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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 2407.PDF
WORLD NEWS Shuttle flight extended KENNEDY S.C. Nasa expects the Shuttle/ Spacelab 2 mission to achieve 90-95 per cent of its scientific goals, following a decision to extend the flight by a day. Challenger was scheduled to touch down on August 6 as we went to press. After early equipment fail ures (see page 34), astronauts were able to get all the physics and astronomy experiments working. This included the instrument pointing system (IPS), which began func tioning normally after a new computer programme was loaded. The solar optical uni versal polarimeter telescope mounted on the IPS was also working towards the end of the ^ight-day flight. • Challenger also completed 75 per cent of a planned fly- around of a free-flying plasma diagnostics package deployed from the payload bay. The reaction-control fuel saved by curtailing this manoeuvre enabled astronauts to com plete an extra orbital manoeuvring system burn for the plasma depletion experi ment. Thought was given to extending the mission to nine days, but the crew was appar ently too tired to allow any more than a one-day extension to the planned seven-day mis sion. Nasa expects examination of Challenger's main engines on its return to show that it was a faulty temperature sensor which caused the premature engine shutdown on ascent, resulting in the abort-to-orbit manoeuvre which left the Orbiter in a lower than planned orbit. If a sensor is proved to be at fault, Nasa will be clear to pro ceed on August 24 with the next Shuttle mission in its tight launch schedule. PE will use a 747 on its new Newark-Brussels route Chrysler and Gulfstream merge "next week" SAVANNAH ~ The proposed merger of Gulf- stream Aerospace with motor giant Chrysler is "expected to be consummated on or about August 16". Gulfstream chair man Allen Paulson has told shareholders that as the holder of more than 70 per cent of outstanding stock he would approve the merger in lieu of a meeting of share holders. A cash sum of $19 a share will be paid. People for Europe NEWARK ~ People Express sees its new service from Newark, New Jersey, to Brussels as merely the beginning of what it would like to do in transatlantic terms. The daily Brussels ser vice, starting on September 8, will cost passengers $99 each way for an introductory three- week period, then $149 single with no restrictions. PE will operate a 490-seat Boeing 747 on the route, with 44 of the seats being Premium Class at $450 single. Currently PE's only trans atlantic service is Newark- London Gatwick, an operation which PE's lawyer, Robert Cohn, describes as "a phenom enal success" and on which the carrier has been pressing since its inception in May 1983 for improved frequency. The British Department of Trans port has, however, restricted PE's summer frequencies by imposing an annual allowable total, and restricted winter services to five a week. PE's application to fly daily Newark-London Stansted, a service which it would have started even before Brussels if it could, remains on the shelf a year after the original filing. The airline has applied to the US Transportation Depart ment to operate Newark- Manchester, but PE appre ciates that the British are not obliged to grant such permis sion under the Bermuda 2 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL NEXT WEEK When it becomes fully operational in 1989, the satellite-based Navstar global positioning system will provide worldwide pre cision navigation for civil as well as military users. But there are many hurdles to overcome before GPS is accepted by the air trans port industry, as Graham Warwick discovers. Oshkosh '85 attracted record crowds and 15,000 visiting aircraft. Robin Blech reports on new homebuilt aircraft at this remarkable event. Not content with pion eering the introduction of the 747-300 and A310, Swissair is now launch customer for both the A310-300 and the F.100. Peter Middleton visits Zurich to find out how and why. bilateral aviation agreement as it now stands. However, in August, officials from the two countries' transport depart ments meet in Washington D.C. for a standard meeting at which matters of the Stansted type (and theoretically even the Manchester matter) could be resolved. •FLIGHT International, 10 August 1985
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