USA TODAY でアメリカをよむコミュの USA Today's Today News9/8

＊さあ出発です　電池に問題あるけど

NASA to try shuttle launch on Friday
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2006-09-07-shuttle-atlantis_x.htm


By Traci Watson, USA TODAY
CAPE CANAVERAL — Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off Friday at 11:41 a.m. ET despite the opposition of NASA safety officials and the manufacturer of a shuttle component that has been behaving abnormally.
VIDEO: NASA: Minimal risk in Friday launch

Space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale said Thursday evening that the risk of launching the shuttle today is smaller than the risk of replacing the suspect part, a motor that pumps coolant to one of Atlantis' fuel cells. The shuttle's three fuel cells provide electricity and water to the spacecraft while it is in orbit.

"The team came to the conclusion today that the cloud over fuel cell number 1 is probably acceptable to fly with," Hale said. He emphasized that flying the shuttle as is, without swapping out the fuel cell in question, would not violate any of NASA's launch rules.

いってらっしゃい


＊アメリカで一番霧が発生する地域は？

http://blogs.usatoday.com/weather/2006/09/usa_today_weath_2.html

Curious about the foggiest parts of the nation? Check out this graphic that shows the average number of days with heavy fog (visibility less than 1/4 mile). Of course, the foggiest spots are the usual suspects -- the Pacific coast from California through Washington, the Maine coast and much of New Hampshire, and parts of the Appalachians.


＊航空関連のコーナーから
ノースウエストでフライトアテンダントの欠勤が
目立っているということです。原因は？

Tension goes up at Northwest as attendants' sick leave spikes

http://blogs.usatoday.com/sky/

Requests for sick leave have “spiked” among Northwest flight attendants, a sign that "tensions appear to be escalating" at the airline, according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press (free registration).

The airline said Wednesday that it has had an "unusually high" number of sick leave requests by attendants, though the carrier would not provide numbers.

The increase in sick time comes as the attendants have threatened to begin a "Chaos" work action that would essentially bring sporadic mini-strikes to the airline.


A federal judge has temporarily barred the union from doing so while he reviews the case.

barred(9971*):To keep out; exclude
あらら10000以下

Mollie Reiley, the interim flight attendants’ union president at Northwest, says the union is abiding by the judge’s ruling, adding that the increase in sick leave is not "a form of planned Chaos” and is not something authorized by the union.

"The union is absolutely not advocating, or will we ever advocate, any work action that would imply this," she says.

But, Reiley suggests to the Pioneer Press that attendants are taking more sick days because longer days and increased flying are taking a toll.


And, it sounds as if the situation could be getting difficult for Northwest. The airline told Reiley this week that the attendants’ absenteeism rate has risen to levels usually seen only at Christmastime.

"For them (Northwest), that's potentially problematic," Reiley says. "They were beginning to have operational concerns.” Northwest officials “wouldn't comment on whether the increased absenteeism has caused flight delays,” the Pioneer Press writes.

Nor would Northwest comment about whether it thought the increase in sick-leave is an attempt to begin Chaos.

"We recognize these are difficult times and that the vast majority of flight attendants are maintaining good attendance," Northwest spokesman Roman Blahoski says to the paper. "However, the company is experiencing unusually high rates of sick (leave), and in-flight services is carefully monitoring absenteeism at all bases."

Ironically, the tension between management and attendants over sick leave comes just as Northwest announced it would recall all of its 1,131 furloughed flight attendants.

furloughed(58926) :A usually temporary layoff from work

"We're going through a lot of attrition with flight attendants retiring and people accepting other positions," Blahoski tells the Pioneer Press (free registration).

attrition(28925)：A gradual diminution in number or strength because of constant stress.

The airline’s "modest operational growth" also played a role, he says. That led to at least some optimism from union members. "I think it's a positive sign that things are slowly turning around. I'm very happy about it," says Camilla Wolkerstorfer, a union leader at Northwest who has been an attendant at the airline for 36 years.