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Boeing, Hainan Airlines expand pilot training agreement

Boeing and Hainan Airlines have announced a five-year pilot training agreement today to support Hainan's recent introduction of the 787 Dreamliner to its fleet.

Northrop Grumman photograph Defense

Navy’s X-47B team receives prestigious aviation award

The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration team was honored by Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine as a winner of the publication’s prestigious Laureate Awards during a ceremony held March 6 in Washington, D.C.

Air Force photograph by Scott M. Ash Space

Air Force leaders share space budget rollout

Space was the topic of discussion for Air Force leaders March 5, during on-going talks about the fiscal year 2015 budget at the Pentagon.

Army photograph by Amy Walker Defense

New network technologies to support expeditionary signal battalions

In preparation for the Army's Network Integration Evaluation, or NIE, 14.2 this spring, the 86th Expeditionary Signal Battalion, or ESB, is training with new tactical communications equipment that is smaller in size for easy transport, yet significantly increases capability.

NASA photograph Space

Boosters For Orion’s launch vehicle arrive at Cape Canaveral

The Orion spacecraft has moved another step closer toward its first test flight as the core and starboard boosters for the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket contracted by Lockheed Martin for that flight have arrived to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

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NASA photograph by Jim Ross
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Tech

Mitigating risk: NASA Dryden’s counterfeit parts screening system

Posted  March 13, 2013

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center is at the forefront of developing aerospace technology and it is now recognized as a model for ensuring that none of that technology fails from the use of counterfeit parts.

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Space

Nation’s newest missile warning satellite encapsulated in launch vehicle payload fairing for March launch

Posted  March 13, 2013

The second Lockheed Martin built Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO-2) spacecraft was encapsulated into its payload fairing March 4 in preparation for a March 19 liftoff aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. SBIRS GEO-2, the most technologically advanced infrared surveillance satellite, will enhance the nationís missile…

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Space

SpaceX Dragon cargo mission overcomes thrusters’ glitch

Posted  March 13, 2013

The March 1 launch of Cargo Resupply Service mission 2 [CRS2] to the International Space Station was flawless.  Space X’s Falcon 9 brought the Dragon capsule into orbit. But at 9 minutes into the flight, the Dragon capsule’s Draco thruster system did not activate as planned. The capsule is equipped with 18 of SpaceX’s Draco…

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Business

Northrop Grumman to produce more Fire Scouts for U.S. Navy

Posted  March 13, 2013

The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract valued at more than $71 million to produce six additional next-generation Fire Scout unmanned helicopters. The Fire Scout endurance upgrade, designated the MQ-8C and based on Bell Helicopter’s 407, will provide ship commanders with increased range, endurance and payload capacity over the current MQ-8B variant. The…

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Business

Boeing receives FAA approval of certification plan for 787 battery solution

Posted  March 13, 2013

Boeing has received approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration of the company's plan to test and certify improvements to the 787's battery system.

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Business

Northrop Grumman names VP of engineering, global product Development

Posted  March 13, 2013

REDONDO BEACH, Calif. – Northrop Grumman announced March 8 that it has appointed Peggy Nelson vice president of engineering and global product development for its Aerospace Systems sector. In this role, Nelson will lead a sectorwide effort to deliver more reliable, sustainable and affordable products for Northrop Grumman customers. Nelson comes to the position from…

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Business

Mojave Air & Space Port finances discussed

Posted  March 13, 2013

A midyear budget update was presented by CFO Erika Westawski to the Mojave Air and Space Port directors at their March 5 meeting. CEO Stuart Witt discussed the current status of Mojave involvement in the FAA Screening Information Request solicitation regarding Unmanned Aviation Systems in the National Airspace. Several contract and purchase expenditures were approved….

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In the news...

Navy EA-6B Crash Kills Three in Washington

Posted  March 13, 2013

All three crew members aboard a Navy EA-6B Prowler jet assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 129 (VAQ-129) at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., were killed when the aircraft crashed this morning in an unpopulated area approximately 50 miles west of Spokane, Wash. The names of those killed in the crash will not be released…

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Space

NASA’s Michoud assembly facility manufactures liquid natural gas tanks for Lockheed Martin

Posted  March 13, 2013

NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, the agency’s only large-scale advanced manufacturing facility, soon will be building liquefied natural gas tanks with commercial applications on Earth. In a March 12 ceremony that included Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Lockheed Martin of Bethesda, Md., announced it is drawing on the unique experience and equipment at Michoud…

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Defense

Dempsey: Sequestration will affect programs, readiness

Posted  March 13, 2013

The Defense Department will see effects to long-term military readiness and support programs such as the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors under sequestrationís fiscal constraints, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said March 11. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey gave remarks and fielded questions from the audience at the National League of Cities…

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NASA Image of the Day

 

False-Color Image of Earth Highlights Plant Growth

 
On Aug. 3, 2004, NASA’s Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft began a seven-year journey, spiraling through the inner solar system to Mercury. One year after launch, the spacecraft zipped around Earth, getting an orbit correction from Earth’s gravity and getting a chance to test its instruments by observing its home planet. This image is a view of South America and portions of North America and Africa from the Mercury Dual Imaging System’s wide-angle camera aboard MESSENGER. The wide-angle camera records light at eleven different wavelengths, including visible and infrared light. Combining blue, red, and green light results in a true-color image from the observations. The image substitutes infrared light for blue light in the three-band combination. The resulting image is crisper than the natural color version because our atmosphere scatters blue light. Infrared light, however, passes through the atmosphere with relatively little scattering and allows a clearer view. That wavelength substitution makes plants appear red. Why? Plants reflect near-infrared light more strongly than either red or green, and in this band combination, near-infrared is assigned to look red. Apart from getting a clearer image, the substitution reveals more information than natural color. Healthy plants reflect more near-infrared light than stressed plants, so bright red indicates dense, growing foliage. For this reason, biologists and ecologists occasionally use infrared cameras to photograph forests. > Read more: Why is that Forest Red and that Cloud Blue? How to Interpret a False-Color Satellite Image Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington Caption: Holli Riebeek
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