Flight Safety Information - July 1, 2021 No. 131 In This Issue : Incident: IrAero SU95 at Blagoveschenk on Jul 1st 2021, gear problem on departure : Incident: Aeroflot A333 at Moscow on Jun 30th 2021, rejected takeoff due to hydraulic overheat : Incident: UTAir AN74 at Timbuktu on Jun 28th 2021, burst tyre on landing : The New Era of Aviation Safety: Cognitive Science : Pilot’s error in judgment caused T-38 mishap in February, investigation finds : Man breaks leg after jumping from airplane during takeoff : Korean Air’s Merger Plan With Asiana Airlines Has Been Finalized : Alaska Airlines, Qatar strike codeshare deal : Meringue-like material offers lightweight soundproofing for aircraft engines : Pilots in demand as airline industry struggles to keep up : Bombardier Announces Its Largest Business Jet Order of the Year – 10 Aircraft Worth $451.8 Million U.S. : University Researchers Turn Plastic into Jet-A : Nasa to make space more equal for women by changing astronaut radiation exposure limits : SpaceX delivers 88 satellites to orbit, lands first stage onshore for first time in 2021 : Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit launches 7 satellites from 747 jet Incident: IrAero SU95 at Blagoveschenk on Jul 1st 2021, gear problem on departure An IrAero Sukhoi SU-100-95, registration RA-89034 performing flight RD-315 from Blagoveschenk to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Russia), was climbing out of Blagoveschensk's runway 36 when the crew stopped the climb at FL120 reporting they could not retract the landing gear. The aircraft returned to Balgoveschensk for a safe landing on runway 36 about 35 minutes after departure. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e9ae9e4&opt=0 Incident: Aeroflot A333 at Moscow on Jun 30th 2021, rejected takeoff due to hydraulic overheat An Aeroflot Airbus A330-300, registration VQ-BNS performing flight SU-1116 from Moscow Sheremetyevo to Sochi (Russia), was accelerating for takeoff from Sheremetyevo's runway 24C when the crew rejected takeoff at low speed (about 30 knots over ground) after an indication "HYD G RSVR OVHT" had activated. The aircraft returned to the apron. A replacement A330-300 registration VP-BDE reached Sochi with a delay of 3:25 hours. Rosaviatsia reported the aircraft vacated the runway, stopped, shut the engines down and was towed to the apron. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e9ae87d&opt=0 Incident: UTAir AN74 at Timbuktu on Jun 28th 2021, burst tyre on landing A UTAir Antonov AN-74 on behalf of United Nations, registration RA-74032 performing flight UNO-51P from Bamako to Timbuktu (Mali), landed on Timbuktu's runway when during the roll out the left forward tyre of the left main gear burst. The aircraft came to a stop on the runway and was towed off the runway. Rosaviatsia reported post flight examination revealed damage to the wheel disc and the tyre. There had been no faults during the flight until after touch down. http://avherald.com/h?article=4e9ae63f&opt=0 The New Era of Aviation Safety: Cognitive Science Rarely do complex questions have a simple answer. Rarely do problems have an isolated cause. While a Boeing study found that 80 percent of accidents occur because of human error, the reasons behind those errors are hard to isolate and not subject to simple analysis. The rising number of experts in the field of human factors clearly indicates that the aviation industry is trying to problem-solve, but a deeper analysis might be beneficial. Many technologies were put in place to eradicate specific human errors—for example, emergency descent mode (EDM) to shield against another Payne Stewart accident or geosynchronous overlay on approach charts to protect against a future Cali, Colombia disaster where the crew lost situational awareness close to the ground. Technological advancements continue to focus on safety and indeed have enhanced safety for general aviation to air carrier operations. Improvements range from airframe parachutes to new surveillance tools like ADS-B. Predictive weather radar and combined vision systems are pushing the envelope even further to enhance safety. To meet the demands of the evolving technological improvements, human factors experts have focused on human-to-machine integration. This new age of aviation safety began with warnings about the dangers of the “children of the magenta” or pilots relying too heavily on automation. Despite all these technological advancements, human error remains the most-cited cause of accidents. In many regards, pilots have been trained as if they were machines; we are trained to react both mentally and physically without conscious processing in an emergency. But in emergencies or other high-stress situations that require conscious processing, we’ve adopted tools such as the crew resource management (CRM) model to use all available information to maximize safety and efficiency. Along with CRM, pilots have aeronautical decision making (ADM) and threat and error management (TEM) in their human factors toolbox. Decade after decade we saw a new aviation safety process emerge as some extension of or augmentation to the previous model. What if there’s a better way? What if staying in this line of linear growth and layer after layer of new safety processes and tools blinded us to the ontological pivot necessary to analyze human error organically and responsively? It is time for the industry to take an interdisciplinary approach for a more comprehensive proactive safety system with cognitive processing as its fulcrum. When we put cognitive processing to work, we don’t just acquire knowledge; we build on that knowledge and gain insights that allow us to look at a problem by consciously merging input from a variety of sources to turn information into suitable action. OUR ‘THREE BRAINS’ AND SMS The human brain is an impressive and complex sorting machine. It receives 11 million bits of information per second but processes only about 40 bits per second. This means that 99.99 percent of the information we receive, we cannot process consciously. To catalog incoming data more quickly, part of the brain makes mental models and forms shortcuts, some of which enact cognitive biases. These biases were important for our evolution in moments of time-pressured decision-making: house cat or saber tooth tiger, friend or foe. We’ll think about this functionality as our primitive brain. Consider the three brains that collectively make up the human brain: The primitive brain keeps us alive by triggering the fight, flight, or freeze response. The emotional brain is home to memories and experiences. It’s a blank slate that is programmed based on our assumptions, beliefs, and experiences. This part of our brain helps us have empathy for others, but it also might make us act irrationally or emotionally when triggered. The thinking brain is the higher-level processing part of our brain responsible for problem-solving. This is where creativity comes from. We do our best work from our thinking brain. The brain can help us be critical thinkers and brilliant innovators and allows us to have empathy for others. It can also make us perpetuate antiquated models and outdated stereotypes when operating on overly simplified prototypes. It depends on which part of the brain you’re operating in, and this impacts your safety culture. IS YOUR PRIMITIVE BRAIN HURTING YOUR SAFETY CULTURE? The primitive brain is an impressive (and not always accurate) cataloging engine that is always on high lookout for potential danger or threat. Over the past few centuries, and especially in Western modernity, our perception of threat has shifted from predominantly physical to primarily mental. These mental threats activate the same fight, flight, or freeze response, triggering us to use cognitive shortcuts or biases in our decision-making. These shortcuts prevent us from seeing the full frame of human error while also impacting our decision-making process. Similarly, our response to perceived mental threats inhibits us from viewing the system comprehensively and limits our potential to problem-solve. Understanding how our biases impact others and how we are impacted when we perceive bias against us directly affects safety. Our ability to communicate, our likelihood of self-reporting, and our view of a just culture within our safety management system (SMS) are all impacted by cognitive biases. A Harvard Business Review study found that employees who perceived bias against them at work were more likely to disengage from work, leaving them feeling angry and less proud of their organization. Additionally, these employees were three times more likely to quit their job within the year. There’s a deterrent to safety in a micro view (within the attitudes of individuals at the organization) and in a macro view of low retention rates. It also has a direct impact on your organization’s safety culture. To avoid operating in our primitive brain (which throws our thinking brain offline), we need to feel that we are secure and not under threat. Psychological safety is the amount of relational trust one feels in his or her environment. It means feeling comfortable to speak up, admit mistakes, and be your authentic self. It also means a safer employee and safer organization because it creates an environment where relationships are rooted in trust. With a high level of psychological safety, the team has a sense of belonging and inclusion. This builds trust, which is fundamental to an organization’s SMS as it directly impacts an employee’s willingness to self-report, the unpinning of an effective proactive safety program. Proactive safety is highly dependent on the individuals within an organization. To elicit a collaborative approach to safety, there must be a strong culture of self-reporting and an intrinsically just culture throughout the organization. This type of proactive safety requires a high level of psychological safety. OVERCOMING THE GAP IN HUMAN FACTORS There is a gap in aviation safety. That gap is how to build trust, how to increase psychological safety, and how to promote a positive safety culture. Our industry uses a host of data-driven approaches to enhance safety (ASIAS, FOQA, and ASAP are examples) but we have little academic research on the impact of cognitive biases on organizational safety culture. I aim to resolve this gap through doctoral research. Indirectly, the industry already has the regulatory requirement and justification for the expansion of human factors training. Now the FAA requires Part 121 operators to develop and implement an SMS program (14 CFR Part 5), and it’s a matter of time before it’s required throughout the whole industry (much like the history of CRM). Once an SMS program is established, indicators of compliance and performance include training personnel on “non-technical skills with the intent of reducing human error” (ICAO Annex 19 component 4). The rationalization for the expansion of human factors training resides within the very structure of the system itself. The safety promotion pillar requires training, communication, and actionable progress on enhancing a positive safety culture. The safety policy pillar obligates senior management to commit to the constant improvement of safety. It is, inarguably, the accountable executive and safety officer’s responsibility to find ways of enhancing safety through positive safety culture promotion initiatives. This compels us to ask the same question: how? I advocate that the industry needs aviation-specific, academically derived cognitive bias research, which will provide the structured foundation for a formal expansion of human factors training to include elements such as emotional intelligence, psychological safety, inclusive leadership, and cognitive biases training as an approach to enhance safety culture. The neuroplasticity of our brains allows us to reframe how we think to have more control over our decision-making process. We can use self-awareness to pause and examine whether our brains are operating from the primitive or emotional parts or whether we are operating in our thinking brain. This process actually builds new neural pathways, and it becomes a habit. We can leverage this neuroplasticity to create new pathways of mitigating operating on negative biases. In the ways that we’ve all been trained to recognize and intervene in the accident chain, the same principles apply here. We recognize a pattern and we’re able to stop it. But that requires awareness and training. If human error is the problem, the new era of aviation safety must begin with a granular analysis of cognitive processing. We cannot enhance safety without a better understanding of our cognitive biases and their impact on flight deck safety and organizational safety culture. An interdisciplinary research approach will target this pervasive safety gap to reduce human error and enhance the effectiveness of an organization’s SMS. Contemporary cognitive science research is the new era of aviation safety. We can no longer afford to sit back passively in our zone, waiting for research in human factors to be done in other fields (refracted through their institutional logics) before taking it up and grafting it into aviation safety systems. For cognitive science research to accurately inform aviation, someone within the industry needs to be in the “flight deck” navigating the research. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2021-07-01/new-era-aviation-safety-cognitive-science Pilot’s error in judgment caused T-38 mishap in February, investigation finds An Air Force pilot with the 9th Reconnaissance Wing crashed a T-38A Talon trainer jet earlier this year when they raised the plane’s landing gear too early during takeoff, according to an accident investigation report published Tuesday. The pilot, a member of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron at Beale Air Force Base, California, was practicing a touch-and-go landing with an instructor at nearby Sacramento Mather Airport on the morning of Feb. 18. In touch-and-go drills, an aircraft briefly touches down on a runway before climbing back into the sky, circling around, and repeating the maneuver. Landing gears should be retracted when a plane is “definitely airborne” and continuously climbing, according to the report. As the pilot started to ascend, he raised the landing gear, felt the aircraft sink and put the wheels down again. He felt the jet rising again, pointed the nose up and retracted the landing gear. But the airman relied on his gut feeling rather than flight controls to judge whether they were far enough above the ground to pull up the landing gear, and raised it too early, investigators said. “The [pilot] incorrectly perceived that the [aircraft] had established a positive climb rate following the second touch-and-go landing attempt,” the report said. “This misperception led him to raise the landing gear lever after feeling that the [aircraft] had begun to climb away from the runway.” The jet dipped lower than the pilot thought, and the instructor noticed the landing gear seesawing while the jet sank toward the runway, the report said. The teacher grabbed the flight control stick and throttles to try to keep the T-38A airborne. Still, the plane skidded down the runway on its belly for nearly 4,000 feet and caught fire in the right landing gear bay. Both passengers in the two-seat aircraft escaped uninjured. Each was an experienced pilot in the U-2 Dragon Lady and the T-38A, which the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron uses to prepare airmen to fly the U-2. The accident cost more than $3 million, the Air Force said. “The mishap event occurred during a basic mission profile with experienced aircrew, favorable conditions and no aircraft system problems that contributed to the mishap,” the report added. Four people have died in T-38 accidents in the past year and a half, including one incident in November 2019 at Vance AFB, Oklahoma, and another on Feb. 19 at the Alabama Air National Guard’s Dannelly Field. https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2021/06/30/pilots-error-in-judgment-caused-t-38-mishap-in-february-investigation-finds/ Man breaks leg after jumping from airplane during takeoff Travelers at Los Angeles International Airport. On Friday, a passenger opened the door of a plane as it was taxiing away from the gate area and jumped out. Faces 20 years in prison after reported panic attack A passenger aboard a flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Salt Lake City broke his leg last week after jumping from the emergency exit of the plane during takeoff, according to reports. Luis Antonio Victoria Dominguez of La Paz, Mexico, allegedly tried to break into the airplane’s cockpit Friday before the leaping onto the tarmac during takeoff and claimed to have been under the influence of methamphetamine, reports said. The 33-year-old man, who has since undergone surgery to his right leg, is now expected to appear in federal court this week on a charge of interference with a flight crew and faces 20 years in prison if convicted. Dominguez reportedly arrived in Los Angeles last Tuesday from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, according to a criminal complaint released Monday by the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, which shed light on the events that led up to the bizarre incident on June 25. Dominguez told the FBI that his ultimate destination was Salt Lake City, but lacking a connecting flight, he said he spent the night at a hotel in downtown Los Angeles, where he drank several beers and met someone who sold him “a lot” of crystal meth for $20. The next day, he smoked more of the drugs and decided to fly to Utah instead of taking a bus, but then began wandering aimlessly throughout the night and wound up missing the flight. On Friday, he missed a second flight but was rescheduled to board United Airlines Flight 5365, operated by SkyWest Airlines, to Salt Lake City, The Associated Press reported. Dominguez took his seat and began to doze as he “was coming down from all the drugs he had used the last couple of days,” the complaint says. A female passenger sitting next to Dominguez later told authorities that the man kept looking around nervously and fidgeting. The two were exchanging small talk when he leaned over and whispered to her that he needed to get off the plane and was going to jump out. “I’m serious,” he said. Dominguez, however, told the FBI that he panicked after hearing other passengers joking about the plane flying to an unexpected destination, the complaint says. Around 7 p.m. Dominguez “sprinted” toward a flight attendant at the front of the aircraft and said he wasn’t feeling well and desperately needed to get off the plane. The flight attendant told him the plane was about to take off and a struggle ensued, the complaint says. From there, Dominguez allegedly pounded on the locked cockpit door and tried to pry it open it as the pilots on the other side were perplexed by the commotion but continued to prepare for takeoff. Dominguez failed to access the cockpit, but did manage to wrench open the exit door and the emergency slide deployed as the flight attendant called out to the pilots to stop the plane, prosecutors allege. But the aircraft began rolling away from the gate as Dominguez struggled with a passenger who also tried to restrain him, AP reported. Dominguez broke away and leaped out of the door. He missed the emergency slide and broke his right leg after landing hard on the tarmac. He was trying to crawl away from the plane when authorities moved in and placed him under arrest. https://www.ajc.com/news/man-breaks-leg-after-jumping-from-airplane-during-takeoff/XJYDXKX3KJHJBJC6FXSHUF335E/ Korean Air’s Merger Plan With Asiana Airlines Has Been Finalized Korean Air has finalized its post-merger plans with former rival Asiana Airlines. The plan got approval from the government-run Korean Development Bank, clearing the way for the merger to continue. However, there remain several more steps before the two carriers merger is complete. Cleared In a statement today, Korean Air announced that it has finalized post-merger integration (PMI) plans with Asiana Airlines. The decision comes after the plan passed the muster of the state-owned Korean Development Bank (KDB), which oversees the restructuring of major companies. The PMI was submitted on March 17th, five months after Korean Air confirmed its acquisition of Asiana. After three months of scrutiny by the KDB, the plan has been approved and clears the way for the two airlines to streamline their operations. Details about the PMI are currently under wraps. However, Korean has confirmed that it includes a merger of the two full-service airlines and their low-cost arms. This means Korean-owned Jin Air and Asiana-owned Air Busan and Air Seoul could all be combined into one mega-low-cost airline under the PMI. The integration will see changes to the holding company structures to maintain accordance with the Fair Trade Act. Employee succession, union agreements, and reorganization of subsidiaries have all also been finalized by the airlines. Long way to go While Korean Air and Asiana finalize their post-merger plans, scrutiny from global regulators remains underway. The merger requires the approval of competition authorities of the US, European Union, China, and Japan before proceeding. Moreover, South Korea’s own competition regulator is yet to greenlight the deal amid time for more studies. Considering the merger marks the combination of the two biggest Korean airlines, questions have been raised around fare hikes and a possible monopoly in the region. According to Business Korea, the Korean Fair Trade Commission has extended a contract to study the economic impact of the merger, especially on price increases. For instance, on routes to Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Sydney, and more, the merged carrier would have a monopoly. Lawmakers are urging a review given the potential of fares to rise three-fold due to the merger. However, Korean Air insists that it will not make discretionary price increases regardless of the market status. On track The acceptance of the PMI means that the Korean-Asiana merger remains on track to be completed by 2024. While the purchase itself will occur next year (assuming regulatory approval), the full integration will take a further two years. Indeed, the idea of a joint Korean Air and Asiana would have been shocking before the pandemic. However, given the tumultuous change over the last year, we could have a new mega-airline in Asia in the coming years. https://simpleflying.com/korean-air-asiana-air-merger/ Alaska Airlines, Qatar strike codeshare deal In a later phase, Alaska passengers will be able to connect on all Qatar flights to Doha and onward. Photo Credit: Qatar Airways Alaska Airlines and Qatar Airways have reached a codeshare agreement that in the near term expands Qatar's reach in North America and ultimately will expand Alaska's international reach. The agreement lets Qatar passengers connect on more than 150 of Alaska's routes, including Las Vegas, San Diego, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Denver, San Jose, Anchorage, Vancouver and Portland, Ore., from Alaska's hubs in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. In a later phase, Alaska passengers will be able to connect on all Qatar flights to Doha and onward on Qatar's global connections from the Doha hub. Alaska and Qatar late last year announced a partnership through which their respective loyalty program members could earn miles on the other carrier's flights, in conjunction with Qatar's announcement that it was adding service to Seattle. That expanded to include elite benefits reciprocity when Alaska officially joined Oneworld earlier this year. Alaska Airlines also confirmed this week that it would end on Oct. 6 service between Los Angeles and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. The route, which Alaska inherited when it acquired Virgin America, has become increasingly competitive in terms of premium-class offerings, particularly as competitors have added more lie-flat seat options on the route. Alaska will use those JFK slots to add frequencies to other West Coast destinations. https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Airline-News/Alaska-Qatar-codeshare Meringue-like material offers lightweight soundproofing for aircraft engines Hush, hush: Michele Meo with a lightweight aerogel suspended in a honeycomb structure. A new meringue-like material that is a strong absorber of sound over a broad range of frequencies has been developed by Michele Meo and colleagues at the University of Bath. They say that their extremely lightweight aerogel is produced using a low-cost, environmentally friendly process that could soon be replicated on an industrial scale. The material promises to be highly effective in reducing the noise of aircraft engines and could also be used in other advanced engineering applications. As a sound wave passes through porous materials like cellular foams and fibrous polymers, its energy can be strongly dissipated within microscopic pores. As a result, these materials are highly effective sound absorbers at mid-range frequencies – between roughly 800–2000 Hz. To absorb lower frequencies, however, materials must usually be heavier and bulkier, making them impractical for some soundproofing applications. To create a light-weight material that dissipates lower-frequency sound, Meo’s team used a graphene oxide-polyvinyl alcohol aerogel (GPA). To manufacture this substance, they first produced a foam by whipping up a blend of graphene oxide sheets and PVA polymer using ultra-high shear mixing. After embedding the foam within a honeycomb scaffold, the researchers then freeze-cast it onto a surface, by exposing one side of the material to liquid nitrogen. This caused ice crystals to grow vertically from the side touching the nitrogen, pushing any larger and lighter air bubbles upwards. Finally, the foam was freeze-dried through sublimation, producing a meringue-like aerogel. Hierarchical and highly tuneable The resulting material had a hierarchical and highly tuneable porosity and a greatly enhanced ability to dissipate sound energy compared with other porous materials. In addition, the GPA had a density of just 2.1 kg/m3 – making it one of the lightest acoustic materials ever produced. Having adjusted the composition and thickness of their aerogel to optimize its acoustic properties, and evaluated the influence of different processing times, the team created a material with high sound absorption across the 400–2500 Hz range. Within this range, average losses in sound transmission reached as high as 15.8 dB – which would reduce the roar of a jet engine to the loudness of a hairdryer. As a result, the researchers say that their GPA would be ideally suited for use as an acoustic insulator within jet engine housings – improving comfort for passengers, while adding very little to the weight of the aircraft. Alongside aerospace applications, the team is also exploring the potential use of their aerogel in vehicles including cars, helicopters, and submarines, as well as in building construction. Indeed, they say that the aerogel could be available for commercial use within just 18 months. Beyond acoustics, the researchers predict that similar light-weight materials could be created for other applications including fire resistance and electromagnetic shielding. The new material is described in Scientific Reports. https://physicsworld.com/a/meringue-like-material-offers-lightweight-soundproofing-for-aircraft-engines/ Pilots in demand as airline industry struggles to keep up Air travel has picked up again but the airline industry is struggling to keep up. Pilots are in demand, and American Airlines is canceling almost 1,000 flights because of the shortage. Katie Clagg is a flight instructor at Paragon Flight in Fort Myers. The academy at Page Field said it’s on pace for a record year in training students. “It’s continuing to get busier and busier, I’ll tell you that,” said Katie Clagg, Paragon Flight instructor. The fascination for flight has Paragon student Matthew Spychalski considering a career as an airline pilot. “Ever since I was a kid, I always found myself looking at airplanes flying around and, you know, guessing what kind of airplane it was, what airline, where it’s going,” Spychalski said. The American Airlines flights canceled run through mid-July. “Everyone needs to travel. I mean, there’s never going to be a time when we don’t need pilots,” said Cassie Thompson-Pride, also a Paragon Flight student. Thompson-Pride, 18, is making it her mission to fly for the airlines by the time she’s 21. “We need a lot of pilots, so the more we have, the better,” Thompson-Pride said. “They’re getting trained at a great facility.” Soon, she and her fellow students will be cleared for takeoff. Paragon Flight is expanding to keep up with demand. The academy is building a new maintenance facility and an 8,000 square-foot learning center. It’s slated to be done next year. https://www.winknews.com/2021/06/30/pilots-are-in-demand-as-airline-industry-struggles-to-keep-up/ Bombardier Announces Its Largest Business Jet Order of the Year – 10 Aircraft Worth $451.8 Million U.S. Order unlocks new travel possibilities amid a growing demand for business aviation Bombardier’s family of class-leading business jets are ideal choices for those who prefer the comfort, convenience and peace of mind offered by business aviation MONTREAL, June 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bombardier is pleased to announce that it has received a firm order for 10 aircraft from an existing customer. For competitive reasons, the order mix will also remain undisclosed at this time. This agreement represents a total value of $451.8 million U.S., according to current list prices. “We are filled with pride as we announce the year’s largest business jet order,” said Éric Martel, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier. “Our portfolio ideally responds to the growing interest in private aviation, with spacious, high-performing aircraft that are designed to offer the best passenger experience in terms of convenience, comfort, air quality and a smooth ride.” Bombardier’s industry-leading line of business jets allows customers and operators to efficiently meet their evolving business and travel needs. As passengers increasingly look to private aviation for convenient and worry-free travel, Bombardier’s family of business jets offer a compelling array of choices. About Bombardier Bombardier is a global leader in aviation, creating innovative and game-changing planes. Our products and services provide world-class experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety. Headquartered in Montréal, Canada, Bombardier is present in more than 12 countries including its production/engineering sites and its customer support network. The Corporation supports a worldwide fleet of more than 4,900 aircraft in service with a wide variety of multinational corporations, charter and fractional ownership providers, governments and private individuals. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bombardier-announces-largest-business-jet-211500882.html University Researchers Turn Plastic into Jet-A Researchers at Washington State University shave developed a process for turning waste plastics into sustainable jet-A. If refined and applied on a major scale, the procedure could address two urgent environmental problems: greenhouse gas emissions and plastic pollution. Described in the journal Chem Catalysis, the process employs polyethylene, the most common plastic worldwide that is used in everything from milk jugs to plastic bags and composite lumber. While this plastic can be recycled, less than 10 percent currently is in the U.S. The most common recycling method of melting and remolding produces a lower-quality product, while chemical recycling is a long process requiring high reaction temperatures that makes it uneconomical for industrial purposes. Through their new process, the researchers were able to convert 90 percent of the plastic amount to jet fuel or other hydrocarbon products in less than an hour, with the end result determined by adjusting the variables such as temperature, time, and amount of reaction catalyst applied. “Depending on the market, they can tune to what product they want to generate,” said Chuhua Jia, the lead graduate student on the project. “The application of this efficient process may provide a promising approach for selectively producing high-value products from waste polyethylene.” The next steps involve scaling up the process, which the researchers believe can be effectively adapted to use other types of plastics. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2021-06-30/university-researchers-turn-plastic-jet Nasa to make space more equal for women by changing astronaut radiation exposure limits • The existing limits allowed male astronauts to travel to space more Nasa is poised to scrap "discriminatory" rules for female astronauts that prevent them from doing as many missions as their male counterparts because of stricter limits on radiation exposure. Up until now, the US space agency has calculated radiation limits based on a three per cent increase in an astronaut's risk of dying from cancer caused by radiation exposure. That approach has allowed higher limits - and consequently more potential space travel - for male astronauts, and particularly older males, whose risk of cancer from radiation exposure is typically lower. Female astronauts have long complained that the rules were discriminatory. Peggy Whitson, the former chief of Nasa's astronaut corps, complained in 2013: "Depending on when you fly a space mission, a female will fly only 45 to 50 percent of the missions that a male can fly". "That's a pretty confining limit in terms of opportunity," she told Space.com. "I know that they are scaling the risk to be the same, but the opportunities end up causing gender discrimination based on just the total number of options available for females to fly," she added. To even the field, Nasa has proposed a universal standard that would limit all astronauts to 600 millisieverts of radiation over their career. That amount is equal to the limit for a 35-year-old woman, the age group deemed to be the highest risk, under the old rules. Nasa's plan has now been backed by a report from the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which had been asked to advise the space agency on "longstanding concerns that the current radiation standard results in an unequal work environment". It is hoped the change will remove gender from selection processes as Nasa prepares for a new era of space exploration, with missions planned to the Moon and Mars in the next decade. The new limit was "a better option because it is more straightforward and more protective based on current science," the National Academies' June 29 report noted. "This approach sets a single, clear and consistent dose limit for all astronauts". However, it added that the limit "may result in a more restrictive limit than a more individualised approach would allow." The proposed change would put the US in line with many other countries' space agencies, which already have standard radiation limits for their astronauts, regardless of sex or age. However both the current and proposed career limits are stricter than their international counterparts, according to the National Academies. Astronauts hoping to travel to and from Mars would exceed Nasa's new career-long radiation limit. But the National Academies' report encouraged the space agency to use a transparent and ethical waiver system for astronauts hoping to travel to the red planet. Nasa has proposed using a traffic light system to inform astronauts of the risks they face on missions, with green indicating the lowest risk, yellow indicating higher risk, and red to indicate when they exceed the lifetime radiation limit. Astronauts planning to go on a mission expected to exceed the limit would be asked to sign a waiver. The proposals have met with mixed responses from advisers. Ann Bostrom, an analyst who served on the National Academies' committee voiced concerns about an overly simplified system for complex decisions. “Sometimes if it’s too simplistic, it causes people to overlook nuances that they would otherwise see,” she told Science Mag. But Scott Kelly, a former astronaut, said he valued the simplicity of the traffic light system. “There are so many factors in whether you get a fatal disease. You’re accepting a lot of other risks by flying in space, and this one is not the biggest,” he said. https://www.yahoo.com/news/nasa-space-more-equal-women-200338494.html SpaceX delivers 88 satellites to orbit, lands first stage onshore for first time in 2021 SpaceX launched 85 satellites for external customers, as well as three Starlink satellites, to orbit on Tuesday, marking the second successful launch of the company's dedicated rideshare missions. While the Transporter-2 mission will deliver fewer objects to space than the first rideshare mission (the Transporter-1 sent up 143 satellites, a new record), it launched more mass to orbit overall. The Transporter launches are part of the company’s rideshare business model. Announced in 2019, these missions split up the rocket’s payload capacity among multiple customers, resulting in lower costs for each – many of whom are smaller companies that may find the expenses associated with getting to orbit otherwise impossible to pay. SpaceX still ends up with a full launch and the revenue to operate it. The Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at around 3:31 PM Eastern time. It’s the 20th Falcon 9 launch in 2021 and the first launch this year that featured the first stage returning to land onshore, rather than on a drone ship at sea. The first stage booster separated at around 3:34 PM ET and returned to Cape Canaveral and successfully landed around eight minutes after liftoff. This was its eighth flight. The mission includes nearly 10 customers, some of whom are launch service providers who are themselves organizing customer payloads – like Spaceflight Inc., which is launching 36 small satellites on behalf of 14 customers, as well as its electric propulsion vehicle dubbed Sherpa-LTE. It also includes the first satellite launch for space intelligence company Umbra and Loft Orbital’s “rideshare” satellites, YAM-2 and YAM-3, each of which are equipped with five independent sensors for separate customers. As this was SpaceX’s 20th launch this year (and 127th mission to date), it’s pretty safe to assume that the company will far surpass last year’s record of 26 launches. This was the second attempt of the Transporter-2 launch, which was originally scheduled for June 29. That launch was halted at T-11 seconds after a rotary aircraft entered the flight zone. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk called the regulatory system broken in response. https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/spacex-delivers-88-satellites-orbit-194207809.html Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit launches 7 satellites from 747 jet Satellites successfully put into orbit after midair launch Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit delivered satellites from three countries into space Wednesday, its second successful rocket launch from a plane. The company’s modified 747 jet dubbed Cosmic Girl jet took off from California’s Mojave Desert, carrying the 70-foot rocket beneath its left wing. Once the plane was over the Pacific near the Channel Islands, the LauncherOne rocket peeled away, then fired its engine to head to space. The drop occurred at an altitude of about 37,000 feet. Camera views showed the package of seven small satellites on the end of the second stage, against the curve of the blue Earth. The satellites are from the U.S. Defense Department, the Royal Netherlands Air Force and Poland’s SatRevolution company, which is working to set up an Earth-observing constellation. Virgin Orbit later declared success, saying the satellites were in the proper orbit. Branson — whose Virgin Galactic SPCE, -2.17% company is close to launching paying customers to the edge of space — planted a kiss on the cheek of Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart, once the satellites reached orbit. “It’s a pinch yourself moment,” Branson said. “Cheers! Well done, everybody.” In an interview later with The Associated Press, Branson declined to say whether he will be on Virgin Galactic’s next test flight to space — or the one after that as originally planned. The company plans three more test flights of its rocket ship this summer and fall before taking paying passengers next year. “All I can say is when the engineers tell me that I can go to space, I’m ready, fit and healthy to go,” Branson told the AP. “So we’ll see.” Virgin Orbit sent its first batch of satellites into orbit in January; the 10 NASA-sponsored satellites were designed and built by universities. A flight demo last year was unsuccessful. Virgin Orbit said its air-launched system can put satellites into orbit on relatively short notice, compared with the more traditional way of launching rockets from the ground. Branson hopes to make satellite launches “almost routine” from the Mojave Air and Space Port. The company’s next launch is planned for this fall, according to Hart. Branson named Wednesday’s mission Tubular Bells after the music made famous in the 1973 horror film “The Exorcist.” It was the first album put out by Virgin Records. A few hours later, SpaceX launched a rocket from Cape Canaveral, carrying 88 mini satellites to a rare polar orbit. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/richard-bransons-virgin-orbit-launches-7-satellites-from-747-jet-01625087634?siteid=yhoof2 Curt Lewis