NASA announced on Friday the names of the next generation of launch vehicles that will return humans to the moon and later take them to Mars and other destinations. The crew launch vehicle will be called Ares I, and the cargo launch vehicle will be known as Ares V. “It’s appropriate that we named these vehicles Ares, which is a pseudonym for Mars,” said Scott Horowitz, associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, Washington. “We honor the past with the number designations and salute the future with a name that resonates with NASA’s exploration mission.”

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LACKLAND AFB, TEXAS — Urologist Maj. (Dr.) Kyle Weld received first place recognition for best urologist-in-training scientific paper at the national meeting of the American Urologic Association in Atlanta May 23, an event attended by more than 10,000 international participants. Dr. Weld is now the Urology Department assistant chief of staff at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. His award winning article, “Extrarenal Vascular Anatomy of Kidney: Assessment of Variations and their Relevance to Partial Nephrectomy,” was written while he was a fellow (doctor in training) at Washington University in St. Louis, and was published in “Urology, the Gold Journal.”

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ARLINGTON, Va. — By the end of June, the Air Force will have a self-sufficient team of medical and support specialists ready to help in natural disasters, according to Air Force Lt. Gen. George (Dr.) Peach Taylor Jr., Air Force surgeon general. The 224-airman teams will be equipped with the skills and material to set up a 25-bed hospital, complete with its own water, power and mortuary. In addition to 91 medical experts, there will be 133 experts in everything from vehicle maintenance to security, Taylor told reporters during a Thursday interview at the Pentagon. Each team will have the resources to handle basic medical care for 5,000 to 6,500 people.

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — U.S. Northern Command is the focal point for military emergency support to the space shuttle, including astronaut rescue and recovery and orbiter recovery. USNORTHCOM, established in 2002 and fully operational Sept. 11, 2003, coordinates U.S. military support for the Department of Defense efforts to assist the space shuttle astronauts in […]

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PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command provide support to NASA and the shuttle program’s return to flight with distinctly different but important missions. NORAD — the bi-national command responsible for air defense of the North American air space — is ensuring airspace safety and security for the STS-121 launch and landing, providing irregular air patrols to enforce the FAA’s Temporary Flight Restriction zones over the space shuttle and along its flight path. NORAD support will consist of Air Force F-15 fighter planes and Coast Guard helicopters enforcing the TFR.

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NATS, the UK’s leading air traffic management provider, on Friday 30th June reported its third successive year of profit, as the company reaches the landmark 5th anniversary of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) in 2001. Pre-tax profit for NATS Holdings Ltd (NHL) and its subsidiaries (“the NATS group” or “NATS”), for the year ended 31 March 2006, was £80.3m. This compares with £85.3m for 2004/5.

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Budapest, June 30. – Stewart Wingate formally takes charge as CEO of Budapest Airport with effect from 1 July. Chris Woodruff hands over the reins today, although he will remain in a part-time advisory role before he leaves to take charge of airports in Australia in September. The transition of CEOs is a smooth one, as Mr Wingate and Mr Woodruff have worked closely together since BAA took over Budapest Airport in December, even sharing the same office.

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BWI AIRPORT, MD (June 30, 2006) - Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) ranked third-highest in overall passenger satisfaction among medium-size airports, according to the 2006 North America Airport Satisfaction Study released yesterday by J.D. Power and Associates. The study, conducted in association with AVIATION WEEK, measures overall airport satisfaction based on eight specific performance factors—airport accessibility, check-in / baggage check, security check, terminal facilities, food and beverage, retail services, baggage claim, and immigration / customs control.

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Taipei, Taiwan – Rannoch Corporation’s extended Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS-X) system entered operational ATC service across the Taiwan Strait after successfully passing a series of rigorous technical and operational tests.

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For the next twenty years, the European Combat Aircraft Industry has to face three main challenges. The best way to take up these challenges would be to launch a new Combat Aircraft Programme in Europe, based on an entirely European development. Unfortunately, if one looks at the need for replacing existing combat aircraft in Europe, it appears clearly that there will be no such opportunity before the horizon 2030 at the earliest.

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Arlington, Virginia, 30 June 2006 - EADS North America today announced that the UH-145 military helicopter has been selected by the U.S. Army as its next-generation Light Utility Helicopter (LUH). The LUH requirement is for up to 352 aircraft with a potential total program life-cycle value of $3 billion. The LUH award is a continuation of EADS’ 20-year heritage as a helicopter supplier to U.S. national and homeland security agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, DEA and the FBI. The decision, announced today by the U.S. Army, marks EADS North America’s first major system win as a prime contractor for the U.S. military.

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NAGOYA, Japan, June 30, 2006 — Boeing [NYSE: BA] and its partner Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI) today celebrate the start of major assembly for the first 787 Dreamliner. FHI began to assemble the center wing section at its new factory in Handa, Japan, near Nagoya. “When I look at this piece of structure coming together I know that we are seeing the future of our industry,” said Mike Bair, vice president and general manager of the 787 program for Boeing. “We have introduced new materials, new processes, new tools and a new way of working together that is ushering in a new era in commercial aviation.”

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STRATFORD, Conn. - Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation will provide contractor logistics support (CLS) for the UH-145 team selected today as the winning entrant in the U.S. Army’s Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) competition. Sikorsky Aircraft, based in Stratford, Conn., is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX). EADS North America is the prime contractor and will supply the UH-145 helicopter to Army and Army National Guard units for a wide range of light utility missions, including medical evacuation, passenger and logistics transportation, as well as homeland security operations. As subcontractor to EADS North America, Sikorsky will supply materials, technicians, field service teams, and related logistics services for UH-145 aircraft based throughout the U.S.

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NHIndustries is very proud to announce a new success for the NH90: Australia approved on 19 June 2006 the acquisition plan for 34 NH90 helicopters. The announcement has been released in Canberra from the Australian Minister of Defence, The Honourable Doctor Brendan NELSON. According to the Australian AIR9000 Programme, the 34 NH90 ordered are identified under the designation ?b>MRH90? standing for “Multi Role Helicopter?and come in addition to the first batch of 12 MRH90 signed on 2 June 2005 between the Australian Defence Materiel Organisation and Australian Aerospace, the local fully-owned subsidiary of Eurocopter.

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Madrid, Spain – A global congress with over 500 representatives from more than 90 states has agreed on the need for a coordinated global approach to aeronautical information systems. The congress, held from 27-29 June 2006 in Madrid, brought together a range of people working with aeronautical information systems, including originators, processors, publishers, regulators, system designers, service providers and end-users. Drawing on collective experience, the conference discussed the essential role of aeronautical information systems in the evolving world of air traffic management, identified key drivers for change, explored what needs to be done to ensure that aeronautical information of the right scope and quality is made available, reviewed emerging technologies that will facilitate change in a practical and affordable manner; and outlined a roadmap for the evolution of aeronautical information to assist ICAO in leading global change.

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EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) — A 418th Flight Test Squadron team performed the second in a series of tests June 14 by airdropping a 65-foot, 65,000-pound mockup of a booster rocket from a C-17 Globemaster III over the Edwards precision impact range area. The drop, performed at 29,500 feet above sea level, was part of a project called Falcon Small Launch Vehicle, a joint venture between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force, designed to develop a new method for putting satellites into low-earth orbit.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) today named Lee R. Kair as Federal Security Director (FSD) for the Orlando (Fla.) International Airport. Kair will report for duty in Orlando in early August. He currently serves as the Executive Director of TSA’s Office of Inter-Agency Operations at headquarters where he oversees several initiatives of strategic importance to the organization. Some of the most notable achievements of this office under Kair’s management are: development and deployment of an enhanced Improvised Explosive Device training program for Transportation Security Officers (TSOs), deployment of security enhancement teams for all modes of transportation, and decentralizing the hiring process for TSOs.

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HOUSTON, Texas – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that Arthur J.Meinke has been named Federal Security Director (FSD) at George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) and James L. Marchand has been named FSD for William P. Hobby Airport (HOU). As FSDs, Meinke and Marchand will oversee all TSA security operations at Houston’s airports.

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Testing of the armed powered paraglider confirmed the aeronautical and systems engineering expertise of junior engineers from Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Dahlgren, VA, who designed, built and tested the UAV. “Our young scientists and engineers learned that they can directly impact the warfighter through teaming, collaboration and thinking out of the box,” said NSWC Dahlgren Division Commander Capt. Joseph McGettigan. “Their design, construction and testing of this extraordinary combat UAV could provide our warfighters with significant new capabilities and make a difference in our military’s ability to fight, win and come home safely.”

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Integrating technologies developed for the man-packed Skylark I mini-UAV system and Hermes tactical UAV systems, the Skylark II is a close-range tactical UAV system providing advanced, high performance ISTAR capabilities. The compact and easily deployable system is ideal for both military and homeland defense missions. The Skylark -II can perform day, night and adverse weather observation, data collection and target marking at mission ranges exceeding 50 kilometers. The system is designed for battlefield deployment using Humvee class field vehicles equipped with an integral launcher for point launch and recovery, and an advanced dual station Ground Control Station.

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Grand Prairie, Texas (June 30, 2006) The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) took possession of an AS350 B2 helicopter today. Another B2 will be delivered on Thursday, July 6, which will mark the twelfth AS350 B2 helicopter in the LAPD fleet. The Los Angeles Police Department’s Air Support Division was established in 1956, and is considered one of the most experienced airborne law enforcement units in the country. The LAPD Air Support is a 24/7 operation, with aircraft in the air at all times. They patrol a city of 465 square miles, which includes an arid desert climate, the Pacific Ocean shoreline and mountainous terrain.

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As part of the agreement, Mediaware has been subcontracted to help engineer, develop and integrate video and data dissemination enhancements for the GCS. These enhancements will provide improved video and metadata capture, exploitation and dissemination and will align the Predator GCS system with current standards and interoperability requirements. Mediaware will provide the software necessary to combine Predator aircraft positional information and sensor video into a single MPEG-2 Internet compliant digital video stream that can be exported real-time from the GCS. It is anticipated that after the initial development phase, the GCS enhancements could be retrofitted to the Predator fleet.

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WASHINGTON, DC, June 30, 2006 – The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) today announced the approval of nine new Professional Development Program (PDP) Courses offered by five different PDP providers. The new courses and providers are as follows:

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MONTREAL, 30 May 2006 — Preliminary estimates for 2005 released today by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) show that scheduled airlines of the Organization’s 189 Contracting States posted a combined operating profit of 1.0 per cent of operating revenues, a slight improvement over the operating profit of 0.9 per cent in 2004.

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The International Air Carrier Association today renewed their calls to Hermes Airports Ltd., owners of Larnaca and Phaphos airports, to urgently review their drastic increase in airport charges. Hermes, which took over the operation of Larnaca and Phaphos airports in May 2006, introduced a series of new charges for handling, security, fuel throughput and fire services which together represent a 300% hike in charges at both airports.

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