NASA has picked a materials research center it helps fund at the University of Alabama in Huntsville to receive the first of six planned space launch "vouchers" in a congressionally mandated test of whether letting scientists procure their own launch services can save money.
E-Systems has acquired Westinghouse's Transportation Management Systems for an undisclosed amount, continuing its efforts to apply defense technologies in the commercial fleet management business. The Dallas-based electronics firm said Tuesday it will add the Westinghouse unit to its existing transportation capabilities, including its newly acquired Auto-Trac unit and an alliance with Newcomb Communications, to create a new company called Transportation Management Solutions, Inc. (TMSI).
Referring to the Nunn-Lugar assistance program as "defense by other means," Defense Secretary William Perry said yesterday that he will "vigorously defend" the nuclear dismantlement program on Capitol Hill.
The four most senior Democrats on the appropriations panel that funds NASA will apparently retain their seats. Although an official announcement had not been made, sources said yesterday that Rep. Louis Stokes (D-Ohio), the former chairman of the VA, HUD and independent agencies appropriations subcommittee, will stay on the panel along with Reps. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), Jim Chapman (D- Tex.) and Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio). Reps. Esteban Torres (D-Calif.) and Ray Thornton (D-Ark.) apparently will not return to the subcommittee.
Sens. Rick Santorum (Pa.) and James M. Inhofe (Okla.), two freshmen Republicans, were named to the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday. Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.) is no longer on the committee. On the Democratic side, Sen. Bob Graham (Fla.) has left the committee, as has Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), a Democrat on the panel until he switched parties after the congressional elections. Republicans hold an 11-10 majority on the committee.
Having missed the Dec. 22 goal for flying a reactivated SR-71 exactly 30 years after the first Blackbird's debut test flight, the Defense Dept. and Lockheed Advanced Development Co. hope to have a reactivated plane in the air by mid-January, sources told The DAILY yesterday.
New Senate Armed Services Chairman Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) yesterday voiced his support for a national missile defense (NMD) but conceded it "will be tough" to fund in the present restrictive budget environment. "I'm in favor of deploying a national missile defense," Thurmond told The DAILY in an interview. "It will be tough" to come up with the funding, he continued, "but as soon as we can I'd like to see it done."
Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.) announced yesterday that he will introduce a package of seven spending reduction proposals in the defense, intelligence and space areas with potential savings of $114 billion over 15 years. Bumpers' plan would cut the intelligence budget by $1 billion for the next five years, with long-term savings of $15 billion; cancel Navy plans to upgrade four Trident I submarines with long-term savings of $3 billion, and slow development of the F-22 fighter to meet actual need with long-term savings of $24 billion.
Commercial aircraft makers suffered the worst year for new orders in more than a decade in 1994, booking nearly 100 fewer new sales during the year than in 1993, which was itself a record-low year, early figures from the companies show.
U.S. air safety officials have finished studying electrical grounding issues on General Electric aircraft engines and have forwarded their report to the Justice Dept., sources said yesterday, about half a year after federal prosecutors reluctantly joined a whistleblower lawsuit against GE that claimed the problem posed a safety risk to thousands of GE-powered aircraft.
Taiwan's National Space Program Office has awarded AlliedSignal Technical Services Corp. (ASTC) a contract and options worth a total of about $31.6 million to develop and build the ground system for the Republic of China Satellite (ROCSAT) program.
Sen Phil Gramm (R-Tex.) will decide next week whether to abandon his original plan to head the Senate Appropriations subcommittee handling the NASA budget, but concern over the International Space Station won't be a factor in his decision, a Gramm spokesman said yesterday. The spokesman said Gramm is considering taking over the chairmanship of the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations subcommittee instead of the VA, HUD, independent agencies panel as originally expected. These are the two appropriations subcommittee chairmanships open to him.
The Air Force will have bought nearly 90% of its planned total of 514 Northrop-built ALQ-135 jammers without operational testing, even though development tests turned up serious flaws and fielded units have never been up to snuff-a situation that has hurt F-15 readiness, though data on how badly is classified.
NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin will take part in an upcoming mission to Japan and China sponsored by the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP). The OSTP delegation will meet with its counterparts on joint science and technology commissions in the two Asian countries, discussing existing and potential cooperative programs and other science and technology issues. Headed by White House Science Adviser John Gibbons, the interagency group will leave Washington next Monday for Tokyo and Beijing.
The Air Force has tested the AGM-142 air-to-ground missile from a B- 52H bomber as part of its Follow-on Test and Evaluation Program for the weapon. The test against a reinforced concrete bunker at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., came on Dec. 8, after two successful tests in September 1993. It was the first time the AGM-142 had been launched from the B-52H, now that the B-52G has been retired. The weapon is a precision guided medium range conventional standoff missile built by Martin Marietta Electronics&Missiles, Orlando, Fla.
A LEAK in a Reaction Control System pipe has forced Japanese space officials to postpone the planned Feb. 1 launch of the third H-II booster indefinitely, Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) reported. Officials from ISAS and the National Space Development Agency (NASDA) will set a new launch schedule as soon as repair work now underway is completed later this month, ISAS said.
Rep. Charles Wilson (D-Tex.) will serve as ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee, a spokesman for Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), the ranking Democrat on the full Appropriations Committee, said yesterday. Other Democrats on the subcommittee will be Reps. Sidney Yates (D- Ill.), Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Esteban Torres (D-Calif.), the spokesman said. Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Ala.) will chair the foreign operations panel.
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) will chair the House National Security Committee's military research and development subcommittee, Rep. Floyd Spence (R-S.C.), chairman of the full committee, said yesterday. Spence officially announced the leadership of all five subcommittees on the slimmed-down National Security panel. As expected, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) will head the military procurement subcommittee and Rep. Herb Bateman (R-Va.) will chair the military readiness subcommittee.
Hughes Aircraft will outsource its information technology services work to Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) under an eight-year, $1.5 billion arrangement announced yesterday. Some 1,100 Hughes employees will be transferred to CSC in the two-part outsourcing deal, CSC said. In a stock purchase agreement that went into effect Dec. 31, 1994, CSC acquired computers and other information technology resources from Hughes, and on Jan. 28 it will begin providing computer services to Hughes.
The House and Senate panels that oversee NASA and the intelligence community are beginning to take shape, but several key appointments remain to be made when the new Republican-dominated Congress convenes today. The Senate Intelligence Committee's exact membership and size are up in the air, but its key leadership slots have been filled.
Boeing's Precision Gear, Inc., subsidiary has purchased Litton Precision Gear of Chicago to augment the parent company's source of helicopter transmission gears. Boeing did not disclose terms of the purchase in announcing it yesterday. It described the 170-person Litton unit as the main supplier of transmissions for the Boeing CH-47 Chinook and the McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache helicopters.
The Russian Space Forces completed 1994 with the launch of one more optical reconnaissance spacecraft on Dec 29. The satellite, designated Cosmos-2305, was launched by a three-stage Soyuz launcher at 11:30 GMT (6:30 a.m. EST) from the launch complex at Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Martin Marietta Management and Data Systems has won a software development and integration contract for the Army Global Command and Control System (AGCCS) potentially worth $166.5 million over its five-year life, the Valley Forge, Pa.-based Martin Marietta unit reported yesterday.
The three military services and the Defense Logistics Agency must provide information to the Pentagon's Inspector General (IG) by Feb. 17 on how they will better ensure that spares and repair parts are available in sufficient quantities for modified equipment, according to a recent report by the Defense Dept.'s internal watchdog. Following a recent audit, the DOD IG concluded that changes in parts requirements resulting from the redesign of weapons are not adequately reflected in the current supply support system.
