A Lockheed Martin Atlas V will launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft mission to the moon from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 41 in late 2008 following NASA's selection of the launcher over the Boeing Delta IV. The flight will use an Atlas V 401 configuration with no solid rocket boosters to augment the 1 million-pound thrust Russian RD-180 engine in the core vehicle, and the Centaur upper stage powered by a Pratt & Whitney RL10 engine.
The competition to supply the Turkish military with a basic aircraft trainer is down to two companies, Embraer and Korea Aerospace Industries. Turkey earlier this year issued a solicitation for the trainer program, saying it plans to buy 36 aircraft, with another 19 options. To elicit more interest, the response date was extended from early May to mid-July.
The Bush administration has not yet responded to a request by top House appropriators to boost the fiscal 2007 off-budget "bridge fund" by $10 billion to fully fund military recapitalization and reset needs, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Capitol Hill reporters July 28.
AF CUTS: The Air Force wants to outsource noncombat jobs to contractors in order to spend more on technology and less on people. So it will cut its officer ranks by 8,000 by the end of fiscal 2007 to meet requirements set by force planners. Enlisted strength will be untouched. Planners have several tools to make the cuts, ranging from extra separation pay (to induce some officers to leave voluntarily) to outright dismissals of junior officers.
TAKING AIM: Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), co-chairman of the so-called Bipartisan Taskforce on Nonproliferation, introduced a bill July 27 that would block the Bush administration's proposed sale of 36 F-16 C/D Block 50/52 Falcon aircraft to Pakistan, along with related support equipment and weaponry. The bill would prevent the sale unless President Bush certifies to Congress that Pakistan has stopped building its recently revealed plutonium production reactor.
VISION PROBLEMS: In a sharply critical report on NASA's implementation of its vision for space exploration, the Space Frontier Foundation recommends that the agency stop all work on Block 1 of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), which the agency plans to use for missions to the International Space Station, and leave that task entirely to industry through the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. "Since COTS will become the primary approach to reducing the gap in U.S.
TOURISM TAKING OFF: European companies with an interest in space tourism may get a little boost from the European Space Agency (ESA), which intends to award three of them 150,000 euro ($190,500) grants and the knowledge of its launch vehicle experts to advance their planning. Internal ESA studies have found a potential space tourism market in Europe, and the agency's upcoming industry survey is designed to encourage its development.
SETTLEMENT REVIEW: Senate defense authorizers on Aug. 1 will examine the Boeing Co.'s $615 million "global" settlement with the government for the Darleen Druyun scandal and improper possession of Lockheed Martin Corp. documents. Paul McNulty, now deputy attorney general but who prosecuted Druyun, is scheduled to testify along with Boeing chief executive W. James McNerney Jr. Boeing said recently that it would not seek a tax deduction from the payment (DAILY, July 27).
The first-of-class, namesake Virginia submarine is expected to finish post-shakedown availability (PSA) in December and its successor, the Northrop Grumman-built Texas, should do the same a year later, according to General Dynamics Corp.'s Electric Boat.
U.S. defense officials on July 21 successfully calibrated 21 low-frequency monitoring stations scattered from Texas to California and as far north as Winnipeg, Canada, designed to detect very low frequency noises that might be caused by large explosions around the globe - such as a nuclear test or explosion that would otherwise go undetected by humans, according to the U.S. Navy. Under the Infrasound Rocket Experiment, two Terrier Orion rockets each containing 50-pound explosive warheads exploded 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) above ground.
July 31 - Aug. 2 -- Night Vision Systems 2006, "Addressing Key Issues in Night Vision Requirements and Technologies," Hilton Arlington, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.idga.org. July 31 - Aug. 3 -- 2006 Naval S&T Partnership Conference, "The Navy After Next... Powered by Naval Research," Wardman Park Hotel Marriott Hotel, Washington, D.C. For more information go to www.ndia.org.
FARNBOROUGH - Navy acquisition chief Delores Etter says that cautious optimism about Bell Helicopter Textron's UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopter programs led to the recent awarding of a low-rate production contract to the company for additional work.
COAST GUARD AIR: The Reserve Officers Association (ROA) of the United States is urging Congress to study housing aviation capabilities in the Coast Guard Reserve. Coast Guard aviators who leave active service tend to join other military reserves or let their skills "atrophy" in the Coast Guard Reserve, ROA says. A Coast Guard Selected Reserve aviation structure would maintain those flyers and their skills to be called upon for surges due to maritime domain awareness or disaster response.
Fledgling commercial launch provider Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is applying the lessons learned from the March failure of the first Falcon 1 rocket to the ongoing development of the EELV-class Falcon 9 follow-on, according to SpaceX Founder and CEO Elon Musk The Falcon 1 failure was attributed to a cracked aluminum B-nut on the outside of the rocket that corroded from exposure to the sea air during months of launch delays. The nut cracked at liftoff, allowing fuel to leak and start a fire.
Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff said July 27 that his department will finalize the Strategic Border Initiative's strategic plan by Nov. 1. "We are mindful of Chairman Rogers' mandate of 'no plan, no money,'" Chertoff testified to House homeland security appropriators. The subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.), who has repeatedly withheld funds from DHS agencies to force them to provide spending plans to Congress.
NONLETHAL WEAPONS: With the emphasis on restoring order in Baghdad becoming a bigger priority for the Bush Administration and the Defense Department, the Pentagon is looking for ways to quell violence without damaging property or hurting innocent people in the close combat quarters of the urban environment. One possible way to do that is with nonlethal weapons that rely on microwave beams or other directed energy means, such as the active denial system being tested for U.S. troops.
SPACESUITS: NASA has begun gathering test data to aid in the design of new spacesuits for planetary explorers, which will have to be considerably more comfortable and durable than their Apollo-era predecessors, the agency says. At Johnson Space Center in Houston, astronauts and other personnel recently practiced walking back to base from a stranded rover in simulated lunar and Mars conditions. Using a treadmill and wearing a spacesuit designed to test various components, seven people completed the tests at speeds ranging from 2.75 to 5.5 mph.
ROLLOUTS: Lockheed Martin is scheduled to roll out two different types of combat aircraft in the coming weeks. Gen. Paul Hester, commander of Pacific Air Forces and air component commander of U.S. Pacific Command, as well as other senior U.S. Air Force officers, are scheduled on Aug. 3 in Marietta, Ga., to recognize Raptor 4087 - the first F-22 to be assigned to the U.S. Pacific Command. In mid-August, Lockheed Martin also will likely be rolling out the upgraded Thunderbolt, the A-10C.
Australia is moving forward on two key modernization efforts in which it is cooperating with the U.S. military - the heavyweight torpedo for the Collins Class submarine and acquisition of a high-altitude unmanned aircraft. The Australian defense department last week gave the full-rate production green light for the Mk. 48 Advanced Capability Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System Mod 7 heavyweight torpedo. The weapon was cooperatively developed by the U.S. and Australia and will be used by submarines in both navies.
