April 15, 1996

April 15, 1996

View Full Issue Table of Contents
HEADLINE NEWS

RUSSIA LEAPS INTO LAUNCH BUSINESS

By JOSEPH C. ANSELMO

HEADLINE NEWS

RUSSIANS SEE FIX TO STATION FUNDING

HEADLINE NEWS

GE TEAM TO TEST NEW JSF NOZZLE

By STANLEY W. KANDEBO

View Full Issue
More Features
2223
HEADLINE NEWS

RUSSIA LEAPS INTO LAUNCH BUSINESS

As it eyes launch sites in Brazil, Australia and Cape Canaveral, the Khrunichev, Energia and Lockheed Martin team boasts that Proton can beat Ariane

By JOSEPH C. ANSELMO

2223
HEADLINE NEWS

RUSSIANS SEE FIX TO STATION FUNDING

MOSCOW Senior officials in Russia's government and space industry are predicting a successful resolution of a funding crisis that threatens to delay the launch of critical Russian components to the international space station. Russian Space Agency chief Yuri Koptev last week announced here that Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin had replied to a letter sent by Vice President Al Gore last month.
2425
HEADLINE NEWS

GE TEAM TO TEST NEW JSF NOZZLE

EVENDALE, OHIO The General Electric/Allison/Rolls-Royce engine team for the Joint Strike Fighter is planning ground-based signature measurement tests this summer using a low observable axisymmetric engine nozzle. For the signature tests, the nozzle will be mounted on an F1 1 0-powered F-16.

By STANLEY W. KANDEBO

2425
HEADLINE NEWS

JSF ALTERNATE ENGINE DECISION DUE THIS SPRING

EVENDALE, OHIO_ The Joint Strike Fighter program office is expected to decide in about two months which of two propulsion offerings will be selected as an alternate powerplant for the evolving strike fighter. A General Electric/Allison team is proposing a version of GE's F1 10 engine, while a GE/Allison/Rolls-Royce team is pitching a YF120 derivative.
2627
HEADLINE NEWS

USAF DEEPENS PROBE OF CT-43 CRASH

WASHINGTON PARIS The pilots of a U.S. Air Force CT-43 transport that crashed Apr. 3 on approach to Dubrovnik, Croatia, had never flown to that airport and were completing their fourth flight of the day when the accident occurred.

By EDWARD H. PHILLIPS,CRAIG COVAULT

2627
HEADLINE NEWS

COST KEY FACTOR IN FDR RETROFIT

WASHINGTON The U.S. Air Force CT-43 that crashed in Croatia on Apr. 3 had not been retrofitted with flight data or cockpit voice recorders because of the cost. But a commercial aviation safety official familiar with flight data recorders said a six-parameter tape unit costing about $25,000 could have been installed for a fraction of the $2-3 million estimated by the Air Force.

By EDWARD H. PHILLIPS

4445
COVER STORY

MiG-AT ENTERS FLIGHT TEST

With the Russian air force poised to replace an aging training fleet with an all-new, advanced jet aircraft, one competitor enters initial phase of its flight test program

By NICKOLAY NOVICHKOV,PIERRE SPARACO

6061
HEADLINE NEWS

GALILEO BECOMING 'UNSTUCK' FOR JUNE ENCOUNTER

LOS ANGELES Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers are scrambling to prepare software for the orbital phase of the Galileo spacecraft's exploration of Jupiter, in time for the June 27 524-mi. flyby of the moon Ganymede. Getting the software ready is "our biggest challenge," William J. O'Neil, the JPL Galileo project manager, said.

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM

6061
HEADLINE NEWS

FIRE FORCES 747/ATLANTIS TO RETURN TO EDWARDS

LOS ANGELES and KENNEDY SPACE CENTER An engine fire caused a NASA Boeing 747-100 shuttle carrier aircraft and its orbiter Atlantis payload to return to Edwards AFB, Calif., causing at least a sixday delay that could slip its planned August flight to return to Mir.
6263
HEADLINE NEWS

C-130J MAKES FIRST FLIGHT AS TESTING ACCELERATES

MELBOURNE, FLA. The C-130J has completed its oft-postponed first flight and program officials are preparing to accelerate testing of the revamped military transport. The first of the new Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems aircraft, a stretched C-130J-30 destined for the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force, is to undergo installation of composite wing trailing edges and flaps in preparation for flutter tests shortly.

By JAMES T. McKENNA

April 81996 April 221996