July 19, 2018 - No. 057 In This Issue Saudi Aviation Academy to Train First Women Pilots Keynote Speakers Announced for National Training Aircraft Symposium Aug. 13 - 15 in Daytona Beach HK Bellawings Gets Hong Kong Mx Nod Triumph Gulf Coast approves $64 million toward aerospace, aviation infrastructure ROLLS-ROYCE UNVEILS ROBOT PROTOTYPES FOR ENGINE MAINTENANCE Boeing, Xiamen Airlines Announce Optimized Maintenance Program Agreement FAA makes aviation safety management changes QuEST Global Brings Virtual Reality to MRO Sector Delta partners with MTSU Aerospace through Innovative Propel Program GE Aviation Turns To the Cloud for Predictive Mx NASA plots a return to the moon within a decade - but this time astronauts will stay there WANT A LEGO JET ENGINE? VOTE NOW! Saudi Aviation Academy to Train First Women Pilots A flight school in Saudi Arabia is opening its doors for women, following the end of a decades-long driving ban in the deeply conservative Muslim country where many social restrictions are easing. Oxford Aviation Academy, a leading trainer and crew recruiter, has already received applications from hundreds of women hoping to start lessons in September at a new branch in the eastern city of Dammam. "People used to travel abroad (to study aviation), which was difficult for women more than men," said applicant Dalal Yashar, who aspires to work as a civil pilot. "We are no longer living in the era were women were allowed (to work) in limited arenas. All avenues are now opened for women. If you have the appetite, you have the ability," she said. The academy is part of a $300 million project that includes a school for aircraft maintenance and an international centre for flight simulators at the airport. Students receive three years of academic and practical training, said executive director Othman al-Moutairy. A decades-long ban on women driving, long seen as an emblem of women's repression in the country, was lifted last month, as part of sweeping reforms pushed by powerful young Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at transforming the economy and opening up its cloistered society. The lifting of the prohibition was welcomed by Western allies as proof of a new progressive trend in Saudi Arabia, but it has been accompanied by a crackdown on dissent, including against some of the very activists who previously campaigned against the ban. https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/saudi-aviation-academy-to-train-first-women-pilots-1.6290300 Back to Top Keynote Speakers Announced for National Training Aircraft Symposium Aug. 13 - 15 in Daytona Beach DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., July 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- MEDIA CONTACT - James Roddey, Director of Communications, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Office: (386) 226-6198; james.roddey@erau.edu Stay current on the changing role of the pilot by registering for the National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS) 2018 today at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.August 13 to 15. Join professionals from academia, government and industry for a variety of exceptional presentations and workshops. Visit the NTAS conference website for more information. Registered symposium participants will receive van service to and from hotels, Monday evening BBQ, daily buffets, reception, networking opportunities, tours, exhibits and poster session.This year's keynote speakers include: • Steve Dickson, captain and senior vice president of flight operations, Delta Air Lines • Robert Joslin, Ph.D., chief scientific and technical advisor for flight deck technology, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) • William L. Little, aerospace technologist, NASA's Kennedy Space Center • Crystal Maguire, J.D, executive director, Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) • Earl F. Weener, Ph.D., member, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Post-event workshops at the Daytona Beach Campus on Wednesday, August 15 include: Aircraft Accident Investigation - 1 to 4 p.m. Aviation Cybersecurity Management - 1 to 4 p.m. Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) - 1 to 4 p.m. Student pricing is available. For more information or to register, visit http://www.erau.edu/ntas. For more information, contact event coordinator Kim at (386) 226-6754 or Daytona.NTAS.Conference@erau.edu. The National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS) serves as a forum for aviation professionals from academia, government and industry to exchange ideas and learn about ways to address emerging issues in the aviation industry. With technological advancements in automation and the proliferation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), this year's theme is focused on "The Changing Role of the Pilot." Visit the conference website for more information and registration. For NTAS questions, please call (386) 226-6754 or email Daytona.NTAS.conference@erau.edu. About Embry-Riddle's College of Aviation in Daytona Beach The College of Aviation (COA) degree programs meet the needs of aviation students of the 21st century and set the standard in high-level quality education demanded by the aviation profession. Our 100-plus faculty members and the courses in the COA's five departments - Aeronautical Science, Applied Aviation Science, Aviation Maintenance Science, Flight, and Graduate and Doctoral Studies - will prepare graduates to assume leadership roles in the global aviation industry and related fields. The College's state-of-the-art facilities include the most sophisticated flight simulation center in the world, cutting-edge laboratories dedicated to airline operations, spaceflight, aviation maintenance, broadcast meteorology, aerospace forensics and air traffic management. COA's fleet of more than 60 electronically supported ADS-B-equipped single and twin-engine aircraft average 275 flights a day. ABOUT EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is the world's largest, oldest and most comprehensive institution specializing in aviation, aerospace, engineering and related degree programs. A fully accredited university, Embry-Riddle is also a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. A nonprofit, independent institution, Embry-Riddle offers more than 80 baccalaureate, master's and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts & Sciences, Aviation, Business, Engineering and Security & Intelligence. The university educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through its Worldwide Campus with more than 125 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and through online programs. For more information, visit http://www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv. http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/keynote-speakers-announced-for-national-training-aircraft-symposium-aug-13-15-in-daytona-beach-1027379760 Back to Top HK Bellawings Gets Hong Kong Mx Nod HK Bellawings received HKAR-145 approval by the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (HKCAD), becoming the fifth business jet operator to achieve the recognition in Hong Kong. The approval clears the way for HK Bellawings to provide authorized maintenance in accordance with HKCAD, including third-party aircraft services. "Our experienced maintenance team has been devoted to providing accurate and comprehensive aircraft maintenance services, to ensure the aircraft is maintained at its optimum condition," said HK Bellawings vice president Jack Li. "In the future, HK Bellawings will deliver more professional business jet services to our clients and business partners." The approval comes four years after HK Bellawings launched to provide an array of business aviation services. Established in 2014, the company offers charter, management, travel concierge, aircraft trading, and consultancy services, in addition to maintenance. An IS-BAO Stage 2-registered operator, HK Bellawings became a launch customer for Bombardier's recently unveiled Global 6500 under a letter of intent announced during EBACE for four of the aircraft and options for six more. That LOI, which had a value of $1.136 billion, also included an order for four Global 7500s and options for another four. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2018-07-18/hk-bellawings-gets-hong-kong-mx-nod Back to Top Triumph Gulf Coast approves $64 million toward aerospace, aviation infrastructure PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Triumph Gulf Coast gave the preliminary stamp of approval for $64.5 million in grants to expand the aerospace and aviation infrastructure. A large chunk of that is going toward major expansions at Pensacola International Airport, including maintenance, repair, and a facility overhaul. A $56 million grant will be awarded for this project. "These transformative investments will directly create over 3,100 high-paying jobs, generate hundreds more jobs in support and supply areas and grow Northwest Florida as a leader in aviation and aerospace," Triumph Chairman Don Gaetz said in a press release. Leaders said the Pensacola grant is contingent upon getting more than $75 million now being south from city, county, state and federal sources along with $59 million in commitments to the project. The Triumph board also approved contracts for projects in Okaloosa and Bay counties Wednesday. A $1.5 million grant will extend water and sewer to the Shoal River Ranch area. The site improvements are expected to attract more than 500 high-wage new jobs within five years of site work completion at the Shoal River mega-site east of Crestview. In Bay County, the board also reached final negotiations with Haney Technical Center to modernize its 40-year-old HVAC training program. The grant request is for $615,000. http://www.wjhg.com/content/news/Triumph-Gulf-Coast-approves-64-million-toward-aerospace-aviation-infrastructure--488559701.html Back to Top ROLLS-ROYCE UNVEILS ROBOT PROTOTYPES FOR ENGINE MAINTENANCE Rolls-Royce has introduced prototypes of how robotics may be the future of engine maintenance as part of its IntelligentEngine concept. Engineers from the University of Nottingham in the UK and Harvard University in the US outlined a variety of future possibilities, including swarming engine-scanning robots conceived to move like cockroaches through an engine, to a snake-like scanner robot system. It's all to make inspection faster, cheaper and on-wing - and all around more efficient. The first, "Swarm", is described by Rolls as "a set of collaborative, miniature robots, each around 10mm in diameter which would be deposited in the centre of an engine via a 'snake' robot and would then perform a visual inspection of hard to reach areas by crawling through the engine. These robots would carry small cameras that provide a live video feed back to the operator allowing them to complete a rapid visual inspection of the engine without having to remove it from the aircraft". The snakes, meanwhile, are called "Flare", and "are flexible enough to travel through an engine, like an endoscope, before collaborating to carrying out patch repairs to damaged thermal barrier coatings". Another, called "Inspect", consists of "a network of 'periscopes' permanently embedded within the engine, enabling it to inspect itself using the periscope cameras to spot and report any maintenance requirements. These pencil-sized robots are thermally protected from the extreme heat generated within an engine and the visual data they create would be used alongside the millions of data points already generated by today's engines as part of their Engine Health Monitoring systems". Remote boreblending, meanwhile, allows complicated maintenance tasks to be conducted remotely by experts after installation of a new robotic tool in specific locations of the engine. Rolls suggests that this could include laser-grinding of damaged compressor blades by an expert in its Aircraft Availability Centre, rather than having experts travel to wherever the aircraft needing maintenance happened to be. Rolls-Royce on-wing technology specialist James Kell said these concepts had great potential. "While some of these technologies, such as the SWARM robots, are still a long way from becoming an everyday reality, others, such as the remote boreblending robot, are already being tested and will begin to be introduced over the next few years," Dr Kell said. "We have a great network of partners who support our work in this field and it is clear that this is an area with the potential to revolutionise how we think about engine maintenance." http://australianaviation.com.au/2018/07/rolls-royce-unveils-robot-prototypes-for-engine-maintenance/ Back to Top Boeing, Xiamen Airlines Announce Optimized Maintenance Program Agreement FARNBOROUGH, United Kingdom, July 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Xiamen Airlines announced today the airline will become the first in China to use Optimized Maintenance Program, a service that improves operational performance, powered by Boeing AnalytX. The order was unveiled at a signing ceremony at the 2018 Farnborough International Airshow. "We are pleased to be the first in the country to utilize Optimized Maintenance Program's ability to use data to tailor a maintenance program specific to our needs," said Zhao Dong, president and CEO, Xiamen Airlines. "This program allows our airline to benefit from innovation and smart technology to enhance our performance, maintain safety and best serve our customers." The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) recently accepted Xiamen Airlines using Boeing's Optimized Maintenance Program. Xiamen, an all-Boeing operator, also signed a 737 MAX and Next Generation 737 Simulator Services Package including hardware, software and data - as well as a suite of tools to enhance its digital capability - including Airplane Health Management, Maintenance Performance Toolbox and Loadable Software Airplane Parts. "We are bringing the most advanced data analytics capabilities to anticipate Xiamen Airlines' needs, and help them prevent problems before they occur. It's a prime example of how we can integrate services solutions with our airplanes to help a customer drive down their maintenance costs," said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of Commercial Sales & Marketing for The Boeing Company. "We are delighted to expand our partnership with Xiamen Airlines, and build on years of collaboration between our companies and the Civil Aviation Administration of China." The Optimized Maintenance Program, powered by Boeing AnalytX, uses analytics to evaluate and analyze an airline's maintenance program and improves the operator maintenance experience through improved maintenance recommendations. Customized programs can reduce scheduled maintenance labor and material cost by more than 20 percent and associated ground time by more than 30 percent on average, while maintaining or improving fleet on time performance and in-service maintenance activities. Boeing technical consultants review all recommendations with the airline's engineering team and support the airline's review with the local regulatory agency for approval of recommended maintenance program changes. Xiamen Airlines operates an all-Boeing fleet with 168 Boeing airplanes in use with an additional 66 Boeing planes on order comprised of one 737NG, 55 737 MAX 8s, and ten 737 MAX 10s. About Xiamen Airlines Xiamen Airlines is China's fifth largest carrier, operating 300 domestic plus 60 international and regional routes, flying 26 million passengers a year. Xiamen Airlines was voted 'China's Best Airline' in passenger surveys, conducted by China's Civil Aviation Passenger Service Evaluation (CAPSE) for over five consecutive years. A proud SkyTeam member, Xiamen Airlines has over four million hours of safe flight operations, and is the only airline in China awarded the prestigious 'Jinyan Cup' and 'Jingying Cup' for Air Safety for three consecutive years. The airline is also the first enterprise in the service industry, and unique in civil aviation, to earn the 'China Quality Award', the highest recognition in the quality field in China. About Boeing Global Services Operating as one of Boeing's three business units, Global Services is headquartered in the Dallas area. For more information, visit www.boeing.com/services. Contact at Farnborough AirshowKatie ZemtseffBoeing Communications Mobile: +1 206-390-7589 katherine.a.zemtseff@boeing.com https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/boeing-xiamen-airlines-announce-optimized-maintenance-program-agreement-2018-07-17 Back to Top FAA makes aviation safety management changes Long-time US FAA executive John Duncan will assume the role of deputy associate administrator of Aviation Safety (AVS) on a permanent basis, following six months that saw several agency officials serve in the position on an acting basis. Duncan assumes the role as the agency's No. 2 safety official, reporting to AVS Associate Administrator Ali Bahrami. The change is effective July 22, FAA confirmed. He replaces John Hickey, who retired Jan. 30 after 28 years at the agency, including 10 in his most recent role. Duncan has been leading FAA's Flight Standards division as its executive director. He joined FAA in 1986 as an aviation safety inspector and held roles in Flight Standards' air transport and general aviation divisions before assuming his current role six years ago. Replacing Duncan at the top of Flight Standards will be Rick Domingo, a former Flight Standards Aircraft Maintenance Division executive who has been acting deputy associate administrator for the last several months. Domingo's most recent permanent full-role at the agency has been director of Flight Standards' office of Safety Standards, a position created in FAA's recent Flight Standards reorganization. http://atwonline.com/people/faa-makes-aviation-safety-management-changes Back to Top QuEST Global Brings Virtual Reality to MRO Sector QuEST Global wants to digitize the MRO world. The worldwide engineering powerhouse bought an engineering software company, Mobiliya, earlier this year, acquiring Mobiliya's augmented reality product AR360. AR360 promises to make maintenance and repair work faster, cheaper, and more reliable, said Steve Gerber, senior vice president of strategic accounts for QuEST Global. Using AR360, an aircraft maintenance technician can point a smartphone at a piece of equipment, and on the screen will see the assembly and precise directions for the task at hand. "You can help the technician visualize each step as he looks at the machine. He knows which handle to push, which bolt to tighten," Gerber said. The technology has been in use in the medical device and retail industries for nearly a year, and is close to being deployed in aerospace. "There's a lot of validation before it gets deployed. In general, this has been a very smooth deployment," he said. "We're just getting started [in this industry]." https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2018-07-18/quest-global-brings-virtual-reality-mro-sector Back to Top Delta partners with MTSU Aerospace through Innovative Propel Program Delta is launching the Delta Propel Pilot Career Path Program to identify and mentor the next generation of pilots and the Middle Tennessee State University Department of Aerospace has been selected as one of eight initial collegiate partners. According to the airline's announcement July 17, Delta expects to hire more than 8,000 pilots in the next decade. Delta is initially partnering with eight universities with accredited aviation programs to select collegiate aviation flight students. The MTSU Department of Aerospace was one of the university programs Delta worked with to lay the groundwork for development of the Propel program, and is excited to be participating in this initiative. "The clear and expedient path to a flight officer position with Delta that will be offered by this program makes it stand out above other initiatives that are seen throughout the aviation industry. While our pro pilot students currently have many options available to them, we feel the Propel initiative will quickly become the partnership program of choice," said Wendy Beckman, aerospace department chair. The other initial partner universities include: Auburn University; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Prescott; Middle Georgia State University; Minnesota State University, Mankato; University of North Dakota; and Western Michigan University. Successful candidates will be provided a Qualified Job Offer, or QJO, detailing a defined path and an accelerated timeline to become a Delta pilot. Students with a QJO will receive an advanced engagement opportunity that will immerse them in the Delta culture on and off campus including a Delta pilot as a mentor for the duration of their training and career. The Propel program is the first in the U.S. to offer students their choice of three unique career routes and an accelerated timeline to progress to Delta, in 42 months or less, after: • Flying for one of the Delta Connection Carriers. • A job-share flying for Delta Private Jets and instructing for one of Delta's partner collegiate aviation institutions, or • Flying military aircraft for the United States National Guard or Reserves. The Collegiate Pilot Career Path will begin accepting applications in August 2018. Established in 1942, MTSU's Department of Aerospace has grown into one of the most respected aviation programs in the nation. Twenty-nine full-time faculty and staff, 50 flight instructors and 800 majors place it among the largest of the nation's collegiate aviation programs. Aerospace students can choose from six concentrations: Professional Pilot, Maintenance Management, Aviation Management, Flight Dispatch, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations, and Aerospace Technology. A master's degree in aeronautics is also offered. Additional information about the Delta program can be found atpropel.delta.com; additional information about the MTSU aerospace department can be found at www.mtsu.edu/aerospace or call 615-898-2788. http://www.wgnsradio.com/delta-partners-with-mtsu-aerospace-through-innovative-propel-program-cms-46367 Back to Top GE Aviation Turns To the Cloud for Predictive Mx GE Aviation's digital solutions business is combining its data and analytics domain expertise with the scale of Microsoft's Azure cloud service to speed up digitization in aerospace, the two companies announced on Tuesday at the Farnborough Airshow. "Microsoft's cloud, with its strong enterprise capability, including global reach, scale and security were all important in our decision to partner with them," said GE Aviation chief digital officer John Mansfield. Azure will allow GE Aviation (Chalet P2) to speed up its worldwide deployment of existing products, as well as offer new analytic workbench capabilities. In fact, Microsoft's cloud is allowing GE Aviation to expand its collaboration with Emirates Airline to include predictive maintenance and diagnostics. The effort uses the emerging digital capabilities, such as artificial intelligence, coupled with airlines' real-world operations experience, to make better use of resources and automate operations. Honda Engine Work Also at the Farnborough Airshow GA announced its GE Additive division has been selected by the Honda Engine R&D Center to help determine how additive manufacturing could help the Japanese company. The two companies developed the GE Honda HF120 engine that powers the HondaJet business aircraft. Meanwhile GE Aviation said it had won a contract for avionics systems on the Boeing AH-64 Apache attach helicopter, including delivery of the pylon interface ubit, with deliveries taking place through to December 2018. The company also announced that it would become an exclusive provider of Terradata's high-performance "analytics in the cloud" for airlines. An example of an application is GE's FlightPulse, which "automatically merges complex aircraft data with crew schedules, allowing commercial pilots to...conduct their own analysis and peer comparisons," discovering areas "to optimize operations and efficiency, while reducing risk, fuel consumption and carbon emissions." At a management level it allows "enterprise-level insights," said GE. Finally, GE Aviation has signed an agreement with South Korea's Kookmin University for continued work on the validation of unmanned systems. Kookmin University established the Defense UAS Research & Development Center in April this year. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2018-07-17/ge-aviation-turns-cloud-predictive-mx Back to Top NASA plots a return to the moon within a decade - but this time astronauts will stay there Bob Richards remembers watching the gray, ghostly figures bounce across his family's black-and-white TV screen nearly a half-century ago: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first humans walking on the moon. Enthralled by the success of Apollo 11, which touched down 49 years ago on July 20, and by the future portrayed in pop culture by "Star Trek" and "2001: A Space Odyssey," Richards was certain that routine flights to the moon and space stations were inevitable within a few decades. It never happened: The United States canceled its big-budget moon program just a few years after an epic Space Race victory over Russia, and astronauts haven't left orbits near Earth since. But Richards, the CEO of Cape Canaveral-based Moon Express and a self-described "orphan of Apollo," now is confident that Americans are within a decade or so of returning to the lunar surface - this time to stay. "It's a different paradigm, to have economics introduced to exploration and science," said Richards, whose company is trying to lower the cost of robotic lunar missions. "It has to be part of a growing, continuing expansion of the human economic and social sphere to the moon, then to Mars, and eventually to the stars." Under new direction from the Trump administration, NASA plans to partner with companies like Moon Express to fly small, robotic landers carrying scientific instruments to the moon, as soon as next year. It's a modest start to public-private partnerships that aim to help companies develop increasingly capable landers quicker and at lower cost than NASA could on its own. A first medium-size lander could fly a demonstration mission as soon as 2022, helping to inform the design of a larger, human-class lander. A similar approach has successfully kept the International Space Station supplied since the space shuttle's retirement seven years ago. SpaceX and Northrop Grumman rockets and spaceships now deliver cargo to the research complex in low Earth orbit. SpaceX and Boeing hope to fly astronauts there within a year or so. In the process, with help from NASA, SpaceX's Falcon 9 has become the nation's most frequently flown rocket, growing the U.S. launch market by winning back commercial satellite mission that had moved overseas. "What happened to the commercial launch industry is about to happen to the commercial lunar industry," said Richards. "I think there are very strong analogies between the two." Moon Express hopes to fly to the moon more than once a year for government, commercial or university customers. Other small lander companies that have worked with NASA include Astrobotic and Masten Space Systems. NASA's proposed partnerships also have the potential to leverage the interests of billionaires who believe in a sustained lunar program. One is Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who also was heavily influenced by seeing Apollo 11 as a boy. Blue Origin, which Bezos backs to the tune of $1 billion a year, is developing rockets to fly people, and has proposed a "Blue Moon" delivery service for heavy cargo that could establish and support a lunar outpost. "I think we should build a permanent human settlement on one of the poles of the moon," Bezos said last year. "It's time to go back to the moon, but this time to stay." NASA's embrace of commercial moon partners follows President Trump's issuance last December of Space Policy Directive 1, which re-established the moon as the space agency's next deep-space destination for astronauts. "It marks a first step in returning American astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972, for long-term exploration and use," Trump said in a ceremony unveiling the policy. "This time, we will not only plant our flag and leave our footprints - we will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars, and perhaps someday, to many worlds beyond." The Obama administration had canceled an earlier moon program, Constellation, that was hatched after the space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003. An independent review found the program too far behind schedule and over budget. Obama set Mars as the agency's focus for human exploration, contemplating a mission in the 2030s, and it remains the passion of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. NASA began developing the Space Launch System - which will be more powerful than the Apollo program's Saturn V rocket - and Orion capsule for deep space missions. The space agency now also plans to place a small space station, or "gateway," in lunar orbit that Orion astronauts could visit by the mid-20s, but with no way to reach the surface unless commercial or international partners supply a lander. Trump's direction, and his revival of a National Space Council, were "important in the sense that it helped reestablish a direction that had been lost," said Paul Spudis, a lunar scientist. "What's needed now is to sit down and figure out a detailed plan, an architecture to return." Spudis advocates for an incremental return that does not resemble the sortie missions lasting a few days flown by Apollo crews. "This return to the moon should be different," he said. "What we should do is concentrate on placing permanent assets and infrastructure at the moon's polar regions, and begin to establish a permanent presence. So the emphasis should be on resource prospecting, cislunar transportation and habitation." Why go back to the moon? In the past 20 years, robotic probes have confirmed that the moon harbors water ice in permanently shadowed craters at the poles. That's a resource that could sustain astronauts with air and drinking water without having to launch everything from Earth. It could be used to store energy and create rocket fuel by breaking the water down into hydrogen and oxygen. A better understanding of the ice's location - which pole is the better target - and concentration is key to figuring out where people should establish a permanent foothold. With fuel depots and reusable spacecraft, missions could move to and from the moon regularly to a wide variety of orbits, as compared to the single-purpose missions completed under Apollo. And the technologies needed to harvest resources could be perfected closer to home - days away from Earth rather than the eight-month-distant trip to Mars. The vision now exists on paper, but NASA's budgets, plans and schedules remain vague. The budget outlook assumes NASA will scale back spending on the ISS as soon as 2025, a plan that that has proven unpopular in Congress. NASA for decades has struggled to achieve lofty exploration goals with a budget that is a fraction of the peak Apollo levels - less than half of 1 percent of federal spending, compared to more than 4 percent in the mid-'60s. "A big part of our problem is that unrealistic expectations are out there, both in terms of what can be done and how much it's going to cost to actually accomplish it," said Dan Dumbacher, executive director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, who previously had a leadership role in NASA's under-funded Constellation program. The lack of a driving goal as clear as Apollo's - to beat the Russians - may continue to prove a challenge. "This return to the moon is for practical purposes, scientific, economic and national security goals," said Spudis. "It's much harder to justify that, so it's easy to get distracted and get off track. We're just going to have to wait and see how it's all going to pan out." No one is sure exactly when humans might land on the moon again, or what mix of government and commercial systems might pull it off. Space historian John Logsdon is skeptical that a compelling business case exists for mining lunar resources such that private companies will drive a return to the moon. "I still think (the rationale for going) is because we want to go," he said. "It's still geopolitical." NASA is slowly nearing a first launch of the SLS rocket from Kennedy Space Centerin 2020, with an Orion crew potentially flying around the moon in 2023, and private partnerships being hatched. The progress may seem slow, but still represents momentum toward fulfilling Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan's wish that his boot prints not be the last left in lunar soil. "We're closer to getting back to getting humans on the moon than we've been since 1972," said Logsdon. "There now seems to be political support in both the White House and the Congress for a return to the moon. So I think both technically and politically, we're closer in mid-2018 than we've been in 46 years." Momentum may build as the nation nears 50th anniversary celebrations of Apollo 11 next year, events that Logsdon said "are going to remind us that this is something that we once did, and it was great doing it." https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2018/07/18/nasa-return-moon/789660002/ Back to Top WANT A LEGO JET ENGINE? VOTE NOW! And finally, for your daily bit of fun, Rolls-Royce wants to produce a LEGO brick version of its next-generation UltraFan engine. Simon Burr, director of engineering and technology, hopes that the kit will encourage new engineers. "We hope our LEGO UltraFan captures the imagination of the engineers of today and tomorrow. I'm sure anyone who manages to make all the parts come together will get some sense of the satisfaction we feel when one of our engines runs for the first time." The LEGO engine needs just 1,000 further votes to reach the 10,000-vote threshold that means the manufacturer will consider it for production and sale. More details about the engine can be found on the LEGO website. http://australianaviation.com.au/2018/07/rolls-royce-unveils-robot-prototypes-for-engine-maintenance/ Curt Lewis