April 13, 1998

April 13, 1998

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HEADLINE NEWS

Spectrum Astro To Bid For SBIRS-Low

HEADLINE NEWS

‘Face’ on Mars Becomes a Mesa

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM

HEADLINE NEWS

Northrop Grumman's UCAV Program Bid

By ROBERT WAll

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HEADLINE NEWS

Spectrum Astro To Bid For SBIRS-Low

COLORADO SPRINGS An upstart Arizona space company is preparing to challenge some of the Pentagon’s giant suppliers for a lucrative contract to build two dozen low-Earth-orbit satellites for the U.S. Air Force’s Space Based Infrared (SBIRS) missile warning system.
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HEADLINE NEWS

‘Face’ on Mars Becomes a Mesa

SAN DIEGO Mars Global Surveyor imaged the Cydonia region of Mars last week, addressing the notion proposed by several individuals that it contains a giant human-like face created by intelligent beings. The red-color photo was taken on Apr. 5 by the Mars Orbiter Camera, made by Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) here.

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM

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HEADLINE NEWS

Northrop Grumman's UCAV Program Bid

WASHINGTON Northrop Grumman has refined its gull-winged Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle design to bid a smaller B-2-like aircraft for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s UCAV program. The stealthy aircraft is designed to carry all its weapons internally.

By ROBERT WAll

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HEADLINE NEWS

Japanese Politicians Promise Action On U.S. Military Flights

Tokyo Pilots unions are joining opposition politicians in urging the Japanese Transport Ministry to take action against U.S. military aircraft for allegedly flying too close to airliners. Transport Minister Takao Fujii said he will seek flight safety data from U.S. military forces after protests by the Federation of Japan’s Flight Crew Unions, Japan Airlines (JAL) Captains’ Union and JAL Flight Engineers’ Union over a series of complaints that U.S. fighters flew close enough to Japanese airliners to trigger alarms from their traffic-alert collision avoidance systems (AW&ST Apr. 6, p. 51).

By Eiichiro Sekigawa

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HEADLINE NEWS

Deadlines, Lack of Consensus Block Competition Bills

WASHINGTON Airline competition critics in the Senate and House have succeeded in prodding the Transportation Dept, to address predatory pricing, but it is unlikely that Congress’ short work schedule this year will permit the passage of bills to rectify key issues such as the lack of service to small communities.

By JAMES T. McKENNA

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HEADLINE NEWS

International Neurolab Set For Liftoff on Columbia

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER The begin orbiter the Columbia NASA/international is poised to Neurolab mission, a unique $500million flight to study functions of the human brain and nervous system in space. Columbia and its seven-member crew are to lift off from Pad 39B at 1:19 p.m. EDT Apr. 16. The Mission 90 flight will be devoted to an area with broad application to ground-based medical research.

By CRAIG COVAULT

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HEADLINE NEWS

Plan Confronts Space Control Issues

COLORADO SPRINGS Unveiled here last week, the U.S. Space Command's Long Range Plan is not only the military’s first comprehensive roadmap for building a year-2020 space-warfighting capability, but a clear declaration that space has become a national economic “center of gravity” which must be protected.

By WILLIAM B.SCOTT

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HEADLINE NEWS

Bigger Satellites Drive Plans For New Atlas, Athena Launchers

DENVER Seeking to respond to the ever-expanding size of commercial statellites, Lockheed Martin is enlarging the payload capacity of its newest Atlas booster and is considering a major addition to its Athena launcher family that would compete head-to-head with Boeing’s Delta 2.

By JOSEPH C. ANSELMO

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HEADLINE NEWS

U.S. Fires First Shot At Airline Pricing

Standards are set for majors' pricing and capacity when new low-cost carriers enter the market place

By JAMES OTT

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HEADLINE NEWS

Conditions That Trigger Probes Are Defined

Cincinatti Competition guidelines issued last week by the U.S. Transportation Dept. propose a standard of behavior for a major airline when it responds to competition from a new-entrant carrier. The guidelines set forth three conditions that will trigger an investigation of airline practices.
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