U.S. Air Force Gen. Gregory S. Martin withdrew his name to be commander of U.S. Pacific Command, the Pentagon said Oct. 6, shortly after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), criticized his work as a former service acquisition official. Martin, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, requested that his nomination for the new post "be withdrawn," the Department of Defense said in a brief statement. "Admiral Thomas B. Fargo continues to serve as commander, U.S. Pacific Command."
AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION, Arling-ton, Va. James "Rusty" Rentsch has been named lifecycle management director. ARINC, INC. Annapolis, Md. Maureen Woods has been appointed senior director, air traffic services. COMMITTEE ON THE PRESENT DANGER, Wash-ington Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic; Jose Maria Aznar, former prime minister of Spain; and George Shultz, former U.S. secretary of state, have joined the board. HAWK CORP., Cleveland
NO PAYMENT: NASA will only pay Spacehab Inc. $8 million for the loss of its Research Double Module, which was destroyed when the Space Shuttle Columbia was destroyed last year, Spacehab said Oct. 6. Spacehab filed an $87.7 million claim against NASA earlier this year (DAILY, Jan. 21) for the loss of the module, but said NASA has determined it owes only $8 million for an indemnification claim.
It is unlikely that the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) will file a lawsuit against the Boeing Co. or the U.S. Department of Defense in response to the sentencing of an ex-Boeing official for wrongdoing in an Air Force tanker deal, analysts said. However, EADS could use the threat of a lawsuit to gain leverage with the Air Force to reopen the negotiations, they said.
50 NANOSATS: Leading European space powers are proposing to simultaneously launch 50 nanosatellites in 2007 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik. Each nanosat would weigh roughly 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram), and would be dedicated to a scientific experiment. The satellites would be deployed by a single Ariane 5 rocket. The mission was proposed during the recent 55th International Astronautical Federation (IAF) Congress in Vancouver, Canada.
A key Pentagon official is pushing the Defense Department's weapon system program managers to place more emphasis on safety when they design equipment. In a recent memorandum addressed to leaders across DOD, acting Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne wrote that program managers should be told to "integrate system safety risk management into their overall systems engineering and risk management processes." His memo calls for "active collaboration between system safety and acquisition communities as we execute our programs."
The National Reconnaissance Office is asking industry for ways to make it more capable and effective in launching satellites. It is interested in three specific areas - certification and qualification of parts, technologies for operationally responsive launches, and new approaches for secondary payloads. Proposals are due Nov. 29 and contracts of up to $350,000 each will be awarded by March 1, 2005, NRO says in a broad agency announcement (BAA) posted in the Oct. 4 issue of FedBizOpps.
In anticipation of future demonstrations of deep-space laser communications, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. is requesting information from industry on laser communication terminals that would be deployed in the stratosphere or in Earth orbit. The agency wants information on communication packages, telescope configurations, control strategies, and baffling or filtering schemes that would enable operation within three degrees of the sun. Responses are due Nov. 26.
Iraq has selected a Jordanian company to supply small aircraft to patrol oil pipelines and other critical parts of the country's infrastructure. Jordan Aerospace Industries (JAI), through its partner Transatlantic Traders Inc., was chosen over several other competitors on Sept. 28. The contract will be awarded Oct. 29, according to Bob Hunt, a spokesman for U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command in Huntsville, Ala. AMCOM worked with the interim Iraqi government on the program.
SUB WORK: Northrop Grumman was awarded a $36.5 million contract Oct. 5 to plan and execute dry-docking work on the nuclear-powered submarine USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN 709). The work, which will be performed at the company's facilities in Newport News, Va., will include removal and overhaul of various valves, steering and diving gear inspection and repair and torpedo systems repairs.
The U.K. Ministry of Defence Procurement announced Oct. 6 that it had selected Atkins Defence of Bristol as the preferred bidder for the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES), a family of vehicles with a range of combat, combat support, and service support roles using a common platform and components. Atkins will now proceed with the assessment phase of the FRES program. The ministry expects to sign a formal agreement by the end of the year. The potential value was not disclosed.
Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) Falcon 1 vehicle has been delivered to its launch complex at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., for a series of preflight tests leading to an expected launch in late November or December.
U.S. efforts to field a sea-based ballistic missile defense system remain on track, evidenced by plans for a ceremony later this month to mark the completion of the system's first deployable Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor, according to government and industry officials. The Defense Department has signaled for more than a year that it wants to have five SM-3s available for emergency use by the end of 2004, and a department official told The DAILY Oct. 6 that "things are still looking good for those five emergency rounds."
GLOBAL HAWK FLIGHT: The first Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle built for the U.S. Navy flew for the first time Oct. 6, according to a source at prime contractor Northrop Grumman. The RQ-4A Global Hawk, which was assembled in Palmdale, Calif., took off from there about 4 p.m. ET and was expected to land shortly after 7 p.m. at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The aircraft will undergo more tests at Edwards before being delivered to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., in 2005.
The U.S. government is looking to use advanced technologies, such as satellite communications and the Global Positioning System, to track and monitor containers that enter and leave U.S. ports and territorial waters, according to Robert A. Jacksta, executive director of border security and facilitation with the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office.
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Spirit is suffering from a steering problem that may eventually force mission controllers to permanently disable their ability to lock the direction of two of its four steerable wheels. The two front and two rear wheels of the six-wheeled rover are used for steering. When not in use, the actuator motors that steer the wheels act as brakes to prevent unintended direction changes. The steering motors for the right-front and left-rear wheels failed to respond to commands sent on Oct. 1, according to NASA.
The United States and the European Union blasted each other with charges that unfair subsidies are going to Europe's Airbus and America's Boeing Co. The latest development in a long-simmering dispute began Oct. 6 when the U.S. complained to the World Trade Organization that European governments were illegally subsidizing Airbus. The European Union fired back almost immediately with its own complaint to the WTO alleging "massive subsidies" to Boeing.
A mishap investigation board (MIB) is citing lax discipline on the part of Lockheed Martin workers and poor oversight by both the company and NASA as primary causes of the September 2003 handling accident that severely damaged the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) N-Prime satellite.
RAPTOR REVIEW: A Pentagon review of the F/A-22 Raptor has been delayed from Oct. 5 to Nov. 1 due to a scheduling conflict, according to Defense Department and Air Force spokespersons. The high-level meeting is supposed to examine the program's status and is not expected to result in any major decisions about the Lockheed Martin-built fighter, which is slated for full-rate production approval in January (DAILY, Sept. 24).
The U.S. Navy announced Oct. 5 that the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) program successfully completed its first major review since the Boeing Co. was picked to be the prime contractor almost four months ago. The three-day systems requirements review (SRR), held in Seattle, Wash., ended Sept. 30 and was designed to ensure program participants fully understand the Navy's needs. Stu Young, the Navy official who led the SRR, said the review convinced him that the program is on the right track.
General Dynamics received certification from the National Security Agency (NSA) for software version 5.3 for its AN/USC-61 Digital Modular Radio (DMR) system, the company said Oct. 4. The Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command awarded General Dynamics a $16 million contract to upgrade hardware and software for the AN/USC-61 DMR system, using the newly NSA-certified software.
PATHFINDER TO FLY: NASA and AeroVironment Inc. have refurbished the company's Pathfinder-Plus unmanned flying wing for a series of flights to take place this fall at the agency's Dryden Flight Research Center in California. Three or four low-altitude flights will be conducted to help characterize the effects of turbulence on the performance of lightweight, highly flexible solar-powered flying wings. The flights are intended to help prevent another crash such as that which destroyed the Pathfinder's larger cousin, the Helios, in June 2003.
