Test data show the first full-duration firing of the Fastrac engine for the X-34 technology demonstrator vehicle at NASA's Stennis Space Center was successful, according to program officials. The engine was tested on May 14 at full power for 155 sec., the length of time the engine will be required to perform during X-34-powered flight. Program officials at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center said a total of 51 engine tests are scheduled to be conducted this year, including 16 full-duration runs and two additional firings which are scheduled to run 1.5 times full-duration.
The U.S. Navy and Raytheon on June 30 completed the first successful intercept using the AIM-9X short-range air-to-air missile. It was fired from an F/A-18 at the Navy's China Lake, Calif., center and impacted a QF-4 drone.
Former cosmonaut Vladimir Titov has become Moscow-based director of space and communications for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States for Boeing.
Sea Launch's four new confirmed launch orders from Hughes Space and Communications should give a lift to Boeing, which sees space as a prime growth area.
Delta Air Lines and Air France--having cemented a close partnership last week--hope to establish a global alliance by year-end. If they succeed, the stage will be set for a ferocious competitive battle among three or four families of airlines on a global scale.
France has signaled its intent to help fund development of a beyond-visual-range missile (Bvraam) with the U.K. and four other European nations if London opts for the Meteor solution proposed by Matra BAe Dynamics and a consortium of four other European missile makers.
Problems at the Minneapolis Terminal Radar Approach Control forced air traffic controllers to reduce the aircraft arrival rate at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport by half for one 24-hr. period in the middle of last week. Most affected was Northwest Airlines, which reported 100 flights delayed. The difficulties arose when controllers' displays failed to receive alphanumeric information that identifies radar contacts and supplies flight information.
Timecard reporting can be done from far-flung locations via the Internet using e-timecard by Maxwell Business Systems. The system works with standard Netscape and Explorer browsers so each employee or contractor doesn't need special client software. It can also report via a client-server system or touch-tone telephone, interfaces with a variety of project management and accounting software, and meets Defense Contract Auditing Agency requirements. Version 3.0 of e-timecard has a better Web interface, improved data checking during entry, and more management reporting tools.
Impending U.S.-Russian talks to revive nuclear arms reduction and modify the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty appear more exploratory than substantive, arms control experts say. ``We will not know until after [the July talks] are over whether there is going to be a serious pursuit of START 3, as well as a serious pursuit of ABM changes within certain constraints,'' says John B. Rhinelander, who authored the original ABM draft text nearly 30 years ago.
American Airlines plans to complete integration of Reno Air's operations into the company by Aug. 31. In addition to 20 new American flights already planned to expand West Coast service this summer, Reno's integration will add more than 150 additional flights to American's western network. Beginning in January, Reno Air's 25 Boeing MD-80 and MD-90 jets are scheduled to be repainted in American livery and receive new interiors.
Elbit Systems Ltd. and Elop Electro-Optics Industries are involved in exploratory talks about a possible merger of the two Israeli defense firms. Elop, a privately held company owned by the Federman Group, would be merged into Elbit Systems if an agreement is reached and Israeli and U.S. regulators approved the deal.
North Korea is trying to improve the range and other capabilities of its Taepodong-2 ballistic missile, considered one of the last remaining bargaining chips for the regime in its dialogue with the U.S. The North Koreans are reported to be testing the engines of the missile that could reach the western U.S. The country is also developing a Taepodong-3, with a possible range of more than 8,000 naut. mi. A launch later this summer of the Taepodong-2 is expected. Last week, a U.S. State Dept.
Wing-to-fuselage mating of the first of two Boeing X-32 Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator aircraft was accomplished late last month in Palmdale, Calif. A small team of mechanics positioned the single-piece wing and connected all attach points in under 6 hr. Subsystems installation and fit checks of the landing gear and tail are now underway. First flight of the aircraft, called the X-32A, is scheduled for Spring 2000.
An arbitration panel has ruled that BFGoodrich's acquisition of Coltec would not breach a strategic alliance formed in mid-1995 between Coltec and AlliedSignal, which is trying to derail the merger. The arbitrators recommended that Coltec and AlliedSignal develop appropriate safeguards to allay AlliedSignal's concerns about confidentiality. Now BFGoodrich and Coltec are awaiting the results of an appeals court review of a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking the merger. AlliedSignal sought the injunction.
A Lockheed Martin Titan II launched NASA's QuickSCAT sea-surface wind-monitoring satellite on June 19 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., placing the vehicle into a near-polar 800-km. (500-mi.) orbit. The 1,910-lb. spacecraft was Ball Aerospace&Technologies Corp.'s first commercial satellite based on a BCP 2000 bus, and carried the Sea Winds scatterometer built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
A patent has been awarded for control technologies involved in the Adaptive Performance Optimization experiment conducted at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The goal is to improve commercial transport efficiency at cruise altitude through minimization of aerodynamic drag.
A deviation from the planned flight display path and an emergency altitude-recovery maneuver caused the June 12 crash of a Sukhoi Su-30MK at the Paris air show, according to a French investigation team. The combat aircraft's magnetic flight data recorder, which was recovered shortly after the crash, as well as video footage and photographs of the accident, provided multiple sources of information for the investigation team's work, DGA French armaments agency officials said.
Singapore Airlines has dealt Airbus Industrie a marketing blow by swapping its A340 fleet--one of Asia's largest--for Boeing 777s. Stung, Airbus is claiming that Boeing has started a price war.
Chief Master Sgt. Frederick J. (Jim) Finch has been named to be the 13th chief master sergeant of the U.S. Air Force. He is command chief master sergeant for the Air Combat Command at Langley AFB, Va. Finch will succeed Chief Master Sgt. Eric W. Benken, who will retire July 30.
The European Union's Transport Council has approved funding to support definition of Europe's proposed second-generation Global Navigation Satellite System. The approval, which follows a similar decision by the European Space Agency's ministerial council in May, allows the 18-month definition phase of the GNSS-2 program to begin.
The first of seven L-3 Communications Inc. explosives detectors planned for Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport should be fully operational later this year, according to the New York-based security and communications supplier. L-3 and EG&G Astrophysics won a contract in April from Aeroporto di Roma to support modernization of the airport authority's security systems. European airports face a requirement to achieve 100% screening of checked bags for explosives.
Donald Weiner has been appointed vice president-sales for the Pacific for the Fairchild Aerospace Corp., San Antonio, Tex. He was vice president-sales and customer support for Asia-Pacific for International Aero Engines.
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace plans to develop an unmanned, reusable launch vehicle by 2012 to deliver payloads into orbit at a lower cost than are incurred using the current generation of expendable launchers.
Although a sea-based solution to national missile defense (NMD) has attracted attention in Congress, the Navy so far has not undertaken the basic studies that would be required for such a program. The task would require $20-30 million and take 18-24 months to complete, according to Rear Adm. Rodney P. Rempt, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for theater combat systems. Among the main issues that would have to be addressed is whether to use existing ships or build new ones. The Navy's contribution could likely be ready 3-5 years after a detailed analysis is completed.
