Aviation Week & Space Technology on April 7 will hold its 49th annual Laureate Awards, honoring the accomplishments of individuals and teams in aviation, aerospace and defense at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles Airport. For more information, visit http://www.aviationnow.com/conferences/laumain.htm.
Barry Johnson has been named vice president of quality assurance and supplier management. James Judd has been appointed vice president of production, integration and test.
Full release of scientific data from Europe's Smart-1 lunar-orbiter mission will begin over the coming weeks, following validation by the European Space Agency's scientific team. Additional data will be posted on ESA's Smart-1 Web site for months. The Smart-1 probe started orbiting the moon on Nov. 15, 2004, after a yearlong journey using ion propulsion. It is expected to continue sending data until it crashes on the surface in August after an 18-month scientific campaign.
Progress is being made in protecting U.S. satellites from the dangerous aftereffects of nuclear detonations, according to James Tegnelia, director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). When a nuclear weapon goes off above Earth's atmosphere, high-energy electrons become trapped in the Earth's magnetic belts and can remain in orbit for up to a year. As satellites in low-Earth orbit pass through this environment, they receive repeated high doses of radiation that can overwhelm their systems.
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne's says he's looking for a long-range strike aircraft with the speed of an SR-71, the loitering ability of a B-2, and the carrying capacity of a B-52. Industry "kind of knows the plan form because there aren't very many plan forms that can do all this stuff we're talking about," so industry is waiting for details of the inside requirements "and those are being worked together," Wynne said March 30 at an aerospace gathering on Capitol Hill.
John Blanton, David Dolling, Philip Hattis, David Jensen, Paul Nielsen, David Riley, Merri Sanchez, Bruce Wilson and Susan Ying have been named to the board of directors. Blanton, of GE Aircraft Engines, will serve as Region 3 director. Dolling, of the University of Texas at Austin, will serve as director at large. Hattis, of Draper Laboratory, will serve as vice president-elect of public policy. Jensen, of Brigham Young University, will serve as technical director of structures design and test. Nielsen, of Carnegie Mellon University, will serve as president-elect.
David R. Apt has been named director of communications for technical services. Christopher D. Kastner has been named vice president for contracts and risk management.
The American Shipbuilding Association said it will again target the Pentagon's long-term leasing of foreign-built ships, which some U.S. shipbuilders and their supporters see as lost domestic work. "ASA will continue to work with Congress to urge that legislation be passed to limit the practice by the Department of Defense (DOD) of using long-term leases as a de facto means of buying foreign-built ships to meet dedicated military logistics requirements," the group said.
CAE USA said March 30 that it has been awarded contract options worth more than $14 million to design and build a MH-60S helicopter operational flight trainer (OFT) for the U.S. Navy. It will be the fourth simulator that CAE will manufacture for the Navy. The Navy also OK'd CAE to upgrade a fourth P-3C Orion OFT and provide support and spares. The MH-60S OFT is set to be ready for Naval Air Station (NAS) Norfolk in late 2007. The upgraded P-3C OFT is scheduled to be ready for training at NAS Jacksonville in mid-2007.
Leading Air Force officials told senators March 29 that they expect to get permission from the Pentagon's acquisition chief to issue a request for information for aerial refueling tankers "in the very, very near future," which will be followed by a request for proposals in September.
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force chief of staff, told Senate defense appropriators March 29 that the service is progressing on revamping its oversight and quality of military space programs. "We reduced our acquisition force in the space area way too much," Wynne said, hurting engineering quality and causing cost overruns. In turn, the Air Force is trying to increase the "talent pool."
ICO North America has moved ahead on an old idea with its plans to deploy and operate a hybrid space-/terrestrial-based mobile satellite service (MSS). Continuing an effort started by its parent company, ICO Global Communications, ICO North America has picked an International Launch Services Atlas V to launch its first satellite. The ICO-G1 satellite, ordered last year from Space Systems/Loral along with its ancillary terrestrial component (ATC), is to be launched in mid-2007.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Raytheon Co.'s Imagery and Geospatial Systems unit $9.4 million more for the Joint Environmental Toolkit (JET) program, which will integrate and possibly replace the existing Air Force Weather Weapon System.
NEW COMMANDANT: The Senate has confirmed Vice Adm. Thad Allen, the Coast Guard official whose face became synonymous with the service's much-praised response to Hurricane Katrina, to be the 23rd Coast Guard commandant. The March 28 vote also will promote Allen to a four-star admiral. "He will more than justify the confidence that the president and Senate place in him," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said March 29.
SpaceDev Inc. of Poway, Calif., finished 2005 with its 12th consecutive quarter of revenue growth and eighth consecutive quarter of operating profit, company officials said during a conference call March 29. SpaceDev's 2005 revenue was approximately $9 million, an increase of 84 percent compared to approximately $4.9 million in 2004. The increase mostly was due to the company's work with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and other smaller government contracts.
The scheduled date of the first flight of a test version of the Joint Strike Fighter has slipped two months, according to the JSF program's director. Rear Adm. Steven Enewold, executive officer of the Joint Strike Fighter Program, says the JSF/F-35 will be tested at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., in October. The test originally was slated for Aug. 28, he told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee on March 28.
PENETRATION: Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said March 29 that Defense Department efforts toward a new bunker-buster bombing ability now revolves around Earth penetration technology and whether warheads can be designed to achieve the mission. Briefing Senate defense appropriators, Wynne said it's all about physics at this point, and that the former nuclear aspect is not at issue any longer.
