Sep 17 1985
From The Space Library
Hughes Communications Inc. said today it would negotiate an approximately $180 commitment with NASA for launch by the Space Shuttle of six communications satellites, including two for a new Japanese network, after receiving proposals from NASA and from Arianespace for its expendable Ariane launch vehicle, Aerospace Daily reported. Hughes indicated selection of the Space Shuttle was based solely on cost and was not related to the recent Ariane 3 failure [see European Space Agency, Sept. 12].
Space Shuttle flights scheduled for December 1987 and May 1988 would launch HS-393 Ku-band satellites that Hughes was building for the Japan Communications Satellite Co. (JCSat). Hughes reserved between 1988 and 1990 four slots for placement of HS-393s over the U.S.
Hughes Communications owned 30% of JCSat, a joint venture licensed the previous June by Japan's Ministry of Post and Telecommunications to construct and operate a two-satellite system to serve Japan. The Japanese trading companies C. Itoh and Co. Ltd. and Mitsui and Co. Ltd. owned 40% and 30%, respectively, of the joint venture. (A/D, Sept 18/85, 1)
NASA announced that the Ames Research Center (ARC) selected Informatics General Corp. and Technology Development of California for competitive negotiations leading to an approximately $40 million five-year contract to provide computational resources for research in large-scale computational fluid dynamics, aerodynamics design and analysis, computational chemistry, astrophysics, atmospheric modeling, and satellite image processing.
The winning contractor would have to deliver a total system capability including the computational facility, operational support, systems engineering, and management.
The anticipated contract was a follow-on to existing services performed at ARC. (NASA Release 85-130)
NASA announced the first flight at Ames Dryden Flight Research Facility, scheduled for late September, of the advanced fighter technology integration (AFTI) F-111 with a mission adaptive wing (MAW). The AFTI F-111 research aircraft was modified with a wing that could change its camber (fore and aft wing curvature) and its wing sweep to adjust to varied flight conditions.
NASA expected that MAW's variable camber capability would allow optimum efficiency at supersonic, transonic, and subsonic speeds by adopting the best wing shape for each speed. The MAW program was intended to demonstrate that smooth variable camber technology showed improvements over current aircraft wing lifting-altering devices in such areas as aircraft payload and range capability, maneuverability, fuel efficiency, and aircraft handling qualities.
The first flights would test the airworthiness and flight envelope expansion phase of the program, followed by the research phase. The plans for the initial phase called for about 15 flights that gradually increased the MAW aircraft to speeds of approximately Mach 1.05 and altitudes of about 35,000 feet. NASA expected that phase to be complete by January 1986; and the research phase, about 30 flights, by June 1986.
The MAW system had smooth-surfaced, variable-camber wing leading- and trailing-edge flaps, an actuation mechanism, hydraulics, and redundant computers to control flap positions. Six independent trailing-edge flaps (three per wing) and two leading-edge flaps provided a smooth continuously variable wing camber using flexible fiberglass skins on the upper surface and sliding panels on the lower surface.
Fully developed, the MAW system would result in an aircraft equipped with an automatic flight control system with several control modes. Cruise camber control mode would optimize the trailing-edge flap position for maximum cruise speed. Maneuver camber control mode would continuously position leading and trailing edge for optimum lift-to-drag ratio depending on the lift coefficient and speed of the aircraft. Maneuver enhancement/gust alleviation mode would enhance the aircraft response to pilot control inputs, while reducing the aircraft's sensitivity to wind gusts.
Designed for research rather than as a production prototype, the AFTI F111 was a joint program of Ames-Dryden Flight Research Center and the U.S. Air Force's Flight Dynamics Laboratory. The Boeing Military Airplane Co. manufactured the MAW. (NASA Release 85-129)
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