The leadership of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee vowed at a Nov. 1 hearing to speed the confirmation of Shana Dale as NASA's deputy administrator, which should allow her to assume her duties within a week. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has made several calls to Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) to expedite Dale's confirmation, Stevens said. Dale's nomination and several others likely will be voted on at a committee markup hearing Nov. 2.
The Pentagon has delayed a key review of the Marine Corps' Heavy Lift Replacement (HLR) program by more than a month, citing the need for more information about the helicopter acquisition effort.
U.S. military helicopters, airplanes, and ships are continuing to deliver relief supplies to Pakistan in response to the country's devastating earthquake, the Defense Department said. Two dozen Army and Navy helicopters are operating in the region, with nine more expected to begin soon. On Oct. 30, choppers flew 52 sorties, airlifted more than 310,000 pounds of supplies and carried 583 passengers. They also evacuated 64 people.
Insurgents in Iraq are benefiting from an "astonishing" amount of commercially available ingredients and technology to make their improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the roadside bombs and land mines responsible for more coalition casualties there than any other weapon, a Senate lawmaker said Nov. 1.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. said Nov. 1 that it has agreed to purchase Keystone Ranger Holdings Inc., which provides engineering and technical support for commercial helicopters and air medical flight operations. Financial terms were not disclosed. The purchase is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2005.
AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE: Goodrich Corp. said Oct. 31 that it will furnish military aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul and other services for France's defense ministry under a five-year, $141 million contract. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company's Actuation Systems unit will work on the French military's Mirage 2000 and Transall C160 aircraft, as well as Fennec, Puma, Super Puma, and Cougar helicopters.
An engine flameout problem that occurred on two separate Air Force-owned Global Hawks over the summer has contributed to a delay with the Navy's Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration program, according to the Navy. The Air Force still is investigating the problem with the Rolls-Royce-built engine and has yet to comment on the cause. One flameout occurred on an advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD) Global Hawk flying overseas in theater, the other on a production aircraft in the U.S. Both managed to glide autonomously to a safe landing.
NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., is gearing up to begin flight-tests next summer using a small scaled model of an airliner to evaluate "refuse-to-crash" technology. With more and more aircraft moving to digital controls and fly-by-wire technology, NASA aviation safety engineers decided the time was ripe to put more "smarts" into onboard flight controls, according to George Finelli, manager of NASA Langley's Aviation Safety and Security Program.
PRAGUE -- Czech aerospace company Aero Vodochody was worth CZK 814 million (USD $33.1 million) at the end of 2004, according to an assessment by financial advisor Deloitte Czech Republic. The figure, published by the daily financial newspaper Hospodarske Noviny on Oct. 26, suggests that the forthcoming privatization of Aero may attract much less than the CZK 10 billion (USD $406.5 million) originally expected by analysts. Czech industry and trade ministry spokesman Ivo Mravinac told The DAILY that the Deloitte assessment represented a basic valuation.
The first practice deployment of the F/A-22 Raptor has given U.S. Air Force crews increased confidence in the stealthy fighter, an Air Force spokeswoman said Oct. 31.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's giant ocean-going radar is about to get set for its first long journey. MDA tentatively plans to load the 282-foot-high Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) on the Blue Marlin, an open-deck, heavy transport vessel, during the week of Nov. 7-11 in Corpus Christi, Texas, agency spokeswoman Pam Rogers said Oct. 31. The Blue Marlin will lower itself in the water so SBX can be moved on top of the vessel.
The delivery of electronic force protection systems, antenna products and battlefield communications systems helped push EDO Corp.'s revenue up 35.4 percent in the third quarter of 2005, the company said last week. Net earnings also soared 43.2 percent. Revenue was $175.9 million in the third quarter of 2005, compared with $129.9 for the same period a year earlier. Net earnings climbed from $6.9 million in the third quarter of 2004 to $9.8 million in 2005.
Negotiators from the House and Senate this week could move closer to meeting officially to work out differences between their spending bills funding NASA and the Defense Department for fiscal 2006. The House could consider motions to instruct its conferees for both appropriations bills, which were passed over the summer, according to its legislative agenda. The Senate -- whose bills were passed later -- usually includes the motions as part of passing its bills.
Congressional supporters of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, and the USS John F. Kennedy in particular, still are pushing for maintaining or even increasing the fleet size while facing the renewed prospect of the JFK's possible early retirement. With an 11th-hour agreement with Japan clearing the way for the JFK to be mothballed, as the Navy proposed in February, the lawmakers face potential near-term fleet reduction as appropriators prepare to work out the final fiscal 2006 defense spending bill.
Poway, Calif.-based SpaceDev will buy Boulder, Colo.-based Starsys Research Corp. in a deal worth $9 million, the companies said Oct. 31. Starsys, which has 130 employees, designs, engineers and builds mechanical systems and mechanisms that operate spacecraft components. It has provided equipment to NASA's Mars Rover, Cassini and Deep Impact missions. SpaceDev, with 50 employees, builds micro- and nano-satellites and hybrid propulsion systems, including the ones that powered SpaceShipOne, the first private space vehicle.
Computer Sciences Corp. of El Segundo, Calif., has joined the Alliance for Earth Observations, an initiative of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies to aid private-sector participation in planning for Earth observations. The initiative particularly is aimed at the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), which involves nearly 60 countries and more than 40 international organizations, CSC said Oct. 31. GEOSS intends to link observations from satellites, aircraft, weather stations, ocean buoys and other systems.
Visual Systems International (VSI), which makes helmet-mounted displays, said it has received $100 million worth of Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems contracts, including one from Boeing for more than 500 systems. The San Jose, Calif.-based company also has received contracts from the U.S. Navy and Air Force for spares and test equipment for the JHMCS program, it said.
The Government Accountability Office has denied the contract protest of Testek, which said the Defense Logistics Agency improperly rejected its alternative bid for aircraft generator test stand work. Livonia, Mich.-based Testek protested the sole-source award to Avtron Manufacturing for upgrading and modernizing the test stands, which measure the performance of generators that provide power for aircraft systems and components.
