Larry Leopard has been appointed associate director, technical, of Marshall Space Flight Center, following the retirement of Preston Jones. Mary Beth Koelbl succeeded Leopard as director of Marshall’s Engineering Directorate.
GE Aviation
GE awarded contract for additional T408 turboshaft engines
Engines will be delivered to U.S. Naval Air Systems Command to power Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion.
This latest contract of low-rate initial production (LRIP) engines follows three previous LRIP contracts for this program, the most recent being in August 2019. GE Aviation’s Lynn, Massachusetts, plant will perform final assembly for the Lot 4 engines.
“This most recent contract represents another big step forward for the T408 program,” said Linda Smith, the T408 Program Director at GE Aviation. “The engine has more than 2,500 flight hours powering the CH-53K in hot and cold environments and through a variety of challenging flight tests. We’re continuing to work closely with NAVAIR and Sikorsky as we approach Initial Operational Test and Evaluation in 2021.”
How Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson plan to upgrade your bucket list…
While the aviation industry cools its jets due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the aerospace sector is heating up, meeting multiple milestones this year and aiming to put some wealthy travellers into orbit. Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic are all gaining major momentum towards the long-awaited goal of commercial space travel.
NASA meanwhile has strategically partnered with private companies to bolster America’s efforts at increasing our footprint in the final frontier. The agency’s Commercial Crew Program awarded SpaceX a multi-billion dollar contract in 2014 to get its space shuttles ready to transport NASA crew to the International Space Station.