September 17, 2018 - No. 073 In This Issue Atlantic County receives $100,000 for its planned aviation maintenance academy Skilled worker, parts shortages still hurting Hornet and Growler maintenance, government watchdog finds Tigerair Australia grounded plane over botched maintenance work Falcon 8X gets new MRO provider in Russia PMA Providers Cautiously Optimistic About New CFM Policies Maintenance license for European planes re-activated Lufthansa to Provide Bombardier MRO in Russia DECENT enables Blockchain for aviation industry Jamia Millia Islamia becomes the first university to offer aeronautics degree Air Force is redesigning oxygen system to protect T-6 pilots SpaceX changes plans to send tourists around the moon Atlantic County receives $100,000 for its planned aviation maintenance academy Atlantic County was awarded a $100,000 state grant to help create its planned aviation and technical academy at the Atlantic City International Airport. The grant was awarded by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority through its Innovation Planning Challenge and is the second grant the county has received from the state in recent months. Last month, the Atlantic County Economic Alliance, or ACEA, was awarded $120,000 to conduct a report that will lay out a full aviation strategy for the Atlantic City airport and the Federal Aviation Administration's William J. Hughes Technical Center in Egg Harbor Township. "This is yet another positive step in the development of an aviation industry that will serve to diversify our regional economy," Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson said in a statement. "These efforts directly correlate with Governor (Phil) Murphy's focus on bringing innovation and technology jobs to New Jersey and his interest in the state reclaiming its prominence as a global leader in innovation." Last October, Atlantic County announced it is partnering with Atlantic Cape Community College to create an aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul training institute at the airport that will train students to fix planes for small and major airlines around the country. Levinson said there is also a possibility of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, which has campuses in Florida, Arizona, Asia, and online, joining the effort to create the academy. Those talks are preliminary. There is no official timetable for the completion of the academy. The program and curriculum are being developed and will include an FAA certification for students. Graduates of the maintenance academy can then theoretically work for the planned aviation maintenance and repair operation or the air cargo operation, both of which will also be located at the airport. Lauren Moore, executive director of the ACEA, said in a recent interview that the training students receive can also be transferrable to other industries already in the county, such as wind energy, locomotive equipment repair and amusement ride repair. "Our vision has grown beyond the development of the National Aviation Research and Technology Park to the creation of an aviation and technology industry triangle that encompasses the Atlantic County aviation district, the Joint Base McGuire-Dix airbase and the Cape May County Airport and Tech Village," Moore said in a statement. " This grant is separate from the aviation bill that was conditionally vetoed by Gov. Phil Murphy last month. Lawmakers can still re-file that bill with Murphy's desired changes, but it again would have to pass the full state Legislature. https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/atlantic-county-receives-for-its-planned-aviation-maintenance-academy/article_f1e3ecd4-709d-5555-a4a5-92a4c25ac8c7.html Back to Top Skilled worker, parts shortages still hurting Hornet and Growler maintenance, government watchdog finds A shortage of skilled workers and repair parts is causing backlogs in maintenance depots for Hornets and Growlers, creating headwinds in the Navy's efforts to put more aircraft in the air, the Government Accountability Office found. The Navy, which is chipping away at a readiness crisis among its fighters and electronic attack aircraft, is being hampered by a lack of skilled workers and capacity, specifically at depots on the West Coast at Whidbey Island, Washington, and Lemoore, California. Furthermore some parts needed to repair the Hornets and Growlers were manufactured by suppliers who have gotten out of the business, significantly slowing the process and forcing the Navy to cannibalize parts on aircraft to offset the delays, the September report found. One challenge pointed out by the GAO is the distance between where aircraft are based and maintained and where parts are repaired for the E/A-18G Growlers. The Growlers, largely based at Whidbey Island, many of the components that need fixing must be repaired at the depots in Lemoore. "However, according to officials, Lemoore's depots have limited capacity to repair these aircraft, creating a maintenance backlog," the report found. The issue of manufacturers getting out of the business was at least in part caused by the Navy's shorting of repair parts accounts during Obama-era budget cuts. A recent study found that between 2011 and 2015, as many as 17,000 suppliers left the defense industry. The Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bill Moran discussed the supplier issues with Defense News in April, saying stable funding should get suppliers to come back into the pool. "Stable funding is critical to an industry that needs stability in programming and budgeting so that they're actively working to make sure they have the capacity to fill the resourcing of parts, spares, consumables and all the things that go with that," Moran said. "If you are going to do 'a couple of these here, a couple of those there,' the vendor base here in the U.S. is not going to want to participate in that. "So when we have down years in funding it makes it really difficult to contract on a timeline that satisfies the fleet's needs. ... That stability is now in the budget. What we now have to see is performance against that stability by our vendor base, by our primes and by our own teams in the fleet." For now, the Navy is doing everything it can to fix the parts shortages with the workers it has in place at the depots, the GOA found. "The Navy's ongoing and planned actions include locating another vendor source, reverse engineering, cannibalizing parts (i.e., removing serviceable parts from one aircraft and installing them in another aircraft), or waiting until the part is available," the report found. Making progress The Navy is making progress in its fight to bring up more jets, which last year had just one in three of its fighters ready to deploy, an issue driven mostly by high operational demand in the fight with ISIS. Today, almost half of the Navy's 546 Super Hornets are considered "mission capable," a sign that the readiness investments made in the Mattis era are beginning to bear fruit. In an Aug. 7 media roundtable, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer told reporters the Navy had been chipping away at long-term down aircraft that had been clogging the aviation maintenance depots. The Navy started 2018 with 241 fully mission capable aircraft, and that number is now at 270, he said. The Navy is also working with Boeing to repair the worst of its hard-worn jets. In May, the Defense Logistics Agency awarded a five-year, $427 million contract for Super Hornet parts and spares to begin working through a backlog of down jets. Boeing also recently inducted of the first Super Hornet into a service life extension program that will eventually see Boeing working on 40 to 50 F/A-18s per year in its facilities in St. Louis, Missouri, and San Antonio, Texas. That program will fix Hornets in the worst condition. The Navy is also adding new Super Hornets to the mix. The President's 2019 budget request included 110 new Super Hornets planned across the five-year future-year defense plan. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/09/15/skilled-worker-parts-shortages-still-hurting-hornet-and-growler-maintenance-government-watchdog-finds/ Back to Top Tigerair Australia grounded plane over botched maintenance work Budget airline Tigerair Australia grounded one of its jets for three weeks last month after it flew back to Australia from maintenance work in the Philippines with serious undetected faults. The incident has prompted parent company Virgin Australia to end all maintenance work at the facility owned by Singapore Airlines - which owns 20 per cent of Virgin - and has raised questions about Tigerair's and the air safety regulator's oversight of offshore maintenance work. Tigerair flew one of its three Boeing 737s to Clark International Airport near the Filipino city of Angeles on July 17 to undergo heavy maintenance work. The jet returned to Melbourne with only crew on board two weeks later, on July 31, and Tigerair engineers discovered that a modification to the plane's cargo bay smoke evacuation system had been installed incorrectly. The work was akin to the skills of a "home handyman", according to Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association federal secretary Steve Purvinas, with unsecured components and wires connected to the wrong terminals. The fault required extensive repair work followed by testing, which meant the jet was sitting idle in Melbourne for three weeks and forced the airline - which only has 15 planes - to cancel some services. Another fault was discovered before the plane's first service flight on August 22, when crew found a flight attendant's seatbelt was not properly bolted to the seat. "What concerns us most is other latent defects, hidden now, but waiting to resurface at 30,000 feet," Mr Purvinas said. "They didn't know about the seatbelts - what else don't they know?" Tigerair's head of engineering Rob Furber said the company had conducted an "extensive review" of the work done in the Philippines both before and after the aircraft returned to service. "Tigerair has stringent safety management and standard operating procedures in place," Mr Furber said. The safety of our aircraft, passengers and crew is always our highest priority and will never be compromised." The plane did not take any passengers before the fault was discovered and fixed, the airline said. Tigerair found out about the smoke extractor defect when it was investigating a fault in the cockpit flight recording system, which led engineers to discover the botched wiring. Tigerair's two other 737s have undergone work at Singapore Airlines' Philippines facility since June, and the Virgin Group has been using the facility for close to two years, but that relationship has been ended after the deficient work carried out on the aircraft. Aviation analysts and consultant Neil Hansford said the incident raised questions about Tigerair's oversight of its offshore maintenance. "If there was an [Tiger] engineer there, he should lose his licence," he said. "This is the sort of stuff that would cause CASA, if it had balls, to review the engineering approvals of the airline." Overseas maintenance providers need to be certified by Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority, and the regulator told Fairfax Media it was aware of the "maintenance matters" at Tigerair. CASA was working with the airline and the provider, SIA Engineering Philippines (SIAEP), to "ensure that the high standards of Australian aviation safety are maintained", a spokeswoman said. The SIAEP facility was due to be audited by CASA this year, and the authority has conducted three on-site audits there since 2014, she said. But Mr Purvinas, from the engineers' union, said CASA had recently moved to a new system that used a computer algorithm to determine when a provider should be audited, which had resulted in fewer checks. CASA said it was on track to deliver an overall annual increase of surveillance and associated oversight activities this year. A spokeswoman for SIAEP said the company was "working closely with Tigerair Australia to understand the issues reported on one of their Boeing 737 aircraft". "SIAEC has performed 10 maintenance checks this year on other Tigerair Australia aircraft at our Philippines facilities, all of which have been completed to the highest standards," she said. In 2011, before Virgin bought the airline from its Singaporean owners, CASA grounded the entire Tiger Airways fleet for more then five weeks over lax safety standards. It is common for airlines to send their aircraft offshore or to third parties for maintenance. Qantas, for instance, does some of its wide-body heavy maintenance at its own facility in Los Angeles, and at a third-party facility in Hong Kong. The Virgin Group has been loss-making for six consecutive years and its Tigerair division has been particularly challenged, running at a $24 million loss last year. Tigerair is in the process of converting its 15-strong fleet from Airbus to Boeing aircraft. https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/tigerair-australia-grounded-plane-over-botched-maintenance-work-20180911-p502zm.html Back to Top Falcon 8X gets new MRO provider in Russia Tatarstan-based airline UVT-Aero has had its maintenance engineers attend special training courses in France to provide services for the Dassault Falcon 8X, a popular model of the business jet in Russia. The company is already performing maintenance work on this type, supporting the aircraft operated by Aeroservice since May. "We provide technical support for this aircraft under the contract terms," said UVT-Aero's chief executive Petr Trubaev at the regional business aviation forum in Kazan. The continuous airworthiness division of UVT-Aero has been offering MRO services for the new aircraft type since May of this year. The carrier's technical division is also approved to provide maintenance on the Falcon 7X, smaller sibling of the 8X. Apart from Dassault bizjets, the company is also certified to work with other aircraft types, including helicopters. Additionally, UVT-Aero sees potential in providing MRO services for Ansat light helicopters. As of today, it has signed maintenance contracts involving four rotorcraft of the type (two of the helicopters are based in Kirovsk and perform medevac flights, the others are home-ported in Kostroma and Kazan). The company is able to provide maintenance services at its site - and can also delegate engineers to the customer's premises. Another contract for 10 more aircraft is currently under consideration. When commenting on the overall current situation regarding the business jet MRO market, a source of the Show Observer insisted that, 'psychological reasons' has in the past led aircraft owners to prefer foreign MRO providers. But UVT-Aero is striving to dismantle this stereotypical thinking by proving that the quality of MRO services in Russia is by no means worse - and is available at more affordable prices. In general, the carrier sees that the business aviation sector in Russia is reviving and will continue to grow. UVT-Aero's MRO division is EASA Part 145, FAP-285, OTAR Part 145, OTAR-39 certified and is approved to provide both scheduled and AOG maintenance, as well as supply spare parts for foreign- and Russian-built aircraft. http://www.rusaviainsider.com/falcon-8x-mro-provider-russia/ Back to Top PMA Providers Cautiously Optimistic About New CFM Policies The settlement between CFM International and IATA on treatment of PMA parts and DER repairs continues to elicit optimism, along with some important questions, among providers of engine PMAs. Their hope is that the agreement sets a path forward for more OEMs and the leasing firms that are crucial in determining actual PMA use. "This is a significant win for alternate solution providers like Wencor Group," argues Senior Marketing Manager Raisa Ferdinand. "This agreement removes significant OEM-imposed restrictions on the use of alternate part solutions." Ferdinand believes CFM will apply the more PMA-tolerant policies across its engine types, and CFM-partner GE will do so as well. Thus, an airline using a PMA part or DER repair will be able to have engine maintenance performed at a shop licensed by CFM or GE Aviation. She says these PMA and DER alternatives can range from very simple hardware to complex bearings and blades. Another gain in the settlement is no longer denying warranties or access to manuals if a PMA part is used. Ferdinand notes these restrictive penalties have not been confined to CFM and GE. Thus, "this landmark settlement has significant implications for all aspects of the alternate parts business outside of just CFM and GE." Wencor's alternate part solutions are less common in engine cores and more common in systems and accessories that attach to engines, such as the internal drive generators and starters. The company has been distributing the settlement terms to its current and possible future customers. "Wencor is excited about the agreement and is looking forward to supplying part solutions that compete based on value propositions and significant savings for customers," Ferdinand says. Nadim Fattaleh, vice president of business development at Jet Parts Engineering, also believes that CFM and GE will now follow the same, more tolerant policies toward PMA parts and DER repairs. And Jet Parts has already begun to receive request for quotes on parts that are alternatives to CFM parts from customers who have not historically accepted test-and-computation PMAs for CFM engines. "Ultimately, buying behavior depends on customers' interpretations of the agreement between themselves, IATA and CFM and GE," Fattaleh acknowledges. "Having said that, we are optimistic that more opportunities will open up for customers to save on the material portion of their maintenance costs." Fattaleh is worried, however, by clarifying comments made by Bill Dwyer, GE Aviation Services marketing leader, on September 13. Even though FAA approves the use of engine manuals to determine airworthiness during the certification of PMAs and DERs, Dwyer said GE and CFMI will continue to allow MROs under their influence to use these manuals to determine airworthiness only for OEM, but not for non-OEM parts, encountered during overhauls. "This anti-competitive strategy forces their customers to seek alternative ways to obtain 8130-3s, resulting in additional costs and longer turnaround times," Fattaleh says. In any event, Jet Parts believes that CFM's acceptance of PMAs and DERs will influence the other OEMs as well. GE already plans to follow the same policies as CFM. The whole negotiation began when IATA filed a complaint with EU antitrust regulators in 2016 charging CFM and Honeywell with anti-competitive maintenance contracts. "We would expect Honeywell to follow CMF's lead in the near future," Fattaleh says. But Honeywell spokesperson Steve Brecken says, "Honeywell believes that our practices are fair and in compliance with all relevant laws. We have and will continue to cooperate with the European Commission's preliminary inquiry." Due to the relationship between GE and GECAS, Jet Parts also believes that aircraft financiers, such as lessors, debt providers and capital markets, will see the value and benefit of reduced maintenance costs from PMAs and DERs. "More global acceptance of PMAs and DERs will minimize any hit to financiers' balance sheets that results in a reduced book valuation of assets that utilize alternative parts, including aircraft, engines and components," Fattaleh says. https://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/pma-providers-cautiously-optimistic-about-new-cfm-policies Back to Top Maintenance license for European planes re-activated KUWAIT: Kuwait Airways announced recently receiving a decision from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to re-activate its maintenance license for European aircrafts, which was suspended by the agency since last April 19th."The decision to lift the suspension came after an inspection tour conducted by EASA on the main maintenance base at Kuwait International Airport and a number of external stations where the company performs aircraft maintenance services," Yosif Al-Jassem, Kuwait Airways Chairman, said in a statement. Jassem added that the inspection tour conducted by EASA officials affirmed on Kuwait Airways' commitment to implementing laws and decisions in regulating aircraft maintenance procedures and maintaining its safety. Jassem also pointed out that all procedures, records of the company, its employees, and equipment were under scrutiny by the inspection agency. Jassem noted that the decision to lift the suspension in less than five months indicates the dedication of Kuwait Airways employees in their service, which would enable the company to maintain a high-ranking position, excellence, and its commitment to safety of its procedures. Jassem stressed importance on Kuwait Airways keenness to implement all international maintenance requirements and safety of aircrafts, as well as keeping pace with the latest procedures to ensure the safety of aircrafts and operations. Meanwhile, Kuwait Airways announced that passenger seats' booking on its flights from Rafic Al-Hariri Airport (Beirut International Airport) to Kuwait International Airport reached 95 percent in August compared to 82 percent same month last year. Abdullah Al-Huwailah, the airline's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a press statement that the rates were 82 percent in July against 70 percent in July 2017. As to the flights with Egypt and Turkey, the proportion soared to 100 percent, As with Jordan, it stood at 80 percent. Kuwait Airways organizes 11 flights per week between Kuwait and Lebanon, he said, adding that the passengers' booking would remain high next week. - KUNA http://news.kuwaittimes.net/website/maintenance-license-for-european-planes-re-activated/ Back to Top Lufthansa to Provide Bombardier MRO in Russia Bombardier has added Lufthansa's Bombardier Aviation Services (LBAS) facility in Moscow to its worldwide service network. LBAS Moscow, located at Vnukovo International Airport, will now be a Bombardier line maintenance Authorized Service Facility and official parts provider for Russia. The facility will provide support for Bombardier's Learjet, Challenger and Global aircraft in the region. It will also procure parts and arrange for their customs clearance and transportation to the facility to ensure immediate availability of required parts. According to LBAS, the facility has a seamless parts supply system that benefits customers through reduced downtime. LBAS Moscow currently offers full-scale line maintenance services, performance of warranty work and AOG services to owners and operators of Bombardier aircraft within the region. The facility also has a local stock of high demand parts. LBAS Moscow will join a handful of other Bombardier Authorized Service Facilities in Russia, including Jet Aviation-also at Vnukovo-and Tulpar Technic at Kazan International Airport. LBAS' other location is in Berlin, Germany. The company is a joint venture between Lufthansa Technik, Bombardier Aerospace and the ExecuJet Aviation Group. https://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/lufthansa-provide-bombardier-mro-russia Back to Top DECENT enables Blockchain for aviation industry GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - DECENT is officially announcing 3IPK - a decentralized application for the aviation industry. 3IPK is a project dedicated to automating certification control, airworthiness, supply chain and maintenance processes for aerospace, automotive, defense and nuclear sectors, all by developing blockchain-based digital solutions. In recent years, there have been many discussions about the real-world use cases of blockchain technology and distributed ledgers. With DCore, DECENT's proprietary blockchain ecosystem, 3IPK aims to mitigate problems regarding the tracking, authentication and verification process of the supply chain. By using a feature called 'Smart Dust' fingerprinting, 3IPK will secure real-time tracking, allowing producers to keep track of all parts moving through the supply chain. DECENT and 3IPK claim that this would result in an efficiency increase, eliminating unnecessary costs and ensuring transparency and safety. According to 3IPK's CEO, Maria Capova, the issue arises when parts from deep supply chains are sourced from all around the world, while complying to stringent regulation processes and potentially risky material authentications, resulting in large overhead costs The Founder and CEO of DECENT, Matej Michalko, observed the current situation in the aviation industry in his personal blog a few weeks ago. He claims a situation like this can also cause many time constraints, with weak traceability output, and may even become a safety hazard if the authentication and verification processes are not enforced enough. After discussion with DECENT, the board of directors member at 3IPK, Juraj Zamecnik, together with the CEO, Maria Capova, came to a conclusion that DECENT's DCore platform could resolve the issues above. Mr Zamecnik is an experienced engineer with a background in Aeronautical and Nuclear Systems Engineering and Aviation Business Development. In addition to that, by implementing certification originality control, and therefore enhancing security and reducing costs, 3IPK will offer aviation suppliers a set of rules, accelerating payment and settling processes for the supply chain, making them, in the end, also safer. Using DECENT's latest version of DCore, 3IPK wishes to implement a complex supplier management system for the aviation industry as soon as possible. https://www.traveldailynews.com/post/decent-enables-blockchain-for-aviation-industry Back to Top Jamia Millia Islamia becomes the first university to offer aeronautics degree New Delhi: Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has become the first and the only Central University in the country, which is running B.Sc. Aeronautics course. It is offering a three-year B.Sc. (Aeronautics) degree in collaboration with Pawan Hans Limited (PHL) the country's national helicopter company. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the academic collaboration was signed last year by A.P. Siddiqui, the JMI registrar, and T. Sridhar, PHL executive director (HR and administration), in the presence of JMI vice-chancellor Talat Ahmad and PHL chairman-cum-managing director B.P. Sharma, JMI pro vice-chancellor Shahid Ashraf, deans, faculty members and senior officials from the two sides. B.Sc. (Aeronautics) will be a dual degree course in which the graduation degree will be awarded by JMI and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will issue certificate in aircraft maintenance engineering. Classes have started at the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) this week. New classrooms, state-of-the-art laboratory and workshops have been set up for this course at JMI. To teach mechanical and avionics aspects, a hanger for airframe and engine with a battery shop has also been developed. The theoretical aspects of the course will be taught at the Faculty of Engineering, JMI while the practical training part will be provided at PHL facilities. Students will have firsthand experience of how helicopters and aeroplane works. They will also be taught the intricacies of aircraft maintenance. https://www.siasat.com/news/jamia-millia-islamia-becomes-first-university-offer-aeronautics-degree-1406778/ Back to Top Air Force is redesigning oxygen system to protect T-6 pilots The Air Force will redesign and adjust oxygen control levels in T-6 Texan II cockpits to curb problems suffered by pilots flying the training aircraft, according to Air Education and Training Command. The service grounded its T-6 fleet Feb. 1 after instructor- and student-pilots at several bases suffered hypoxia-like symptoms, which can occur when pilots are deprived of oxygen. The operational pause was lifted Feb. 27. Thirteen unexplained physiological events were traced to the On-Board Oxygen Generating System, or OBOGS, which will undergo more maintenance and eventually be replaced, according to an AETC statement issued Friday. Varying levels of oxygen inside the cockpits was a major factor behind the incidents, according to AETC commander Lt. Gen. Steve Kwast. Those variations, which in some cases gave pilots more oxygen than they needed, caused physiological stress. While most pilots were not impacted by the fluctuations, some suffered symptoms similar to hypoxia, hypocapnia - caused by reduced carbon dioxide - or other similar conditions, Kwast said. The team investigating the incidents included experts from AETC, Air Force Material Command, NASA and the Navy, which also uses the T-6 to train its pilots. They conducted multiple inspections and discovered that the OBOGS filter and drain valves were failing at a rate much higher than anticipated, the statement said. AETC and AFMC are now redesigning the T-6 OBOGS system, which is expected to take between two and four years, the statement said. In the meantime, airmen are working with the aircraft manufacturer to create a software algorithm that will stabilize cockpit oxygen concentrations, the statement added. New maintenance procedures and inspection timelines, and additional pilot training were also introduced to prevent future issues. "Since our T-6 operational pause, we have made every effort to communicate with every instructor and every student exactly what we've found," Maj. Gen. Patrick Doherty, 19th Air Force commander, said in the statement. "Transparency remains of utmost importance to us as we all work together to ensure that our pilots are safe and know the way ahead." The grounding slowed training for the Air Force, which is facing a deficit of about 2,000 pilots amid competition from commercial aviation. Some trainees were transferred to T-38 Talon and T-1 Jayhawk trainers, which prepare pilots to fly fighters, bombers, airlifters and refueling aircraft. https://www.stripes.com/news/air-force-is-redesigning-oxygen-system-to-protect-t-6-pilots-1.547445 Back to Top SpaceX changes plans to send tourists around the moon SpaceX said it has signed the first private moon traveler, with some changes to its original game plan. The big reveal on who it is - and when the flight to the moon will be - will be announced Monday at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, California. It's not the same mission SpaceX founder Elon Musk outlined last year. The original plan called for two paying passengers to fly around the moon this year, using a Falcon Heavy rocket and a Dragon crew capsule. At the time, Musk said the pair approached SpaceX about sending them on a weeklong flight and paid a "significant" deposit for the trip. The new strategy is to still fly around the moon, but using an even bigger SpaceX rocket still in development that has its own dedicated passenger ship. And now, it appears there will be only one person aboard. Given that this new BFR rocket, as it's dubbed, has yet to be built, the flight presumably is at least a few years off. SpaceX put out the teaser via Twitter late Thursday, and Musk also tweeted out the news. Company representatives declined to offer additional details Friday. Musk's ultimate goal is to colonize Mars. This lunar mission - a flyby, not a landing - represents "an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of traveling to space," SpaceX said in a tweet. On its website, SpaceX is touting the "first passenger on lunar BFR mission," implying there will be more. It would be humanity's first lunar visit since 1972. Twenty-four NASA astronauts flew to the moon from 1968 through 1972, and only 12 of them strolled its dusty surface. Next July will mark the 50th anniversary of the first manned moon landing by Apollo 11's Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/14/spacex-changes-plans-to-send-tourists-around-the-moon.html Curt Lewis