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Week ending May 9, 1999
+++ Expertenkommission zur Rettung von Satellit Abrixas +++ NATO bombing mistakes in Yugoslavia +++ NASA's X-34 reusable test vehicle rolls out +++ Delta III malfunction places leaves satellite stranded in orbit +++ Northwest/KLM alliance benefits consumers +++ News in brief +++
Expert commission to save Abrixas X-ray satellite
Expertenkommission zur Rettung von Satellit Abrixas
A group of experts continues to reestablish communication contact with the German X-ray satellite Abrixas, the 48-million Mark mission being endangered by technical problems. The satellite was launched on 28 April from the Russian Kapustin Yar launch site and, during its three-year mission, is supposed look for so far unknown stars in the universe. According to the German Research Center DLR, the energy supply is the cause for the problem. An expert commission was meeting on May 6 to evaluate the entire situation. By the end of June, the satellite will be exposed for several days continously to the sunlight. This would potentialy allow the solar panels to restore enough energy. "Otherwise, we will probably have to give up Abrixas", the DLR representative said.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
NATO bombing mistakes in Yugoslavia
Fehler bei NATO-Angriffen auf Jugoslawien
As NATO continued its attacks on Yugoslawia unabated, serious mistakes were on the increase in the last few days, even though officials tried to point out that of 9000 bombs and missiles used so far only a dozen went wrong. Nethertheless, public relations damage is done. Recent events include:- Due to incorrect espionage information, the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was hit on May 7, triggering an outcry in Beijing und scuppering progress on a UN security councel approval of the G8 peace plan for the Kosovo
- Also on May 8, a cluster bomb aimed at the Nis airfield went astry and caused damage and deaths on a market square in town
- NATO claims some 300 army vehicles in Kosovo destroyed along with 50 per cent of the ammunition supply.
- The Pentagon plans to bring another 176 aircraft into the theatre, bringing the NATO armada to over 1000 planes
- German relief flights have reached 225, bringing in 2354 tons of food and supplies to Albania and Mazedonia
- The NATO force had to record its first casualties when the crew of an US Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter died in a training crash in Albania on Mai 5
NASA's X-34 reusable test vehicle rolls out
Roll-out des X-34-Deomstrators der NASA
A new era of low-cost reusable rocketplanes began at the end of April when the first of three X-34 vehicles that Orbital Sciences Corporation is building for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was rolled-out in a public introduction ceremony held at the space agency's Dryden Flight Research Center in California. The X-34 is an unmanned, single-engine rocketplane that will test many new technologies leading to the development of reusable launch vehicles that could launch satellites into space in the future. Over the next several months, Orbital will conduct several captive carry test flights of the X-34 with the company's L-1011 research carrier aircraft to allow the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to approve design modifications made to the L- 1011 to accommodate the X-34. Afterward, several unpowered flights will be conducted in which the X-34 vehicle will be released from the L-1011 and glide back to Earth to test the vehicle's low-speed flight and landing performance. These tests will lead to the first powered flight in which the vehicle will ignite its "Fastrac" rocket engine, which is being developed by NASA at its Marshall Space flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and fly computer- controlled high-speed flight patterns. Following the powered portion of flight, the unmanned X-34 will land horizontally, like an airplane, initially on a dry lakebed and eventually on a conventional runway. The X-34 is approximately 58 feet long, has a 28-foot wingspan and is 11 feet tall from the bottom of the fuselage to the top of the tail. After launch from Orbital's L-1011 carrier aircraft, the X-34 will achieve altitudes of up to 250,000 feet and speeds of up to Mach 8, or eight times faster than the speed of sound. Orbital also announced that it will begin preliminary design work on a reusable launch vehicle for commercial satellite launches that would be capable of launching individual or multiple satellites weighing up to 8,000 pounds, with a per-pound cost reduced by a factor of two or three versus current pricing.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Delta III malfunction places leaves satellite stranded in orbit
Fehlfunktion einer Delta III bringt Satelliten in falschen Orbit
On 4 May, a Boeing Delta III rocket apparently placed a telecommunications satellite into a lower-than-expected orbit. The problem appears to be related to the second stage's second burn. This was the second flight of the Delta III. The rocket was carrying the Orion 3 telecommunications satellite into space for Hughes Space and Communications and their customer Loral Space & Communications. The rocket lifted off the pad at 9 p.m. EDT, and was scheduled to release the Hughes-built spacecraft into orbit less than 37 minutes later. Officials have made contact with the spacecraft, which was placed into an orbit 85 nautical miles by 744 nautical miles high. The spacecraft should have been placed into an orbit 100 nautical miles by 13,886 nautical miles high. At this time it is not known why the second stage did not complete a second planned 151-second burn, 21 minutes and 51 seconds into the rocket's flight. Based on a preliminary data review, Boeing officials are focusing on a hardware issue related to the rocket's second-stage engine system. The data gathered also indicates the failure is related to a Delta III system that is not common with the upper stages flown on Delta II. While both rockets have components in common, the Delta III features a cryogenically propelled upper stage with a Pratt & Whitney-built engine. The Delta III rocket has two stages with the second or upper stage designed for multiple restarts. During Tuesday night's flight, the second stage completed its first burn as planned. Flight data indicates the engine restarted for the second burn, but immediately stopped. The second burn lasted less than 1 second versus the planned 2 minutes and 47 seconds. While this burn stopped prematurely, subsequent events continued as programmed including spacecraft separation.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Northwest/KLM alliance benefits consumers
Billigere Tickets dank Northwest/KLM-Allianz
Northwest Airlines has released the self-serving results of a recent study that demonstrates the benefits of the Northwest/KLM alliance are as much as $185 million annually in lower ticket prices. The study, conducted by Professor Jan K. Brueckner and Ph.D. student W. Tom Whalen of the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), examines the benefits of international alliances to the traveling public. The two economists found that interline passengers, who fly on two airlines to make their trip, pay substantially lower fares when the carriers are alliance partners. The interline fares charged by unaffiliated carriers are, on average, 36 percent higher than the fares charged by alliance partners. Using the Northwest/KLM alliance as a case study, Brueckner and Whalen concluded that without the Northwest/KLM alliance consumers would annually pay between $111 and $185 million more for air travel.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN
NASA has set set May 20 as the launch date for Space Shuttle Discovery and an international crew on an inaugural visit to the orbiting International Space Station. Discovery will spend six days linked to the new outpost on Shuttle mission STS-96 as the crew outfits Zarya and Unity. The Shuttle will carry more than two tons of supplies to be stored aboard the station, ranging from food and clothes for the first crew to laptop computers, a printer and cameras. Discovery's crew, led by U.S. Navy Commander Kent Rominger, reflects the global nature of the station with three of five international partners represented. Included are cosmonaut Valery Tokarev, a colonel in the Russian Air Force, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette, who will become the first Canadian to board the station. U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Rick Husband, will serve as pilot, and a space walk will be performed by astronauts Tammy Jernigan, Ph.D., and Dr. Daniel Barry. Jernigan and Barry will attach a U. S.-built "space walkers' crane" and parts of a Russian-built crane to the exterior for use on future missions. Astronaut Ellen Ochoa rounds out the crew as flight engineer and operator of the Shuttle's mechanical arm.+++
Randy Brinkley, the head of NASA's International Space Station program, will leave NASA to join Hughes Space and Communications Co., a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp. as senior vice president of programs. Brinkley will be responsible for total program execution of the company's $4 billion satellite backlog. His first day at Hughes will be May 17.
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With a five-year, $650 million contract, the U.S. Navy has selected Boeing to continue support for the T-45 Training System and dramatically reduce the cost of ownership for this key component of Naval Aviation training. Under the T45TS Contractor Logistics Support contract, Boeing Aerospace Support, along with its industry team of Rolls-Royce, British Aerospace and Raytheon, will provide all logistics support for the U.S. Navy's T-45 Goshawk training aircraft and related ground training systems at Naval Air Stations Kingsville, Texas, and Meridian, Miss. For the T-45 aircraft, this support includes flight-line operations and maintenance; component and depot maintenance; paint removal using the environmentally sound Boeing FLASHJET coatings removal system; corrosion control; painting; and spares inventory management and supply. Boeing also will staff and manage Training Support Centers and be responsible for the operation, maintenance and support of the entire ground training systems at both sites.
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Airbus Industrie's Toulouse Center has achieved Type Rating Training Organization (TRTO) approval for flight crew training, meeting a new, common European JAA requirement for organizations delivering type rating training for pilots. The approval was granted by the Service de la Formation Aéronautique et du Contrôle Technique (SFACT), a branch of the DGAC, the French aviation regulatory authority. The certification means that Airbus Industries is now in line with updated European JAR Flight Crew Licensing regulations that require training establishments to develop and demonstrate established procedures as well as quality assurance and audit systems, /Airbus, which previously offered DGAC-approved training programs, achieved compliance with the new regulations almost three months before the regulatory deadline.
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Lufthansa Consulting, a world-wide aviation and airport consulting subsidiary of Lufthansa, has opened an office in Los Angeles to focus on growing business opportunities in U.S., Latin America and Pacific Rim markets, the company has announced. The new office is a strategic partnership with Robert J. Aaronson, a prominent aviation executive and his team of U.S. experts. Aaronson is the former President and CEO of the Air Transport Association of America (ATA) and the former Director of Aviation for the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey.
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US Federal aviation regulators and accident investigators are to establish a special committee to explore how new flight data technologies should be used in the decades ahead. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) jointly announced a panel that will draw on domestic and international officials from government and the aviation industry.
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On May 6, Boeing confirmed an order from EVA Airways for three 747-400 freighters. With this order, EVA becomes the first airline in Taiwan to order the 747-400 Freighter. Delivery of the EVA 747-400 freighters will begin in the year 2000. When delivered, the three new airplanes will join EVA Air's all-Boeing fleet comprised of three MD-11 passenger airplanes, nine MD-11 freighters - including two that will be delivered later this year, five 747-400 passenger airplanes, 10 747-400 Combis, four 767-300ERs (extended range), and four 767-200s.
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The Boeing F-18E/F has completed its engineering and manufacturing development phase, after 3172 flights and 4673 flight hours in less than three and a half years. Next on the agenda is the OPEVAL with the seven first production aircraft. Also, follow-on testing is scheduled.
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Embraer has announced a turnover of 1,3 billion US-Dollars for 1998, a rise of 75 per cent. Net profit moved from a loss of 29 million in 1997 to a 102 million surplus last year. 90 per cent of revenue is generated by exports.
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The Inter Airport Europe show, scheduled for September 7 to 10 at Munich, will see at least 293 exhibitors, a major boost from the Frankfurt figures two years ago. Companies from 18 countries will be present.
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Deutsche BA is introducing a new uniform for its flight attendants, using parts from the BA collection designed by Paul Castello.
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Lockheed Martin Space Electronics & Communications and Siemens Business Services have teamed to pursue the contract for the National German secure Military Message Handling System (MMHS). The MMHS will allow the customer to choose betwen a Lotus or Microsoft multimedia desktop that has the same look and feel as commercial systems.
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The water police of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has taken delivery of two Eurocopter EC 135 helicpters. The will be used for coastal patrol duties as well.
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Dusseldorf Airport has completed the destructin of Terminal B to make room for the expansion of the facilities. In the meantime, the tower is still standing tall, now in free space.
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Last updated May 9, 1999
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