Flight Safety Information - August 12, 2021 No. 162 In This Issue : Incident: Norwegian Shuttle B738 at Oslo on Aug 11th 2021, lightning strike : Incident: Medavia CRJX at Porto on Aug 11th 2021, engine shut down in flight : Mil Mi-8 Helicopter - Impacted Lake (Russia) : Cessna 425 Conquest I - Forced Landing/Loss of Power (Montana) : Senate Confirms Homendy As NTSB Chair : United Airlines CEO Tells Biden: Vaccine Mandates a ‘Basic Safety Issue’ : Airlines begin to feel the squeeze of the delta variant : Scotland's first electric-powered aircraft begins Orkney test flights : An F-35 pilot’s helmet costs more than a Ferrari and takes two days to get fitted : Private jet buyers are turning to Asia for glitzy aircraft as a shortage grips the US : Russia Claims to Know All About American Spacecraft, Offers Help with Starliner : Space manufacturing startup Varda inks deal with Rocket Lab for three spacecraft : RTCA Webinar: Airports - Critical Components in Future Transportation Infrastructure Incident: Norwegian Shuttle B738 at Oslo on Aug 11th 2021, lightning strike A Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737-800, registration LN-ENN performing flight DY-428 from Oslo to Molde (Norway), was climbing out of Oslo's runway 19R when the crew stopped the climb at FL120 after the aircraft received a lightning strike. The crew returned to Oslo for a safe landing on runway 19R about 25 minutes after departure. A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration LN-NHA reached Molde with a delay of about 80 minutes. The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground about 5 hours after landing. http://avherald.com/h?article=4eb9ffc0&opt=0 Incident: Medavia CRJX at Porto on Aug 11th 2021, engine shut down in flight A Medavia Canadair CRJ-1000, registration 9H-LOJ performing positioning flight 5M-3246 from Valencia,SP (Spain) to Porto (Portugal) with 4 crew, was descending towards Porto when the crew stopped the descent at FL150 declaring Mayday and reporting they had a right hand engine (CF34) failure, the engine was shut down. The crew requested to enter a hold to work their checklists, queried whether Porto was still using low visibility procedures (CAT II), and decided to divert to Lisbon (Portugal). The aircraft maintained FL150 on the flight to Lisbon and landed safely on Lisbon's runway 03 about 50 minutes after declaring Mayday. The aircraft was to take the soccer team of Santa Clara (Portugal) to Ljubljana (Slovenia) for their UEFA Europa Conference League qualitification match scheduled to take place on Aug 12th 2021. A replacement CRJ-1000 registration 9H-LKF was dispatched to Porto and arrived with a delay of about 5 hours and is currently on the way to Slovenia. http://avherald.com/h?article=4eb9ecd7&opt=0 Mil Mi-8 Helicopter - Impacted Lake (Russia) Date: 12-AUG-2021 Time: Owner/operator: Vityaz-Aero Registration: RA-24744 MSN: 98417949 Fatalities: Fatalities: / Occupants: 17 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Category: Accident Location: Kurile Lake, Kamchatka Peninsula - Russia Phase: En route Nature: Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi Departure airport: Destination airport: Investigating agency: MAK Narrative: The helicopter, with sixteen occupants impacted the waters of Kurile Lake, Kamchatka Peninsula during a tourist flight. Eight occupants were rescued and another eight occupants are missing. Fog hindered the search for survivors. Of the rescued occupants, two are seriously injured. The helicopter sank in 100m deep water in the volcanic lake. 17 occupants, 3 crew members, 14 passengers were on board according Interfax. Nationalities of the tourists are unknown. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/26663 Cessna 550 Citation - Nose Gear Collapse (Brazil) Date: 11-AUG-2021 Time: c. 17:00 LT Type: Cessna 550 Citation Owner/operator: WN Producoes Artisticas Ltda Registration: PT-LIV ? MSN: 550-0499 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Minor Location: Belo Horizonte/Pampulha - Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport, MG (PLU/ - Brazil Phase: Landing Nature: Private Departure airport: . Destination airport: Belo Horizonte/Pampulha - Carlos Drummond de Andrade Airport, MG (PLU/SBBH) Narrative: A Cessna Citation II type aircraft landed at Belo Horizonte-Pampulha airport, with the nose gear collapsing. No people was hurt on the plane or on the ground. The airport was closed for 45 min app. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/266636 Cessna 425 Conquest I - Forced Landing/Loss of Power (Montana) Date: 11-AUG-2021 Time: c. 08:50 Type: Cessna 425 Conquest I Owner/operator: K-Aero LLC Registration: N783MB MSN: 425-0103 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Substantial Location: North of Helena Regional Airport (HLN/KHLN), Helena, MT - United States of America Phase: En route Nature: Private Departure airport: Faribault Municipal Airport, MN (FBL/KFBL) Destination airport: Missoula-Johnson-Bell Field, MT (MSO/KMSO) Narrative: Following a loss of engine power, the aircraft sustained substantial damage subsequent to the ensuing forced landing to timbered hillside terrain during a diversionary attempt to Helena Regional Airport (HLN/KHLN), Helena, Montana. One occupant was seriously injured and two of the three occupants onboard the twin engine airplane received apparent minor injuries. https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/266629 Senate Confirms Homendy As NTSB Chair The U.S. Senate confirmed Jennifer Homendy as the 15th Chair of the of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Monday. She was nominated for the position following the retirement of former NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt last May. Homendy has served on the board since August 2018 and was reconfirmed for a five-year term in 2019. “No words come close to describing how grateful and honored I am right now,” Homendy said via Twitter on Monday. “More to come but tonight I focus on preparing for a Board meeting tomorrow re preventing turbulence-related injuries in Part 121 air carrier ops.” Homendy served as a staff director for the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials from 2004 to 2018. She has also held positions with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO and the American Iron and Steel Institute. Homendy is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University. https://www.avweb.com/flight-safety/accidents-ntsb/senate-confirms-homendy-as-ntsb-chair/ United Airlines CEO Tells Biden: Vaccine Mandates a ‘Basic Safety Issue’ During a meeting with President Biden Wednesday to discuss national vaccination efforts, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby suggested that he believes vaccine mandates for companies and organizations will become more normalized in the coming weeks as the COVID wave triggered by the delta variant escalates. “A few weeks from now, this is going to be something that’s widespread across the country because it’s really just a basic safety issue,” Kirby told CNN after the meeting concluded. Leaders from other industries and institutions, such as Howard University President Wayne Frederick and Kaiser Permanente Chief Executive Gregory Adams, also attended the meeting to share their strategies for increasing vaccination rates within their workforces and among their customers, Reuters reported. Kirby said Biden asked those participants about the efforts they’re taking and to persuade more-hesitant business leaders to follow in their footsteps. Biden has applauded companies and localities that have required verification of vaccination from employees and has set the example himself by mandating vaccination for all federal staff. He endorsed the action taken by Democratic New York mayor Bill de Blasio to force private recreational establishments and enterprises, such as restaurants, gyms, and theaters, to ask for proof of inoculation at the door as a condition of entry. “I will have their backs and the backs of other private- and public-sector leaders if they take such steps,” Biden remarked last week. United Airlines recently announced it will require its staff to get the shot to maintain their employment. For the airline industry, United Airlines has departed from the standard set by competitors American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines, which are encouraging and even monetarily incentivizing vaccination for employees but not requiring it. Beyond employees, Kirby seemed to acknowledge at the meeting that mandating vaccines for customers could be difficult to implement as well as unpopular. However, SouthWest Airlines said Wednesday that earnings performance has slumped because of the spread of the delta variant, which has decreased demand for travel. The major airlines are facing greater pressure from the Biden administration to accelerate their vaccination drives to curb the spread of COVID. https://www.yahoo.com/news/united-airlines-ceo-tells-biden-000119743.html Airlines begin to feel the squeeze of the delta variant Southwest and Frontier Airlines are starting to brace for the delta variant’s economic impact as infections in the country rise. Southwest Airlines on Wednesday announced that it estimates its August revenue will be down 15% to 20% after previously estimating it would be down 12% to 17%. It blamed rising cases of COVID-19 for the revised forecast and predicted that the third quarter would also feature its operating revenue down 15% to 20% compared to before the pandemic in 2019. “The company has recently experienced a deceleration in close-in bookings and an increase in close-in trip cancellations in August 2021, which are believed to be driven by the recent rise in COVID-19 cases associated with the delta variant,” the airline said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While Southwest, the country’s third-largest airline, turned a profit in July, the company said that economic effects from the surging delta variant will likely hurt revenue in August and September, so much so that it will be challenging for the company to have a profitable third quarter when not accounting for federal aid benefits. The news comes just days after Denver-based Frontier Airlines, which was profitable in the second quarter, revealed in a report that it anticipates breaking even or possibly posting a slight loss of net income in quarter three. “Within the last week, we have noted softening in the level of bookings over seasonal norms that we believe is directly related to the increased COVID-19 case numbers associated with the delta variant,” the company said in the quarterly report. “The impact of the delta variant on bookings, and the duration of that impact, are difficult to predict.” Frontier added that it is confident that forward bookings will increase as COVID-19 cases begin to decline, although as of Wednesday, U.S. infections showed no signs of slowing. New cases are up 86% over the past two weeks, hospitalizations are up 85%, and deaths have increased more than 100%, according to the New York Times. Patrick Gourley, an assistant professor of economics at the University of New Haven, told the Washington Examiner that there is a “ton of uncertainty” right now surrounding the delta variant and its impact on the airline industry because it is unclear how bad the new wave of infections could get. He pointed out that business travel makes up an enormous chunk of revenue for airlines and said that the “base hit” for the airlines will be how businesses respond to the new wave of infections. If companies continue to opt out of sending employees on work trips and instead conduct meetings over Zoom, it would damage the air travel industry. And the delta variant has already caused shifts in corporate strategy. Businesses such as Uber, Lyft, and Twitter have pushed back or halted plans for employees to return to the office, while Facebook, Google, Tyson Foods, and many others have begun implementing some form of vaccination requirement in light of delta, particularly for employees to be permitted back into the office. In addition to business travel, Gourley said that the delta variant will discourage tourism and leisure travel. He said that the strain’s impact will be weighed on a week-to-week basis and that if the wave begins to subside, there will likely be a boost to the travel industry as pent-up demand and the desire to travel, which were already seen earlier this summer, will only grow. “There definitely are people who really want to travel. It’s just that if we start seeing scenes of filled-up hospitals again, then people are just going to save that money, and then, we’ll see an even bigger demand surge next year hopefully,” he said. It is also of note that each airline has handled its reaction to the delta variant differently. For example, this week, United Airlines announced that it will be mandating vaccines for U.S. employees. Gourley said that the move could affect business because travelers might feel more inclined to fly with an airline that has inoculated staff. United CEO Scott Kirby recently said that the delta variant has shown just how important vaccines are. He put a positive spin on the surge and pointed out during an appearance on NBC News that the delta variant is encouraging people to get vaccinated, which he said will benefit the travel industry. “I think that air travel is going to continue to recover,” Kirby said. “The silver lining of what has happened with the delta variant is it’s driving much higher vaccination rates across the country, and at the end of the day, that’s the only thing that’s going to really get us out of this crisis.” https://www.yahoo.com/news/airlines-begin-feel-squeeze-delta-191200237.html (Cessna-337) Scotland's first electric-powered aircraft begins Orkney test flights Scotland's first electric-powered aircraft has taken to the skies from a new test centre in Orkney. One of the twin engines in Ampaire's six-seater Cessna Skymaster (C-337) has been replaced with an electric motor. The company believes it could pave the way to retrofitting inter-island and short-haul flights with greener technologies. It is the first low-carbon aircraft to fly at the £3.7m sustainable aviation facility based at Kirkwall airport. The plane was built in 1974 but has been retrofitted at the company's headquarters in California. After initial test flights in Hawaii, it was shipped to Scotland for its first flight across open water between Orkney and Wick, a 37-mile (60km) flight. Test pilot Justin Gillen told BBC Scotland: "It's the only hybrid-electric airplane that I know of flying today. "As the airplane is approaching, you hear the propeller which is a kind of blade-through-air sound and then you hear the throatier sound of the engine. With our electric engine, you hear the propeller but that's pretty much it." On Ampaire's aircraft, the engines are built at the front and back of the cockpit in a "push-pull" design. It's the front engine which has been replaced with an electric motor that's a fraction of the size. A huge battery pack has been attached to the underbelly which can keep the aircraft running for several hours in the right conditions. About 90 minutes of rapid charging would provide around an hour of flight. Susan Ying from Ampaire said: "It will fly cleaner, be more efficient and more economical. "It will start as a short-haul but eventually, as the technology's improving, it could go into medium to long-haul." That would require batteries to continue shrinking but the developers are confident that will happen. Air travel is a notoriously difficult industry to decarbonise because the aviation fuel has a high energy density. But it's a high emitter of carbon dioxide which needs to be reduced to net-zero if we are to halt climate change. Island air links in Scotland are regarded as "lifeline" for communities who live there, and so battery-powered flights are under serious consideration. Dougie Cook, from Highlands and Islands Airports, explained: "If aviation is to survive throughout the world, then it needs to decarbonise and it needs to do so quite quickly. So this is a really important first step. "The links around Orkney are called lifeline links for a reason and it's absolutely essential that we keep them going so electric aviation will guarantee that and make it sustainable for the future." Flights currently operate from Kirkwall to six of the furthest islands - Eday, Sanday, Stronsay, North Ronaldsay, Westray and Papa Westray. The test facility is expecting to play host to other forms of low-carbon flights, including hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-58177865 (Photo Courtesy: https://free-images.com/display/f_35_helmet_mounted.html) An F-35 pilot’s helmet costs more than a Ferrari and takes two days to get fitted “Small things such as a new haircut or a couple of pounds gained could cause the helmet to not fit correctly." If you’re looking for a helmet for the advanced F-35 Lightning II, then get ready to put down enough money to buy a Ferrari sports car, undergo a two-day fitting process, keep your hair generally in the same shape, avoid putting on weight, and check in three times a year to make sure it still fits perfectly. At least, that seems to be the process described in a new Air Force press release detailing just how much work it takes to keep one part of the $78 million F-35 fighter ready to fly. “Pilots come in and put on all their gear so we can double-check to make sure everything fits properly and without issue,” said Staff Sgt. AJ Arteaga, an aircrew flight equipment reservist with the 419th Operations Support Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. “Small things such as a new haircut or a couple of pounds gained could cause the helmet to not fit correctly,” Arteaga said. The F-35 helmet is a technological marvel. It can display night vision, thermal imagery and video from below the jet, letting pilots effectively see through the airframe and track targets without having to look back and forth from their cockpit screens. “The pilot can look down through a portion of their wing and see what’s below,” said Tech. Sgt. William Vass of the 419th OSS. “When they look toward the cameras embedded on the F-35, that image projects onto their helmet display.” The effect is such that, instead of having one screen in front of you showing icons and symbols marking compass directions or targets, your entire view has those images overlaid onto the real world. “Imagine if you’re in a car, you’re driving and you want to eat pizza. It will put a triangle over all the pizza restaurants,” Air Force F-35 pilot Maj. Justin “Hasard” Lee said in a May video. “Obviously, we’re using it in a different way, but the helmet allows us to synthesize large amounts of information.” An F-35 pilot’s helmet costs more than a Ferrari and takes two days to get fitted All that technology must be finely-tuned to work properly, and that’s where airmen like Vass and Arteaga come in to make sure the helmets are perfectly fitted to the pilots wearing them. First, the pilots have their heads measured and scanned. In the Marine Corps, those scans are used to build a portable helmet liner that goes between the F-35B pilot’s head and the hard-shell helmet itself. “This styrofoam cap fits into any size helmet, enabling a pilot to take the helmet liner from squadron to squadron for use throughout his or her career,” a Marine Corps press release said. Once the scanning is complete, the helmet optics have to be perfectly aligned with the pilot’s eyes. Technicians use a pupilometer, which measures the distance between the pilot’s pupils within two millimeters of its center. Next, aircrew flight equipment technicians fit the pilots with oxygen masks and identify any leaks around the mask that could prevent proper oxygen flow. “The next part is to ensure there is a proper distance between the mask and the visor,” Arteaga said. “We have to make sure when the pilot moves or talks, the mask doesn’t hit the visor. If it’s too close, it will bend the visor and distort the display image.” That’s not the end of it though. After the initial fit, the helmet is inspected every 105 days and has a 120-day fit check to make sure it’s still snug. “The work is involved and in-depth, but essential to providing a seamless interaction between the helmets’ advanced capabilities and the exacting skills of the pilot wearing it,” the Air Force press release said. Custom-fitted helmets are not new to military aviators. An Air Force F-15E pilot told The War Zone last year that each helmet is custom-fitted to the pilot and “you are pretty much tied to that helmet” throughout your career. F-15E pilots also have to be fitted for Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems, which help pilots lock onto a target with their eyes, according to a 2010 press release. But the F-35 takes that technology all the way up to 11. “I don’t think I would ever see, touch, or repair anything like this in the civilian world,” said Staff Sgt. Joseph Hicks, of the 419th Operations Support Flight, about the helmet back in 2016. The sci-fi capabilities of the F-35 helmet, and the importance of nailing the display set-up was in full view in 2017, when helmet footage showed a near-disastrous F-35B landing aboard the USS America. The near-crash was caused by a display malfunction which also made refueling with a KC-135 aerial refueling tanker a struggle. The helmet footage helped analyze what went wrong, and, inadvertently, it also showed how cool it is to look through an F-35 helmet. Hopefully the near-crash will make it safer for pilots to operate the fighter in the future. “They knew in the control room that something was not right,” the F-35 government flight Test Director, Marine Lt. Col. D. Tom Fields, said at the time. “We got lucky. There’s no way around it. We got very lucky that night.” https://taskandpurpose.com/military-tech/air-force-f-35-helmet-fitting/ Spirit Airlines' week-long meltdown has reportedly caught the attention of the US government Spirit Airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights last week in an operational meltdown. Now, the Department of Transportation is "monitoring" the airlines' next steps, TPG reported. Federal law requires airlines to provide customers refunds or alternative flights after cancellations. Spirit Airlines' week-long meltdown has caught the attention of the US government's Department of Transportation, The Points Guy first reported on Tuesday. The budget airline canceled approximately 2,000 flights last week due to a poorly timed combination of bad weather, system outages, and staffing issues. The DOT has reportedly been in contact with Spirit to "remind" the budget airline of the federal laws protecting passengers whose flights have been canceled. The department is currently monitoring the airline's next steps and reviewing customer complaints, according to TPG's David Slotnick. Federal law mandates that if an airline cancels a passenger's flight, it must offer the customer a timely alternative. If the passenger does not accept the alternative booking, then they "are entitled to a refund for the unused transportation - even for non-refundable tickets." The laws surrounding delays are murkier. "Whether you are entitled to a refund depends on a lot of factors - such as the length of the delay, the length of the flight, and your particular circumstances," the DOT website says. Delay compensations are determined by the department on a case-by-case basis. Spirit's Director of Communications Erik Hofmeyer said in a statement that customers would receive refunds for canceled flights. CEO Ted Christie said Spirit is in the process of issuing cash refunds to customers whose travel plans were impacted. Last Friday, several passengers have said on social media that they were sent $50 travel vouchers but have yet to receive full refunds. Spirit did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. https://www.yahoo.com/news/spirit-airlines-week-long-meltdown-195347414.html Private jet buyers are turning to Asia for glitzy aircraft as a shortage grips the US • Wealthy Americans are turning to Asia for private jets due to a shortage in the US. • Asia-based aircraft were considered less desirable due to the lack of private aviation infrastructure on the continent. • One firm, Jetcraft, is buying up aircraft and bringing them to the US to sell. Private aviation has not been immune to the shortages plaguing nearly every industry. America's wealthy realized the value of flying private instead of flying commercial during the pandemic and began buying up private aircraft in anticipation of a return to travel. And just like in the housing market, a drop in inventory is driving prices up, and forcing buyers to look elsewhere for aircraft. Jetcraft, an aircraft sales and acquisition firm, has been buying up private jets in Asia and bringing them to the US to accommodate increasing demand. Continued lockdowns in Asia, Jetcraft says, have made owners are more willing to sell. The firm has already bought up four aircraft in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia to hopefully sell to US buyers. The US is by far the largest market worldwide for private jets, but Asia-Pacific is also growing, according to a report by Fortune Business Insights. Private jets from Asia were once considered less desirable than US-owned aircraft but are now fetching a premium among the wealthy jet-set. "There are challenges with Asia compared to the US," Dan Kilkeary, Jetcraft's senior vice president for sales in America, said. "They just don't have the infrastructure like we have in the US to house the airplane." Getting buyers to Asia to see the aircraft is also costly and has proved difficult during the pandemic thanks to lingering travel restrictions. Jetcraft, as a result, has been flying the aircraft to the US where they can be serviced by their manufacturers and be easily viewed by potential buyers. Two aircraft are already in the US at Gulfstream and Bombardier service facilities in Illinois and California, respectively. Minor fixes including removing non-English placards, updating the in-flight entertainment system to English, or converting power outlets to 110v AC are often required. Kilkeary says a paint job - costing a few hundred thousand dollars - is often required for aircraft from Asia. "The other thing that should give people assurances on airplanes coming out of almost any region is that the pre-buys now are extensive," Kilkeary said. Philip Rushton, president of international aircraft sales and acquisition consulting company Aviatrade, told Insider that his firm is selling some aircraft previously based in Asia for around 20% higher than normal pricing due to the shortage. "Chinese buyers were once focused on buying brand-new aircraft from manufacturers complete with pricey extras, and paying much higher rates in what was known as a 'China premium,'" Rushton said. "But these days, the flow of aircraft into China has expanded to include late model pre-owned aircraft as Asian business jet buyers are more cost-conscious and better informed." The result has been a sell-off of once-new aircraft with low utilization rates that are now finding their way to homes in America. Rushton did acknowledge the potential differences compared to US standards and added that "expectations need to be managed" when dealing with US buyers and sellers in Asia. High sales prices can only be obtained if the aircraft has been maintained properly, has been equipped to US standards, and is correctly inspected, he said. https://www.yahoo.com/news/private-jet-buyers-turning-asia-174831388.html Russia Claims to Know All About American Spacecraft, Offers Help with Starliner Ever since America dumped its use of the Soyuz rocket and found another, Crew Dragon way to reach the International Space Station (ISS), there seems to be a lot of angry looks being shot across the planet all the way from Russia. From time to time, aided by otherwise explainable mishaps with the second ISS-bound spacecraft, the Boeing Starliner, those angry looks become borderline mockery. But first, some context. Back in 2019, after the SpaceX Crew Dragon successfully reached space, Boeing tested its own capsule, the Starliner. Because of a software glitch, it failed to reach its intended target in orbit and came back down, tail between its legs. After more than a year of hard work fixing the issue, the Starliner attempted another flight at the beginning of this month. Only this time it didn’t even leave the pad, as systems signaled yet another problem and the launch was postponed. Well, postponed, and then scraped altogether, at least for the foreseeable future, as NASA and Boeing “will take whatever time is necessary to ensure Starliner is ready.” Secondly, historically speaking, even when they were Cold War adversaries, America and Russia did work together from time to time when it came to space exploration. So the announcement made this week by the Moscow-based Keldysh Research Center, “the leading organization in the rocket and space industry in the field of rocket propulsion,” that it wants to lend a helping hand in fixing the Starliner does not come as a surprise. What is a bit disturbing is the way the Center announced its willingness to help. According to general director Vladimir Koshlakov, speaking for the Tass news agency, Russia is “well aware of the level of development of American engine building, we are well aware of all their developments, therefore, if we apply, we will be ready to help.” And that from the guys that just caused one of the largest incidents involving the ISS in space... https://www.autoevolution.com/news/russia-claims-to-know-all-about-american-spacecraft-offers-help-with-starliner-167065.html Space manufacturing startup Varda inks deal with Rocket Lab for three spacecraft Orbital manufacturing startup Varda Space Industries is moving fast. Only a few weeks after announcing a $42 million Series A, Varda has signed a deal with launch company Rocket Lab for three Photon spacecraft to support the startup’s initial missions. The first spacecraft will be delivered in the first quarter of 2023, with the second to follow later that year and the third in 2024. It’s an aggressive schedule for the eight-month-old Varda and would mark the company’s first three manufacturing missions to space. The contract includes an option for Varda to purchase a fourth Photon. Partnering with a more established company makes sense -- especially considering the Photon’s bona fides, which includes a NASA-funded mission to the moon at the end of the year. Rocket Lab was also awarded a subcontract by the University of California Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory to design two Photon spacecraft for a one-year mission to Mars. Varda, which was founded by SpaceX veteran Will Bruey and Founders Fund principal Delian Asparouhov, is banking big on a manufacturing condition that you can only find in space: microgravity. They think that the potential market for bioprinted organs, specialized semiconductors, fiber-optic cables or pharmaceuticals -- products that you can’t make in Earthbound-conditions -- is high enough to make the costs of building a spacecraft and launching to space more than worth it. Varda Space Industries closes $42M Series A for off-planet manufacturing Under this most recent deal, each Photon will be outfitted with two Varda-made modules: The first will be a microgravity manufacturing module, where the space production will actually take place, and the second will be a reentry capsule designed to bring those finished products back to Earth. Asparouhov told TechCrunch that the are designing the reentry modules to bring back “on the order of 40-60 kilograms of materials” for the first couple of missions, with the aim of quickly scaling up for subsequent launches. Varda says this approach is low-risk and incremental. “That’s why we're seeing so much interest from the investment community, [the Department of Defense], NASA, et cetera, it’s this very pragmatic, one-step-at-a-time approach,” Asparouhov said. “We’ll prove this first space factory. And yes, as we start to scale it allows us to send a larger space factory and then eventually, yes, we might have something the size of the [International Space Station], 10 times the size of the ISS. But that's not what we're starting with. We're starting with a very small, near-term pragmatic approach.” Each mission will last roughly three months from launch to landing, Rocket Lab said in a statement. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/space-manufacturing-startup-varda-inks-175127955.html Babcock Welding Company, Inc. Certified Heliarc and Mig Welding Services for the Aerospace Community ac7004 and NADCAP approved. 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Established 1967. 2325 Merced avenue South El Monte California 91733 Ph 626-443-2356 Fax 626-575-1544 Rosie@babcockweldingco.com Info@babcockweldingco.com www.babcockweldingco.com RTCA Webinar: Airports - Critical Components in Future Transportation Infrastructure Wed, Aug 18, 2021 1pm-2:15pm EDT Join RTCA for a discussion with aviation experts on what the $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure deal means to existing and emerging airport infrastructure needs and priorities. From the White House: “The [infrastructure] bill invests $25 billion in airports to address repair and maintenance backlogs, reduce congestion and emissions near ports and airports, and drive electrification and other low-carbon technologies." Panelists discuss complex issues including interoperability challenges presented in a multi-modal transportation ecosystem, the journey toward integration of emerging technologies with existing traditional modes of transportation, the need for new standards, and how we design improvements that anticipate the many changes in operations that will be needed for new entrants to create a safe, accessible, easy to use system that meets the evolving needs of the traveling public. Moderated by Carol Huegel of Gate 2 Gate Solutions, panelists include Chris Oswald of ACI-NA, Justin Barkowski of AAAE, Greg Pecoraro of NASAO, Chris Collings of L3 Harris and Scott Remillard of Saab. Register Free: https://bit.ly/3lKT8YX When: Wed, Aug 18, 2021 1pm-2:15pm EDT Curt Lewis