You’re invited! ECN and TE Connectivity (TE) will broadcast a free, educational webinar, “What’s Powering the Future of Flight,” from the Paris Air Show at the historic Le Bourget. From new business uses for industrial-scale drones to flying cars and taxis, the global aerospace industry is exploring many new and potentially revolutionary applications. Several of…
Best of May: Flap-Free Aircraft and Beresheet’s Crash Site
May brought with it a lot of interesting engineering news. For a rundown of the top five ECN stories of the month, check out the list below. 1. Flap-Free Aircraft Demonstrates Breakthrough in Aircraft Design with Blown Air Researchers from BAE Systems have achieved a feat in aviation—they were able to maneuver an aircraft in flight with…
Catch a Glimpse of the Spacecraft That’ll Carry NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover
NASA will send its next rover to Mars in 2020. It’s about the size of a car (10 ft long without its arm, 9 ft wide, and 7 ft tall), and was modeled after Curiosity’s configuration. In the image below featured in a Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) blog post, you can see the spacecraft that’ll help…
NASA’s Lunar Orbiter Spots Beresheet’s Crash Site
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has spotted the crash site of the Beresheet lander, which confirms its unfortunate demise. The first privately funded mission to the moon launched February 21 with Israeli non-profit SpaceIL’s Beresheet spacecraft. Thursday, April 11, was the day Beresheet made its descent toward the moon’s surface, broadcasted for all to see during a…
InSight Is Dusty, but Mars’ Winds Can Help Clean It
As InSight continues to set up shop on Mars, the conditions take their toll. A thin coating of dust now covers the spacecraft entirely, thanks to Mars’ winds. Below you can see a comparison of the dust build up. The first image shows InSight’s first full selfie taken Dec. 6, 2018 (Sol 10), with its…
Mars’ Sunrise and Sunset, Courtesy of the InSight Lander
Take a moment to enjoy these sunrise and sunset photos on Mars, brought to you by NASA’s InSight lander. The camera on its robotic arm took the images on the mission’s 145th Martian day (sol). Let’s start with the sunrise picture, taken April 25 at 5:30 a.m. Mars local time. Below you’ll see the raw…
The Robot Workforce Grew Around the Globe in 2017
Last year, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) revealed its industrial robot report for 2016. Now, the 2017 numbers have been released—how do the stats compare? In 2016, there was an average number of 74 installed industrial robots per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing sector. The global average rose to 85 robots in 2017. In…
The Most Endangered Jobs in America
The workforce is changing with the times as it responds to the latest tech on the market and automated tasks. This begs the question—which jobs are on the chopping block? To help find an answer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released a chart that lists the number of employees of different occupations in 2016, the…
Best of April: Stratolaunch’s First Flight and the Unbreakable Guitar
We’re already at the end of April, boy does time fly! A lot went down this month in the engineering space. For a rundown of the top five ECN stories of the month, check out the list below. 1. MIT and NASA Engineers Demonstrate New Kind of Airplane Wing Engineers at NASA and MIT put…
Infrared and Phosphorescent Markers for Satellites
Aircraft light up the runway during takeoff and landing via their landing lights. The European Space Agency (ESA) is transitioning this idea to satellites with infrared and phosphorescent markers for satellites. The markers, dubbed Passive Emitting Material at End-of-Life (PEMSUN), will help future robotic space servicing vehicles rendezvous and dock with their targets, and provide…
Connecting Airmen with Problem-Solving Innovators
AFWERX is an air force program that connects airmen with problem-solving innovators to facilitate solutions, strengthen military effectiveness, and improve capabilities. “AFWERX is a separate entity within the air force,” says Chief Master Sergeant Ian Eishen, 548th ISRG superintendent. “They’re given money, and then they get ahold of airmen who have problems, and then…
Human Error May Have Caused Israel’s Moon Lander to Crash
Israel’s privately funded mission to the moon ended in a crash landing Thursday, April 11. Since then, the SpaceIL team has been hard at work figuring out what exactly went wrong. According to the Associated Press (AP), SpaceIL engineers decided as a group to restart the inertial measurement unit (IMU) after it malfunctioned during the…
Watch the World’s Largest Plane Fly for the First Time
The world’s largest all-composite aircraft—the Stratolaunch with a 385-ft wingspan—has made its maiden flight. It took off from California’s Mojave Air & Space Port. During its 2.5-hour trip over the Mojave Desert, it reached a maximum speed of 189 mph and an altitude of 17,000 ft. “What a fantastic first flight,” says Jean Floyd, CEO…
Israel’s Beresheet Spacecraft Crashes During its Moon Landing
The first privately funded mission to the moon launched February 21 with Israeli non-profit SpaceIL’s Beresheet spacecraft. For weeks after, the 350-lb lander was orbiting the Earth in ever-widening circles, all the while taking some selfies for us terrestrial folks to enjoy. Thursday, April 4, the lander was far enough from the Earth to enter…
Training Top Solderers to Work on Electronics for Space Missions
Today’s satellites are intricate, multifaceted creations, and they continue to include vital hand-made components. To ensure the electronic hardware for space missions that’s made with a human touch adheres to stringent standards, a series of ESA-approved schools train and certify top solderers. “Soldering is an essential skill to assemble devices onto printed circuit boards (PCBs),”…
Astronauts Continue Battery Replacements on the International Space Station
NASA’s Anne McClain and Nick Hague swapped out aging nickel-hydrogen batteries with a set of more powerful lithium-ion batteries during a spacewalk March 22, 2019. A week later, and another spacewalk took place outside the International Space Station (ISS). The second spacewalk, featuring Hague and flight engineer Christina Koch, continued the work of the first, installing…
This 360° video lets you travel to the center of the Milky Way
An ultra-high-definition 360-degree video offers some sight-seeing from the center of the Milky Way. Provided by the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the video takes the vantage point the galaxy’s supermassive black hole, allowing viewers to click and drag in any direction. For an even more immersive trip to the Galactic Center, the imagery can be experienced…
Engineers Still Seek Answers as InSight’s Instrument Remains Stuck
Last we heard of InSight, a part of one of its instruments was in trouble. The Heat and Physical Properties Package’s (HP3) drilling device, known as the mole, was meant to dig 16 ft below Mars’ surface to measure heat coming from inside the planet. According to NASA, “It will tell scientists whether Earth and…
Astronauts Venture Outside Space Station for a Battery Swap
To take care of ailing batteries on the International Space Station (ISS), two astronauts embarked on a spacewalk Friday, March 22, according to the Associated Press (AP). NASA’s Anne McClain and Nick Hague swapped out the three aging nickel-hydrogen batteries with a set of lithium-ion batteries, which are more powerful. The ISS’ robotic arm handled much…
Crawling Robots and Flying Drones May Help Missouri’s Bridges
The state of Missouri is keen on working with Missouri S&T to inspect and repair the state’s bridges with robots and drones. The drones will provide aid from the sky, analyzing and inspecting the bridges from their aerial viewpoint. When fitted with a repair arm, the drones will also be able to make minor repairs…
JAXA and Toyota Cooperate on a Manned, Pressurized Moon Rover Concept
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) are furthering their joint study to develop a manned, pressurized lunar rover. The vehicle will not only aid lunar mobility, but enable astronauts to forego their space suits for fixed periods of time. “Manned rovers with pressurized cabins are an element that will play an…
Violin Redesign Hopes to Rival the Instruments of the Italian Masters
As a new student of the violin, I can tell you first hand that although it’s a fun, fascinating endeavor, the instrument is certainly a challenge. And the design of this musical challenge has only been changed once since the days of its old master craftsmen, according to Texas A&M University. That is, until now.…
A Martian Rock May Have Stopped One of InSight’s Main Instruments
Last month, InSight placed its second instrument on Mars, the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3). The instrument’s self-hammering spike (nicknamed mole) aims to dig 16 ft below the Martian surface “to measure the heat coming from inside the planet,” according to NASA. Shortly after starting its dig Thursday, February 28, the mole stopped…
Pneumatic Robot Hand Uses a Digital Twin and Artificial Intelligence
Since the human hand is a diverse tool of nature, robots could benefit from a similar appendage. In that vein, Festo, a German industrial automation company, has developed a pneumatic robotic hand with artificial intelligence (AI), called the BionicSoftHand. The robot absorbs information through reinforcement learning. The hand is given a goal, and tries to achieve…
3D Model of a Bat’s Flight May Inspire More Agile Drones
Scientists are once again drawing from their tried-and-true muse, nature. This time, bats are the subject, since their precision and long-duration flying could help develop more nimble drones and aerial vehicles. To accurately study their source of inspiration, University of British Columbia (UBC) engineers brought a bat’s flight into a 3D computer model. To accomplish…