NASA seeks new director at Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA has named Todd May acting director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., as the agency continues the process of looking for a permanent director.

Patrick Scheuermann, who served as the Marshall director since September 2012, is retiring from the agency, effective Friday. His retirement caps a 27-year career with NASA that began in 1988 as a propulsion test engineer at the agency's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss.

May was appointed Marshall deputy director in August, and previously served as manager of the Space Launch System (SLS) Program since August 2011. May led the SLS Program through a series of milestones, including engine tests and a successful, in-depth critical design review. SLS, now under development, will be the most powerful rocket ever built, able to carry astronauts in NASA's Orion spacecraft on deep space missions, including to an asteroid and ultimately on a journey to Mars.

May's NASA career began in 1991, working in the Materials and Processes Laboratory at Marshall. He was deputy program manager of the Russian Integration Office in the International Space Station Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston in 1994, and worked on the team at Marshall that developed and launched the Gravity Probe B mission to test Einstein's Theory of Relativity in 2004. That same year he assumed management of the Discovery and New Frontiers Programs, created to explore the solar system with frequent unmanned spacecraft missions.

May moved to NASA Headquarters in Washington in 2007 as a deputy associate administrator in the Science Mission Directorate. Returning to Marshall in June 2008, May was named Marshall's associate director, Technical, a post he held until being named SLS program manager.

The SLS Program is managed at Marshall, one of NASA's largest field installations, with almost 6,000 civil service and contractor employees, an annual budget of approximately $2.5 billion and a broad spectrum of science and technological missions.

Video: Launch of GPS IIF-11 satellite

The U.S. Air Force's 45th Space Wing supported the launch of a Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Saturday. GPS IIF-11 was the 16th launch this year for the wing.

The integrated team is currently preparing GPS IIF-12, the last model of the series, for launch in early 2016. An Airmen-led processing team at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., has processed every launch of the series since GPS IIF-1 launched in May 2010.

According to the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, the GPS constellation is healthy, stable and robust with two GPS IIAs, 12 GPS IIRs, seven GPS IIR-Ms, and 10 GPS IIF satellites on orbit providing precise global positioning, navigation, and timing services to users around the globe.

Military blimp JLENS has detached from tether, floating over US

A tethered military airship has detached from its mooring station in Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md., military officials reported on Wednesday.

The unmanned blimp, known as JLENS (which is short for Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System), is helium filled, each nearly as long as a football field, carry powerful radars that can protect a territory roughly the size of Texas from airborne threats.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command is working with interagency partners to address a safe recovery of the aerostat, the agency said on Twitter.

Coast Guard search for missing aircraft in Mississippi

The U.S. Coast Guard and local agencies continue their search on Wednesday for the three people who were aboard a Lancair single-engine plane missing near Pascagoula, Miss.

Rescue crews continue their search for Dexter Brewer, Gerald Miletello and Ron Gregory, who were aboard the plane that lost radar contact shortly after take-off from Gulfport on Monday evening. Response crews have covered more than 1,200 square miles in their search efforts.

Coast Guard Sector Mobile were notified at approximately 10:40 p.m., Monday, by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center that the single-engine plane lost radar contact shortly after take-off from Gulfport.

Involved in the search is:

• MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans.
• HC-144 Ocean Sentry fixed-wing aircraft crews from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, Alabama.
• 24-foot Special Purpose Craft—Shallow Water boatcrews from Coast Guard Station Pascagoula.
• Small boat crews from Coast Guard Station Gulfport.
• Mississippi Department of Marine Resources boatcrews.
• Jackson County Sheriff’s Department boatcrews.
• A Chevron private helicopter crew.

Interior Department buys Cessna 206 aircraft

The Department of the Interior (DOI), National Park Service, purchased a used turbo Cessna 206 plane for use in Grand Canyon National Park, according to contract documents released Monday. The DOI purchased the aircraft from Wipaire Inc. of St. Paul, Minn., for $300,000.

The National Park Service uses the aircraft (tail number N9853Z) to perform law enforcement patrols, wildland fire reconnaissance, search and rescue, wildlife surveys, and the transportation of passengers and cargo. The plane was manufactured in 1983.

Phase one complete for remote tower at Leesburg Executive Airport

Today marks a significant milestone in the Leesburg Airport Remote Tower Demonstration Program. The first phase of the demonstration is reaching its conclusion, after which the partnership will have collected data during a four-month passive monitoring phase.

Saab has pioneered the development of remote tower systems and technologies in cooperation with air traffic controllers and air navigation service providers around the world, paving the way for more efficient, safe and cost-effective delivery of air traffic control services.

To support the introduction of this new technology in the United States, Saab has partnered with Leesburg Executive Airport to demonstrate remote tower technologies at the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Virginia Department of Aviation and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) are serving in advisory roles in the program. In addition, both the FAA and NATCA are providing controllers in support of data collection activities.

The demonstration is being conducted in two phases; it started in August, and will carry through mid-2016 with the goal to achieve FAA approval, per their Safety Management System requirements, to operate a remote tower at non towered airports.

With the phase-one milestone now achieved, the data will be analyzed and form the basis of a report to be presented to the FAA for approval in order to move on to the next phase of the demonstration.

"We look forward to starting the next phase of the demonstration, which will include active controlling at Leesburg Airport,” said Mike Gerry, president and CEO of Saab Sensis Corp., one of the partners in the Leesburg demonstration.

JetPurple Airwayz plans mega expansion

JetPurple Airwayz announced a mega-expansion plan Monday to offer luxury class, non-stop flight service between Phoenix/Scottsdale, Ariz., San Diego, Calif., Las Vegas and Rocky Point, Sonora, Mexico and from Los Angeles/Burbank, Calif., to three Asian destinations, starting in 2016.

JetPurple says it plans to offer regularly-scheduled public charter first and business class only flight service at fares less than other carriers flying identical routes. The company says it plans to offer free checked luggage, complimentary meals, snacks, beverages and in-flight entertainment and free parking at private terminals, where passengers can avert long lines at Transportation Security Administration security check points.

The announcement comes two days after US Airways shut-down its Phoenix offices and officially merged with American Airlines, which could mean a reduction of flights from Sky Harbor International Airport, Ariz.

The company, which successfully operated public charter flights from Midway Airport, Chicago to gaming destinations in Michigan, says it now plans to create its own fleet of Boeing 737-800-BBJ (Boeing Business Jets) and Airbus ATR-42 Turbos.

JetPurple Airwayz says it will offer an unparalleled in-flight experience between Arizona and California, Nevada and Puerto Penasco, Sonora Mexico and from Los Angeles/Burbank Airport, Calif., to Seoul, South Korea; Shanghai, China; and Singapore International Airports.

"JetPurple Airwayz is planning to purchase one or more Boeing 737-800-BBJ (Boeing Business Jets) featuring first class and business class cabins with a maximum 40 seat configuration," says President and CEO Adam Blumenkranz.

On JetPurple's proposed four weekly Arizona to Vegas, San Diego and Mexico flights, the company says it plans on flying new Airbus ATR-42 twin turbo-prop planes featuring 30-seats in its first and business only class cabins, according to Blumenkranz.