A quartet of retired Air Force and Army generals with Joint Chiefs of Staff and command-leadership experience is trying to call attention to a looming "airlift crisis" while begging Congress to lead the way forward among distracted and sparring Defense Department entities.
The U.S. Navy and Air Force's next-generation landing guidance equipment, the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS), has taken a major step forward with the release of a request for proposals (RFP) for the first phase of development.
The U.S. Navy's proposed shipbuilding plan omits elements and makes assumptions that could substantially mask the service's true funding needs, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says.
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Keck Telescope in Hawaii to study debris discs around distant stars believe a gigantic lopsided needle-shaped disk around a star designated HD 15115 holds clues to the formation of our own solar system.
Pakistan successfully tested a Babur subsonic cruise missile - part of Pakistan's Haft-7 missile series - capable of carrying a nuclear warhead on July 26. With a range of 700 kilometers (435 miles), Babur is a terrain-hugging missile that can avoid radar detection. The test follows India's recent announcement that it completed the design of its new cruise missile system, the subsonic 1,000-kilogram (2,200-pound), 1000-kilometer (621-mile) range missile with a speed of Mach 0.7 called Nirbhay.
SABOTAGE: Federal authorities and NASA are investigating a case of alleged sabotage of a small computer box planned for launch to the International Space Station on STS-118 Aug. 7. An inspector at a subcontractor facility outside of Florida found damage to wires and other internal components of the network interface unit before it was shipped to Kennedy Space Center. The device will be repaired and launched to the station as planned, then mounted in the Destiny laboratory to receive data from strain gauges on the ISS truss and relay them to engineers on the ground.
A quartet of retired Air Force and Army generals with Joint Chiefs of Staff and command-leadership experience is trying to call attention to a looming "airlift crisis" while begging Congress to lead the way forward among distracted and sparring Defense Department entities.
Pakistan successfully tested a Babur subsonic cruise missile - part of Pakistan's Haft-7 missile series - capable of carrying a nuclear warhead on July 26. With a range of 700 kilometers (435 miles), Babur is a terrain-hugging missile that can avoid radar detection. The test follows India's recent announcement that it completed the design of its new cruise missile system, the subsonic 1,000-kilogram (2,200-pound), 1000-kilometer (621-mile) range missile with a speed of Mach 0.7 called Nirbhay.
A panel reviewing astronaut health issues in the wake of the Lisa Nowak arrest was told that on at least two occasions astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned they were so intoxicated that they posed a flight-safety risk. The panel also reported "heavy use of alcohol" by astronauts in crew quarters before launch, within the standard 12-hour "bottle to throttle" rule applied to pilots of conventional aircraft.
Old U.S. Navy shipbuilding habits helped lead to soaring costs for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a CRS expert told Congress. "Navy and industry officials testified to this subcommittee on February 8, 2007, that concurrency between design and construction was a significant contributor to the recent cost growth in the LCS program," Congressional Research Service (CRS) defense specialist Ronald O'Rourke told the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee On Seapower and Expeditionary Forces earlier this week.
The U.S. Navy and Air Force's next-generation landing guidance equipment, the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS), has taken a major step forward with the release of a request for proposals (RFP) for the first phase of development.
Old U.S. Navy shipbuilding habits helped lead to soaring costs for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a CRS expert told Congress. "Navy and industry officials testified to this subcommittee on February 8, 2007, that concurrency between design and construction was a significant contributor to the recent cost growth in the LCS program," Congressional Research Service (CRS) defense specialist Ronald O'Rourke told the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee On Seapower and Expeditionary Forces earlier this week.
SABOTAGE: Federal authorities and NASA are investigating a case of alleged sabotage of a small computer box planned for launch to the International Space Station on STS-118 Aug. 7. An inspector at a subcontractor facility outside of Florida found damage to wires and other internal components of the network interface unit before it was shipped to Kennedy Space Center. The device will be repaired and launched to the station as planned, then mounted in the Destiny laboratory to receive data from strain gauges on the ISS truss and relay them to engineers on the ground.
The U.S. Navy's proposed shipbuilding plan omits elements and makes assumptions that could substantially mask the service's true funding needs, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says.
TANKER WORK: Northrop Grumman officials say some work on the military modifications for its first KC-30s will be handled at its Melbourne, Fla., facility where it has centered its Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar Systems work. A portion of the work also will be handled by its new facility in Mobile, Ala., where the company plans to modify production models of its A330s into tankers if it wins the U.S. Air Force's $40 billion KC-X competition. The development program would include four tankers, with much of that work being handled in Melbourne.
Boeing's new X-48B, an unmanned blended-wing-body demonstrator, flew for the first time on July 20th at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The 21-ft. wingspan, 500-lb test vehicle climbed to 7,600 ft. and reached an airspeed of 70 knots during a half-hour flight. The goals are to reach 10,000 feet and 120 knots by the end of the program. Researchers want to test stability and flight control at low-speeds during takeoffs and landings. Later, researchers will switch emphasis to look at the design's low-noise characteristics.
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Keck Telescope in Hawaii to study debris discs around distant stars believe a gigantic lopsided needle-shaped disk around a star designated HD 15115 holds clues to the formation of our own solar system.
The House Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal 2008 defense spending bill July 25 containing cuts for two Air Force space programs - the Alternative Infrared Satellite System (AIRSS) and the Global Positioning System (GPS) III.
