NASA has flown a small rotorcraft on Mars, marking the first powered controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. The US space agency says on 19 April that helicopter “Ingenuity” ascended to 10ft above the surface during a 39sec flight. The aircraft hovered, turned 96° and hovered again before landing. The Ingenuity team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) confirmed the flight succeeded after receiving data from the helicopter via NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover at 06:46 Eastern Daylight Time Ingenuity Mars Helicopter photographs a shadow of itself during its first flight on Mars on 19 April 2021 “The team has been working for over six years toward a dream and this morning our dream came true,” says Mimi Aung, Mars helicopter project manager at JPL. It is the first of a planned five test flights of the sophisticated drone. The flights will become increasingly complex in the final two....
Former senator Bill Nelson formally became NASA’s 14th administrator in a short ceremony in May. Vice President Kamala Harris gave the oath of office to Nelson at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington. Only a handful of guests and a media pool were in attendance, and the swearing-in ceremony was not broadcast live on NASA TV. In brief remarks, Nelson thanked Harris and President Joe Biden, also former senators, for demonstrating “this kind of confidence in an old buddy from the Senate” by nominating him for the position. “It is indeed one of the high honors that anyone could have.” Nelson didn’t discuss his plans for NASA either in those remarks or an agency statement later that day. “I want to thank Steve Jurczyk for his leadership as acting administrator over the past few months, helping to carry out the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities and ensure the success of NASA’s....
Raytheon received a $228 million contract to continue development of a ground system for Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, the Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center announced in April. The contract is for work on the operational control system for the newest version of GPS 3 satellites made by Lockheed Martin. The estimated $6 billion ground system known as OCX has been in development since 2012. The Space Force extended Raytheon’s contract until 2025. This next phase of the program is for the OCX follow-on, or OCX 3F, which requires Raytheon to integrate the newest version of GPS satellites called GPS 3F. These satellites provide positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) for military and civilian users. Raytheon currently is working on OCX upgrades expected to be delivered in 2022, including hardened cybersecurity, anti-jam capabilities, and new software compatible with the military’s M-code secure signals and with Europe’s Galileo global navigation....
The Air Force Research Laboratory is planning a 2023 launch of the NTS-3 experimental satellite the US military will use for positioning, navigation and timing. AFRL previously announced the launch would be in 2022 but the mission will slip into 2023, AFRL Commander Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle told reporters April 28. NTS-3 is scheduled to fly to a geosynchronous orbit as a secondary payload on USSF-106, a classified mission awarded last year to United Launch Alliance under the National Security Space Launch program run by the Space and Missile Systems Center. Pringle said the delay is a launch scheduling issue not related to NTS-3. “It’s a rideshare with other United States Space Force customers,” she said. “We’re not driving the schedule.” Pringle said the production and testing of NTS-3 are moving forward as planned. She said a lot of work is going into the ground system so the launch delay....
Lockheed Martin and Thales Australia have finalized a teaming agreement advancing the delivery of an Australian guided weapons manufacturing capability in support of a sovereign national guided weapons enterprise. The agreement will see experienced strategic industry partners in Lockheed Martin and Thales Australia cooperate in the design, development and production of Lockheed Martin’s Long Range Anti-Ship Missile – Surface Launch (LRASM SL) variant, with a specific focus on booster and rocket motor technologies. Lockheed Martin and Thales Australia have unique and complementary backgrounds and expertise in the manufacture and delivery of weapons capabilities that together will provide further impetus for the Australian Government’s objective of expanding the sovereign defense industrial and manufacturing capability. It will bring Australia a step closer to a sovereign guided weapons capability. This teaming agreement advances the proven and mature LRASM maritime strike capability across further platforms for the next generation of surface and ground launch....
The Biden administration has officially nominated Frank Kendall to serve as secretary of the Air Force and Gina Ortiz Jones for undersecretary of the Air Force. The announcement, made by the White House recently. Kendall is best known as the Pentagon’s top acquisition official during the Obama administration from 2012 to 2016. As undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, he wrote a series of ‘Better Buying Power’ initiatives aimed at reforming the acquisition process to make it more agile. Throughout his career, Kendall held many positions within the Defense Department, including principal deputy undersecretary from 2010 to 2012. He also held roles in the defense industry, including as Raytheon’s vice president of engineering during the mid-1990s. An Army veteran and human rights attorney, Kendall served as one of the earliest advisers to the Biden team on defense issues, and was long rumored to be a contender for a....
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has picked three companies to design a nuclear thermal propulsion system that will operate above low Earth orbit in 2025, the US agency announced in April. General Atomics, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin received contract awards and will be the prime contractors for the first phase of the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, or DRACO, program. DARPA believes nuclear-powered propulsion could enable rapid maneuver in space — a capability that is difficult to achieve with current electric and chemical propulsion systems. The agency claims DRACO’s nuclear thermal propulsion, or NTP, system could potentially deliver the high thrust-to-weight ratios of a chemical propulsion system with the high propellent efficiency of an electric system. That would give U.S. military systems the agility the Pentagon wants for cislunar operations. “The performer teams have demonstrated capabilities to develop and deploy advanced reactor, propulsion, and spacecraft systems,” Maj.....
Unilabs, the leading European diagnostic services provider, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade association for the world’s airlines, have signed an agreement to incorporate Unilabs’ worldwide Covid-19 testing network into IATA Travel Pass. The agreement will make Unilabs one of the first major lab groups to be integrated into IATA’s Travel Pass app. Proof of a negative Covid-19 test is required by many governments as a condition of entry, and the app makes the process seamless, secure, and easy. “Covid-19 testing will play a role in re-starting international travel. Travelers will need to understand test requirements, locate labs, verify their identity to the lab and transfer their test results to relevant parties – airlines and governments – as needed. Our partnership with Unilabs will give travelers access to Unilabs’ extensive network and help them securely and efficiently manage their test results,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.....
There’s a remarkable turnaround going on with airline travel in the US, with a surge in demand that’s caught several major airlines by surprise, including the biggest, American Airlines. A year ago American was retiring older pilots and furloughing others, but now it’s hiring again – as many as 300 this year and double that in 2022. Even so, it might still face a shortage of pilots. The demand is domestic with international flying still lagging. American recently said it expects to be flying as much as 90% of its 2019 domestic schedule during the coming summer. It’s been reported that American is planning to use its long haul widebody aircraft on short haul domestic flights just to meet the demand. American’s chairman and CEO Doug Parker, said, “Looking forward, with the momentum underway from the first quarter, we see signs of continued recovery in demand. “We remain confident the....
United Airlines is planning to train 5,000 pilots by 2030 with at least half of them women and people of color. United’s own Aviate Academy will also offer students who need additional financing private student loans to ensure that no highly-qualified, highly-motivated, eligible applicants will be turned away solely because they can’t afford to enroll. United Aviate Academy expects to enroll 100 students in 2021. “Over the next decade, United will train 5,000 pilots who will be guaranteed a job with United, after they complete the requirements of the Aviate program – and our plan is for half of them to be women and people of color,” said United CEO Scott Kirby. To break down the financial barriers that limited access to the airline pilot career path for generations, United has committed to fund $1.2m in scholarships. The airline’s credit card partner, JPMorgan Chase, has also committed $1.2m to support....
NASA marks the 1st powered controlled flight on Mars
Nelson becomes NASA’S 14th administrator
Raytheon receives $228m contract for development of ground system for GPS satellites
Air Force Research Laboratory plans 2023 launch
Lockheed Martin, Thales Australia finalize Teaming Agreement to develop sovereign weapons manufacturing capabilities
Biden administration nominates Kendall and Jones to lead US Air Force
DARPA picks 3 companies to design thermal propulsion system that will operate above low Earth orbit in 2025
IATA to incorporate Unilabs’ worldwide covid-19 testing network into IATA Travel Pass
American airlines to double pilot hiring in 2022
United Airlines to train 5k pilots by 2030, focusing more on women and people of color
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