An Airline Terminal for a Security-Wary Era
From the moment that passengers first arrive at Jet Blue Airways’ $750 million terminal at Kennedy International Airport in September, they will face an unmistakably post-9/11 world.
Most airline terminals have been jury-rigged since 2001 to accommodate all the extra security workers and equipment. But Jet Blue’s new Terminal 5 is among the first in the United States designed from the ground up after the terrorist attacks.
The 340-foot-wide security checkpoint will dominate the departures hall the way ticket counters once did, occupying the focal point of the Y-shaped building. There will be 20 security lanes. “They were sized with the idea that passengers have luggage, have children, have wheelchairs and have special needs,” said William R. DeCota, director of aviation at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs Kennedy.
After running the security gantlet, travelers will find a lot of benches where they can pull themselves back together. There will be subtler touches, too: resilient rubber Tuflex floor (instead of cold, hard terrazzo) for the areas where one has to go shoeless. “We want the security process to be thoroughly rigorous but minimally intrusive,” Mr. DeCota said. “The design of that terminal was intended to make sure that no one will have to worry that their wait time is going to be greater than 10 minutes.”
Jet Blue handled 28 percent of Kennedy’s 47.7 million passengers last year. The airline expects that by the end of this year, 44,000 passengers will be passing through Terminal 5 each day. The airline operates 170 flights a day at Kennedy, but could operate 250 flights from the 26 gates at Terminal 5.
Despite its scale, Terminal 5 has been overshadowed by its connection to the landmark Trans World Airlines Flight Center, designed by Eero Saarinen, which stands at the same corner of the airport and is also known as Terminal 5. The Port Authority plans an interim renovation of the Saarinen building, which has been closed for seven years. JetBlue passengers will be able to pass through it on their way to the new Terminal 5.
It has been designed by the Gensler firm, working with DMJM Harris/Aecom, Arup and the authority’s master planner, William Nicholas Bodouva & Associates. Given a more-or-less blank slate, they were able to design spaces to accommodate security technology, rather than cramming technology into existing spaces.
For instance, formidable-looking X-ray explosive detection machines are often found in the middle of departure lobbies. These add inconvenient steps to the inspection process.
The detection machines at Terminal 5, on the other hand, are out of sight and integrated into what is called an in-line baggage handling system. Bags move automatically from the ticket counter through several inspection points to the tugs that take them out to the aircraft, rather than being hand carried from one area to the next.
Pointing to the system on a floor plan, William D. Hooper Jr., a managing director of Gensler, said: “The heart of the terminal is in places like this. All that stuff that came up into the terminal after 9/11, some of it as big as a Volkswagen, is here.” ***
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By DAVID W. DUNLAP
Airline executives and authority officials emphasized that the security measures at Terminal 5 were not better than those at other terminals, simply that they promised to be faster.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/nyregion/11terminal.html?ex=1362974400&en=5ca90ede994b0677&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
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Closest Enceladus Flyby Yet
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has successfully completed the closest flyby of Saturn’s mysterious moon Enceladus yet. Coming as close as 52 kilometers (32.3 miles) from the surface of Enceladus, Cassini used its array of instruments to sample the water ice geysers that erupt from the moon’s south pole. The close, and somewhat risky, flyby maybe provide just the required data to begin understanding the source of these geysers. These data have started to arrive at the Earth and will be completely downloaded over the next several hours.
On Wednesday, March 12, 2008 around noon PST, Cassini flew away from Enceladus along the outer extent of the plume that surprised scientists just over two years ago. The surprise was due to the moon’s small size; small moons were generally thought to be inactive, as no internal forces would be present to drive any surface activities. Whatever is driving the spectacular activity on Enceladus remains a mystery.
Recently, two sources for the geysers have been proposed. The “dry” theory suggests that tidal forces along the “Tiger Stripes” fractures discovered at the moon’s south pole rub ice until it is heated sufficiently to escape. The “wet” theory suggest that these tidal forces instead heat a spot in the moon’s interior, resulting in enough heat to melt a lake or ocean of liquid water just below the surface. This pressurized water then escapes through the discovered fractures.
The latest flyby is intended to sample the geysers to determine which of these theories might be correct, or suggest alternative theories. An underground reservoir of liquid water and the forces required might create a potentially habitable location and an intriguing site to look for life. Cassini will look for the presence of sodium, among other elements and compounds, to support the “wet” theory.
Cassini is nearing the completion of its nominal four-year mission to explore Saturn, its rings, and its moons. The mission has been extended for two more years, allowing mission planners to take more risks. Scientists believe that the ice and other particles in the geyser are tiny enough to pose no harm to Cassini. If confirmed, this will allow scientists to fly Cassini closer yet in upcoming explorations of Enceladus. Raw data could start appearing on the Cassini website as early as 5:00 AM PST on Thursday and mission scientists hope to have a preliminary analysis of data completed by Thursday afternoon. ***
-------------------------------------------------------------
by Richard Leis, Jr.
source: http://frontierchannel.com/2008/03/12/closest-enceladus-flyby-yet/
From the moment that passengers first arrive at Jet Blue Airways’ $750 million terminal at Kennedy International Airport in September, they will face an unmistakably post-9/11 world.
Most airline terminals have been jury-rigged since 2001 to accommodate all the extra security workers and equipment. But Jet Blue’s new Terminal 5 is among the first in the United States designed from the ground up after the terrorist attacks.
The 340-foot-wide security checkpoint will dominate the departures hall the way ticket counters once did, occupying the focal point of the Y-shaped building. There will be 20 security lanes. “They were sized with the idea that passengers have luggage, have children, have wheelchairs and have special needs,” said William R. DeCota, director of aviation at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs Kennedy.
After running the security gantlet, travelers will find a lot of benches where they can pull themselves back together. There will be subtler touches, too: resilient rubber Tuflex floor (instead of cold, hard terrazzo) for the areas where one has to go shoeless. “We want the security process to be thoroughly rigorous but minimally intrusive,” Mr. DeCota said. “The design of that terminal was intended to make sure that no one will have to worry that their wait time is going to be greater than 10 minutes.”
Jet Blue handled 28 percent of Kennedy’s 47.7 million passengers last year. The airline expects that by the end of this year, 44,000 passengers will be passing through Terminal 5 each day. The airline operates 170 flights a day at Kennedy, but could operate 250 flights from the 26 gates at Terminal 5.
Despite its scale, Terminal 5 has been overshadowed by its connection to the landmark Trans World Airlines Flight Center, designed by Eero Saarinen, which stands at the same corner of the airport and is also known as Terminal 5. The Port Authority plans an interim renovation of the Saarinen building, which has been closed for seven years. JetBlue passengers will be able to pass through it on their way to the new Terminal 5.
It has been designed by the Gensler firm, working with DMJM Harris/Aecom, Arup and the authority’s master planner, William Nicholas Bodouva & Associates. Given a more-or-less blank slate, they were able to design spaces to accommodate security technology, rather than cramming technology into existing spaces.
For instance, formidable-looking X-ray explosive detection machines are often found in the middle of departure lobbies. These add inconvenient steps to the inspection process.
The detection machines at Terminal 5, on the other hand, are out of sight and integrated into what is called an in-line baggage handling system. Bags move automatically from the ticket counter through several inspection points to the tugs that take them out to the aircraft, rather than being hand carried from one area to the next.
Pointing to the system on a floor plan, William D. Hooper Jr., a managing director of Gensler, said: “The heart of the terminal is in places like this. All that stuff that came up into the terminal after 9/11, some of it as big as a Volkswagen, is here.” ***
--------------------------------------------------------
By DAVID W. DUNLAP
Airline executives and authority officials emphasized that the security measures at Terminal 5 were not better than those at other terminals, simply that they promised to be faster.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/nyregion/11terminal.html?ex=1362974400&en=5ca90ede994b0677&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
image:
======================================
Closest Enceladus Flyby Yet
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has successfully completed the closest flyby of Saturn’s mysterious moon Enceladus yet. Coming as close as 52 kilometers (32.3 miles) from the surface of Enceladus, Cassini used its array of instruments to sample the water ice geysers that erupt from the moon’s south pole. The close, and somewhat risky, flyby maybe provide just the required data to begin understanding the source of these geysers. These data have started to arrive at the Earth and will be completely downloaded over the next several hours.
On Wednesday, March 12, 2008 around noon PST, Cassini flew away from Enceladus along the outer extent of the plume that surprised scientists just over two years ago. The surprise was due to the moon’s small size; small moons were generally thought to be inactive, as no internal forces would be present to drive any surface activities. Whatever is driving the spectacular activity on Enceladus remains a mystery.
Recently, two sources for the geysers have been proposed. The “dry” theory suggests that tidal forces along the “Tiger Stripes” fractures discovered at the moon’s south pole rub ice until it is heated sufficiently to escape. The “wet” theory suggest that these tidal forces instead heat a spot in the moon’s interior, resulting in enough heat to melt a lake or ocean of liquid water just below the surface. This pressurized water then escapes through the discovered fractures.
The latest flyby is intended to sample the geysers to determine which of these theories might be correct, or suggest alternative theories. An underground reservoir of liquid water and the forces required might create a potentially habitable location and an intriguing site to look for life. Cassini will look for the presence of sodium, among other elements and compounds, to support the “wet” theory.
Cassini is nearing the completion of its nominal four-year mission to explore Saturn, its rings, and its moons. The mission has been extended for two more years, allowing mission planners to take more risks. Scientists believe that the ice and other particles in the geyser are tiny enough to pose no harm to Cassini. If confirmed, this will allow scientists to fly Cassini closer yet in upcoming explorations of Enceladus. Raw data could start appearing on the Cassini website as early as 5:00 AM PST on Thursday and mission scientists hope to have a preliminary analysis of data completed by Thursday afternoon. ***
-------------------------------------------------------------
by Richard Leis, Jr.
source: http://frontierchannel.com/2008/03/12/closest-enceladus-flyby-yet/
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