MAX LAUNCH ABORT SYSTEM TESTING UNDERWAY
SPACEFLIGHT NASA test launched its Max Launch Abort System on 8 July from its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Designed for the Orion crew exploration vehicle, MLAS has four solid motors instead of the one the Orion abort system has now. Developed by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, MLAS was to be an 18-month project, with the test launch in September 2008. It was delayed repeatedly until 8 July.
PHENOM 100 BOOSTS EMBRAER DELIVERY TALLY
SHIPMENTS Embraer during the second quarter delivered to customers a total 56 aircraft, four more than in the same period in 2008. The uptick was largely attributed to the ramp-up in deliveries of the Phenom 100 very light jet, which made its foray into the Brazilian market late last month following the handover of three aircraft to resident charter operators Algar Aviation, Wellborn Participações and Locar Guindastes e Transportes Intermodais.
NORTHWEST A330 'SUFFERED AIRSPEED ANOMALY'
INVESTIGATION A preliminary report by the US National Transportation Safety Board into a 23 June incident involving airspeed fluctuations on a Northwest Airlines Airbus A330 flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo says the flight data recorder confirmed large airspeed fluctuations, small altitude fluctuations and an overspeed alertat 39,000ft (11,900m) roughly 80km (45nm) south-west of Kagoshima, Japan. The flight with nine crew members and 208 passengers continued to Tokyo and landed with no damage.
FIRST BRITON IN SPACE AWARDED ASTRONAUT PIN
HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT The first Briton in space, Helen Sharman, has been awarded a silver astronaut pin by the British Interplanetary Society. Her eight-day science mission in May 1991 was funded by the Soviet government.
SAA TORECOMMITTO A320 ACQUISITION
FLEET South African Airways is close to finalising a new deal with Airbus that will recommit it to 15 A320s originally ordered in 2002, but which it sought to cancel in 2004. A deal is thought to be in the works for a total of 20 A320s, to replace 17 Boeing 737-800s operated by SAA and four by its Mango subsidiary, and up to six A340s.
FLIGHTGLOBAL RANKED INDUSTRY NO 1
WEBSITE Flightglobal's online activity reached record levels during June on the back of our coverage of the Air France crash, Sir Richard Branson's stint as guest editor and the Paris air show. Nearly 1 million visitors looked at more than 7 million pages. Flightglobal.com vaulted 2,600 places to overtake boeing.com in the benchmark Alexa rankings and become the most-visited aerospace industry website.
ROBERT MCNAMARA
OBITUARY Robert McNamara, the reform-minded and longest-serving US secretary of defence, died at age 93 on 6 July. McNamara's tenure is mostly associated with his controversial role in shaping US strategy for the Vietnam War. McNamara is also remembered for a series of acquisition reforms. He installed the first system that linked national security requirements to acquisition priorities. A military build-up during his tenure also drove spending on dozens of new aircraft programmes, including the failed TFX fighter concept and the scandalised Lockheed C-5A programme.
US NATIONAL ACADEMIES POINTS TO THE MOON
EXPLORATION The USA should have goals for beyond low Earth orbit missions and use the International Space Station to develop capabilities to do them, according to a National Academies report that also recommends global Earth observation partnerships and a DARPA-like technology organisation within NASA. The Obama administration has started its own review of US human spaceflight plans.
