Aerospace
Yet another ‘Progress’ spacecraft , carrying unspecified ‘waste’ from the International Space Station, has been junked over the Pacific Ocean.
The ISS flags itself as “ the largest and most complex international scientific project in history “ – and yet it still dumps its waste into the sea. How progressive is that ?
More details see :
www.ohpurleese.com
The military’s next generation of airborne drones won’t be just small and silent – they’ll also dive between buildings, zoom under overpasses and land on apartment balconies. At least, that’s what University of Florida engineers are working toward. Funded by the U.S. Air Force and NASA, UF aerospace engineers have built prototypes of 6-inch- to 2-foot- drones capable of squeezing in and out of tight spots in cities — like tiny urban stunt planes. Their secret: seagull-inspired wings that “morph,” or change shape, dramatically during flight, transforming the planes’ stability and agility at the touch of a button on the operator’s remote control.
What will airports of the future look like? With new types of aircraft in development, heightened security concerns and the growing demand for non-stop flights, airports may look radically different in the future. On Sept. 8-9, 2005, experts from NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the nation's airports will gather at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., for the NASA/Industry Airport Planning Workshop to discuss ways to improve future airports.
Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard is constructing a solar-powered plane to fly around the world. His aim is to support sustainable development by demonstrating what renewable energy and new technologies can achieve. ESA is assisting by making available European space technologies and expertise through its Technology Transfer Programme.
NASA has been officially recognized for setting the speed record for a jet-powered aircraft by Guinness World Records. NASA set the record in November during the third and final flight of the experimental X-43A scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet) project. The X-43A demonstrated an advanced form of air-breathing jet engine could power an aircraft nearly 10 times the speed of sound. Data from the unpiloted, 12-foot-long research vehicle show its revolutionary engine worked successfully at Mach 9.6 (approximately 7,000 mph), as it flew over the Pacific Ocean west of California.
Timing is everything when it comes to killing prostate cancer cells with specially tailored vaccines, say scientists testing the drugs in mice at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. "The window of opportunity is narrow for vaccination, designed to reinvigorate the immune system's attack on cancer cells, and it occurs right after hormonal therapy begins to wipe out the tumor and immune cells outnumber cancerous ones," according to Charles Drake, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of oncology and director of the research which is published in the March issue of Cancer Cell.
When designing a rotary aircraft such as a helicopter or tilt-wing, engineers must strike a balance between the blade angle that works best for forward flight and the angle that works best for vertical flight. Through a project called the reconfigurable rotor blade (RRB), the Office of Naval Research is supporting development of a device that twists the blades in-air to optimize the angle for each mode of flight and thereby increase aircraft fuel efficiency, range, and payload.
The investigation focuses on how aircraft can avoid creating vapour trails, also known as contrails. These spindly threads of condensation may not seem important but some persist for hours and behave in the same way as high altitude cirrus clouds, trapping warmth in the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming.
Air travel is currently growing at between 3 and 5% per year and cargo transportation by air is increasing by 7% per year. The researchers at Imperial College London are combining predictions from climate change models with air traffic simulations to predict contrail formation and identify ways of reducing it.
An experimental procedure that substantially reduces the noise of descending aircraft is one step closer to availability for commercial air carriers, thanks to the continuing efforts of a research team led by Professor John-Paul Clarke of MIT's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In addition to improving the lives of people living and working along airport approach routes, the new procedure reduces aircraft engine emissions and fuel consumption.
With a penchant for chasing tomorrow, NASA's B-52B ''008'' always carried the future of flight under its wing. First taking to the air in June of 1955, the venerable aircraft began its illustrious, nearly 50-year U.S. Air Force and NASA career as a bomb navigation system test airplane for the Air Force's B-52 fleet. Ironically, the bomb/nav system test bomber spent its career dropping flight research vehicles rather than bombs. In 1959 it became one of two mothership launch aircraft for the X-15 program, which paved the way for America's early manned spaceflight efforts.
A new approach to aircraft scheduling that uses computer models could allow a safe increase in airport throughput and reduce pollution. The system under development would, for the first time, provide runway controllers with advice, based on state-of-the-art computer models, on the most efficient, safe sequence in which aircraft can take-off. Currently, runway controllers carry out their demanding job using their own observations and mental calculations, with limited reliance on technical aids.
New research suggests that the design of aircraft cockpit displays may benefit from a radical change. The work challenges the previous scientific consensus and indicates that changing displays so they flicker, use one colour and contain more objects will better stimulate visual reactions in pilots than conventional multi-coloured outline displays. The potential advantages for new types of display arise because our conscious visual perception of the environment is very restricted. The retina in the human eye can register literally thousands of pieces of information simultaneously. But how this information is processed by the brain to isolate a limited number of important features of our environment and allow us to react is a complex process.
The board that investigated the loss of the remotely operated Helios Prototype aircraft has released its final report. The board determined the mishap resulted from the inability to predict, using available analysis methods, the aircraft's increased sensitivity to atmospheric disturbances, such as turbulence, following vehicle configuration changes required for the long-duration flight demonstration. The Helios Prototype aircraft involved in the mishap was a proof-of-concept solar electric powered flying wing designed to operate at high altitudes for long duration flight. The failure occurred during a flight from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on the Hawaiian island of Kauai on June 26, 2003.
NASA's X-43A is already headed for the record books, but Guinness World Records officials had better be prepared for an update. In October, NASA hopes to bump its recently set world speed record for a jet-powered aircraft from Mach 7 to Mach 10. Mach 10 is ten times the speed of sound, or approximately 7,200 mph. Meanwhile, NASA is glowing over this week's recognition by the self-proclaimed ''keeper of the world's records'' of the Mach 7 record set on March 27, when he unpiloted, 12-ft-long aircraft achieved Mach 6.83 -- almost seven times the speed of sound, or nearly 5,000 mph -- in an 11-second flight over the Pacific Ocean to demonstrate highly-advanced engine technologies.
Jet engines may run quieter in the future.
Researchers have developed a silencer technology that creates electrical arcs to control turbulence in engine exhaust airflow -- the chief cause of engine noise. The university has applied for a patent on the design.
With the flip of a switch, pilots could turn the silencers -- called plasma actuators -- on and off, reducing noise around commercial airports or military airstrips.
