Tag: Aerospace

As Space Station Ages, Air Leaks from Russian Section Cause Concern

The Washington Post reports, “Russia’s space agency has identified four cracks and about 50 other “areas of concern” in a Russian section of the International Space Station, leading NASA to classify the problem at its highest level of risk and study how to evacuate its astronauts in the case of an emergency. NASA has been so concerned with the cracks that officials have negotiated a deal with their Russian counterparts to seal off the small segment and keep the hatch to it open only during critical operations, the space agency said.”
Full Story (Washington Post)

Aviation Industry Coalition Calls for Measures to Prevent Use of Unapproved Plane Parts

CNBC reports, “A report issued by an aviation industry coalition on Wednesday called for new steps to help prevent future unapproved parts from entering the aviation supply chain. The report from the Aviation Supply Chain Integrity Coalition that was created in February called for strengthening vendor accreditation, digitizing documents and improving part traceability. It also proposed adopting best practices for receiving and inspecting parts and scrapping and destroying non-usable material.”
Full Story (CNBC)

NASA Selects Rocket Lab for Mars Sample Return Study

Space News reports, “NASA has awarded a contract to Rocket Lab to study alternative concepts for Mars Sample Return (MSR), joining several other efforts to improve the cost and schedule of the program. Rocket Lab said Oct. 7 that it received a contract to study what it called ‘a simplified, end-to-end mission concept’ for MSR that would deliver samples being collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth for a ‘fraction’ of currently projected costs, estimated to be as high as $11 billion, and several years earlier than 2040.”
Full Story (Space News)

Aurora Unveils High-Speed VTOL X-Plane Concept Design

Aviation Week reports, “Aurora Flight Sciences on Oct. 8 unveiled new details of a notional operational variant of the fan-in-wing concept it is proposing for a high-speed, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) X-Plane. The operational version of the Boeing-owned company’s candidate for a DARPA demonstrator program would boast nearly the same wingspan and payload weight of a Lockheed Martin C-130J, yet fly up to 90 kt. faster and be able to take off and land vertically like a helicopter.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Small, Autonomous Airlifters Becoming Top Priority for US Air Force

Aviation Week reports, “A new type of military airlifter is rising to the top of the U.S. Air Force’s list of modernization priorities: small, autonomous, electric-powered aircraft capable of short takeoffs and landings—and numbering in the hundreds. Air Force Material Command (AFMC) is in the market research phase for the Next-Generation Intratheater Airlift (NGIA) concept. A five-year prototyping program could begin as early as fiscal 2026, leading to the start in the early 2030s.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Europe’s Hera Asteroid Mission Lifts Off Ahead of Hurricane Milton

Ars Technica reports, “Two years ago, a NASA spacecraft smashed into a small asteroid millions of miles from Earth to test a technique that could one day prove useful to deflect an object off a collision course with Earth. The European Space Agency launched a follow-up mission Monday to go back to the crash site and see the damage done. The nearly $400 million (363 million euro) Hera mission, named for the Greek goddess of marriage, will investigate the aftermath of a cosmic collision between NASA’s DART spacecraft and the skyscraper-size asteroid Dimorphos on September 26, 2022.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

 

Video

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches ESA’s Hera asteroid mission from Cape Canaveral (Launch at 27:08 mark)
(The LaunchPad; YouTube)

AIAA Announces Winners of Prestigious Zarem Graduate Student Awards for Distinguished Achievement in Aeronautics and Astronautics

September 5, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of the Zarem Graduate Student Award for Distinguished Achievement:

    • Stephen Monroe, Clarkson University, won the aeronautics award for his paper, “Parallel Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) Studies of the Performance of ONR Waterjet AxWJ-2.” Monroe will present his paper at the 2024 International Congress of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS) in Florence, Italy, 9-13 September 2024.

 

  • Quentin Roberts, University of Washington, won the astronautics award for his paper, “Investigation of Pre-Ignition Propellant Mixing in Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine.” Roberts will present his paper at the 2023 International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Baku, Azerbaijan, 2-6 October 2023.

The winners will receive their awards at the 2024 AIAA SciTech Forum, Orlando, Florida, 8–12 January 2024. This award was established by AIAA Honorary Fellow Abe Zarem, founder and managing director of Frontier Associates, to annually recognize graduate students in aeronautics and astronautics who have demonstrated outstanding scholarship in their field.

    • Stephen Monroe, Clarkson University, Aeronautics Award
      Stephen-Moore-2023Stephen Monroe just completed his first year as an M.S. student in Mechanical Engineering at Clarkson University. He received his B.S. from Clarkson University in 2022. In his senior year, Monroe began learning CFD algorithms and HPC in the research group of Professor Chunlei Liang. During the first year of graduate study, Monroe conducted URANS studies of an ONR waterjet propulsion unit on parallel computers. He also is performing large eddy simulations of the same propulsion system to examine finer flow structures. Monroe is determined to become a skillful computational fluid dynamicist in large eddy simulations using an open-source code before completing his M.S. program. While uncertain about his future in academia, Monroe intends on using the skills he has developed to become a proficient propulsion system designer.“Coming into the Graduate School, I only intended on achieving an M.S. degree. Having been recognized for my hard work by the Abe Zarem award, not only has my passion for research been rejuvenated, but my consideration of furthering my education has as well,” said Monroe.Cr-Chuniei-Liang-2023Monroe’s faculty advisor, Chunlei Liang, is Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Clarkson University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of London in 2005. Liang is an ASME Fellow and an AIAA Associate Fellow.
    • Quentin Roberts, University of Washington, Astronautics Award
      Quentin-Roberts-2023Quentin Roberts is an M.S. student at the University of Washington studying aeronautics and astronautics with a concentration in fluids. His research is on injector mixing in rotating detonation rocket engines (RDREs). Roberts will start work in fall 2023 as a propulsion analyst at Blue Origin.                       “Receiving this award will allow me to greatly expand my horizons in the world of astronautics by not only providing an opportunity to learn about what research the international community is working on, but also an opportunity to present my own research to an international audience,” said Roberts.
    • Dr-Carl-KnowlenRoberts’ faculty advisor, Carl Knowlen, received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the University of Washington in 1983 and 1985, respectively. He continued with his graduate research on ram accelerators at the UW and completed his Ph.D. program in 1991. Dr. Knowlen then accepted a Postdoctoral Research Associate position with the UW Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and has been teaching AA Department courses on a regular basis since 2002.

For more information on the Abe M. Zarem Graduate Awards for Distinguished Achievement, please contact Michael Lagana.

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Airbus Sets New Speed Target for Next Compound Rotorcraft Demo

Aviation Week reports, “Airbus Helicopters has set a new speed target of 240 kt. (276.1 mph) for the next round of flight testing of its Racer compound high-speed rotorcraft. The Racer is currently in maintenance after its first 8 hr. of flight testing, during which it achieved speeds of 227 kt. in June after just seven flights.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

FAA Authorizes Oct 7 Flight for SpaceX Falcon 9 Vehicle

Reuters reports, “SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket can return to flight for a mission planned for Monday to launch the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft from Florida, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said on Sunday.” The liftoff is planned “for 10:52 a.m. ET (1452 GMT) from Cape Canaveral.”
Full story (Reuters)