Commercial Satellite Data Company Adds Boeing Veteran to Board
BridgeSat has added former Boeing executive Craig R. Cooning to its board, bringing additional industry knowledge to the satellite systems company. “In his 42-plus years of aerospace experience in the U.S. Air Force and at The Boeing Company, Craig has played key roles in developing and delivering many of the world’s most advanced satellite systems,…
Photos of the Day: ESA Explores Possible Airship Designs
The European Space Agency has released several concepts for High Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS), platforms which float in the upper atmosphere for long periods of time. The agency calls them “a ‘missing link’ between drones and satellites.” These could be used to provide high-resolution coverage in highly populated or difficult-to-reach areas, cover blind spots in…
Data Focus: Work Hours Affected By Automation
About 400 million workers globally could be displaced by automation by 2030, said a report from McKinsey Global Institute. Conducted by using a general equilibrium model to factor in the economic impacts of automation on employment and unemployment and with conclusions drawn from the midpoint of all possible scenarios, the report shows types of jobs…
Photos of the Day: CubeSat Demonstrator In Flight
NASA hopes this Dellingr CubeSat demonstration will start a new wave of experimentation for small satellites. CubeSat missions in the past have experienced success rates of about 50 percent, so as well as testing its instruments this project will be used to determine whether the low-cost satellites can be effective enough to justify their use…
NASA Calls for Cost-Saving Commercial Components on Next-Generation Telescope Project
An independently vetted report released by NASA last Wednesday reveals that development of the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), the space agency’s next universe-exploring project after the 2019 James Webb Space Telescope, may be plagued with risks. Originally budgeted for $3.6 billion, the new report estimates the cost of the telescope to be between…
Video of the Day: Testing Parachute for Small Satellites
On Nov. 20, a Technology Educational Satellite was released from the International Space Station into the atmosphere to test how well wireless sensor networks work during ascent or re-entry. While the video itself is rather sedate, the controlled fall is exactly what is intended to demonstrate. This type of parachute can be used to return…
Photos of the Day: Supersonic Additive Manufacturing
At GE, scientists working on how to fix existing aircraft engine blades developed a technique they call “cold spray” that takes additive manufacturing to new speeds. They shoot metal from a supersonic nozzle onto the parts, essentially rebuilding pieces “with a tool that looks like a spray gun.” Because the metal articles are cold, they…
Video of the Day: Testing Tools for Lunar Exploration
Engineers and scientists from the European Space Agency tested a rover that might one day be used to explore lunar caves in an inhospitable spot as similar to the Moon’s conditions as one can find on Earth: the volcanic rock on the Spanish island of Lanzarote, located off the coast of Morocco. The Pangaea-X project…
FCC Approves ATSC 3.0 for Television Broadcasters
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted to extend the Next Generation TV standard, or ATSC 3.0, to broadcasters. The Commission said that the voluntary standard will allow stations to use a wide range of advanced features, including Ultra High Definition, mobile viewing, interactive children’s content, improved accessibility features and advanced emergency alerts.. Broadcasters who…
Photos of the Day: Designing and Iterating On Mars Rover Tires
NASA has created a gallery of tire designs for space rovers over the years. From Russian plans for a moon rover in 1973 to shape memory alloys which could be used in future rovers, it explains the trial and error which was required for the development of durable tires and wheels for Martian and Lunar…
Video of the Day: Supersonic Parachute for Mars Landing
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California successfully tested a parachute that opens at supersonic speeds on Tuesday. Launched on board a Black Brant IX sounding rocket, the Advanced Supersonic Parachute Inflation Research Experiment, or ASPIRE, could pave the way for the Mars 2020 mission. A new type of rover used during the Mars 2020…
Sensor Solutions, Optical Team Up for 3D Sensing Cameras
Ams and Sunny Opotech have teamed up to develop 3D sensing cameras for automotive and mobile device applications to OEMS. The camera solutions created as part of the joint project will include 3D sensing applications which combine both groups’ optical technologies and components, plus the necessary software and algorithms. In particular, the companies want to…
Video of the Day: First Look: MAX77650
Video of the Day: CubeSat Assembly
The Arkyd-6 satellite is part of a program that may one day detect water in deep space. Built by the commercial group Planetary Resources, the satellite will be launched in December onboard a PSLV rocket in India. The video, accessed via GeekWire, shows workers assembling, packing, and transporting the small satellite. Arkyd-6 is 6U CubeSat…
Video of the Day: NASA’s Electric Concept Plane
Video of the Day: Smart Fabric with Data Storage
Researchers at the Paul G. Allen School at the University of Washington have developed smart fabric that doesn’t require any electronics. The key is the conductive thread. Binary strings of information are encoded using the magnetic properties of the thread, and that information is then decoded using an app. It can also be used to…
Photos of the Day: 2020 Mars Rover Gets Upgraded Cameras
The Mars 2020 mission rover will have 23 cameras, compared to the Curiosity rover’s 17, the better to see the Red Planet and the next rover’s own landing. Today, NASA released a look into the rover’s “eyes.” The Mars 2020 rover is being built at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Its new engineering cameras…
Video of the Day: Speeder Bikes Cruise Through New York City
Happy Halloween! This project takes home the unofficial Product Design & Development costume contest no-prize. Designer Ian Chambers and his team of builders, filmmakers, and costumers made Star Wars speeder bikes and drove them around the streets of New York City. They’re made of joy. They’re also made on little electric bikes, Super 73s from…
Video of the Day: Programmable Liquid Metal
This liquid metal reacts to an electrical current in a way that can be easily controlled with a computer. Researchers at the University of Sussex and Swansea University demonstrated the “programmable” metal in early October, saying that it brings to mind the Terminator at first but might really be used in soft robotics or displays.…
Photos of the Day: Satellites Jet Across Atlantic to Launch
The European Space Agency’s Galileo satellites continue to upgrade Europe’s satellite navigation system. On Oct. 17 two satellites landed at the European spaceport site in French Guiana aboard a Boeing 747 cargo jet from Luxembourg Airport. The two will be launched together with two more Galileo satellites in late December. The Galileo constellation has been…
Video of the Day: Blue Origin Hot-Fires Star Engine
With SpaceX ensconced in NASA’s commercial crew work, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has been something of an underdog in the modern-day race to commercialize space travel. Of course, it’s all relative: Bezos’ company Blue Origin has already demonstrated the ability to drum up business based on its reusable rockets, even those that haven’t been built…
Predix IoT Development Kit Coming to Apple Ecosystem
The Predix Industrial Internet software development kit will now be available on iPhones and iPads, bringing the tool suite for industrial apps to platforms used by 700 million people globally. GE and Apple announced the partnership on Wednesday. The Predix-iOS development kit will be released on Oct. 26 as part of GE’s Minds + Machines…
Video of the Day: Relativity Space Challenges Musk for Ease of Orbit
Now Available: ‘Math for Molders’ Online Course
Injection molding training and technology company RJG is now offering an online “Math for Molders” class to provide molders with foundational math skills relevant to field work and further study. The eight-unit course takes an average of nine to ten hours to complete, but students can progress through each module at any pace suitable for…