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The article reports that the Orbital Express program aims to launch an Atlas 5 rocket to test full autonomy for on-orbit service. The Orbital Express program is run by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Atlas 5 rocket forms a part of the Defense Department Space Test Program-1 mission.

This article reports that the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency may be flight-testing an air-launched propane-powered rocket in 2-3 years as part of its Falcon concept to quickly and cheaply put 1,000 lb. of payload into orbit. Four companies were in the preliminary design and development phase of DARPA's Falcon small launch vehicle (SLV) project, which officially ended in July though activities continue. The Falcon SLV specification calls for enough performance to place 1,000 lb. into a 100-naut.-mi., 28.5 ° inclination orbit from that latitude. DARPA program manager Steven H. Walker says that an advantage of an air launch is the aircraft can fly to the proper latitude and launch to any inclination with the least energy.

This article reports that scientists at Deep Impact will set a new trajectory this month for a possible visit to the comet 9P/Tempel 1. The flyby spacecraft and its instruments are in excellent shape after the close pass by the dusty comet. Later this month, controllers will fire thrusters to target an Earth flyby in January 2008, to prepare for a not-yet-approved extended mission, possibly to the comet Boethin. The science payoff highlights the comeback of Deep Impact, which at one point was almost canceled. As development progressed, the difficulty of finding and targeting a desired spot on a completely unknown body using scene recognition algorithms while closing at 22,800 mph.

This article reports that people have long dreamed of perpetual flight, and the tipping point was reached earlier this month when a solar-powered drone stayed aloft for 48 hour. It showed that enough energy could be stored during the day to fly the aircraft at night, for at least several days. AC Propulsion Inc., a small research company in San Dimas, California made the flight after several years of dedicated effort by its founder, Alan G. Cocconi. It is informed that AC Propulsion used lithium-ion laptop computer batteries for storage instead of fuel cells, as well as an overall simpler approach, to become the first to fly through two full nights under solar power.

The article reports that Boeing's 787 Dreamliner grabs attention for its composite structure, but its systems are just as radical. The aircraft is a large step toward the all-electric airplane one in which all systems are run by electricity. Bleed air from the engines has essentially been eliminated and while hydraulic actuators are still used, the majority of their power comes from electricity. The most eye-popping change is that the cabin will be pressurized by electric motors, not by the bleed air used by almost every pressurized aircraft.

This article presents information related to adventure activity undertaken by adventurer Steve Fossett. Fossett plans to take off from Salina, Kansas perhaps as soon as early February to be the first man to fly solo around the world, unrefueled. He will be piloting the Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd.'s "GlobalFlyer" built by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites company. Rutan also built Voyager, the first aircraft to fly around the world unrefueled. While trials so far have gone well, engineers are still anxious about the record flight attempt because it will be heavier than any test. The fraction of weight that's structure is extremely low.

This article focuses on space technology and reports on external tank makeover in the U.S. To ensure that foam-shedding will not imperil future orbiters of the U.S., manufacturing is being crafted to match the revamped design. Preventing foam insulation from falling off the tank has been the pacing item to returning the shuttle to flight after the Columbia accident on February 1, 2003. Foam loss has been a chronic problem for the external tank since the first flight and has persisted despite attempts to fix it. Until one understand the root cause and failure modes, just a design fix is not proper. Two nondestructive evaluation techniques are being tested on the foam.

Next week a rocket engine should fire for 96 min. on the Cassini/Huygens spacecraft, capturing it into orbit around Saturn to start a four-year tour of the planet, its rings, moons and magnetosphere. The orbit injection process starts on June 22, eight days before arrival, when the critical command sequence starts running on the spacecraft. Cassini has been facing its highgain antenna back at Earth, but will turn at 6: 11 p.m. PDT to put it forward as a shield against any dust, because the craft will soon be crossing upward through a gap in the rings. Cassini controllers have to quickly determine the post-SOI orbit to send commands for an appropriate orbit trim maneuver on July 3. INSET: Orbit Swap.

Mars Exploration Rover engineers and scientists have been conducting a series of multi-day mission simulations to develop and check procedures for operating the two robots on the planet's surface starting in January. The simulation, conducted in late October, modeled the fourth and fifth week of surface operations of the first Mars Exploration Rover to arrive at the planet. The science and engineering teams were using the control rooms they will employ for the real mission and commanding full-size engineering models of rovers in a roughly 25 X 50-feet.

Using the lowest technology possible, Scaled Composites Inc. and its president, Burt Rutan, say that people can fly in space for very low cost. An undisclosed customer is funding the project which includes multiple trips to 100 kilometers. Scaled Composites unveiled its privately funded manned space program on April 18, 2003 displaying largely completed hardware designed to take three people in a suborbital trajectory to 100 kilometer altitude. An undisclosed customer is funding the program, and this includes multiple flights to 100 km. A rough estimate by Aviation Week & Space Technology is that the program will cost 20–30 million dollars. INSET: Hybrid Matched to Spaceship Goals.

Reports on the technologies introduced by Airbus Industrie to deal with weight growth in the A380 aircraft, dubbed as the largest passenger jet in the world. 5,000-psi. hydraulic system with electrically powered backup; Variable-frequency AC electrical system; Reduced aerodynamic stability; Configuration for reduced wake vortices; Cost reducers.

Focuses on United States-based Aging Transport Systems Rulemaking Advisory Committee's reports on aging aircraft wiring. Clues on what maintenance organizations can expect in rules and procedures covering this issue; Ability of small arcs to carbonize an insulation; Inspection of an aging fleet; Improvement of inspection criteria.

Reports on the alteration of the fan to be part of a radar-foiling system of an airplane's engine. Reduction of inlet radar cross-section; Improvement of radar deflection.

Focuses on the aerial photographs of the Groom Lake, Nevada test site taken the Russian SPIN-2 satellite. Description of the photograph's details; Clarity of the facilities shown in the images.

Focuses on the solar-powered drone aircraft being developed by AeroVironment Inc. in the United States, designed to stay aloft for a half-year at a time. Predecessor of the proposed aircraft; Fuel cells being considered for the drone; Power requirement of the aircraft; Differences from mainstream design.

Focuses on the problems of the air traffic system in the United States. Increase in the number of delays, some of which were caused by thunderstorm activity; Total systems delays for the period 1994-1997; Number of Air Route Traffic Control Centers in the en route airspace system in the U.S.; Other causes of system congestion.

Focuses on the testing of the Rotorcraft Pilot's Associate (RPA) by the US Army and Boeing Co. in a Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter. Features of the RPA software and design methodology; Digital terrain map used by RPA; Route planners included in the RPA software; High-resolution color multi-purpose displays; Other possible RPA platforms.

Looks into a simulation test on Boeing's motion-base simulator develop to aid accident investigation on USAir Flight 427 in Pittsburgh in 1994 and the United Airlines Flight 585 at Colorado Springs in 1991. `Back-driven' controls to match investigators' hypotheses; Debate on rudder movement; Author's experience of the accidents in the back-driven simulation.

Examines the crash of American Airlines Flight 965 near Cali, Colombia, on December 20, 1995. Uncovered data confirming suspicion that the crew mistakenly told the computer to fly to Romeo; Accident raising questions about the crew's situation awareness; What American Airlines has recommended in light of the crash; Details of the flight.

Informs that the Lockheed/Martin Boeing Tier 3-drone aircraft known as DarkStar made its first flight on March 29, 1995. The test at Edwards Air Force Base, California; Length of the flight; Reasons for the delay of the test; Intended for reconnaissance flights.

Reports on the findings of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) mishap investigation board on the causes of actions and omissions that led to the January 19, 1995 X-31 accident. Background on the accident; Safety analyses made; Errors uncovered; Temporary operating procedures drafted by a flight controls engineer; Background on the features of the X-31; Event summary.

Part I. Discusses the development of the AIM-9X, a short-range missile believed to outclass the AIM-9M Sidewinder carried on United States and other Western fighters. Plan to field the AIM-9X and its associated helmet-mounted sight in 2002; Response of the US to the threat of the Russian AA-11 missile; Development of beyond-visual range (BVR) tactics and the advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM) by the US.

Reports on the McDonnell Douglas' experimental DC-X rocket program demonstrating transitions involving nose to tail-first flight with reliable engine and flight control software performance carried out on July 7, 1995. Items demonstrated in the maneuver.

Features sensors which combines the wide coverage and high resolution needed for reconnaissance with the real-time data transmission. Utility of the sensors in drone advancement; Brief on the sensor technologies Teledyne Ryan's Tier 2+ and Lockheed Martin/Boeing Tier 3-drones; Other specialties of the sensors.

Presents views of human factors specialists and experts on auto flight systems, on likely problems caused by modes in auto flight systems. The National Transportation Safety Board's recommendations to the FAA, on the use of modes in aircrafts; Views of Bernard Ziegler, senior vice president of the Airbus Industrie on the issue.

Evaluates Dassault Aviation's Falcon 2000 business aircraft, essentially a Falcon 900 long-range tri-jet reworked into a smaller twin-engine configuration, that is currently being flight tested. Technical aspects of the design; Powerplant; Avionics; Cost; Competition; Options and orders; Deliveries; Handling; Fuel efficiency; After-sales service.

Surveys business aircraft sales over the coming five years, and notes that business aircraft manufacturers agree that a healthy economy is the key to an improved market. Optimism over future prospects; Contention market for the 1990s will be more mature; Increase seen in price competition; Continuing consolidation; Sales projections for Canadair, British Aerospace, Learjet Inc., Cessna, Bombardier and Beech; North American market; Courting Asia; New aircraft designs; Details.

Evaluates the experimental synthetic vision system developed by FAA/Defense Dept./industry which uses a 35-GHz. millimeter-wave (MMW) radar. Synthetic vision system (SVS) as defined by the team; Use as an independent backup to guidance provided by Type 1 ILS or to land the aircraft; Gulfstream 2 business jet used for the SVS evaluation; Identifying technical, certification and operational issues; Technical details of the testing; Results.

Examines the use of micro aircraft in military reconnaissance missions. How the size of the aircraft is an advantage; Number of people needed to deploy and control the drones; Stealth; Problem of energy storage; Operation; Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and AeroVironment Co. research; Prototypes.

Features a look at hypersonic air-breathing vehicles and the programs underway to build flight vehicles. How missiles are likely to be the first application if the technology can be made to work; The prospects for hypersonic cruise aircraft not as clear; The funding necessary for the projects; The different projects that are underway.

Discusses the use of night vision goggles (NVGs) by the US Air Force. The advantages of using NVGs; The ability of fighter squadrons to use daytime tactics in the dark; The increase in the effectiveness of firepower; Benefits to safety; The use of more aggressive formations; The ability to see illuminated aircraft at long ranges; Visual spotting of otherwise invisible targets; The development of NVG tactics by the Hawaii Air National Guard.

Looks at VisionAire Corp.'s Vantage business jet. Designed for low purchase and operating cost; Current price; Features of its cabin; Its low wing loading; Its fuselage composition; Its interior; Its designer; Chart of preliminary specifications.

The article reports that the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) brings new propulsion design and more redundancy to Mars. MRO is to begin a two-year science mission in November, 2006, followed by two years of relaying data from surface craft that will likely be augmented by more science observations. The spacecraft is well-supplied with propellant. Lockheed Martin Corp. and NASA Jet propulsion Laboratory engineers are readying the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for seven months of aerobraking set to start the end of March 2006, after it was captured about the planet on March 10, 2006.

This article reports that scientists who are starting to use drones for civilian research remain enthusiastic about the prospects, but have been frustrated by practical problems that will delay their exercise by about five months. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration scientists are getting a firsthand look at drone operations via their use of the General Atomics high-altitude Altair aircraft. Altair is the General Atomics prototype of its Predator B turboprop drone, with the wings extended from 66 feet span to 86 feet for better high-altitude capability.

The article reports that Reno, Nevada-based Aerion Corp. is gambling that its business jet is better off with a largely unswept wing featuring large amounts of natural laminar flow. The engineering balance is between skin friction, which is reduced by Aerion's laminar flow, and the supersonic wave drag that is increased by the design. Aerion committed to the NLF wing before thoroughly investigating the other 90% of the equation and now is performing the more detailed work to define a real airplane. So far, it remains optimistic it made the right choice. The flight-tested aircraft will provide the ultimate answer.

The article reports that engineers are optimistic that they can free Opportunity Mars rover from fluffy soil that trapped it during a long run over flat terrain. Under a thin top crust, the soil appears to be as fine as flour and at least as fine as anything Opportunity or its twin Spirit has driven on. Opportunity's wheels are sunk up to about three-fourths of their 10-inch diameter, deeper than rover wheels have ever been, including when they were digging trenches. If it is freed, officials want to continue the southward course toward Erebus crater about 400 meters away.

The article informs that the Mars Exploration Rovers continue to surprise their masters, with Spirit making the first direct detection of water by the mission, albeit bound in a crystal, and Opportunity getting the ground truth on a new type of terrain hinted at by satellite images. As Spirit stumbled across a large collection of exposed bedrock, the rover missions have been extended 1.5 years, recognizing their continuing scientific productivity as well as the good prospects for a long life. The instrument deployment device robot arm is hidden underneath the front of the rover. Spirit recently experienced a near-miraculous boost in power. Officials believe the boosts come from winds blowing dust off the arrays.

The article focuses on the discoveries made by the Cassini spacecraft in relation to the planet Saturn. The Imaging Science Subsystem is one of the main instruments on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory craft, and its cameras are providing pictures that are both pretty and scientifically rich. A false-color image of Saturn highlights large bright "Dragon Storm" in the southern hemisphere, above and right of the image center. Infrared filters were used that detect light absorption by methane and these areas are coded red. The storm clouds, besides being bright, are probably deep because the strong red indicates a large amount of methane above them. As Saturn rotated with a 10.7-hr, period underneath Cassini, the radio bursts were only present when the Dragon Storm was on the dark side of the planet.

The article informs that a number of hypersonic-related programs are drawing confidence from the back-to-back successful flights of NASA's X-43A research craft that show scramjet operation at Mach 7 and Mach 10. Last week's free flight at Mach 10 was especially important because it's difficult to test on the ground at that high speed. An early look at the data suggests that a series of 0.005 second duration reflected shock tunnel runs did a very good job of predicting the flight. The engine/ airframe combinations produced usable thrust, and that their behavior was close to analytical and wind tunnel predictions, should give a boost to other programs that haven't flown yet by increasing confidence in the validity of their designs.

This article reports that Scaled Composites Inc. is shifting focus to designing and building suborbital rocket gliders for the new Virgin Galactic space tourism operator, based on its SpaceShipOne design that won the Ansari X Prize last week. Mojave Aerospace Ventures took the Ansari X Prize with its flight to 112 km. Federak Aviation Administration Administrator Marion Blakey was on hand to present Alien and Rutan with a plaque congratulating them on the rapid pair of flights above 100 km. that won the X Prize. The rocket glider flew a smooth trajectory, unlike the 29 rapid rolls that pilot Mike Melvill was hit with before and after engine shutoff on the last flight. He stopped the rolls in the vacuum of space about 2 minutes after they started.

This article reports that the firm Mojave Aerospace Ventures is halfway to winning the sub-orbital Ansari X-Prize after its flight to 103 km. by its SpaceShipOne rocket glider. SpaceShipOne was built by Scaled Composites Inc., which is joined with Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul G. Allen to form Mojave Aerospace Ventures. The rocket glider was dropped from its White Knight mother ship at 8:10 AM PDT. A few seconds later, pilot Michael W. Melvill ignited the hybrid rocket engine and pulled the craft into a nearly vertical trajectory, instead of having his pullup interrupted by wind shear as on the last flight.

This article focuses on the upgrading of the GPS constellation that is set to start in March 2005 with the launch of the first IIR-M model satellite and officials are planning an increased launch rate for swift deployment in the face of expected failures of aging satellites. The oldest GPS satellites are up to 14 years old, compared to their 7 year design lives. Twelve satellite failures are predicted in the next three years and the plan is to launch four new ones annually over that period, more than in the last few years.

To carry out quick-reaction civil missions like wildfire spotting, UAVs must be part of the FAA system. UAV operators have long dreamed of flying in civil airspace like piloted aircraft, but the challenge is to prove equivalent safety without incurring prohibitive cost. The attempt to achieve that goal of an FAA-certified unmanned air vehicle, pilot and overall system is now underway via the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration-industry "Access 5" project, with the first of four steps to be implemented by September 2006. Unite approached NASA in August 2002 because it was running the Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology drone program, and the two signed a joint sponsored research agreement. To get to and from 40,000 ft, the aircraft can climb through military restricted airspace or use a COA that allows it into civil airspace, and these operations can be more complex than simply file-and-fly. Looking for cheap technical solutions, NASA Dryden conducted tests last year with an inexpensive airborne radar and a traffic advisory system to see if they locate other aircraft (AW& ST Sept. 15, 2003, p. 88).

The Cassini spacecraft's cameras were able to cut through the dense haze surrounding the moon Titan and photograph parts of its surface at least an order of magnitude sharper than before. All the Voyager spacecraft saw in 1980-81 was thick haze with their visual-spectrum vidicon cameras. Since then, large advances have been made in infrared techniques to see through the smog, and remarkably good pictures were taken earlier this year by an Earth-based telescope. But Cassini was 4,000 times closer and, not surprisingly, its pictures are sharper. The U.S.-European Cassini/Huygens took roughly 200,000 particle hits at 30,000 mph. when it crossed the ring plane twice on June 30 while being caught in orbit. Everything seems to be working fine, but engineers expect surfaces are pitted.

The international Cassini spacecraft went face-to-face with Saturn's rings last week, grabbing the sharpest pictures yet of their complex dynamic behavior in a closeup pass that will not be repeated during the course of the four-year mission. A series of seven major turns were required in the 6-hour event, and during the burn it slowly slewed the spacecraft 46 degree to keep the thrust pointed along the curving path. The spacecraft was going to cross upward through a gap in Saturn's rings and while all indications were that the gap was clear, there was concern about striking little particles.

In the latest bit of remarkable fortune on Mars, the rover Opportunity discovered that the only big rock in its neighborhood is the cousin, if not the brother, of a famous Martian meteorite found on Earth. The finding is all the more special because the rock is itself rare on Mars. The discovery is one of the first treats in the five-month extended mission that was recently approved by the U.S. NASA headquarters. The extended mission has several science and engineering goals.

The spacecraft Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity should be taking direct-contact measurements of a bedrock outcropping this week, while on the other side of the planet its twin spacecraft Spirit is making a beeline to a 200-meter-diameter, as of February 16, 2004. Opportunity has found the apparent source of curious little spherules scattered over its small crater site which are embedded in the outcrop rocks and have been eroded out of the softer rock. While Opportunity spends more time this week at its geologically rich crater landing spot, Spirit is moving away from its less-interesting volcanic rock field.

The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit made its first moves last week and was set to roll off the lander deck and onto Martian soil for the first time on January 15, 2004. An initial long-term exploration plan has been set, first going to a crater 260 meters (850 ft.) away, and then toward hills an ambitious 3 km. (1.9 mi.) toward the horizon, stopping at interesting objects along the way. The panoramic camera achieved formal mission success around January 12, 2004 when final octants of a full 360-deg. image in stereo and color at high resolution were transmitted to Earth. The miniature thermal emission spectrometer also achieved mission success with a full panorama.

The article focuses on the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer that combines the fuel capacity of a rocket with the low drag aerodynamics of a glider. Adventurer Steve Fossett plans to pilot the jet powered airplane around the world in 3.3 days. But the project is fraught with risk, mostly connected with the huge amount of fuel it must carry. The airplane has been rolled out by Scaled Composites Inc. The wing and fuselage skins are mainly honeycomb construction, with graphite epoxy face sheets and aramid honeycomb cores.

Mars exploration Rover, Spirit's landing went well but the rolloff was delayed by bulky airbags. Spirit has had a remarkably good week, but engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are already using Spirit data to improve the chances of the other rover, "Opportunity," slated to land on the opposite side of the planet on January 24, 2004. Program officials were going to decide late last week whether to add an unplanned trajectory correction maneuver on January 10, 2004 to alter Opportunity's approach path.