Astronomers at the Clay Center Observatory in Brookline, Mass., used a 0.64-meter Ritchey-Chretien telescope to capture this image of the International Space Station as it passed overhead at an altitude of 350 km. (217 mi.). The tail of the space shuttle Atlantis and its three main engines are clearly visible between the two large solar array wings on the main station truss, while a Russian Progress cargo vehicle can be seen docked to Russia's Zvezda service module.
European economic ministers meet this week, with the Galileo satellite procurement debacle on the agenda, potentially including discussion of a revived competition to run the satellite-navigation franchise. European officials and industry are trying to steady the multi-billion-euro program, following a decision in June to ditch an overall public-private partnership approach to funding and running Galileo.
The Canadian Airports Council has asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Bush to settle a nettlesome security issue over rescreening of baggage from flights originating in Canada. The U.S. does not recognize Canadian screening standards and requires re-screening of bags connecting through U.S. airports. CAC says re-screening is unnecessary and adds to minimum connecting times for trans-border travelers.
China Eastern Airlines, the financially weakest of the country's Big Three carriers, expects to report a modest profit of 200 million yuan ($26 million) this year, compared with last year's loss of 2.78 billion yuan. Official media report that the company has received approval for Singapore Airlines and that company's state majority owner to buy 25% of the Chinese airline.
After 20 years of secrecy, the overall design of the 15-ton U.S. National Reconnaissance Office Lacrosse space-based radar and its remarkable 25-ft.-dia. imaging radar antenna are revealed in images of Lacrosse-2 at 400 mi. altitude taken by a Russian military ground-based telescope.
Researchers will converge on Costa Rica this month for a three-week study of the ways tropical storms pump chemical compounds into the stratosphere, using satellites, aircraft, balloons and ground radars to look at storms from all angles. Organized by NASA's Earth Sciences Division, the Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling (TC4) campaign will focus on the transitional layer between the troposphere and stratosphere. In addition to the Aura, Aqua, Calipso, CloudSat and other spacecraft, TC4 will employ a NASA ER-2 aircraft that can fly to 70,000 ft.--3 mi.
A rich heritage in building wing and fuselage structures and assemblies for civil and military programs didn’t prepare Vought Aircraft Industries for the sweeping commercial changes that spread across aerospace in the post-Sept. 11 downturn of 2001.
Despite a need to transform themselves, the military services remain focused on centerpiece acquisition efforts rooted in the Cold War, such as the Navy's DDG-1000 destroyer and the Army's Future Combat Systems, says Peter Singer, Brookings Institution senior fellow and director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative.
When Rockwell Collins needed to know more about thunderstorm characteristics in different parts of the world, the company found someone who had already been down this path. Research meteorologist Ed Zipser, a professor at the University of Utah, was enlisted in the company’s radar project in 2004, and his knowledge of thunderstorms played a key role in perfecting the automatic MultiScan radar (see p. 44).
The shuttle orbiter Endeavour is being prepared for rollout from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to Launch Complex 39A about July 11, in preparation for its STS-118 launch to the International Space Station scheduled for Aug. 7. Endeavour, which has not been flown since 2002, was moved into the VAB from Bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility on July 2 as Atlantis was in the midst of its return to KSC from Edward AFB, Calif., on its Boeing 747 carrier aircraft.
The French Senate defense and armed forces committee has strongly recommended construction of a second aircraft carrier. New Defense Minister Herve Morin said in late June that the vessel, which France is studying as a cooperative venture with the U.K., probably will be approved.
Rockwell Collins leased a Boeing Business Jet to gather data of MultiScan radar as it detected storms in June in North and South America, over the Atlantic, in Europe and over Africa (see p. 44). The cover is filled with clouds from a June 16 photo taken at 39,000 ft. over Cameroon by engineer Roy Robertson. One inset photo is a still frame from a video camera in the tail showing an anvil cloud near Luxembourg on June 8. The second inset photo, which was taken on June 21, shows the radar display in the cockpit, as taken by Capt. Dick Smith at 31,000 ft.
The Thai cabinet has agreed to an air force purchase of six Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighters; six more are to follow after at least five years. This overturns earlier plans for Sukhoi Su-30s.
EADS has completed ground tests of its air refueling boom, which has been installed on an Airbus A310. The boom development has hit some difficulties, but wrapping up ground testing before the U.S. tanker program goes into its final source-selection phase was seen as important. EADS's lack of boom experience was seen as a potential handicap for the bidder, which is allied with Northrop Grumman in its KC-30 bid. Flight trials will follow. Australia's five KC-30B A330-based tankers will receive the refueling probe.
The first of 23 VH-71 U.S. presidential helicopters had its maiden flight July 3. Delivery of the VH-71 variant of the AgustaWestland EH101 is scheduled to begin in October 2009. Test Vehicle 2, as the first VH-71 is known, will be joined by a further three test aircraft in early 2008. The first VH-71 is due to be delivered to NAS Patuxent River, Md., by Sept. 30. Four test VH-71s and five pilot production aircraft will be built and delivered by the end of 2009.
Germany has launched its second SarLupe X-band reconnaissance satellite. The spacecraft, orbited by a Cosmo 3M booster from Plesetsk, Russia, on July 3, will join the first satellite, which was launched in December. The two units will enable the system to become operational this fall.
Cessna Aircraft Co. and Germany's Thielert Aircraft Engines plan to collaborate on future aircraft programs that would use Thielert's diesel engine. John Doman, Cessna's vice president of worldwide propeller aircraft sales, says the engine "may provide a very worthwhile power option . . . and we think the time is right to move forward." One potential candidate for the engine is Cessna's Next Generation Piston airplane, now under development.
The U.S. Air Force has been authorized to pursue multi-year agreements for F-22 Lots 7-9 with the Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, predicting potential savings in the $100 millions. Contracts with Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney are to be awarded later this summer. Deliveries, managed by the 478th Aeronautical Systems Wing, are approaching 100 aircraft, and the first of four modernization upgrades, including both hardware and software changes, is close to being fielded. Rand Corp.
The two Orbital Express spacecraft are expected to be decommissioned this week, after demonstrating on-orbit satellite servicing techniques, according to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa).
Seven European rail operators have launched an alliance to facilitate interlining and set up a common frequent traveler plan that would allow them to compete more effectively with the airlines for intercity traffic. The alliance is led by Deutsche Bahn (DB) of Germany and France's SNCF, which have pioneered in establishing high-speed rail interconnections with big airline hubs like Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt. Other team members include Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria. Over 4,700 km.
From a line approximately 180 naut. mi. south of Iceland to the North Pole, the air navigation service provider Isavia rules the northern tier of the North Atlantic sky and guides nearly 100,000 civil and military aircraft each year.
A team of scientists at the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) are evaluating performance of a Towed Airborne Plume Simulator (TAPS) before flight tests begin later this year.
This winter, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will launch what it calls the world’s fastest telecommunications satellite, a demonstrator for technology that would allow spacecraft to greatly outperform commonly used terrestrial systems of Internet delivery.
