``Easi-Set'' buildings are precast concrete structures that can be placed over existing equipment to provide a secure, durable and watertight environment. They can be installed in a few hours, creating a virtually bullet-proof unit for electrical controls, communications and mechanical housing. The design withstands Zone 4 seismic events and minimum wind loads with no need for foundations or footings. They are available in the U.S. and Canada in clear roof spans of 12-40 ft. Easi-Set Industries, 5119 Catlett Road, Suite 200, P.O. Box 300, Midland, Va. 22728.
The General Services Administration has signed a multiyear contract with Trident Data Systems to provide network safeguards against cyber attacks. Trident is to assess potential risk areas for critical infrastructures. It is teamed with Veridian, Internet Security Systems and L-3 Network Security Solutions. . . . British Aerospace Engineering has settled on Denab/Virtual NC to verify all of its numerical controller programming before they are released to the shop floor. . . .
Basic certification flight testing could end as early as this week on the 717-200 program, as Boeing officials push to cut production costs for the twinjet in an increasingly competitive 100-seat transport market. The 717 is expected to achieve initial joint FAA/JAA certification in early September, while the initial delivery of the twinjet is set for later that month to AirTran Airways, the launch customer. Two of the four flight test aircraft were phased out of the test fleet late last month, according to program officials.
A floor vote in the House on a multiagency appropriations bill that would cut NASA's budget by $1 billion was delayed last week until lawmakers return from their summer vacation. Republican leaders said the postponement was a courtesy to Alan B. Mollohan (W.Va.), ranking Democrat on the subcommittee that funds NASA, after the death last week of his father. But it was questionable whether the leadership had the votes to sustain the cuts, given a threatened presidential veto and Republican lawmakers' traditional support for space.
The Travel John is one solution for the challenge of bladder management for pilots. It consists of an absorbent pouch that instantly turns urine into gel while destroying bacteria and odor. The product has a specially designed collar and may be used by men, women or children, either while sitting or standing. A spill guard prevents back flow during use. It will not leak, even if punctured, and is available in a pack of three or box of 18. Sporty's Pilot Shop, Clermont County Airport, Batavia, Ohio 45103-9747.
The ED10 probe automatically recognizes the substrate to be measured and can use either the magnetic induction or eddy current method of measurement. This flexible probe allows the user to measure paint, plastic and organic coatings on nonferrous and ferrous materials, and nonferrous metal plating, such as chromium, copper and zinc as well as on steel and cast iron. Application information is stored in the probe so application-specific parameters are automatically loaded and can be printed out. Fischer Technology Inc., 750 Marshall Phelps Road, Windsor, Conn. 06095.
Protracted attempts by British Airways and American Airlines to gain regulatory approval for their proposed strategic alliance have apparently reached the end of the line. Late last week, it appeared only to be a question of whether the two carriers would withdraw their bid for antitrust immunity before the U.S. Transportation Dept. moved to dismiss the application. ``The official death notices are imminent,'' said one observer.
Despite ACMG's dark forecast for cargo, Korean Air has leased another 747-400F freighter and is increasing its cargo flights to the Americas to 39 from 35 a week. Business on these routes increased 21%, to 84,300 tons, during the first six months of 1999 compared with the same period last year, the airline said. South Korea's economic recovery and a robust U.S. economy are helping fuel the growth.
In a quest to lower its budget and work force, Japan's Ministry of Transport is considering the transfer of maintenance of navigational aids to a public service corporation that it controls. Use of such corporations is common in Japan. They are civilian companies, but the government invests fully or partly in them. Their personnel costs are not always cheaper but they are considered more efficient than the ministry.
Deep Space 1 flew by the freshly renamed asteroid 9969 Braille on July 28, targeted at airliner cruise altitude--the closest flyby ever, made possible by the spacecraft's autonomous navigation--but only 7 hr. after recovering from a computer upset. However, it was not clear late last week whether DS1 was pointed properly at the asteroid. Telemetry indicates that the camera took pictures, but the navigation system seems to have lost lock on Braille in the last half hour.
The U.S. Defense Dept. has begun development of a supersonic version of the Miniature Air Launched Decoy to be known as the Miniature Air Launched Interceptor. Mali will be developed and demonstrated by Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, San Diego, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. One planned use of the system is as a low-cost cruise-missile interceptor.
Continental Airlines Chairman Gordon Bethune has what he says is a sure-fire way of convincing Congress of the severity of budgetary and bureaucratic problems that prevent the FAA from running an efficient ATC system. Capitol Hill clearly is not in a rush to deal with the problem. The Senate has no plans to consider the FAA budget reauthorization bill before a planned month-long recess starts Aug. 6.
The congressional budget process has authorized $16 million for the U.S. Navy to study conversion of four Ohio-class Trident ballistic missile submarines as cruise-missile platforms. Although the budget has not yet been passed into law, the study would evaluate modifying the 560-ft.-long submarines to launch tactical cruise missiles and covertly deploy Navy Seal forces close to shore. The changeover is estimated to cost about $500 million per submarine.
The French government is reducing its stake in Thomson-CSF and allowing the telecommunications and space company Alcatel to raise its stake in the defense electronics manufacturer from 16% to more than 25%. The move is aimed at making Thomson-CSF more attractive as an alliance partner. The French government will remain the largest single shareholder of Thomson-CSF, however. Alcatel and Thomson-CSF, which jointly own Alcatel Space, said they plan to broaden the links between the two companies.
BOEING HAS STARTED FLIGHT TESTS OF THE AH-64D Apache Longbow prototype helicopter with ITT's ALQ-211 suite of integrated radio-frequency countermeasures (SIRFC). Included in the electronic countermeasures capabilities are radar warning, active jamming, passive RF target detection and classification (AW&ST May 31, p. 66). In addition to the Apache, the Army intends to qualify SIRFC in early 2000 for use on Special Operations MH-47s, MH-60 Black Hawks and CV-22 Osprey tiltrotors.
Industrial consolidation in Israel is continuing to pick up steam. Last week, Israel Aircraft Industries' ELTA subsidiary and Elisra Electronic Systems, a subsidiary of Tadiran, agreed to form a joint venture to market electronic defense systems.
James W. Kennedy has been named director and John W. Kilpatrick, Jr., deputy director of the new Engineering Directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Kilpatrick also will be acting director of the Systems Management Office. Others appointed to posts in the directorate are: Earnest C. Smith, assistant to the director; Jack Bullman, manager of the Avionics Dept.; Daniel L. Dumbacher, manager of the Structures, Mechanics and Thermal Dept.; Michael E. Polites, deputy manager of the Avionics Dept.; Gabriel R.
U.S. Navy planners are evaluating solutions to a spike in ship retirements forecast to occur between 2010-15. Although the current eight-year construction will sustain the targeted 305-ship fleet in the near term, a ``bulge'' of retirements is coming as naval vessels launched during the Reagan defense buildup reach the average 30-35-year retirement age, according to Navy Secretary Richard Danzig. The quality of ships in the fleet also is an issue, he said.
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. has placed an order for an initial batch of TM 333 production engines for the Advanced Light Helicopter, giving new impetus to the long-stalled Indian rotorcraft project and providing a launch customer for the Turbomeca turboshaft powerplant. Turbomeca will supply 30 TM 333 2B2 engines for a batch of 12 helicopters to be used in operations trials of the ALH, which has been in development since 1984. The units will power five different ALH versions--one civil and one each for India's army, navy, air force and coast guard.
Mending post-Kosovo relations, Vice President Al Gore and new Russian Prime Minister Sergei V. Stepashin agreed at meetings here to commence discussions in Moscow this month on a third Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 3), along with revisions to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. The latter would enable Washington to deploy a limited national missile defense. But Gore hewed unswervingly to the Administration's line that START 3's signature must await the Russian Duma's ratification of START 2, signed in 1993.
In a high-stakes game of budgetary brinkmanship, appropriators in the U.S. House responded to the Clinton Administration's dare not to exceed federal spending caps by cutting NASA's budget request a whopping 10% last week. The question now is whether the White House and congressional Republicans will back down from their budget standoff or force NASA to go through with drastic cuts to its space exploration programs.
The Globalstar constellation now has enough satellites in orbit to initiate commercial satellite telephone service, following the successful launch of four spacecraft on a Delta 2 booster. The launch from Cape Canaveral Air Station at 3:46 a.m. EDT July 25 raised the number of Globalstars in orbit to 32. Another 20 are set for launch during the remainder of the year on Boeing Delta and Russian Soyuz boosters to complete the constellation of 48 operational spacecraft and four orbital spares.
Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) has completed a set of high-resolution digital maps of the Moon made from images taken by the Defense Dept./NASA Clementine mission in 1994. The maps cover about 8% of the lunar surface at 20-30 meters per pixel resolution, about five times higher resolution than the U.S. Geological Survey digital basemaps issued in 1997. Production of the Clementine maps involved use of machine vision software developed by MSSS that automatically located and correlated most of the images.
The congressional debate over the F-22 is a maze of pros and cons, sketched in a House report. At issue are the relative advantages of air superiority versus multirole flexibility in the size and composition of the Air Force's tactical fleet. Likewise, a balance must be found between tactical air power and other major weapons needs. And then there is the perennial strain of juggling equally meritorious priorities: people and equipment, readiness and modernization.
