US Airways Airways Flight 1549 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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US Airways Flight 1549
The downed US Airways Flight 1549 floating on the Hudson River
Occurrence summary Date Type
January 15, 2009 bird strikes, Multiple bird Multiple strikes , controlled ditching In the the Hudson River between between New York City (near 48th
Street) and Weehawken, New Jersey (near Port Imperial), Imperial), United States
Passengers Crew Injuries
150 5 78 (mostly minor)
Aircraft type Airbus A320-214 A320-214 Operator
Tail number N106US Flight origin Stopover Destination
Airport, New York LaGuardia Airport, City Charlotte/Douglas International Airport Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
from New New York US Airways Flight 1549 was a scheduled commercial passenger flight from City to Charlotte, North Carolina Carolina,, that, on January 15, 2009, ditched in the the Hudson River   adjacent to Manhattan six minutes after departing from LaGuardia Airport. Airport. While on its initial climb out, out, the Airbus A320 A320 struck struck aa flock of Canada of Canada Geese which resulted in an immediate almost complete loss of thrust from both engines. When the aircrew determined that the plane would be unable to safely reach any airfield from its location just northeast of the George Washington Bridge, Bridge, they turned it southbound and ne ar the USS glided over the river into which they successfully ditched the airliner near Intrepid Museum in midtown Manhattan about three minutes later. All 155 occupants safely evacuated the still virtually intact (although partially submerged and slowly  [  11]  sinking) airliner from which they were quickly rescued by nearby watercraft. wa tercraft.  The entire crew of Flight 1549 was later awarded the Master's Medal of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators. Navigators. The award citation read, "This emergency ditching and evacuation, with the loss of no lives, is a heroic and unique aviation achievement."
Contents [hide] hide] • • • • • • • • • • • •
1 Flight designations, route, and crew 2 Airbus A320-21 A320-214 4 and its safety systems 3 Dit Ditch chin ing g 4 Eva Evacua cuatio tion n 5 Re Resc scue ue 6 In Injur juries ies 7 Af After terma math th 8 Accide Accident nt investig investigation ation Awar ards ds 9 Aw 10 Video and first person accounts accou nts 11 Se Seee als also o 12 Ref Referen erences ces 13 Ext Externa ernall link linkss
[edit edit]] Flight designations, route, and crew
LaGuardia Runway 4 Departure US Airways Flight 1549 (also designated under a Star Alliance Alliance codeshare agreement as Airlines Flight 1919) was a domestic route from New York City's LaGuardia United Airlines North Carolina, Carolina, with direct onward service service to Airport (LGA) to Charlotte/Douglas, Charlotte/Douglas, North Seattle-Tacoma in Washington Washington.. Seattle-Tacoma On January 15, 2009, the flight was cleared for takeoff from Runway 4 at LaGuardia at 3:24:56 p.m. EST (20:24:56 UTC). The crew made their first report after becoming airborne at 3:25:51 as being at 700 feet and climbing. climbing. There were 150 passengers and five crew members, including the captain, captain, first officer , and three flight attendants attendants,, on   board. The captain was Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger , 57, a former fighter pilot who had been an airline pilot since leaving the Air Force in 1980. He is also a safety safety expert and a glider [  [ 16] 17][  19] [ 21] pilot. The first officer was Jeffrey B. Skiles, 49, who was on his first flight in the Airbus A320 since passing the training course to fly the type. The flight attendants were Donna Dent, Doreen Welsh, and Sheila Dail.  As is often the case when a regularly scheduled commercial flight is involved in an accident, use of the flight's number, 1549, was discontinued for subsequent operations of the carrier's afternoon LGA-CLT-SEA service. On January 16, 2009, 2 009, the route was redesignated US Airways Flight 1543, and on February 12, 2009, the LGA-CLT leg A321.. became Flight 1867 when its equipment was changed to an an Airbus A321
 edit] Airbus A320-214 and its safety systems The aircraft was an Airbus A320-214 (Registration: N106US), powered by two GE Aviation//Snecma-designed Aviation Snecma-designed CFM56-5B4/P engines manufactured in France and the U.S.
One of 74 A320s then in service in the US Airways fleet,  it was built by Airbus Industrie with final assembly at its facility at Aéroport de Toulouse-Blagnac in France in June, 1999. Delivered to the carrier on August 2, 1999, the airliner was registered to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest, NA NA,, as owner/lessor  with AIG AIG listed as the lead insurer.
The aircraft's FAA FAA-required -required maintenance records, released by US Airways the day after the accident, showed that when N106US was written off, its airframe had logged 16,299 cycles (flights) totaling 25,241.08 flight hours. Total time on the engines was 19,182 hours on the left (#1) and 26,466 hours on the right (#2). The last A Check , a maintenance check performed every 550 flight hours, was passed on December 6, 2008, 2008.  and the last C Check (annual comprehensive inspection) on April 19, 2008. The Airbus A320 is a digital fly-by-wire aircraft: the flight control surfaces are moved by electrical and hydraulic hydraulic actuators controlled by a digital computer. The computer interprets pilot commands via input from a side-stick , making adjustments on its own to keep the plane stable and on course. The mechanical energy of the two engines is the primary source of routine electrical power and hydraulic pressure for the aircraft flight control systems systems.. The aircraft also has an auxiliary power unit (APU), which can provide backup electrical power for the aircraft, including its electrically powered hydraulic pumps; and a ram air turbine (RAT), a type of wind of wind turbine that can be deployed into the airstream to provide backup hydraulic pressure and electrical power at certain speeds.  According to the NTSB the NTSB,, both the APU and the RAT were operating as the plane descended into the Hudson, although it was not clear whether the RAT had been deployed manually or automatically. automatically. The Airbus A320 also has a "ditching" button that closes valves and openings underneath the aircraft, including the outflow valve, the air inlet for the emergency Ram Air Turbine, the avionics inlet, the extract valve, and the flow control valve. It is meant to slow flooding in a water landing. The flight crew did not activate the "ditch switch" during the incident.
 edit] Ditching New York TRACON audio Air traffic control audio from about impact until ditching (3:10 long) Problems listening to this file? See See media help. help.
Coast Guard video (8:07 long) of the crash and rescue; splashdown is at 3:31:02 pm First Officer Skiles was at the controls of the flight when it took off to the northeast from Runway 4 at 3:25 p.m., and was the first to notice a formation of birds approaching the aircraft about two minutes later, while passing through an altitude of about 3,200 feet (980 m) on the initial climb out to 15,000 feet. The aircraft collided with the birds at 3:27:01. The windscreen quickly turned dark brown and several loud thuds were heard.  Both engines ingested birds and immediately lost almost all thrust. thrust . Capt. Sullenberger took the controls, while Skiles began going through the three-page emergency procedures checklist in an attempt to restart the engines.
 38] [
sic], At 3:27:36, at New usingYork the call sign sign "Cactus 1539" [ sic the flight radioed air birds. trafficWe controllers controllers at New Terminal Radar Approach Control Con trol (TRACON)  "Hit lost thrust in both engines. Returning back towards LaGuardia." Passengers and cabin crew later reported hearing "very loud bangs" in both engines and seeing flaming exhaust, then silence from the engines and smelling the odor of unburned fuel in the [  41] cabin. Responding to the captain's report of a bird strike, controller Patrick  Harten gave the flight a heading to return to LaGuardia and told him that he could land to the southeast on Runway 13. Sullenberger responded that he was unable.
Flightpath Sullenberger asked if they could attempt an emergency landing in in New Jersey, New Jersey, [  44] Airport in Bergen County as a possibility; air traffic mentioning Teterboro Airport controllers quickly contacted Teterboro and gained permission for a landing on runway 1.  However, Sullenberger told controllers that "We can't do it", and that "We're gonna be in the Hudson," making clear his intention to bring the plane down on the Hudson River due to a lack of altitude. altitude. Air traffic control at LaGuardia reported seeing the aircraft pass less than 900 feet (270 m) above the the George Washington Bridge. Bridge. About 90 seconds before touchdown, the captain announced, "Brace " Brace for impact," impact," and the flight attendants instructed the passengers how to do so. The plane ended its six-minute flight at 3:31 pm with an unpowered unpowered ditching while heading south at about 150 miles per hour (130 kn; 240 km/h) in the middle of the the North North River section River section of the Hudson River roughly abeam 50th Street (near the Intrepid Sea-AirSpace Museum) in Manhattan Manhattan and Port Imperial in in Weehawken, Weehawken, New Jersey.
Sullenberger said in an interview on CBS television that his training prompted him to choose a ditching location near operating boats so as to maximize the chance of rescue. The location was near three boat terminals: two used by ferry operator NY NY Waterway Waterway on either side of the Hudson River and an d a third used by tour b boat oat operator Circle Line  48] [ Sightseeing Cruises. Cruises. The ditching location was approximately 40.769498°N 40.769 40.769498°N 498°N 74.0046 74.004636°W 36°W 40.769 40.769498; 498; 74.004636°W 40.769498; -74.004636 Coordinates :  -74.004636. After coming to a stop in the river, the plane began d drifting rifting southward with  the current. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Board Member Kitty Higgins, the principal spokesperson for the on-scene investigation, said at a press conference the day after the accident that it "has to go down [as] the most successful successful ditching in aviation  history." "These people knew what they were supposed to do and they did it and as a result, nobody lost their life."
 edit] Evacuation Immediately after the A320 had been ditched in mid-river, the aircrew began evacuating the 150 passengers, both on to the wings through from the four mid-cabin emergency window exits and into inflated slides slides deployed from the two front passenger doors, while the partially submerged and slowly sinking airliner drifted down the river with the current. Two flight attendants were in the front, one in the rear. Each flight attendant in the front opened a door, which was also armed to activate a slide, although the port side slide did not immediately deploy. One rear door was opened by a panicked passenger, causing the aircraft to fill more quickly with water. The flight attendant in the rear who attempted to reseal the rear door was not successful in doing so, she told CBS News News.. It was later revealed that the impact with the water had ripped open a hole in the underside of the airplane and twisting of the fuselage, causing cargo doors to pop open and filling the plane with water from the rear.  The flight attendant urged passengers to move forward by climbing over seats to escape the rising water within the cabin. One passenger was in a wheelchair. Having twice walked the length of the cabin to confirm that no one  57] [ remained inside after the plane had been evacuated, captain waited was thefor last person Evacuees, some wearingthe life-vests, rescue ontothe leave the aircraft. aircraft . partly submerged slides, knee-deep in icy river water. Others stood on the wings or, fearing an explosion, swam away from the plane. Air temperature at the time was about 20 °F (−7 °C), and the water was 36 °F (2 °C).
 edit] Rescue
Video from 20 minutes after ditching, with numerous ferries and rescue boats surrounding the plane
FDNY,, NYPD, NYPD, and The plane in the Hudson River surrounded by by Coast Guard, Guard, FDNY ferryboats Local commercial vessels from the NY the NY Waterway and Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises Thomas at fleets responded almostby immediately to the Lombardi, emergency.was NYfirst Waterway ferry arriving Jefferson , commanded Captain Vincent on the scene the side of the plane just four minutes after the ditching. NY Waterway ferry Governor Thomas H. Kean, under the command of 20-year-old Captain Brittany Catanzaro Catanzaro,, was the second rescue craft to arrive reaching the plane a few minutes later . Catanzaro reported to radio station WNYC that she and her crew used a Jason's cradle to bring people who were wet onto her boat. Aircraft captain Sullenberger stated in CBS News interviews that he advised the ferry crew to rescue passengers on the wing before the passengers in the inflatable slides, as the inflatable slides provided a higher level of safety. Time-stamped video from a United States Coast Guard (USCG) surveillance camera shows that the first of these vessels, a ferry boat, reached the plane at 3:35 pm (four minutes after the ditching) and began rescuing the 155 occupants. By this time many passengers were already standing on the wings or in the inflated slides.  The
rafts.. At one point, as the slides eventually detached from the fuselage to form form life rafts plane moved in the strong ebb tide current, passengers on one of the slides, fearing that the stern of the ferry boat would crush them, had to shout to the ferry boat pilot to steer away. Within minutes, vessels from the New the New York City Fire Fire and and Police Departments (FDNY  Buo y Tender were and NYPD), the USCG, and a privately owned former Coast Guard Buoy  on scene to help with the rescue and recovery effort. All of the passengers and flight crew were rescued safely. The FDNY sent four marine units and rescue divers. divers . On land, FDNY declared a level III (All Hands) emergency and mobilized their Major Emergency Response, Logistical  66] About Support Units and had 35 ambulances ready for patients coming off the flight. [
140 FDNY firefighters responded to docks near the crash.  The NYPD sent squad cars, helicopters, vessels, and rescue divers from the Aviation Unit and Harbor Unit. In addition, about 30 other ambulances were made available by other organizations, including several hospital-based ambulances (St. Vincent, St. Barnabas). Various agencies also provided medical help on the the Weehawken side of the river. Two mutual aid the Nassau County helicopters responded to the West 30th Street Heliport, Heliport, one from the Nassau Police and another from the New the New Jersey State Police. Police. New York Water Taxi sent boats to the scene but did not take part in the rescue.
 edit] Injuries There were two serious injuries, one of which was a deep laceration in flight attendant attendant    Doreen Welsh's leg. leg. In total, 78 people were treated, mostly for minor injuries  and hypothermia.. hypothermia Hospitals that treated patients from the incident include Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in Center in Greenwich Village; Village; St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center , which admitted ten New York Downtown Hospital, people; New people; Hospital, which treated three passengers; and Palisades Medical Center in in North North Bergen, New Jersey Jersey,, which treated five patients for hypothermia. In all, 24 passengers and two rescue personnel were treated at hospitals,  while others were cared for in triage facilities. According to the airline, no pets were being transported in the cargo hold, with a spokesperson stating: "We don't carry pets in our cargo." Delayed psychological effects were experienced as a result of the accident and rescue. flashbacks, and panic and panic attacks Symptoms of posttraumatic posttraumatic stress stress including sleeplessness, flashbacks, were reported by members of the aircrew, passengers, and others directly involved. A number of the survivors received professional counseling, and some began an email email  support group to help ease the aftereffects of the experience. In addition to those on the plane, FAA Air Traffic Control Specialist Patrick Harten, the New York TRACON controller who worked the flight during the emergency, later stated in testimony before Congress that for him "the hardest, most traumatic part of o f the entire event was when it was over" during which he was continually "gripped by raw moments of shock and grief."
 edit] Aftermath
Tied up alongside alongside Battery Park City
The downed plane being recovered from the Hudson River during the night of January 17.
At 4:55 p.m. fire crews began to stand down. At 5:07 p.m. Doug Parker , CEO of US Airways, issued an official statement during a press conference in Tempe Tempe,, Arizona, Arizona, in  which he confirmed that the flight had been involved in an accident. The flight crew, particularly Captain Sullenberger, were widely praised for their actions and New New during the incident, notably by New by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and York State Governor David Paterson, Paterson, who opined, "We had a 'Miracle on 34th Street.' Street.' I [ 79] 80]  [
believe now we have had a 'Miracle on the Hudson'." Outgoing U.S. President President George W. Bush Bush said he was "inspired by the skill and heroism of the flight crew," and President-elect Barack he also praised the emergency responders responde rs and volunteers. Then President-elect Obama said that everyone was proud of Sullenberger's "heroic and graceful job in landing the damaged aircraft," and thanked the plane's crew, whom he invited to attend his inauguration as President in Washington, D.C., five days later. He also invited those who  84] had helped ensure the safety of all 155 people aboard. aboard.[ Following the rescue, the plane remained afloat though partially submerged, and was Center in in Lower Manhattan Manhattan,, roughly quickly moored to a pier near the World Financial Center  4 miles (6 km) downstream from where it had ditched. The left engine had detached from the plane during the ditching and was recovered several d days ays later from the river  eng ine bottom, 65 feet (20 m) below b elow the surface. The water was so murky that the right engine was initially thought also to have detached, but it was later found to be still in place on the aircraft (with much of its nacelle missing). On January 17, the aircraft was removed  87]  The aircraft was then moved to from the Hudson River and placed on a barge. barge .[  New Jersey for examination. The method used to recover the submerged airframe from the water rendered it uneconomical to repair and the airliner was written off ,. The rear pressure bulkhead was also damaged in the accident, and the salvage contractor, Weeks Marine, cut off the wings and empennage empennage.. Another salvage contractor, Source One Airplane Repair, contends that if due care had been taken during the recovery, the aircraft could have been repaired for $ for $20,000,000 (less than a third of the cost of a new aircraft).  The passengers on the plane each received a letter of apology, $5000 in compensation for lost baggage and a refund of the ticket price. price.
35-year-old Patrick Harten, a ten-year veteran air traffic controller who was talking with the aircrew during the incident, wore the number 1549 during the Boston Marathon, completing the race in a personal best time of 2:47:19. The Boston Marathon does not normally allow runners to choose their numbers, but they made an exception. He would have been in the 1000-2000 range bracket.
 edit] Accident investigation
The fuselage being towed to a salvage facility
Feather found in left (#1) engine Federal Aviation spokeswoman Laura Shortlysaid afterthat the the event, Brown plane may have beenAdministration been hit by birds. birds. (FAA) A National National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Go Team (typically comprising specialists in fields relating to the incident), led by Senior Air Safety Investigator Robert Benzon, was dispatched to New York. The preliminary report of the incident, published on January 16, states that the aircraft went down following a bird strike. strike . This conclusion, and the simultaneous loss of thrust in both engines, was confirmed by preliminary analysis of the Cockpit Voice Recorder and Recorder and the Flight Data Recorder , both of which were recovered by the NTSB when the aircraft was lifted out of the river on January 18. The next day, reports surfaced that the same airplane and same flight had experienced a similar but less severe compressor stall on January 13. During that flight, passengers  98] However, the affected were told they might have to make an emergency landing. landing.[ engine was restarted and the flight continued to Charlotte. The NTSB later reported that this engine surge had been bee n caused by a faulty temperature sensor, which was replaced,
and that the engine was undamaged by the event, which allowed the plane to return to service. On January 21, the NTSB noted that organic debris, including a single feather, as well as  101] The left engine was evidence of soft-body damage, was found in the right engine.[ recovered from the river on January Janu ary 23 and, like the right engine, was missing a large  portion of its housing. On initial examination the NTSB reported that while missing obvious organic matter, it too had evidence of soft body impact, and "had dents on both the spinner and inlet lip of the engine cowling. Five booster inlet guide vanes are fractured and eight outlet guide vanes are missing." Both engines were to be sent to the manufacturer's Cincinnati, Ohio facility for teardown and examination. On January 31, the plane was moved move d to a secure storage facility in Kearny, New Jersey, Jersey, for the remainder of the investigation. The NTSB confirmed that bird remains had been found in  104] The bird debris was later identified as Canada Geese Geese through DNA both engines. [ testing. The typical weight of these birds is well above abov e the limits the engines were  designed to withstand on impact. On February 5, the FAA released audio tape recordings and transcripts of its internal and broadcast ATC communications relating to the accident. The entire exchange between Flight 1549 and air traffic control relating to the emergency lasted less than two minutes. As the accident A320 was assembled by the Airbus Division of the European aerospace consortium EADS at the Airbus headquarters manufacturing facilities in Toulouse, France,, under the provisions of ICAO France of ICAO Annex 13 both the European Aviation Safety Agency (the European counterpart of the FAA) and the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses Agency pour la sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (the French counterpart of the NTSB) became active participants in the accident investigation, with technical assistance provided by Airbus Industrie and GE Aviation/Snecma as manufacturers of the airframe and engines   respectively. Flight 1549 is the fifth take-off/departure phase accident at LaGuardia, resulting in the write off of an airframe for a commercial air carrier, ca rrier, since the field opened in 1939 1939.. Of  109] [
those, it is the third involving the hull loss of a US Airways/USAir plane.
 edit] Awards The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators Navigators awarded the entire flight crew of Flight 1549 a Master's Medal on January 22, 2009. The medal is awarded only rarely, for outstanding aviation achievements at the discretion of the Master of the Guild Guild.. The citation for the award is:
The reactions of all members of the crew, c rew, the split second decision making aand nd the handling of this emergency and evacuation was 'text book' and an example to us all. To have safely executed this emergency ditching and evacuation, with the loss of no lives, is a heroic and unique aviation achievement. It
deserves the immediate recognition that has today been b een given by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators. The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg, presented the the Keys to the City to the crew of Flight 1549. He also gave the pilot a replacement copy of a library book lost on the flight, Just Culture: Balancing Safety and Accountability, by Sidney Dekker. The civilian and uniformed rescuers received Certificates of Honor.  In addition, the crew of Flight 1549 were given a standing ovation prior to the start of Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009. 1, 2009.


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Exelis, with various locations throughout the Unites States including Clifton, has received a US Naval Surface Warfare Center contract valued at $15.3 million to perform essential sustainment work on the ALQ-99 tactical jamming system. The ALQ-99 is used on the Navy’s EA-6B Prowler and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. The technology will also be provided to the Australian government through a Foreign Military Sales program, the first time the ALQ-99 has been made available to an international ally.
Under the contract, Exelis will redesign three modules — components of the ALQ-99’s universal exciter upgrade shop-replaceable assembly — to extend the service life of the Navy’s principal standoff jammer.
As part of the redesign, Exelis will replace legacy application-specific electronic components with modern field-programmable technology, enhancing reliability and the system’s ability to adapt to changing mission needs. The work will also include extensive qualification testing to ensure that the aircraft can operate successfully in challenging environments.
“The ALQ-99 is expected to continue supporting the Navy’s electronic attack mission for several years until a next-generation solution is fielded,” said Mitch Friedman, vice president and general manager of the Exelis integrated electronic warfare systems business. “This critical interim support will equip the system to handle the evolving threat landscape and allow US and allied forces to continue dominating the electromagnetic spectrum.”
For the first time, this contract combines purchases for the US Navy and the government of Australia through a Department of Defense Foreign Military Sales program. Work is expected to be completed by June 2017.
The ALQ-99 is part of a suite of electronic warfare (EW) technologies designed to enable domestic and international customers to perform their critical missions. Leveraging its decades of innovation and experience in the electromagnetic spectrum, Exelis has identified EW as one of the company’s four strategic growth platforms.Related Articles:


CHUPIKOV PAVEL FYODOROVICH
Colonel of Aviation, Participant of World War II, The Hero of the Soviet Union (August 19, 1944)
He was born on December 21, 1913 in Tashkent. After finishing the school in 1929, he worked at the Tashkent Locomotive Repair Plant.
From May 1931, he served in the Red Army. In 1932, he graduated from the 2nd Military Aviation School in Volsk. From August 1932, he served in the 31st Air Squadron in the Ukrainian Military District.
In April 1934, the squadron was transferred to Krasnoyarsk in full force. From November 1937, he served in the Special Red Bannered 31st Aviation Squadron of the Far East Army in the Far East, from June 1938, in the Air Force Squadron of the 1st Red Bannered Army. He fought in Lake Hassan in July-August 1938 and was awarded the Order of “The Red Star”.
In January 1939, he was sent to study at the 30th Military Pilot School of Pilots in Chita, soon moved to the Rostov region and transformed into the Batay Aviation School named after A.K.Serov.
From December 1939 to July 1940, he studied at the Kachin Military Aviation School named after A.F.Myasnikov. After graduation, he was appointed senior pilot of the 160th Reserve Aviation Regiment of the Odessa Military District, and in October 1940, he was appointed Adjutant Commander of the 170th Fighter Air Regiment of the Orlov Military District.
From June 23, 1941, he participated in the battles of World War II. The regiment fought on I-16 fighter jets as part of the 47th and 23rd Mixed Aviation Divisions on the Western Front. On June 25, 1941, on the fourth day of the war, he shot down a German bomber near Lepel and won his first victory. In heavy fighting on the border and in Smolensk in western Belarus, the regiment lost almost all of its aircraft and was reorganized.
On August 30, 1941, the LaGG-3 was replenished with fighter jets and after retraining, fought with the regiment, but on the Southern Front as part of the 9th and 57th Air Forces.
In September 1941, he was appointed as the assailant of the 170th Fighter Aviation Regiment. He took part in the Donbass-Rostov defense, Rostov and Barvenkovo-Lozovsky offensive operations, the Battle of Kharkov, the defense operations of the city of Voronezh-Voroshilov.
From July 1942, he was the Commander of the 40th Fighter Air Regiment of the 4th Air Force on the South, Caucasus and North Caucasus fronts. The regiment fought heroically in the Battle of the Caucasus and destroyed 123 enemy aircraft (95 of them were shot down in air battles), but the regiment also lost 52 aircrafts.
From April 1943, he was a member of the 2nd Air Force of the Voronezh Front (from October on the 1st Ukrainian Front). The regiment fought successfully in the battles of Kursk and the Dnieper.
From October 31, 1943, he was the Deputy Commander of the 8th Guards Fighter Aviation Division of the 2nd Air Force, and was acted as the Commander of the Division (until December 5, 1943).
From March 1944 until the end of the war, he was the commander of the 19th Fighter Air Regiment of the 16th Air Force on the 1st Belorussian Front. He commanded the regiment in offensive operations in Belarus, Serotsky, Vistula-Oder, Eastern Pomerania, and Berlin.
By August 1944, the commander of the 19th Fighter Aviation Regiment, Colonel P.F.Chupikov, had flown 388 combat sorties and shot down 72 enemy aircrafts personally and 8 in a group in air battles.
By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 19, 1944, “For exemplary performance of combat duties, courage and heroism in the fight against Nazi invaders on the front”, Colonel Pavel Chupikov was awarded the title of “The Hero of the Soviet Union”.
He died on June 23, 1987 in Moscow. He was buried in Kuntsevsky Cemetery.


Watch a special video where will.i.am talk about how some of the agency’s outstanding accomplishments in space are used to improve our life on Earth in a new public service announcement made available Wednesday on NASA Television and on the agency’s website.
He concentrates on NASA technologies that help increase production of clean water, provides remote medical care and solar electricity for refrigeration, and space technology that keeps food fresh during its trip from field to market.
In addition to will.i.am, singer Nora Jones and astronaut Piers Sellers, along with characters from the holiday movie “Arthur Christmas,” have appeared in recent videos informing audiences of how NASA Spinoffs benefit life here, today.
“NASA’s technologies don’t just go into space,” said Daniel Lockney, program executive for technology transfer at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “They work for us here on Earth, solving everyday problems — saving lives, creating jobs and making our lives better.”
For more informations, go to nasa.gov.


There were emails circulating about mars this month and it is interesting to relearn about it. World Book at NASA was a great source at www.nasa.gov.
“Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. The planet is one of Earth's "next-door neighbors" in space. Earth is the third planet from the sun, and Jupiter is the fifth. Like Earth, Jupiter, the sun, and the remainder of the solar system, Mars is about 4.6 billion years old.
Mars is named for the ancient Roman god of war. The Romans copied the Greeks in naming the planet for a war god; the Greeks called the planet Ares (AIR eez). The Romans and Greeks associated the planet with war because its color resembles the color of blood. Viewed from Earth, Mars is a bright reddish-orange. It owes its color to iron-rich minerals in its soil. This color is also similar to the color of rust, which is composed of iron and oxygen.
Scientists have observed Mars through telescopes based on Earth and in space. Space probes have carried telescopes and other instruments to Mars. Early probes were designed to observe the planet as they flew past it. Later, spacecraft orbited Mars and even landed there. But no human being has ever set foot on Mars.
Scientists have found strong evidence that water once flowed on the surface of Mars. The evidence includes channels, valleys, and gullies on the planet's surface. If this interpretation of the evidence is correct, water may still lie in cracks and pores in subsurface rock. A space probe has also discovered vast amounts of ice beneath the surface, most of it near the south pole.”
In addition, a group of researchers has claimed to have found evidence that living things once dwelled on Mars. That evidence consists of certain materials in meteorites found on Earth. But the group's interpretation of the evidence has not convinced most scientists.
The Martian surface has many spectacular features, including a canyon system that is much deeper and much longer than the Grand Canyon in the United States. Mars also has mountains that are much higher than Mount Everest, Earth's highest peak.
Above the surface of Mars lies an atmosphere that is about 100 times less dense than the atmosphere of Earth. But the Martian atmosphere is dense enough to support a weather system that includes clouds and winds. Tremendous dust storms sometimes rage over the entire planet.
Mars is much colder than Earth. Temperatures at the Martian surface vary from as low as about -195 degrees F (-125 degrees C) near the poles during the winter to as much as 70 degrees F (20 degrees C) at midday near the equator. The average temperature on Mars is about -80 degrees F (-60 degrees C).
Mars is so different from Earth mostly because Mars is much farther from the sun and much smaller than Earth. The average distance from Mars to the sun is about 141,620,000 miles (227,920,000 kilometers). This distance is roughly 1 1/2 times the distance from Earth to the sun. The average radius (distance from its center to its surface) of Mars is 2,107 miles (3,390 kilometers), about half the radius of Earth.
“Mars was photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in August 2003 as the planet passed closer to Earth than it had in nearly 60,000 years. The photographs captured many features of the Martian surface, including dark, circular impact craters and the bright ice of the southern polar cap. Image credit: NASA, J. Bell (Cornell U.) and M. Wolff (SSI).”


How many knew the Britain waged a balloon assault against Germany during The Second World War? I didn't.
The balloons had no guidance control and operated only on a timing fuse. Each balloon was about 2.4 metres in diameter and carried a simple timing and regulating mechanism. A double-walled can contained mineral oil in an inner chamber and a roll of hemp cord and piano wire in an outer chamber. At deployment, a slow-burning fuse was lit, calibrated to the estimated time to arrive over German-controlled territory. At launch the balloon rose and expanded in size until an internal cord tightened, releasing some gas and preventing further increase in altitude beyond 25,000 feet (7620 m); the balloon would begin a slow descent. After several hours, the fuse would burn through the cord holding the trailing wire. The payload consisted of about 200 metres of light hemp cord secured to the balloon at one end and tied to about 90 metres of steel wire at the other. This would unroll as the balloon sank to working altitude of about 300 metres. A stopper on the canister of mineral oil was also released, so that it would slowly drip out and lighten the load on the balloon, to assist in maintaining altitude.
The plan was that the wire tail would be dragged for many miles (kilometres) across the countryside, eventually encountering a high-voltage transmission line.


We shot down the plane but didn’t mean it
Iran targeted the passenger plane unintentionally, Iran’s Press TV reports.
A Ukrainian plane which crashed outside Tehran earlier this week had flown close to a sensitive military site and was brought down due to human error, General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran says.
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Click to read the full article on eTurboNews: https://www.eturbonews.com/539406/we-shot-down-the-plane-but-didnt-mean-it/


The self-proclaimed “Dogefather” and CEO of Tesla inc. Elon Musk, had tweeted in April that he will be putting a “literal Dogecoin on the literal moon”. Musk himself has stated that not everything he says should be taken too seriously, but this tweet was clearly no joke.
The “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon” will be launched in the first quarter of 2022, with SpaceX, Musk’s commercial rocket company, accepting Dogecoin as payment to fund the mission.
The mission will be led by a private Canadian company by the name of Geometric Energy Corporation, which is an intellectual property, manufacturing, and logistics firm originally founded with the idea of inventing renewable energy technologies. The company has since expanded to various other divisions which include energy, software, medical industries, and space.
The announcement was made on Sunday, May 9th, the day after Musk’s Saturday Night Live debut, which saw Dogecoin dropping more than a third of its value due to Musk calling it a “hustle” while hosting the popular live sketch comedy television show.
According to an article from CNBC, one Wall Street analyst had predicted that an SNL sketch on cryptocurrencies would probably go viral for days and would further motivate Musk’s army of followers to drive up the price of Dogecoin, but the price fell by almost 30% an hour after the show had started. The digital currency has been recovering since and is still up around 11,000% from the beginning of the year.
Dogecoin hit a record high on Thursday above $0.73 and has increased by more than 800% in the last month. Dogecoin is now the fourth-largest digital currency in the world, with a market cap of $73 billion.
Musk’s electric car manufacturer Tesla Inc had purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in February and announced that it would be accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for its cars, which was a huge step toward mainstream acceptance and saw the Bitcoin price hitting a record high of nearly $62,000. Perhaps the announcement of DOGE-1 could have the same effect on Dogecoin.
Canada’s Geometric Energy Corporation’s lunar mission will see a 40-kilogram Cubesat launch on a Rideshare Falcon 9 launching to the Moon early next year. The spacecraft will “obtain lunar-spatial intelligence from sensors and cameras on-board with integrated communications and computational systems,” according to a press release on PR Newswire.
“Having officially transacted with Doge for a deal of this magnitude, Geometric Energy Corporation and SpaceX have solidified Doge as a unit of account for lunar business in the space sector,” according to Geometric Energy’s Chief Executive Officer, Samuel Reid.
SpaceX has already scheduled a lunar mission for “Intuitive Machines” next year, which may turn out to be the same launch as DOGE-1. The company has had various Moon missions scheduled for quite some time but it’s not yet clear if DOGE-1 is a modification to existing plans.
The DOGE-1 mission and SpaceX’s series of reusable Falcon rockets is another example of SpaceX lowering the cost of space travel and accessibility.
“This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce,” according to SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales, Tom Ochinero. “We’re excited to launch DOGE-1 to the Moon!”


Screen Time: 80%
Role: Lacey Myers
Age: 14 years old
Directed: Sean McNamara
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Coming of Age, Family
Middle school kids attending space camp are faced with a real-life mission to save astronauts stranded on a space station. The son of a retired NASA astronaut who lived on the International Space Station, makes his dreams of traveling to outer space come true when he competes to win a seat on the next space shuttle in the Hallmark Channel Original Movie World Premiere, "Space Warriors".
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the plot was simpler than I imagined. Before I watched the movie, the title made me cringe, suggesting that it was about teenagers battling aliens in a cheesy rampage through outer space. Clearly, I was wrong to judge a movie by its poster. "Space Warriors" is a fun and unexpectedly down-to-earth film for all ages.
Jimmy Hawkins (Thomas Horn, "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"), the son of a retired NASA astronaut, is a complete astronomy geek. His dream is to go to space, and the opportunity arises in the form of Space Camp, where teams can compete for the chance to go to space. His parents, played by Dermot Mulroney and Mira Sorvino, forbid him to join Space Camp fearing for his safety, but Jimmy joins anyway. At Space Camp he meets the brightest, nerdiest group of astronomy-lovers, called Space Warriors. They have to learn to work together as a team not only to win the competition, but to save the lives of three astronauts along the way as well.
Colonel Manley (Josh Lucas), one of the commanders at Space Camp, is one of my favorite characters â€“ he's witty and smart with just a touch of dry humor and sarcasm. Sean McNamara ("Soul Surfer") is the director of "Space Warriors." Along the same lines of "Soul Surfer," this movie has many great themes that include teamwork, leadership, overcoming fear, thinking outside the box, making wise choices and most importantly, it shines a positive light on youth. The Space Warriors don't let anyone look down on them because of their age â€“ they prove to the entire world that age doesn't matter as long as you have passion, a love of discovering, and an open mind.
The movie incorporates footage from history in outer space and was shot on-location at the Space Camp in Alabama. For science-lovers, this movie is the ultimate "Easter egg" hunt, where geeks will want to shout and announce to other viewers, "That's the actual footage of landing on the moon!" or "I've been on a moon-gravity simulator just like that!" I found myself thinking that if I could go to a Space Camp that looks even half as fun as the one in the movie, it'd be the best summer of my life. I recommend this movie for all ages, especially for aspiring scientists. I give it four out of five stars. "Space Warriors" will inspire viewers to look up and rekindle an excitement for learning about the unknown universe of space. Learn more about a world outside our own that we've barely begun to discover.
~ Film Critic Cassandra H. Watch her video review at http://kidsfirst.org


The mystery looming in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines B777-200 flight MH370 KUL-PEK on early Saturday spiral deeper. The area of operations for search and rescue has grown wider and now expanded to North East Indian Ocean, well beyond west of Langkawi.
Three days ago Chief of Air Force Jen. Tan Sri Rodzali Daud TUDM mentioned about the Air Defence Radar picking up trails suggesting that the 260 tonnes MTW widebody airline did “An air turn”.
The Guardian story:
The Malaysian military believes the missing plane flew for more than an hour after vanishing from air traffic control screens, changing course and travelling west over the Strait of Malacca, a senior military source told Reuters.
Malaysian authorities have previously said flight MH370 disappeared about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur for the Chinese capital Beijing.
At the time it was roughly midway between Malaysia’s east coast town of Kota Bharu and the southern tip of Vietnam, flying at 35,000 ft.
“It changed course after Kota Bharu and took a lower altitude. It made it into the Malacca Strait,” the military official, who has been briefed on investigations, told Reuters.
The Strait of Malacca, one of the world’s busiest shipping channels, runs along Malaysia’s west coast.
Earlier on Tuesday, Malaysia’s Berita Harian newspaper quoted air force chief Rodzali Daud as saying the Malaysia Airlines plane was last detected by military radar at 2:40 a.m. on Saturday, near the island of Pulau Perak at the northern end of the Strait of Malacca. It was flying at a height of about 9,000 metres (29,500 ft), he was quoted as saying.
A non-military source familiar with the investigations said the report was being checked.
“This report is being investigated by the DCA (Department of Civil Aviation) and the search and rescue team,” the source said. “There are a lot of such reports.”
The time given by Rodzali was an hour and 10 minutes after the plane vanished from air traffic control screens over Igari waypoint, midway between Malaysia and Vietnam.
There was no word on what happened to the plane thereafter.
If the reports from the military are verified, it would mean the plane was able to maintain a cruising altitude and flew for about 500 km (350 miles) with its transponder and other tracking systems apparently switched off.
Malaysia has extended the massive search operation for the plane to the Malacca Strait after initially focusing on the South China Sea.
So did Riong Kali dot com:
Malaysian air force confirms signal of MH370 turning back on Saturday
BY MOHD FARHAN DARWISMARCH 11, 2014
The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base in Butterworth received a signal that the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 turned back in South China Sea airspace on Saturday.
Malay-language daily Berita Harian reported that RMAF chief General Tan Sri Rodzali Daud as confirming that the Butterworth base had received the plane’s signal.
It quoted Rodzali as saying that the signal received indicated that the plane followed its original route before it entered the airspace above the northern east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
“The last time the plane could be traced by an air control tower was near Pulau Perak, which is on the Straits of Malacca at 2.40am.
“After that, the signal from the plane was lost,” he said.
It was also reported that a Singaporean air traffic surveillance and control unit also picked up the signal that MH370 “made a turn back before it was reported to have climbed 1,000 metres from its original altitude at 10,000 metres”.
The plane, which was carrying 239 passengers of 14 nationalities and an all-Malaysian cabin crew, left the Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Beijing at 12.40am on Saturday.
It was widely reported that the plane, a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, went missing at around 1.30am while flying above the South China Sea between the Malaysian east coast and the southern coast of Vietnam.
The plane reported went off radar and its last known location was 065515 North (longitude) and 1033443 East (latitude).
This is also supported with police reports made by some east coast residents, who claimed that they have seen huge lights and a plane flying at some 1000 metres above sea level off Kota Baru, Kelantan.
However, search and rescue (SAR) authorities have failed to find any sign of the plane in the waters of the South China Sea.
Indications that MH370 might have turned back have since led the SAR operations to be expanded to the Straits of Malacca and the Andaman Sea.
The operations to find the missing plane involve armed forces and authorities from Australia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and the United States, apart from Malaysia.
The SAR operations are in its fourth day.
MAS has ruled out technical issues as the cause of MH370’s mysterious disappearance. The 11-year-old plane was last serviced 10 days before the incident on Saturday.
MAS group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya reportedly said that the plane was in good condition and like other MAS aircrafts, was equipped with the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, which sends out data automatically.
However, the plane did not send out any distress signals before it went off radar, he said. – March 11, 2014.
Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak was absolutely right at his media conference on Saturday evening. The situation and mystery is “Very perplexing”. If the search is west of Pulau Perak, it means the aircraft would have flown the same distance or more from its last known position of 065515 North (longitude) and 1033443 East (latitude).
The mystery now is, why is the B777-200 9M-MRO MH370 is thought to be so far west, even over and across Peninsular Malaysia?
NST last story yesterday, about the search for MH370:
11 March 2014| last updated at 09:11PM
MISSING MH370: Najib attends briefing on search ops
6 79 Google +0 0 0 comments
PETALING JAYA : Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today attended a briefing on the search-and-rescue operation mounted to locate a missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) aircraft.
The briefing, for about 90 minutes, was given by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman at the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre at the DCA Air Traffic Control Centre in Subang near here.
Chief of Defence Forces Gen Tan Sri Zulkifli Mohd Zin and MAS Group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya also attended the briefing.
MAS Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, went missing en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing about an hour after taking off from the KL International Airport at 12.41 am Saturday.
It should have landed in Beijing at 6.30 am on the same day.– BERNAMAPrime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak with the director- general of the Civil Aviation Department (DCA) Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman and the head of the search and rescue operation Noor Izhar Bahrin at the DCA office in Subang listening to the operation briefs.Pix by NSTP/ Mohd Yusni Ariffin
Read more: MISSING MH370: Najib attends briefing on search ops – Latest – New Straits Timeshttp://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-missing-mh370-font-najib-attends-briefing-on-search-ops-1.507995#ixzz2vgnk8XT0
Notice, the map is actually focused on the Straits of Melaka and Andaman Sea, north of Sumatra. It is a strong indication that a lot of emphasis on on the expanded area to the west of Langkawi, from the initial search and rescue operation which included the Straits of Melaka.
Adding to more food for thoughts in this growing puzzle, in his media conference yesterday Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar announced that the Police investigation covers four areas:
3. Psychological issues
4. Personal issues
It is very interesting why the Police investigation is looking into the last two aspect. Probably there are clues suggesting them.
Never the less, our prayers are with families and loved ones of the 239 souls onboard of MH370 and the dedicated men and women of the forces and agencies of nine countries in the search and rescue operation for find the missing B777-200 with the tail number of 9M-MRO.


Anti-Crash Technology (ACT) is a feature found in the HobbyZone line of beginner rc airplanes. HobbyZone claims that this technology makes teaching yourself to fly rc airplanes easier and safer.
Before we go into the pros and cons of this technology let’s take a look at how it works. Each plane has two sensors, one on the top of the plane and one on the bottom of the fuselage. These sensors monitor the position of the plane. The sensor on top of the plane looks at thy sky and the one on the bottom looks at the ground.
They communicate with a computer that is on the plane and let it know if it is flying correctly. For example: if the plane enters into a dive and the sensors detect that the plane’s orientation is incorrect, the computer system will automatically correct the control inputs and help prevent the plane from crashing. This gives you more time to regain control of the plane.
O.k. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of Anti-Crash Technology.
As you saw in the example above if your plane goes out of control the computer system will help to correct the planes orientation and help you regain control of the plane. This can help you, as a beginner rc plane pilot, get out of some sticky situations. Also, when you do get more practice controlling the plane you can turn the ACT off and rely on your own piloting skills.
The major con to this technology is that it could actually cause you to crash. If you happen to fly over water or areas with a shiny surface the plane’s sensors get confused. The bottom sensor sees the sky’s reflection and thinks the plane is upside down. The plane will then try to correct it’s orientation actually causing the plane to do all sorts of weird stuff. As you can see this could be very bad.
While many say that ACT has helped them learn to fly, the general census regarding planes that use this technology is to turn it off before flying. If you do want to try flying with the Anti-Crash Technology activated then make sure you are far from water or areas with shiny surface areas. This will help ensure that the ACT works correctly.
Source by Josh Elkins


High spatial and temporal resolutions of satellite imagery are necessary for improving the ability to monitor rapid environment changes at finer scales. However, no single satellite can produce images with both high spatial and temporal resolutions. To address this issue, spatio-temporal fusion algorithms, such as the Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (STARFM) was proposed to synthesize high spatial and temporal resolution images. On the other hand, water level monitoring is important to support natural hazard management, such as floods and tsunamis. However, continuously monitoring these hazards are challenging for a remote sensing satellite due to either its low spatial resolution or low temporal resolution. For example, Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard Landsat 8 with a spatial resolution of 30 m has been applied on water level detection, but it cannot capture dynamic events due to its low temporal resolution. On the other hand, The Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) 8 only needs 10 minutes to watch the hemisphere once, but its coarse resolution hampers the accurate mapping of sea level change. This study, therefore, aims to blend Landsat OLI imagery with Himawari-8 imagery to monitor the dynamic and local behavior of sea level changes. To be specific, we first calculate the modified Normalized Difference Water Index (mNDWI) using Landsat and Himawari-8 images and then fuse the index images using the STARFM algorithm. Finally, the water coverage is delineated by setting a threshold on the mNDWI index. By comparing the retrieved water coverage percentage with in-situ water level observations, we have seen a promising result.
|出版狀態||已出版 - 2017|
|事件||38th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing - Space Applications: Touching Human Lives, ACRS 2017 - New Delhi, India|
持續時間: 23 10月 2017 → 27 10月 2017
|???event.eventtypes.event.conference???||38th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing - Space Applications: Touching Human Lives, ACRS 2017|
|期間||23/10/17 → 27/10/17|


During the aircraft design process the designer must make assumptions about how an aircraft is going to be used in order to anticipate the static and fatigue loads the aircraft will be subject to. For military aircraft this will often include experience from previous aircraft types, undertaking similar roles or functions, and anticipated future roles for the aircraft. When the aircraft enters military service it is essential that these structural usage assumptions are validated to assure the structural integrity of the aircraft. In the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (UK MOD), this validation is regulated by the Military Aviation Authority (MAA).
Figure 1 – MSR165 Modular Signal Recorder data logger
However, traditionally such validation programmes have been costly and with the ever-growing pressure on defence spending across western governments, it is essential that minimum-cost solutions to meeting these requirements are developed. With this intention, the UK MOD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has, with MOD Aircraft Project Teams and Defence Contractors, undertaken.
A range of laboratory testing and flight trials using the Modular Signal Recorder® data logger, manufactured by MSR Electronics GmBH, and supplied by Caption Data Limited, to capture basic structural usage information on several aircraft fleets.
The MSR® (Figure 1) was purchased for this task because it is small, light, battery powered (which reduces the aircraft integration task), flexible and affordable. The MSR165 units used contain a 3-axis accelerometer, pressure, temperature and relative humidity sensor.
The primary data used for assessing the structural usage of the fixed-wing aircraft is normal acceleration (NZ) (Figure 2). In addition, the pressure data are used to estimate the altitude of the aircraft during flight and help identify take-off and landing events, as the MSR165 units are located in un-pressurised areas of the aircraft.
Figure 2- Illustration of normal acceleration
For such programmes to be successful it is essential that burden on technicians maintaining the aircraft operationally is reduced to a minimum. Therefore, the MSR165 units have been configured so that they record accelerations at 50 samples per second automatically from engine start until engine shut down. In addition, pressure, temperature and relative humidity data are captured at one sample per second continuously. This configuration allows the MSR dataloggers to be fitted by the aircraft technicians and remain fully autonomous for up to 75 flying hours or 2 months.
Typical illustrations of the normal acceleration and estimated altitude, from the pressure data, from two different aircraft are reproduced in Figures 3 and Figure 4 and a close-up plot (40 seconds) is reproduced in Figure 5. After 75 flying hours of 2 months the MSR dataloggers are replaced by the technicians and the removed MSR datalogger is sent back to DSTL for analysis and comparison with design assumptions, fatigue test spectra or previous in-service usage. The acceleration data, captured at 50 samples per second is passed through a low-pass finite impulse response frequency filter set at 11Hz and 1Hz. This allows the data to be compared with information recorder using a Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) fatigue meter (which had an 11Hz bandwidth). In addition, the 1Hz low-pass data is used to identify the manoeuvre content in the signal (red line on the plots).
Figure 4 – Typical normal acceleration and altitude time history plot
Figure 3 – Typical normal acceleration and altitude time history plot
Figure 5 – Typical normal acceleration and altitude time history plot (40 seconds)
This programme has been extremely successful and flight trials have been undertaken to date on two small UK MOD fleets (Islander and Defender) and two historic aircraft platforms ( Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster and the Royal Navy Historic Flight Swordfish) (Figure 6). Nearly 100 hours of flight data have been captured during these trials and a range of further investigations have been possible using the data captured. Currently, several fleet-wide modifications and further trials are being planned.
© Crown Copyright 2012. Published with permission of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory on behalf of the Controller of HMSO


Where To Buy
Aviation art book Flying High In The Sunlit Silence is available to purchase from Amazon and from the following:
Should you experience problems obtaining your copy of Flying High In The Sunlit Silence, please contact Bomber Command Books using the CONTACT button below.
A selection of Flying High In The Sunlit Silence themed merchandise is available to purchase from the Lincolnshire's Lancaster Association (LLA).
Jack and Sara Berry have teamed up with the Lincolnshire's Lancaster Association (LLA) - a registered charity - to design and sell a selection of Flying High In The Sunlit Silence themed merchandise, including:
Book cover Douglas C-47 Dakota
WWII Bomber Command veteran John Henry Meller's quote "Kindness finds its way across any obstacles"
The range will be expanding so watch this space.


India's Response to Drone Proliferation
If India wants to improve its drone capabilities, it cannot focus only on increasing the number of drones it owns. Lauding the potential of drones should be tempered with the proper knowledge of what they can and cannot do, and in what situations. There is a need for an entire ecosystem of extensive training, adequate number of dedicated hardware and software professionals, robust cybersecurity, and adequate ground control infrastructure including logistics and maintenance.
By Mihir Vikrant Kaulgud
India has been steadily acquiring and developing armed and unarmed drone capabilities. It is also investing in anti-drone technology to protect itself from drones used against its interests by state and non-state actors. This article highlights three aspects of drone technology in the context of India’s acquisition of military drone technology:
- the uses of drones in security scenarios, and new developments within drone technology.
- The threats that drone proliferation creates, and responses to those threats.
- The legal and ethical dimensions of drone technology.
The article argues that India must adopt a “systems” perspective when it comes to developing drone and counter-drone technology. A systems perspective implies a holistic view of the entire system drones require to function effectively - including adequate infrastructure and trained professionals. Simply acquiring and upgrading unmanned aircraft is not enough. The systems perspective also includes proper regulations and protocols around civilian and military drone use. Moreover, this perspective requires taking the limitations and ethics of drone use seriously to prevent their indiscriminate use.
The use of drones in remote warfare has become increasingly commonplace over the last two decades. The sophistication and number of applications of this technology has steadily increased as well. Drones impact traditional security concerns such as warfare, as well as wider concerns with human and environmental security. The fact that drone proliferation spills over into civilian use affects security and strategic concerns of countries as well. Drones are often called Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The latter term is preferred because it indicates that flying drones requires an entire system, such as ground control, operators, software, and network infrastructure. This article will use the term “drone” as it is perhaps more widely used outside of technical circles. Drones are often classified by weight from nano (upto 250g) to large (above 150 kg). Other classifications are based on their range or their aerial platform (fixed wing, single or multi rotor.) While the US is the most well-known user of drones, over 95 countries have access to military drones - 35 of which operate armed drones.
The most common usage of drones is for providing surveillance. Most drones are equipped with several cameras and sensors which record footage and other information. The surveillance can be tracked real-time by crews that are insulated from combat zones. Furthermore, drones can fly over target areas for long periods of time - more so than manned aircraft. This allows for sustained surveillance, which might not have been possible before. They can also be deployed to support troop operations on the ground. Furthermore, small lightweight drones are being used to provide logistical support to these troops, such as ammunition or medical supplies. This potentially increases the staying power of the troops and allows them to function with greater tactical awareness.
The biggest advantage of using drones from a military standpoint is the reduction of casualties. Less soldiers are put in harm’s way, with drone operators controlling drones from a safe location. More generally, the cost of deploying drones is significantly less than deploying manned aircraft. As technology develops, especially indigenous technology, the cost will be driven down further. Armed drones have been used to kill high value targets when a manned mission would have been costly or too risky. The precision striking capabilities have improved over time. Armed drone proliferation has been increasing, with Israel, Turkey and China readily exporting their machines with fewer restrictions than other countries with armed drones like the US. There is some speculation that possessing more advanced drone technology can increase diplomatic leverage over a state that does not. Drone swarms and kamikaze drones are newer developments which increase the tactical possibilities of using UAVs. They can evade enemy air-defense systems more effectively than a single medium or heavy drone.
India has been buying Heron drones from Israel for improving its surveillance capabilities, and is also looking to upgrade them to be armed. The Heron drones are being deployed in Ladakh to monitor Chinese activity along the border. Recently, India made a $3 billion deal to purchase 30 Predator drones from the United States. India also has swarm drone capabilities - it displayed a swarm of 75 small drones doing simulated attacks on Army Day in January 2021. It aims to have a swarm of 1000 drones. The 75-drone swarm can carry a variety of payloads from explosives to supplies weighing upto 600 kg. India is also investing in its domestic drone industry. The DRDO is developing indigenous drones called Rustom and Rustom 2. Increasingly, private firms have also been contracted to provide equipment. The drone swarm was also indigenously developed, as is the Switch UAV which is set to be deployed for high-altitude surveillance. More recently, as part of 73rd Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2022, a thousand Made in India drones were on display in different formations.
There are also non-military uses of drones, such as in agriculture and providing medical care and humanitarian assistance. Thus, drones also have security implications in terms of improving human security in disaster management, and long-term environmental security. This is facilitated by the fact that drone proliferation is not limited to state actors, but civilians and non-state actors as well. Small drones and/or the parts to make them can be easily purchased online. In India, drones have been deployed to assist with implementing COVID-19 lockdowns and to make announcements about pandemic measures. They have also been used to spray insecticides in anti-locust operations in Rajasthan. Law enforcement agencies used drones during the 2019 Delhi riots to monitor crowds. Floods in Uttarakhand saw drones being used for search and rescue operations.
It is precisely the relative ease of access to drones that makes their proliferation a security threat. While antagonistic states operating drones are always a threat to each other, malicious non-state actors like terrorist organizations can also use drones. They can be purchased and transported quite easily, or crude drones can be made using parts bought online. Even small drones provide an offensive edge to their operations, while making effective defense tactics difficult. They present lower costs and risks, while also being multiuse and reusable. They improve surveillance capabilities, which can assist terror attacks. Military drones can potentially be captured, or reverse engineered. For example, ISIS has been known to use both surveillance drones and armed or booby-trapped drones.
In India, there have several instances of drones posing a security threat. The most prominent is the attack on an air station in Jammu in June 2021, where a drone dropped explosives near an aircraft hangar. There is speculation that this attack was conducted by Lashkar-e-Taiba. Drone sightings are common along sensitive border areas along Pakistan and China. This is worrying since states may be likely to attack indiscriminately due to the cost-effectiveness of drones, and lower risk to their soldiers. Moreover, drones have been known to smuggle narcotics and arms across the border into India. To counteract these threats, India has been investing in acquiring counter-drone technology. It is importing from Israel, while developing indigenous solutions through DRDO and domestic private firms. Therefore, it is evident that drone acquisition in India is well underway, as is the acquisition of counter-drone technology. As of February 9, 2022, the government of India banned the import of drones other than for defense and R&D purposes, which will require prior clearance.
But there are limitations and challenges that need to be kept in mind. Drones are not a “silver bullet.” Only acquiring a greater number of UAVs is not the way forward. To deploy them effectively, India must keep in mind the limitations and challenges presented by drones. It is extremely necessary to not become over-confident about every new military technology acquisition. One of the limitations of the current generation of drones is their significantly reduced speed compared to fighter aircraft. This limits their use against combatants with good air-defense systems, as they can easily be shot down. Furthermore, most drones do not have air-to-air capabilities. Therefore, traditional fighter aircraft still have the edge when it comes to maneuvering and self-defense. Other limiting factors of drones are its dependence on IT infrastructure, which introduces the risk of hacking or jamming the signal between the controller and the drone. Drone activity can potentially be spoofed as well.
The human element behind drones cannot be ignored. Drone pilots, especially those who fly armed drones, must be highly trained. There have been reports of burn-out and stress disorders among the pilots. They have extremely long shifts, accumulating flight time that is three times as much as regular pilots. Over the years, the U.S Air Force - the most prolific user of drones - has reported shortages in trained pilots, with many active-duty servicemen leaving due to burn out, stress and/or trauma. Furthermore, surveillance drones capture too much video footage making it difficult to properly process it. It is untenable to employ the number of analysts required to properly review all of it. The information-processing limit can be transgressed by using computer monitoring. But decisions regarding risk-assessment and identification of targets cannot be completely delegated to computer programs. There is an ethical dimension to drone use that also needs to be taken seriously as the government develops its offensive drone capabilities as well as counter-drone technology:
- Drones present privacy concerns, as they can capture images and videos that can infringe on people’s privacy. Though this is usually more the case with civilian drone users, it is potentially important to address this as part of developing protections against abuse of drones by non-state actors e.g. domestic insurgents.
- Civilian casualties or “collateral damage” - a state’s own soldiers are protected, however other civilians are “sacrificed” for killing one or more terrorists. This creates a culture of terror in the civil society in areas where drones are frequently deployed.
- Ethical and moral dimension of killing at a distance, and the notion of “just war” - although more research is needed on this question
- Improper targeting protocols and operational practices - gray zone practices like “signature strikes” - judging whether people are insurgents based on certain appearance or behavior - not because they are on an official “kill list.” “Double tap” strikes launch subsequent attacks on those who help the initial target, assuming those who help are also associated with the target. In this way, bystanders who tried to help the target of a drone strike without any knowledge of the situation have been killed. Funeral processions have been targeted, killing many innocent civilians.
- A state can use drones to increase surveillance and target its own population who are perceived as insurgents or threats to domestic peace. They can be used to serve authoritarian governments who seek to repress sections of a state’s population. Indiscriminate and improper use can create tensions within the international community in the form of diplomatic hurdles and economic sanctions.
This ethical dimension points to the need for regulations and a legal framework for drones, including export regulation (whom drones are exported to), and especially rules of engagement and strict protocols especially when it comes to targeted strikes - this is also part of the overarching “system” that drone use should be developed with. There should be transparency and accountability, not secrecy.
India has updated its “Drone Rules” as of August 2021. This is the legal framework for all drones operated in, or over, India. With the aim of giving a boost to the drone industry in India, the update effectively liberalized drone acquisition and operation. According to Prime Minister Modi, “the rules are based on the premise of trust and certification.” Registration and approval process has been simplified. There are no licenses needed for non-commercial use of nano (less than 250g) and micro (less than 2kg) drones. Research and development firms can also acquire, develop, and operate drones more easily. However, the new rules do not mention drone swarms, images recorded by drones, or deliveries conducted via drones.
While the motives of the Drone Rules are clearly economic advancement, there have also been calls to control drone proliferation in India owing to the security threats they present. After the drone attack on the Jammu air station, Army Chief General M.M. Navarane called drone proliferation a challenge which the Indian military must respond to, as malicious actors can easily make and use drones as if they are a “do-it-yourself home project.” There are a few gaps in the Drone Rules, which can be addressed to ensure security threats are reduced. The requirement of a unique identification number has been scrapped, making the monitoring and regulation more difficult. The Rules must also address incident response protocols for police, including support for bringing rogue drones down effectively. Another urgent need is for protocols to monitor drone traffic and ensure drones do not fly into potentially dangerous or sensitive areas like airports and army bases. The Army and Air-Force should be consulted while making these regulations, which also have security repercussions. Concerns of drones infringing on the privacy of individuals and trespassing on private property must also be addressed. There needs to be regulations for government agencies using drones for surveillance to prevent abuse of power.
Therefore, if India wants to improve its drone capabilities, it cannot focus only on increasing the number of drones it owns. Lauding the potential of drones should be tempered with the proper knowledge of what they can and cannot do, and in what situations. There is a need for an entire ecosystem of extensive training, adequate number of dedicated hardware and software professionals, robust cybersecurity, and adequate ground control infrastructure including logistics and maintenance. Therefore, there cannot be a focus only on what drones do but also how they function. Thus a “systems” perspective regarding drones is ultimately more suited to ensuring effective deployment of drones. While the limits vis-a-vis speed and air-to-air capabilities can be addressed through technical upgrades, this also represents rising costs. These costs cannot be justified without the proper ecosystem in which drones can be deployed effectively.
Disclaimer: This paper is author’s individual scholastic contribution and does not necessarily reflect the organization’s viewpoint.


Help if your flight with TAP Air Portugal has been canceled of delayed
If you have been denied boarding (overbooking for instance) or your flight with TAP – Air Portugal has been delayed or even cancelled, L8flight will help you get what you are entitled to.
Claiming your compensation is easy and low cost with L8flight. We take care of pursuing the delay or cancellation compensation claim directly with TAP – Air Portugal, and even taking them to court on your behalf if necessary. There is no risk, no money to pay upfront, we work according to the ‘No Win, No Fee’ principle. You are only charged a commission if we have obtained a compensation payout from TAP – Air Portugal. If we have not, you are not charged anything.
About TAP – Air Portugal
TAP – Air Portugal is a European registered airline, operating since 1946. Its is based in Lisbon in Portugal. Their website is accessible at this link. TAP Air Portugal is the flag carrierairline of Portuga. TAP is a member of the Star Alliance since 2005 and operates on average 2,500 flights a week to 87 destinations in 34 countries worldwide. The company has a fleet of 90 airplanes, 68 of which were manufactured by Airbus and the remaining 22 by Embraer and ATR, operating on behalf of the regional airline TAP Express. TAP is 50% owned by the Portuguese state, 45% by the Atlantic Gateway Consortium and 5% available shareholder to collaborators and employees.


With one rhino shot every eight hours in South Africa, government officials, private businesses and conservation groups are trying everything in their power to stop poachers in their tracks. Since 95 percent of poaching incidents happen at night, it’s exceedingly difficult to spot them- until now. Through collaboration efforts, private UAV companies are developing a new way to spot poachers in the dark: unmanned aerial vehicles (drones).
One of those private companies is UDS. Rob Hannaford, Unmanned Vehicle University graduate and the company’s President, tackles a problem never before addressed with UAV technology: monitoring threatened animals, without individual trackers, in real time. According to Hannaford, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) are the most efficient and successful tools for surveying sprawling grounds. UAVs provide instantaneous footage, while also remaining relatively undetected. UAVs are equipped with hi-res thermal imaging cameras, long-range video feed capabilities, and object detection software. In conjunction with the local authorities and anti-poaching groups, UDS has successfully flown over 1,500 anti-poaching missions.
Obviously, the applications for drones in conservation efforts are enormous. If drones can help stop poachers, can they also track migrating animals overhead? Can they help us stealthily observe animals without having to place individual trackers on them, or disturb them with loud aircrafts? Can we extend our use of drones beyond the land to the sea, to not only film, but to document behavior sea mammal behavior? The answer is yes- which is why drones are bound to transform how we obtain information on animals, and how we can save their dwindling populations.


In that same year, a team of five yellow Gnat trainers from No 4 Flying Training School displayed at the Farnborough Airshow.This team became known as the Yellowjacks after Flight Lieutenant Lee Jones's call sign, "Yellowjack".The Red Arrows have a prominent place in British popular culture, with their aerobatic displays a fixture of British summer events.The badge of the Red Arrows shows the aircraft in their trademark diamond nine formation, with the motto Éclat, a French word meaning "brilliance" or "excellence".The Black Arrows were the premier team until 1961, when the Blue Diamonds (No.92 Squadron) continued their role, flying 16 blue Hunters. 74 Squadron) were re-equipped with the supersonic English Electric Lightning and performed wing-overs and rolls with nine aircraft in tight formation.Since 21 December 2000, the Red Arrows have been based again at RAF Scampton, near Lincoln.
The Red Arrows moved to RAF Kemble, now Cotswold Airport, in 1966 after RAF Fairford became the place of choice for BAC to run test flights for Concorde.In 1947, the first jet team of three de Havilland Vampires came from RAF Odiham Fighter Wing. This team became the first team to fly a five-Hunter formation.In 1958, the Black Arrows performed a loop and barrel roll of 22 Hunters, a world record for the greatest number of aircraft looped in formation.In late 1979, they switched to the BAE Hawk trainer.The Red Arrows have performed over 4,800 displays in 57 countries worldwide. 32 Squadron RAF flew an air display six nights a week entitled "London Defended" at the British Empire Exhibition.
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Similar to the display they had done the previous year, when the aircraft were painted black, it consisted of a night-time air display over the Wembley Exhibition flying RAF Sopwith Snipes which were painted red for the display and fitted with white lights on the wings, tail, and fuselage.


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This is the first book by the FAA completely dedicated to all aspects of glider flying and glider operations. Originally designed as a technical manual for glider pilots and students, this book has beneficial chapters that make it an excellent reference guide for glider and powered-flight pilots of all skill levels and experience.
The Glider Flying Handbook covers all of the information that soaring pilots will need to achieve their Glider Rating or just advance their flying abilities. In-depth sections on medical factors, radio navigation and communications, regulations, performance limitations and flight maneuvers can all be found here. Fluid and thermal dynamics are explained in user-friendly terms; meteorology and soaring weather are well-detailed and brought to life with full-color depictions.
This book was written based on thorough research from within the glider flying community. Theories and techniques are explained comprehensively giving readers full understanding of the most commonly used practices and principles. Along with providing the flight information necessary for the glider rating, the Glider Flying Handbook works as a valuable training aid for all pilots with a specialized glossary, index, and full-color illustrations and photographs. With additional instruction on decision making, flight planning and more, the wealth of information provided in this book is invaluable for everyone involved with aviation!
Softcover, 8-3/8" x 10-7/8" format, indexed, glossary, and full-color illustrations,


By Roger Joyner
This month’s program will be an over view of the Apollo 14 mission, who’s 50th anniversary was last January. I wanted to do it then, but, due to scheduling and covid-19, it had to be put off.
Apollo 14 was the third to land on the Moon, the first to land in the lunar highlands, and the last planned for a two-day stay and two lunar extravehicular activities (EVAs or moonwalks).
The crew consisted of Commander Alan Shepard, Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa, and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell. They launched on their nine-day mission on Sunday, January 31, 1971 and
Shepard and Mitchell made their lunar landing on February 5 in the Fra Mauro formation – originally the target of Apollo 13. During the two walks on the surface, they collected 94.35 pounds (42.80 kg) of Moon rocks and deployed several scientific experiments. Roosa remained in lunar orbit, performing scientific experiments and photographing the Moon. After liftoff the spacecraft returned to Earth and splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean on February 9.
The PowerPoint for this program was created by NASA.
Zoom Link: HTTPS://TINYURL.COM/552QOXZE


One of the most successful and enduring feats of interplanetary exploration, NASA's Opportunity rover mission is at an end after almost 15 years exploring the surface of Mars and helping lay the groundwork for NASA’s return to the Red Planet.
NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch will be available for live satellite interviews Friday, Feb. 22, as they undergo final training before their launch to the International Space Station, scheduled for March 14.
As students around the world protests for action in fighting climate change, one German education minister has said she wants kids back in classrooms. She said students could be escorted to class or even expelled.
Nigerian election officials said they would postpone presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for Saturday. The head of the electoral commission said the delay was needed to ensure free and fair elections.


India Travel News
Thu, 30 Oct 2014 14:22:24 GMT
Excl: Will AI Express land in trouble?
Air India Express, a subsidiary of Air India, has had 66 hard landings in just a year, putting the passengers at risk. Further, flouting safety norms and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regulations, pilots of Air India Express have not even bothered to ...
Thu, 30 Oct 2014 12:46:16 GMT
Fixes Record Date for Payment of Interest on NCDs
Hindu Business Line
Air India Ltd has informed BSE that the Company has fixed November 06, 2014 as the Record Date for the purpose of Payment of Interest on NCDs. Source : BSE - www.bseindia.com. (This article was published on October 30, 2014). Related. MEDIA.
Thu, 30 Oct 2014 11:47:29 GMT
More flights between Mangalore and Bangalore likely
The Air India may introduce flight services between Mangalore and Pune, Delhi and Hubli via Bangalore, according to Nalin Kumar Kateel, Member of Parliament. He told presspersons here on Thursday that of these three sectors, the proposed flights ...
Thu, 30 Oct 2014 09:23:09 GMT
Air India, Air Astana sign code-share agreement
National carrier Air India Ltd (AI) has entered into a free flow code-share agreement with Air Astana JSC, the flag carrier of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Rohit Nandan, Chairman & Managing Director, Air India Ltd and Richard Ledger, Vice President - Sales ...
Thu, 30 Oct 2014 07:55:40 GMT
Chennai: Passengers miss flight after arguments with AI officials at the airport
Madhan Ramakrishnan, Delivery Manager with an MNC, along with other passengers who were to board an Air India flight to Bangalore today morning missed their flight after they had an arguement with the AI officials. It all began when Ramakrishnan along ...
Thu, 30 Oct 2014 06:49:02 GMT
Air India signs code share pact with Air Astana
Rohit Nandan, chairman and managing director, Air India and Richard Ledger, vice president - sales worldwide, Air Astana JSC signed the agreement under which Air India (AI) would code share as marketing carrier on flights operated daily by Air Astana ...
Thu, 30 Oct 2014 06:46:18 GMT
Air India recruiting for 161 Cabin Crew posts
Air India is inviting applications for 161 cabin crew posts. Interested and eligible candidates can apply on or before November 18, 2014. Name of company: Air India Limited. Official site: www.airindia.in. Name of post : Cabin Crew. Job Location: Delhi.


| ||IAF ‘Arrow’ battery intercepts Syrian missile, in first reported use of the system
Syria fires three anti-aircraft missiles at Israeli jets; one knocked down by defense system, reportedly over Jordan; other two land in Israel, cause no damage
rael shot down an incoming Syrian anti-aircraft missile with the Arrow defense battery early Friday morning, military officials said, in the first reported use of the advanced system.
At approximately 2:30 a.m., Israeli “aircrafts targeted several targets in Syria,” the Israel Defense Forces said, prompting a Syrian attempt to down the Israeli jets.
According to Arab media, the target of the IAF strikes was a Hezbollah weapons convoy.
“Several anti-aircraft missiles were launched from Syria following the mission and IDF aerial defense systems intercepted one of the missiles,” the army said in a statement.
The anti-aircraft missiles were fired from eastern Syria by Bashar Assad’s military, traveling over Jordan and toward the Jerusalem area. They were apparently SA-5 surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).
The Arrow is primarily designed to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missiles outside the atmosphere, intercepting the weapons and their conventional, nuclear, biological or chemical warheads close to their launch sites.
Surface-to-air missiles are designed to detonate at high altitudes to bring down aircraft or other missiles, and so do not pose much of a threat to people on the ground other than the possibility of being directly hit by falling shrapnel or the remains of the missile.
Therefore, it was not immediately clear why the IDF used the Arrow against a SAM, possibly indicating a misidentification of the type of weapon being fired from Syria.
The IDF said neither civilians on the ground nor Israeli Air Force pilots were in any danger at any point during the incident.
The most advanced version of the defense system is the Arrow 3, which Israel has been developing with the United States since 2008. Earlier versions of the Arrow system have been in place since the 1990s.


NASA Postpond historic Artemis I moon Mission
NASA’ launched Monday and was supposed to bring the Orion capsule back to the Moon to carry three test dummies, was scrubbed due to chronic fuel leaks and engine problems during final preparations.
The next flight window from Kennedy Space Center in Florida is Friday, when NASA decides the rocket is ready. NASA officials were scheduled to give a course briefing at 1:00 p.m. It’s Easter today.
“Safety always comes first,” he tweeted NASA. “Following today’s launch attempt, the @NASA team is working on engine number 3 issues and will hold a press conference later today.”
They struggled to supply the rocket with nearly a million gallons of hydrogen and oxygen due to a highly explosive hydrogen leak. This issue also occurred during testing last spring. Launch director Charlie Blackwell Thompson called off the launch attempt around 8:34 a.m., according to NASA.
NASA said in a statement that the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft “remain in a safe and stable configuration.”
Launch controllers continued to investigate why the bleed test to bring the engines on the underside of the core stage into the proper temperature range for launch had failed, leaving no time for the two-hour launch window. Engineers continued to collect data.