New Aleris facility in China qualified to supply aluminum to Boeing

Aleris announced Monday that its rolling mill in Zhenjiang,China, has attained qualification to supply aluminum aerospace plate to Boeing for various aircraft.

Aleris' facility in Koblenz, Germany, has supplied aluminum aerospace plate to Boeing for decades. Aleris Zhenjiang, which opened in early 2013, was modeled after the Koblenz facility to meet the needs of both global and regional aircraft manufacturers by establishing a local supply of aluminum aircraft plate in Asia Pacific.

“We look forward to serving Boeing from another strategically important location in a region that is projected to see significant growth in demand for new aircraft over the next several years,” Steve Demetriou, Aleris chairman and CEO said.

In June 2014, Aleris announced the Zhenjiang plant's achievement of Nadcap accreditation, which allowed the company to move into the final stages of qualification with Boeing and other major aircraft manufacturers. Airbus, Bombardier and COMAC have also qualified the Zhenjiang facility and shipments of aircraft plate began at the end of 2014.

Do your part in protecting Earth from asteroids

During a panel discussion Sunday at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, NASA representatives discussed how citizen scientists have made a difference in hunting down potentially hazardous asteroids in space. They also announced the release of a desktop software application developed by NASA in partnership with Planetary Resources, Inc., of Redmond, Wash. The application is based on an Asteroid Data Hunter-derived algorithm that analyzes images for potential asteroids. It’s a tool that can be used by amateur astronomers and citizen scientists.

The software has the potential to increase the number of new asteroid discoveries by amateur astronomers.

Analysis of images taken of our solar system’s belt asteroids between Mars and Jupiter using the algorithm showed a 15 percent increase in positive identification of new asteroids.

“We are extremely encouraged by the algorithm created and it’s already making a difference. This increase in knowledge will help assess more quickly which asteroids are potential threats, human destinations or resource rich,” said Chris Lewicki, president and chief engineer at Planetary Resources.

Astronomers find asteroids by taking images of the same place in the sky and looking for star-like objects that move between frames, an approach that has been used since before Pluto was discovered in 1930. This new algorithm gives astronomers the ability to use computers to autonomously and rapidly check the images and determine which objects are suitable for follow up, which leads to finding more asteroids than previously possible.

“Moreover, this software can now be used to analyze new images and is available to any observer who wants to use it,” said Jose Luis Galache of the Minor Planet Center.

The desktop software application is free and can be used on any basic desktop or laptop computer. Amateur astronomers may take images from their telescopes and analyze them with the application. The application will tell the user whether a matching asteroid record exists and offer a way to report new findings to the Minor Planet Center, which then confirms and archives new discoveries.

The new asteroid hunting application can be downloaded at: http://topcoder.com/asteroids

Insitu picks up $82 million support contract for Blackjack drone

The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., intends to award a sole source Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) to Insitu Inc. of Bingen Wash., for supplies and services necessary to procure spare and sustainment parts and sustaining engineering services.

The type of supplies and services to be procured under the BOA will include, but not be limited to, the procurement of spare and sustainment parts, sustaining engineering services, equipment maintenance, and support equipment maintenance that is required to maintain the RQ-21A Blackjack UAS and provide acquisition lifecycle support.

“These efforts are in direct support of United States Marine Corps (USMC) fleet operations,” the Navy said in contract documents released Friday. It is anticipated that the BOA will cover a five year ordering period. The estimated total value of the contractual actions is $82.4 million and will be funded by USMC.

“This is an estimate of future funding; future years are estimates based on number of deployments and calculated from the fiscal year 2015 requirement per deployment,” the Navy said.

Insitu, Inc. is the sole designer, developer, and manufacturer of the RQ-21A Blackjack, and as such, is the only known source available with the requisite technical knowledge, experience and tooling to perform the efforts described herein, in order to satisfy the government's requirement.

Small businesses interested in subcontracting possibilities should contact Insitu.

Snecma to supply plasma thrusters for Eurostar satellite

Snecma will supply a flight set of PPS5000 plasma (electric) thrusters to Airbus Defence and Space for the company’s Eurostar E3000 Electric Orbit Raising satellite platform. The contract was signed Thursday by Arnaud de Rosnay, head of telecommunications satellites at Airbus Defence and Space, and Jacques Pasquier, Snecma Vice President, Space Engines division. The PPS5000 thrusters will be delivered to Airbus Defence and Space in the fourth quarter of 2016.

This new contract is in continuation of the collaboration agreement signed by the two companies in March 2014.

Snecma offers a range of Hall effect plasma thrusters and propulsion systems, with power ratings of 300W to 20kW. This technology reduces the launch weight of an all-electric geostationary satellite by 40 percent for a given payload, or allows the satellite to carry a larger payload.

Video: A graphic look at Arlington National Cemetery expansion

Artist rendering of the proposed Millennium Expansion Project at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.

Space station crew lands safely in Kazakhstan

Three crew members returned to Earth Wednesday after a 167-day mission on the International Space Station that included hundreds of scientific experiments and several spacewalks to prepare the orbiting laboratory for future arrivals by U.S. commercial crew spacecraft.

Known as Expedition 42, commander Barry Wilmore of NASA and flight engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) touched down at approximately 10:07 p.m. EDT southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.

During their time in space, the crew participated in a variety of research focusing on the effects of microgravity on cells, Earth observation, physical science and biological and molecular science. One of several key research focus areas during Expedition 42 was human health management for long-duration space travel, as NASA and Roscosmos prepare for two crew members to spend one year aboard the space station.

The space station also serves as a test bed to demonstrate new technology. The Cloud-Aerosol Transport System arrived and was installed during Expedition 42, and already is providing data to improve scientists' understanding of the structure and evolution of Earth's atmosphere. This may lead to enhancements to spacecraft launches, landings and communications systems; help guide future atmospheric investigations of Mars, Jupiter or other worlds; and help researchers model and predict climate changes on Earth.

The newly installed Electromagnetic Levitator will allow scientists to observe fundamental physical processes as liquid metals cool, potentially leading to lighter, higher-performing alloy, mixtures of two or more metals or a metal and another material, for use on Earth and in space.

During his time on the orbital complex, Wilmore ventured outside the space station with NASA astronaut Terry Virts on three spacewalks to prepare for new international docking adapters and future U.S. commercial crew spacecraft. Wilmore also completed a spacewalk in October with fellow NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman to replace a failed voltage regulator. Samokutyaev conducted one spacewalk during his time in space.

Having completed his second space station mission, Samokutyaev now has spent 331 days in space. Wilmore, having previously flown as a shuttle pilot on STS-129, has spent 178 days in space. Serova spent 167 days in space on her first flight.

UTC explores spinoff for Sikorsky Aircraft business

United Technologies Corp. (UTC) announced Wednesday that its Board of Directors has authorized a review of strategic alternatives for the corporation's Sikorsky Aircraft business, including a potential tax-free spinoff.

"We are exploring strategic options for Sikorsky to determine the best way to enhance its long-term success and create improved long-term value for UTC's customers and shareholders," said UTC President & Chief Executive Officer Gregory Hayes. 

Sikorsky is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of military and commercial helicopter platforms.

"Looking to the future, we are evaluating whether Sikorsky's unique business as a rotorcraft OEM with a predominately military customer base is best positioned as a stand-alone company, and whether a separation would allow United Technologies to better focus on providing high-technology systems and services to the aerospace and building industries,” Hayes said.

UTC expects to conclude its strategic review before the end of the year. However, no specific timetable has been set, and there can be no assurance that a spinoff or any other transaction will take place. Likewise, no decision has been made on the timing or terms of any such transaction if one were to occur.

United Technologies is based in Hartford, Conn.