottish manufacturer MacTaggart Scott covering the provision of aircraft lifts for the ships, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.
BROWNOUT SOLUTION: Rockwell Collins hopes the U.S. Marine Corps will incorporate the company’s new LandSafe system on the CH-53E when it upgrades the rotorcraft’s cockpit to the Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS). According to Rockwell, LandSafe incorporates commercial off-the-shelf fiber optic laser technology to “sense through” particulate matter like dust, snow, rain, smoke or fog, while providing altitude, groundspeed and airspeed information to the flight crew. The technology was developed in conjunction with Optical Air Data Systems.
SURGE PROTECTORS: When Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen David Petraeus face Congress this week, they will have to answer questions about why the U.S. is footing the bill for Iraq’s reconstruction when the Iraqis have $30 billion in their banks, according to Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) in a teleconference with reporters April 4. Senator Joseph Biden (D-Del.), also on the call, said he believes the surge has not achieved its primary purpose of creating a stable political environment in Iraq. “It’s like going from drowning to treading water,” Biden said.
