The Hubble Space Telescope has produced a detailed picture of one of the smallest stars in the Milky Way. It is 10 times smaller than the Sun and 60,000 times fainter. If it were as far away from Earth as the Sun, it would be only eight times as bright as the Moon.
The French-Italian Avions de Transport Regional consortium has frozen the design of the 84-seat ATR82 twin turboprop transport. But program go-ahead will be tied to a consolidation initiative in the European regional aircraft industry. All players in the regional aircraft market in 1994 acknowledged they are suffering from excess production capacity, severe competition and low production rates. Consolidation can be achieved only when launching new products, an Italian industry official said.
EXPECT MORE AIRLINE CONSUMER PROTECTION RULES to go into effect this year. The latest, which took effect last month, calls for airlines to include the number of flights delayed or canceled due to mechanical reasons in their on-time performance tallies. The number of delays or cancellations, previously not included in reports, is expected to provide a more accurate performance reference for travelers. Regulations proposed by the Transportation Dept. concerning baggage liability and code-sharing are expected to take effect later this year.
Peregrine Aviation Services, Inc., Hackensack, N.J., has appointed Andrew Stark executive director of its new aircraft sales office in Chicago. He was in the sales department of Learjet, Inc.
Norman R. Augustine, chairman/chief executive officer of Martin Marietta Corp., has been elected chairman of the board of governors of the Aerospace Industries Assn. Kent Kresa, chairman/president/CEO of Northrop Grumman Corp., has been named vice chairman. Don Fuqua has been reelected president of AIA and George F. Copsey has been reelected secretary-treasurer.
Lucas Western, Inc., pled guilty last week to 37 counts of false statements regarding work performed under Pentagon contracts and paid a criminal fine of $18.5 million, the largest ever imposed against a defense contractor, according to the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California.
THE INSTALLATION OF A laminar flow panel on the wing of a Lockheed F-16XL is scheduled to begin next month, following arrival of the experimental device at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif. The 23 X 8-ft. titanium glove, developed at a cost of $14 million, will be installed on the aircraft's upper port wing surface as part of the space agency's High Speed Research Program. A one-year flight test program is expected to begin in September.
Nearly all major airports are immune to the kind of single-point failure that cut off electrical power to Newark International Airport last week, and some airport managers expressed surprise that primary and backup power cables would be routed within a few feet of each other.
PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT FIDEL RAMOS' DIRECTIVE that his country needs competition in international air services will put added pressure on flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), which has struggled to post profits ever since it was privatized two years ago. In keeping with Ramos' directive, the Philippines' Civil Aeronautics Board now says its primary responsibility is to promote maximum service from the airline industry as a whole, which has translated into more routes for foreign airlines.
SWEARINGEN AIRCRAFT and Taiwan-based Sino Aerospace Investment Corp. have formed a joint venture named Sino-Swearingen. The company plans to certificate and produce the six-place SJ30 business jet designed by Edward Swearingen. Sino Aerospace will invest $48 million of the $150 million needed to commence production. Lockheed Corp. will provide $10 million in cash as part of an offset obligation to Taiwan, but will not be a shareholder. Construction of a 200,000-sq.-ft. final assembly complex at Martinsburg, W.
Arinc, Annapolis, Md., has named James L. Pierce chairman/chief executive officer. Previously president/chief operating officer, Pierce succeeds Andrew T. Hospodor, who has retired.
THE U.S. DEFENSE Dept. is proceeding with plans to begin testing the Theater High-Altitude Area Missile (THAAD) system next month, despite continuing discussions with Russia over the interpretation of the ABM treaty concerning the demarcation between strategic and theater systems. The Pentagon notified Congress and Russia that it would proceed with demonstration/validation tests of the Lockheed-developed missile, claiming they are treaty compliant.
The question of whether to buy additional Northrop B-2 long-range bombers, which has become a pivotal issue in the struggle over revising U.S. military roles and missions, has also become the focus of an internal debate within the U.S. Air Force. The service's senior leadership may not support buying more of the long-range heavy bombers. It depends on the budget circumstances--whether the stealthy, deep-strike B-2 is pitted against the U.S. Navy's large-deck aircraft carriers or the Air Force's own fighter programs.
Despite significant financial, political and technical hurdles, the world's three biggest space programs look forward to an exceptionally active year in 1995. The U.S. and Russia are to begin intimate cooperation in human space flight. Russia also is accelerating its heavy booster flights and will introduce large new spacecraft. The European Space Agency will fly at least 10 large spacecraft. Here through p. 23 and on pp. 40-47 is a special report from Houston, Paris and elsewhere.
Swisscontrol, Switzerland's air traffic control authority, has named Paul Maximillian Mueller managing director. Mueller, who was the Swissair executive implementing the proposed Swissair-Sabena alliance, will be succeeded there by Alain Bandle.
DESPITE PRESIDENT CLINTON'S DECISION to add $25 billion to defense spending over the next six years, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the Pentagon will still come up $47 billion short between now and 1999. This comes as no surprise to National Security Committee Chairman Rep. Floyd Spence (R.-S.C.), who has been arguing for months that the Administration's defense plan is seriously underfunded. Spence said the CBO's real contribution is its forecast of ``an ominous modernization bow wave'' after the turn of the century.
Emery Worldwide, Palo Alto, Calif., has named Peter Quantrill vice president-Europe, Middle East and Africa. Previously managing director-U.K. for United Parcel Service, Quantrill succeeds Jules J. Schnyder, who is retiring.
Lehman Brothers, Inc., of New York has appointed Tom Longman senior equity research analyst specializing in the airline industry. He was the airlines analyst at Bear Stearns and Co.
European securities analysts will be watching closely to see what civil penalties arise from the U.S. government's case against Lucas Industries, Plc. Last week, the U.K.-based company pleaded guilty to criminal charges that it failed to conduct mandatory tests and filed bogus test reports involving gearboxes manufactured for the U.S. Navy's F/A-18 aircraft (see p. 25).
LANDING GEAR CONTINUES TO BE THE MOST FAILURE-PRONE SYSTEM in commercial jet transports. A recent McDonnell Douglas study covering operations of Western-built transports between 1958 and 1993 shows there were 456 landing gear-related accidents, more than twice as many as in the next most failure-prone category--engines. Among the 192 engine-related accidents, uncontained failure was the cause in the largest number--62 in 35 years.
Russia is accelerating heavy booster flight operations to record levels and continues to introduce new large spacecraft in spite of the political and economic crisis that grips the country. But the deteriorating condition of the Mir space station and its increasingly limited research capabilities are a concern to international space program managers.
Recent crashes of Robinson Helicopter Corp. R22 and R44 aircraft have spurred the National Transportation Safety Board to call for grounding the light helicopters until a thorough airworthiness review is accomplished.
THERE IS MUCH CONJECTURE AROUND TOWN about the actual importance and eventual impact of the Commission on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces (see p. 61). Nevertheless, at least one participant is of the opinion that the side effects alone will make the commission's effort worthwhile. Maj. Gen. Charles Link, the Air Force chief of staff's special assistant for roles and missions, says he asks anyone who is interested to compare what is understood and reported by the media and other analysts today about the subject, versus a year ago.
THERMOTREX of San Diego, Calif., is in advanced engineering development of a low-cost, laser-based wingtip vortex detection system. As envisioned, several of the low-power, eye-safe, monostatic diode lasers would be located along a runway edge, projecting pencil-thin beams across the pavement. Vortex position, direction, severity and persistence would be calculated by a microprocessor after measuring the Doppler shift of backscatter light. Key to the system is a ThermoTrex-developed atomic line filter, which excludes all light except within about 1 GHz.
