Christopher P. Silva, an engineering specialist in the Electromagnetic Techniques Dept. of The Aerospace Corp. of Los Angeles, has been elected a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. Silva is a pioneer in the introduction of nonlinear circuits and systems techniques to industry, particularly in the development of military communications satellites.
China is preparing both a two-man spacecraft and a new heavy booster to launch it, indicating that an extensive, largely secret, Chinese space development program is continuing. Liu Zhixiong, vice president of China Great Wall Industries, said that launch of the two-man spacecraft will not occur before 2000. He said development of a large new Chinese booster using liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants was underway in connection with the vehicle.
Joachim Cargas has been named senior vice president of the San Francisco office and Mark Adiletta senior vice president in New York for D'Accord Financial Services. Cargas was vice president-international of the BTM Capital Corp. and Adiletta a director of UBS Lease Finance.
Lapses in communications among operational forces and intelligence agencies, the loss of experienced personnel and perhaps several years of intelligence funding cuts are being touted as factors in the mistaken B-2 strike on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.
NASA AND THE ENERGY DEPT. ARE USING a high-altitude Altus UAV, teamed with a piloted DHC-6 Twin Otter, to measure solar energy reflected from high-altitude cirrus clouds in an effort to understand the climatic effects and possible influence on global warming. The study also is measuring the warm longwave radiation, absorbed by the clouds from the Earth's surface, which keeps heat in the atmosphere. Sandia (N.M.) National Laboratories is guiding the studies, using flights in the vicinity of Kauai, Hawaii.
Lee Williams has been named vice president of Honeywell Space and Strategic Systems, Clearwater, Fla. He was vice president of Honeywell's Industrial Automation and Control Business in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Earlier Pentagon plans to outfit many different types of military aircraft with the AAR-57 common missile warning system (CMWS) face an uncertain future. The AAR-57 is a key element of the Advanced Tactical Infrared Countermeasures (ATIRCM) system being developed by Lockheed Martin/Sanders for the Army's AH-64D Apache Longbow (AW&ST Sept. 11, 1995, p. 41).
Cross section of Boeing's 763-246C super-jumbo-transport concept shows three-aisle layout with typical economy-class seating (AW&ST Apr. 26, p. 39; Apr. 19, p. 23). Large overhead areas could be used for premium-class passenger ``personal space'' and sleeper berths and crew rest areas. Lateral arrangement of berths would allow carriers to offer personal space upgrades to a large number of passengers. Underfloor areas would accommodate substantial cargo plus two galleys connected to main deck galleys by cart lifts.
Signal Technology Corp. has been awarded a $3.6-million contract for F-16 radar warning and jamming high-voltage power supplies from Ankara, Turkey-based Microwave Electronic Systems Inc.
NASA Ames Research Center is near finishing its airport control tower simulator with the recent installation of a SGI Onyx2 workstation to drive the graphics. The 2-story, 5,130-sq.-ft. facility simulates a major Chicago-type tower with 12 air traffic control positions in the 24-ft.-dia. upper level, with 12 windows giving a 360-deg. virtual view. The lower level has eight ramp control and airport operators and 13 pilots to support the simulation. The computer has 16 processors, 2 gigabytes of memory and can simulate up to 200 aircraft and ground vehicles.
Space shuttle Mission 96 has been delayed at least a week. The orbiter Discovery was due to lift off on May 20 (see p. 71). But NASA said it would roll the shuttle back from the pad last weekend to repair some 150 holes that had been gauged by hail striking the insulation covering the external fuel tank. The launch was reset for May 27 at 6:49 a.m. EDT.
International commercial space launch, finance and insurance executives meeting here said that the volatile new combination of increased failures, fragile insurance markets and, what they view as inept U.S. policy, are combining to create havoc in what otherwise should be the strongest period of growth in the history of global space operations.
Korean Air Lines said recently that it hopes to resume code-sharing services with Delta Air Lines, which suspended those services last month due to safety problems, including the Apr. 15 crash of a Korean Air MD-11 freighter in Shanghai. Airline officials plan to meet with their Delta counterparts later this month or in early June to discuss restarting the services.
Randy Brinkley, who headed NASA's International Space Station program, has been named senior vice president for programs at Hughes Space and Communications Co.
Delta Air Lines on May 11 completed its acquisition of ASA Holdings Inc., the parent of the Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast Airlines. ASA is the largest regional air carrier at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport, Delta's main hub, and flies from there to 37 markets. It serves 21 destinations from its second hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
What to do now that the two-month extension of FAA spending authorization is running out on May 31? The Administration, congressional leaders and industry are still far apart on spending priorities and funding mechanisms for aviation. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater is lobbying for a full, multiyear authorization that would address urgent problems like an overhaul of air traffic control. But the Administration refuses to accept taking the Aviation Trust Fund off budget, which House Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) sees as essential.
Newly formed Snecma Sabena Engine Services expects to overhaul an average 160-200 turbofans/year and to rapidly grow in the third-party maintenance, overhaul and repair market. The Brussels-based subsidiary of Sabena Belgian World Airlines and France's Snecma will focus on Pratt&Whitney JT8Ds, JT9Ds and CFM International CFM56-3s and gradually extend its activities to additional CFM56 versions. The initiative to form the Belgian-French joint venture is tied to Sabena's decision to replace aging Boeing 737s by an all-Airbus fleet powered by CFM56s.
Honeywell Defense Avionics Systems has received a $7.3-million contract for the design, development and qualification of a Control Display System Version 4 for the OH-58D Kiowa helicopter--with digitized division and aviation joint variable message format capabilities.
Federal squabbling over the investigations into the crash of Trans World Airlines Flight 800 only serves to further undermine public confidence in the results of those probes. Mistakes were made, but the question is what to do in the future.
Korean Air's new president, Y. T. Shim, has reshuffled 25 executives in a bid to improve the airline's safety record in the wake of the crash of an MD-11 freighter in Shanghai on Apr. 15 that killed eight. As part of the safety revamp, the airline will accelerate its bid to raise its safety standards to match the FAA's. Korean is now requiring flying time of 4,000 hr. for promotion to captain; the old standard was 3,000 hr.
Retired U.S. Army Gen. William W. Hartzog has been appointed president/chief operating officer of Burdeshaw Associates, Bethesda, Md. He was commanding general of the Training and Doctrine Command, Ft. Monroe, Va.
Astronauts will position small, wireless sensors around the International Space Station to monitor its structural dynamics and integrity during assembly in orbit. The sensors are being developed by Innovative Concepts in Systems Engineering (Invocon), a small company in Conroe, Tex.
THERE IS A GROWING DEMAND FOR ADA SOFTWARE for real-time embedded systems in the commercial market, according to Ada developer DDC-I of Phoenix. Since the U.S. Defense Dept. rescinded its mandate to use Ada in all defense applications in 1996, its use has actually increased. The company cites Boeing's use of Ada in the 777 as one example. The appeal is a growing recognition of the code's advantages in reliability, reusability and portability among embedded systems developers.
