EUROSLOTS: Eutelsat is opening a new spacecraft "neighborhood" at 9 degrees east longitude to expand direct TV broadcasting capacity to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The slot is being served by Hot Bird 2, renamed Eurobird 9. This is the third spacecraft to be redeployed following the launch of Hot Bird 7A and 8 to Eutelsat's primary neighborhood at 13 degrees east longitude last year.
A patch of Martian soil analyzed by NASA's rover Spirit is so rich in silica that it provides strong new evidence that Spirit's landing area was wet and possibly habitable by Martian microbial life in the ancient past. The processes that could have produced such a concentrated deposit of silica require the long-term presence of water. The rover's German-built alpha particle X-ray spectrometer measured a composition of about 90 percent pure silica for this soil.
MPA DELAYED: The U.S. Coast Guard now expects its third HC-144A Maritime Patrol Aircraft, made by EADS CASA in Europe, to be handed over in June, according to Capt. Michael Anderson, program manager for the service's Deepwater recapitalization program. The new-production aircraft once was expected in March, Deepwater officials had said. The second MPA arrived in Elizabeth City, N.C., on Feb. 19. The first one was delivered last December. After delivery, MPAs get "missionized" with various C4ISR technologies before being operationally deployed.
Lockheed Martin Corp. and the Boeing Company were the leading U.S. defense companies for 2006 by total dollar amount in contracts and contract modifications, according to a DAILY computer analysis of contracting data. Sandwiched between the two defense giants were a catch-all group of contractors called Miscellaneous Foreign Contractors, the analysis showed.
President Bush and NATO Secretary General De Hoop Scheffer said May 21 that they will work harder together to try to persuade Russia that proposed U.S. ballistic missile interceptors in Eastern Europe do not threaten the former Cold War adversary.
The U.S. Air Force says it changed a key performance parameter (KPP) for its combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopter fleet to meet operational realities, but the service's rationale seems to contradict Air Force statements on what CSAR missions are meant to accomplish.
Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems has established a new office designed to oversee the company's efforts to address the question of how to protect U.S. and friendly space assets and improve situational awareness in space. The new Space Superiority Office is being run by Todd Citron, former chief technology officer for the company's space business unit.
TOPOWL: Thales' TopOwl helmet-mounted display has been selected for demonstration to U.S. forces as part of Lockheed Martin's Modernized Pilot Night Vision System. TopOwl, already used by the U.S. Marines, will be flown on an Army UH-1 helicopter.
Billions of dollars in new U.S. military aid to post-9/11 allies have flowed to countries whose "grim" records of human rights practices had led to pre-9/11 decisions by U.S. officials to cut off or curtail aid, according to the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit public policy organization in Washington.
PURCHASE: Honeywell International has agreed to pay $230 million to acquire Dimensions International, a defense logistics company that provides support for the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and other defense agencies. Alexandria, Va.-based Dimensions has 1,200 employees worldwide and is on pace to have sales of $173.5 million this year. Honeywell says the acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, will bolster its business in areas such as field support, equipment pre-positioning, depot maintenance and vehicle overhaul and up-armoring.
NORAD and U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) officials are awaiting a study on defending against electromagnetic pulse attacks due by the end of the month before deciding whether key computer terminals will move to Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., or remain in the nearby Cold War-era Cheyenne Mountain Directorate.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Rockwell Collins plans to announce by the end of the year whether it will enter the commercial side of the aircraft simulation and training market, a move that would enable the avionics powerhouse to capitalize on booming demand for new commercial aircraft.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., is seeking proposals for the Mars Critical Data Products Initiative IV (CDP IV) program, which is aimed at reducing the risk and improving the science return of upcoming Mars missions such as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL).
AIR FORCE Engineered Fabrics Corp., Rockmart, Ga., is being awarded a $15,952,382 firm-fixed-price contract. This contract action provides for C/KC-135 fuel cells used in the center wing, aft, will forward and upper desk positions of the C/KC-135 aircraft. The primary function of the fuel cell is to store fuel for use during flight. At this time, no funds have been obligated. The work will be complete by June 2010. Headquarters Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is the contracting activity (FA8103-07-C-0077).
DEDICATED: On May 21 in Waco, Texas, NASA dedicated its Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft to pioneering aviator Charles Lindbergh on the 80th anniversary of his historic transatlantic flight. SOFIA is a highly modified 747 airliner that carries a 45,000-pound infrared telescope system. It was modified at L-3 Systems in Waco and is wrapping up a series of functional checkout flights before heading to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center for further tests and systems integration.
The head of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) research arm said May 21 that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are his top priority. DHS undersecretary Jay Cohen said IEDs pose a new threat to the U.S. and not just to its military. "Ladies and gentlemen, I believe they're coming to a theater near you," Cohen told a homeland security science and technology conference in Washington.
The Pentagon could save money and resources by combining certain similar unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs being developed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says. The Defense Department needs to encourage better joint ISR development across the services, according to the report, "Defense Acquisitions: Greater Synergies Possible for DOD's Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Systems." (See charts p.6,7.)
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Orbital Express spacecraft redocked with each other May 19 after spending nearly eight days separated following a critical failure of one of the two spacecrafts' primary sensor flight computers.
Certain annual cost calculations for the Air National Guard (ANG) Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) are wrong and other associated operational costs are going unreported to Congress, according to a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
Development issues under the U.S. Coast Guard's massive Deepwater program have extended to aircraft, with plans for a vertical takeoff-and-landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VUAV) now getting pushed back to the middle of next decade while the service eyes land-based alternatives to bridge an urgent maritime patrol gap.
