Space / Aerospace / Aircraft

[Airband]

Biden’s New Chopper Is Demoted After Scorching White House Lawn

New presidential helicopters delayed under $5 billion program

A Marine One fleet Sikorsky VH-3D helicopter, top, lands near a Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin VH-92 Patriot helicopter, at Delaware Air National Guard Base

Tue Apr 23, 2024 - Bloomberg News
 By Anthony Capaccio and Jennifer Jacobs

The new presidential helicopter has been demoted to backup duty because Lockheed Martin Corp. still can’t figure out how to keep it from scorching the White House’s South Lawn.

The VH-92 Patriot is landing only on paved runways for now, flying missions with White House officials or Secret Service staff instead of carrying President Joe Biden. The problem is down to an issue first identified in 2018 — the helicopter’s spinning rotors and engine exhaust sometimes scorch the grass where it lands.

With its emblematic “white top” paint job, Marine One — its designation when the president is on board — is as much a symbol of the US presidency as Air Force One. Crowds of reporters and White House guests often gather to watch the president depart from its traditional takeoff spot on the South Lawn.

For the time being, the helicopter doing that job will remain the VH-3D Sea King, which like the VH-92 is is built by Lockheed’s Sikorsky unit.

Lockheed has so far delivered 20 VH-92 helicopters to the Marine Corps under the $5 billion program, Lockheed spokeswoman Melissa Chadwick said. She said the company believes it’s found a fix and will start testing soon.

“We have been working in close collaboration with our customer and have an agreed upon landing zone solution with testing planned to validate and ensure the aircraft meets that specific operational requirement,” Chadwick said.

According to a White House official, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations, engineering and design work is underway to see if fixes can be made to prevent grass damage under hot environmental conditions when rotors are turning.

The current fleet of presidential helicopters entered duty in 1975, a year after Richard Nixon resigned, walked across the South Lawn and waved the victory sign from the steps of Marine One in one of the the defining images of his presidency.

[Malcolm]

COMMERCIAL CREW PROGRAM NASA’s Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test

 

Live launch coverage of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, which will carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to and from the International Space Station, begins Monday, May 6, at 6:30 p.m. EDT on NASA+. Wilmore and Williams will be the first to fly aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, launching on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the Space Station. The astronauts will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before the crew capsule makes a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.   LIVE COVERAGE DETAILS     NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, which will carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to and from the International Space Station. Launch of the ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket and Boeing Starliner spacecraft is targeted for 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday, May 6, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The flight test will carry Wilmore and Williams to the space station for about a week to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems before NASA certifies the transportation system for rotational missions to the orbiting laboratory for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Starliner will dock to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at 12:46 a.m., Wednesday, May 8.

 

 

NASA’s BOEING STARLINER CREW FLIGHT TEST  Mission Updates   The official Commercial Crew Program blog will keep you up-to-date on the mission, crew, and spacecraft of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test.  READ MORE

[Malcolm]

How to watch the first crewed flight of Boeing’s long-awaited Starliner spacecraft (msn.com)

The mission, dubbed the Crew Flight Test, could take off as soon as Monday at 10:34 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Live coverage of the event will stream on NASA channels beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET Monday, according to the space agency.

The occasion is a decade in the making — the culmination of Boeing’s efforts to develop a spacecraft worthy of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.