July 9, 2001

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WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Europe Widens Links With Russian Industry

Closer ties could translate into Airbus work and a French Guiana launch site for the Soyuz booster

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA,ALEXEY KOMAROV6 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Recovery Plan Devised For Cassini-Huygens

PARIS and LOS ANGELES A European Space Agency/NASA task force has identified a new scenario for the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and its big moon Titan that is expected to resolve a telemetry problem on the Huygens probe and allow it and the Cassini orbiter to return close to 100%, if not all, of expected scientific data.

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA,BRUCE A. SMITH6 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Failed Mega-Merger Causing Shock Waves

PARIS The European Commission’s decision to block the merger of General Electric and Honeywell International could mushroom into a contentious political issue as some U.S. government and industry officials begin questioning what they perceive as diverging U.S. and European antitrust policies.

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA5 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Diplomatic Channels Floated for ISS Relief

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER NASA managers are quietly telling the European, Japanese and Canadian space agencies that they should push the Bush Administration, through diplomatic channels, to focus more White House attention on the impact of station cuts to the international partners.

By CRAIG COVAULT4 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Genesis To Snare Solar Samples

WASHINGTON NASA plans to bring a tiny bit of the Sun down to Earth on board the Genesis spacecraft set for launch on July 30 so scientists can analyze it for clues to how the planets formed. If all goes as designed on the $260-million Discovery-class mission, Genesis will spend about 29 months collecting atoms, ions and high-energy particles in a “halo” orbit around the L-1 Lagrangian point, about 1 million mi. from Earth in the direction of the Sun.

By FRANK MORRING4 min

COVER STORY

Bell, Agusta on Track For BA609 First Flight

Company officials say market exists worldwide for 1,500-3,000 commercial tiltrotors, including fleet purchases by foreign governments

By EDWARD H. PHILLIPS4 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Bidders Vie for RAF Tanker Services Deal

LONDON Two rival consortia have submitted bids to provide aerial refueling services to the British Royal Air Force under a planned 27-year contract worth up to 13 billion pounds ($18.2 billion). Vying for the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) contract are:

By JOHN D. MORROCCO4 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

NASA, Boeing Dispute Major TDRS Problem

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER NASA’S new $200-million Boeing Satellite Systems TDRS-H tracking and data relay satellite has malfunctioned in geosynchronous orbit. As a result, upgrades to the critical TDRS relay constellation are being delayed and, to date, NASA has refused to take ownership of the platform from the contractor.

By CRAIG COVAULT3 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

U.K. Labs Spin Off QinetiQ

LONDON The partial privatization of the bulk of the U.K.’s Defense Research and Evaluation Agency (DERA) took a major step forward last week with the creation of the private limited company QinetiQ. QinetiQ, which encompasses roughly three-quarters of the former DERA, is a public-private partnership in which the government will initially hold all the shares.

By JOHN D. MORROCCO3 min

COVER STORY

Composites Center Aimed At Tiltrotor, R&D Programs

FORT WORTH Bell Helicopter Textron began operating a new Composites Center Of Excellence to build parts for the military V-22 and Bell/Agusta BA609 civil tiltrotors, as well as to conduct research and development into advanced fabrication and production processes.

By EDWARD H. PHILLIPS3 min

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July 9, 2001

July 9, 2001

Europe Widens Links With Russian Industry

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA,ALEXEY KOMAROV6 min