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October 23, 2005
NewsWire Complete Issue
By The AVweb Editorial Staff This issue of AVweb’s AVflash is brought to you by … Teledyne-Continental Motors (TCM)
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Boeing, Lockheed Sued By Upstart In Space Race…
Conflict Arises As New Space Era Advances
Last week, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) accused Boeing and Lockheed Martin of conspiring to prevent new competitors — such as SpaceX — from getting government contracts for rocket launches. A lawsuit filed in federal court in California says a proposal by the two aerospace giants to form a joint venture to launch payloads into space would violate “antitrust, unfair competition and racketeering laws,” Space.com reported on Friday. “Boeing and Lockheed Martin have engaged in an unlawful conspiracy to eliminate competition, and ultimately to monopolize the government space-launch business,” the court documents read, according to Space.com. The Federal Trade Commission is due to rule this week on whether the proposal by Boeing and Lockheed to form United Launch Alliance would violate antitrust laws. A watchdog group, Citizens Against Government Waste, on Thursday urged the FTC to rule against the venture. “The structure slams the door on any possible competition,” the group’s president, Tom Schatz, said in a statement. “To keep the U.S. space launching industry competitive, the Air Force should do whatever it can to open the field to new competitors.” A Lockheed spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit, and a Boeing spokesman said it was without merit.
…As SpaceX Prepares To Launch…
Meanwhile, the new space industry has been building the infrastructure it needs for the future it envisions, and inch by inch, it is moving forward. SpaceX, which plans to offer payload delivery into orbit for all kinds of customers, plans to launch its small Falcon I rocket on its maiden flight on Halloween — next Monday — from the Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. The customer for this mission is DARPA and the Air Force. The payload will be a satellite built to measure space plasma phenomena, which can adversely affect GPS and other civil and military space-based communications. Falcon 1 is about 60 feet long and has a reusable first stage and expendable upper stage. A second launch is planned for later this year from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
…As Your Trip To Space Inches Closer
At the same time, infrastructure is growing in support of the nascent industry. Last week, the FAA held its second annual International Aviation Safety Forum in Washington, D.C., and commercial space flight was added to the other more traditional topics on the agenda. Speakers for the space forum included SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Virgin Galactic President William Whitehorn, as well as former astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson and space tourist Dennis Tito. Also last week, NASA announced two new Centennial Challenge prize competitions that it is offering for new space technology, in collaboration with the X Prize Foundation. The Suborbital Payload Challenge prize will go for a reusable suborbital rocket that reaches altitudes or speeds of interest to science researchers, and the Suborbital Lunar Lander Analog Challenge will reward the first team to build a vertical takeoff/vertical landing suborbital vehicle capable of reaching a speed consistent with the energy required to land and launch from the moon. Each prize will be at least $250,000, NASA said. “These prizes are intended to accelerate the development of the suborbital launch industry while also demonstrating technologies and capabilities relevant to other NASA activities,” said NASA Centennial Challenges Manager Brant Sponberg. The project is contingent on getting the funding and signing a final agreement with the X Prize folks, NASA said. Meanwhile, the first X Prize Cup event, held in Mexico earlier this month, was a success. And Virgin Galactic has collected $10 million in deposits from passengers ready to book a flight into space on the fleet of SpaceShipTwo ships now in the works.
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Body Of WWII Airman Found In California Glacier…
Airplane Was Lost In 1942
A body found in a receding glacier last week on a remote California mountain may be that of a crew member from a military airplane that crashed nearly 60 years ago. The body, that of a blond-haired man in his 20s, was intact and still wearing a parachute when it was found by climbers. The airman is suspected to have been aboard an AT-7 navigational training plane that left a Sacramento airfield Nov. 18, 1942. The plan was for a routine training flight through the Central Valley, but the airplane vanished. Five years later, an engine, clothing, a dog tag and scattered remains were found far from the plane’s course, and the four crew members were presumed dead. The body was found Oct. 16, near the summit of 13,710-foot Mount Mendel in Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada. Michael Nozel, one of the climbers, told KFSN-TV that a fluttering parachute caught his eye. ”As I got closer, I started to think, gosh, that doesn’t look like a rock sticking out of the glacier,” Nozel said. ”And then of course, as I got closer, I thought, my goodness, I think that is a body.” The ice preserved the airman’s skin and muscle as well as his green uniform, including thermal undershirt and sweater, according to The Associated Press. The recovery team found a fountain pen, a sewing kit and the rip cord for his unopened parachute. It took about six hours to free the body from the mountain.
…Investigators Seek Clues
On Friday, the body was in the county coroner’s office, being carefully thawed from the 400-pound block of ice in which it was encased. Investigators were searching for clues such as a military identification number that would positively identify the man. The body may be that of aviation Cadet Ernest Munn, who was blond, and part of the missing AT-7 crew out of Sacramento. “We’d given up all hope,” Lois Shriver, 80, of Pittsburgh, his youngest sister, told The Associated Press. “Living without knowing whatever happened, that was hard.” An investigation at the time the AT-7’s engine was found offered no explanation as to why the airplane was 200 miles off course. The find is likely to prompt further searches on the mountain for the other three missing men. Military officials said there are still 78,000 Americans missing from World War II.
OWN
The identity of the man may now be known
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