Aerospace

Automated Helicopter 'Teaches Itself' To Fly

Stanford computer scientists have developed an artificial intelligence system that enables robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly difficult stunts by watching other helicopters perform the same maneuvers. The result is an autonomous helicopter than ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 2 2008 - 2:19pm

Old School Apollo RS-18 Engine Gets Fired Up Again After 36 Years- With Liquid Methane

Engineers from NASA and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne successfully completed a series of hot-fire altitude tests using liquid methane on the RS-18 engine, which was last used to lift astronauts off the moon's surface 36 years ago and was originally f ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 6 2008 - 8:32am

Bonding Carbon-Fiber Reinforced Plastics Could Mean Lighter Airplanes (and Less Fuel)

The lighter an aircraft is, the less fuel it consumes. Given the need to cut carbon dioxide emissions, this is a key aspect of materials research. Aircraft manufacturers are therefore pinning their hopes on particularly lightweight construction materials. ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 8 2008 - 11:02am

"Jet Man" Yves Rossy Crosses English Channel Like A Human Rocket

Wile E. Coyote has nothing on this guy. Yves Rossy, aka Jet Man, zoomed into the record books this morning, flying across the English Channel strapped to a single jet-powered wing, with only a helmet and flight suit for protection. The 22-mile (35-kilomete ...

Article - Kimberly Crandell - Jan 14 2009 - 2:04pm

About 18 minutes: No ET but a Taikonaut

Zhai Zhigang, a Chinese taikonaut, exited his spacecraft Shenzhou 7 for a spacewalk at about 0840 GMT on 27 September 2008. He completed his 18 minutes in space after retrieving a solid lubricant sample on the outside of the spacecraft.(1) Zhai's spac ...

Blog Post - Hatice Cullingford - Dec 14 2008 - 5:16pm

EcoJet: The Prius Of The Skies

As the global demand for air travel increases, so too does the demand to decrease the environmental impact of flight. The answer may lie in the technological advances made by the next generation of short-haul commercial aircraft currently in development by ...

Article - Kimberly Crandell - Oct 4 2008 - 2:20am

Chandrayaan-1: India Goes To The Moon

Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the Moon, was successfully launched earlier this morning from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) in Sriharikota, India. The PSLV-C11 rocket, an upgraded version of the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO’s) ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 22 2008 - 8:27pm

Vega’s Zefiro 9-A Solid-Fuel Rocket Motor Gets A Test Fire

Yesterday, the Zefiro 9-A motor successfully completed its first firing test at the Salto di Quirra Inter-force Test Range in Sardinia (Italy). This was the penultimate firing test for the engine prior to the Vega launcher’s qualification flight, scheduled ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 24 2008 - 1:28pm

NASA Prize Goes To Armadillo Aerospace In Lunar Challenge

Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwall, Texas, earned $350,000 in NASA prize money during the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge in Las Cruces, N.M.  The challenge is a two-level, $2 million competition designed to accelerate commercial space technology and ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 28 2008 - 11:18pm

India To The Moon: Chandrayaan-1 Settles Into Lunar Transfer Trajectory

Yesterday, following a fifth orbit-raising maneuver, the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft successfully settled into a trajectory that will take it to the Moon.  After launch on 22 October, the spacecraft was first injected into an elliptical 7-hr orbit around Eart ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 5 2008 - 12:02pm