AMD at the Paris Air Show

Apollo 11 astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, speaks to a group in the U.S. Pavilion at the Paris Air Show about landing on the moon. His new book, published by National Geographic, is entitled, Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration, written with Leonard David. 

Aldrin speaks out as a vital advocate for the continuing quest to push the boundaries of the universe as we know it. In his latest book, Aldrin plots out the path he proposes for taking humans to Mars by 2035. 

Best known for his Apollo 11 moonwalk, Aldrin holds a doctorate degree in astronautics and, at the age of 82, continues to wield influence as an international advocate of space science and planetary exploration.

It has been a busy first day at Paris, with officials from Evendale, Ohio-based GE Aviation making several announcements, including plans to break ground this year on an advanced composite component factory near Asheville, N.C.

In Europe, GE Aviation’s aerostructures business has begun the development of a 9,000m2 composites production facility at its Hamble, U.K., site as part of a five-year, $50 million-plus investment at the site to support the company’s manufacture of wing components for the Airbus A350 XWB jetliner family.

GE Aviation officials also say they expect to produce 3,800 commercial and military aircraft engines with its partners in 2014, continuing an upward production trend.

Among the jet engine total are GEnx-1B engines, which will power 10 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners that GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) has made a commitment to order. The engines are valued at close to US$500 million list price.

GEnx-1B engines also are being selected to power six Boeing 787 Dreamliners for which Xiamen Airlines just signed a letter of intent (LOI) with GE Aviation. The LOI also includes a 10-year OnPoint solution agreement for GE to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul of the airline’s GEnx fleet. The list price of the engine order and the OnPoint solution agreement are valued at more than US$560 million over the life of the engines. Delivery of the aircraft will begin next year.

Please watch this page for more news from the Paris Air Show.