June 27, 1994

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HEADLINE NEWS

F100-PW-229 Failures Affect F-15E Readiness

NEW YORK Two back-to-back engine failures in two Alaska-based U.S. Air Force F-l5Es have left the service with unflyable fighter/bombers and an array of unanswered questions surrounding tests that failed to accurately predict operational stress levels encountered by the aircraft's Pratt & Whitney Fl00-PW-229 powerplants.

By STANLEY W. KANDEBO6 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Pact Key to Station Vote

WASHINGTON The U.S. and Russia have signed an interim cooperation agreement for the international space station, setting the stage for a crucial House vote this week on the multinational orbital facility's fate. The pact was one of 22 accords completed last week during a U.S./Russian summit led by Vice President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin.

By JEFFREY M. LENOROVITZ,JAMES R. ASKER6 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Russian Management Worries Station Team

MOSCOW Top Western space officials are concerned about whether they will be able to maintain detailed engineering insight and involvement with Russian hardware and procedures for both shuttle/Mir-1 flights and joint integration of the international space station.

By CRAIG COVAULT5 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Ariane Resumes Launch Schedule

PARIS The new 2.5-ton Intelsat 702 communications spacecraft is to begin initial checkout in geosynchronous orbit this week following launch June 17 by an Ariane 44LP booster that returned Arianespace to launch operations following a failure in January.

By CRAIG COVAULT4 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Japan Confirms Delays in M-5 Booster Launch

TOKYO HONG KONG Japan's Space Activities Commission has confirmed that development problems in the prototype M-5 booster will delay launch of three international scientific missions until at least 1996. A project of Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the M-5 is a 31-meter-high (102 ft.), three-stage booster intended to give Japan a large launch capability for scientific and research spacecraft into the next century.

By EIICHIRO SEKIGAWA,MICHAEL MECHAM3 min

HEADLINE NEWS

Comanche Production Slashed in First Five Years

WASHINGTON Production of the first RAH-66 Comanche scout/attack helicopter has been speeded up six months, but the total number of aircraft to be built in the first five years of the program has been slashed. The Army's new helicopter program will produce 153 Comanches between mid-Fiscal 2000 and the end of 2005 instead of the 408 that had been scheduled, according to Brig. Gen. Orlin Mullen, the Army's Comanche program manager.

By DAVID FULGHUM3 min

HEADLINE NEWS

DC-X Resumes Flying After Hiatus

LOS ANGELES The McDonnell Douglas DC-X experimental rocket made its fourth flight on June 20, restarting a flight test program after an eight-month hiatus. The future for the vertical takeoff and landing vehicle now looks bright. When the current series of tests ends in July, NASA will pay for it to be refurbished into the "DC-XA" testbed for reusable launcher technologies.

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM3 min

June 201994

July 41994

June 27, 1994

June 27, 1994

Nasa Awards Rlv Contracts

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM6 min