April 1, 1996

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HEADLINE NEWS

Shuttle-mir Flight Sets Stage for Station Era

Astronaut Lucid’s arrival on Mir marks the start of a new phase in U.S.-Russian space activities aimed at having an American in orbit through the end of the century

By JAMES T. McKENNA6 min

COVER STORY

Cost Goals Set for Titan Program

Biggest gains could come from shifting integration work back to the factory and cross-utilizing ground crews between launch sites and booster programs

By BRUCE A. SMITH6 min

COVER STORY

Vandenberg Plays Pathfinder Role

VANDENBERG AFB, CALIF. The lower Titan 4 launch rate at Vandenberg AFB compared to Cape Canaveral has enabled program officials here to fulfill a pathfinder role in the introduction of new systems and components aimed at making the launch system less costly and more efficient.

By BRUCE A. SMITH6 min

HEADLINE NEWS

U.K. Weighs Nimrod Replacement Bids

LONDON Three competitors, offering distinctly different airframe approaches, are awaiting responses to their final bids for the U.K.’s replacement maritime patrol aircraft program. The competition pits British Aerospace’s plan to rebuild and upgrade existing Nimrod aircraft against Lockheed Martin’s offering of new production P-3 Orion 2000s and Loral’s proposal to upgrade older, excess U.S. Navy P-3A/Bs.

By JOHN D. MORROCCO4 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Overmyer Dies in Crash

WASHINGTON Former NASA astronaut Robert F. Overmyer was killed Mar. 22 when the experimental Cirrus VK-30 aircraft he was piloting crashed near the Duluth (Minn.) International Airport. U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigators have determined that Overmyer was conducting a series of stalls at an altitude of 8,500 ft. when the aircraft “departed from controlled flight,” said David A. Boldenow, the NTSB investigator in charge of the accident.

By EDWARD H. PHILLIPS3 min

March 251996

April 81996

April 1, 1996

April 1, 1996