Tag: engineering

BAE Systems Reveals Autonomous Collaborative Platform Demonstrator

FlightGlobal reports, “BAE Systems has revealed the design of an autonomous collaborative platform (ACP) demonstrator which it aims to fly within the next two years.” Showcased as “a sub-scale model at the World Defense Show near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the aircraft builds on the company’s earlier work in designing a Concept 2 vehicle unveiled in July 2022.” According to Steve Reeves, head of business development and strategy (platforms) at BAE’s FalconWorks technology accelerator, “We have been carrying on our many decades of investment in uncrewed systems, and are displaying our latest iteration of an ACP concept.” Roles for the platform “could include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and electronic attack, with the asset also potentially to carry air-to-surface and air-to-air weapons within two internal bays.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal – Subscription Publication)

Russian Cosmonaut Breaks World Record for Most Cumulative Time Spent in Space

The AP reports that Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko has “broken the world record for the most cumulative time spent in space, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos reported Sunday.” According to the AP, Kononenko has “now spent more than 878 days and 12 hours in space, surpassing fellow Russian Gennady Padalka, who set the previous record of 878 days, 11 hours, 29 minutes, and 48 seconds in 2015.” By the end of his current expedition, Kononenko is “expected to become the first person to accumulate 1,000 days in space.”
Full Story (Associated Press)

KC-46 RVS, Refueling Pod Fixes Delaying Test Process

Aviation Week reported that the Pentagon’s operational test and evaluation office “has collected all the data it can on the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus, as it awaits two key fixes to the tanker – a revamp of the aircraft’s wing refueling pods and the long-awaited redesign of its Remote Vision System.”
Full Story (Aviation Week – Subscription Publication)

Cygnus Resupply Mission Capsule Arrives at ISS

Aviation Week reports that “Northrop Grumman’s 20th Cygnus resupply mission capsule successfully berthed to the International Space Station (ISS) early Feb. 1, delivering a more than 8,200-lb. cargo that includes a wide range of science and technology investigations.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

SAS, Airbus to Cooperate on Hydrogen Infrastructure at Nordic Airports

FlightGlobal reports that Scandinavian operator SAS “is to co-operate with Airbus and local partners to explore the feasibility of hydrogen infrastructure at Nordic airports.” The companies “aim to gain improved understanding of hydrogen aircraft operations, supply, and refueling requirements to develop the hydrogen ecosystem in Sweden and Norway.” It will also “look at selection procedures for determining which candidate airports could be chosen for initial hydrogen-aircraft operations.” The study, “in which Swedish and Norwegian airport operators Swedavia and Avinor will participate, will consider over 50 sites.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal – Subscription Publication)

SpaceX’s Starship to Launch Starlab Space Station

Space News reports, “Starlab Space, a joint venture of Voyager Space and Airbus Space and Defence, announced Jan. 31 it reached an agreement with SpaceX to launch the Starlab station on Starship. The companies did not disclose terms of the agreement or a projected launch date, although a spokesperson for Starlab Space said the company was confident that Starlab would be launched before the decommissioning of the International Space Station, currently scheduled for 2030.” Voyager Space Chairman and CEO Dylan Taylor said in a statement, “SpaceX’s history of success and reliability led our team to select Starship to orbit Starlab. … SpaceX is the unmatched leader for high-cadence launches and we are proud Starlab will be launched to orbit in a single flight by Starship.”
Full Story (Space News)

 

Video

Starlab Space Station Update
(The Space Race; YouTube)

Embraer Posts Strong Delivery Growth for 2023

FlightGlobal reports that Brazilian airframer Embraer “boosted deliveries in 2023 to 181 aircraft, a 13% improvement on the previous year’s figure.” The increase “hinged on a fourth-quarter surge during which 75 aircraft were handed over, according to Embraer.” Still, shipments “in the last three months of the year fell against the same period of 2022 when the Brazilian airframer managed to deliver 80 aircraft.” Fourth-quarter deliveries “comprised 49 business jets, 25 commercial aircraft, and one C-390 tactical transport.” Despite growth in 2023, Embraer “has yet to surpass its 2019 shipment total of 198 aircraft.” The company “says that supply chain delays continued to be a challenge in 2023, affecting deliveries.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal – Subscription Publication)

AIAA Statement on the End of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Mission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 31, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) CEO Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:

“We join NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the entire aerospace community in marking the end of mission for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter on 25 January 2024. What a mission it was – 72 powered controlled flights on another planet.

We’ll remember the historic date and location of Ingenuity’s first flight, 19 April 2021, at Jezero Crater, Wright Brothers Field, Mars. Ingenuity’s remarkable mission of taking off-world risks proves anything is possible. Going from a flight test experiment to an operational scout is an amazing accomplishment.

AIAA was honored to present the 2021 AIAA Space Systems Award to the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team, “For the design and flight test validation of the first helicopter designed for flight at Mars.” In addition, ASCEND was honored to host the 2021 NASA JPL William H. Pickering Lecture on the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.

Over the years, innovators have chronicled their work on rotorcraft designed for missions on other planets and moons by authoring articles for AIAA peer-reviewed journals, books, and meeting papers for AIAA forums. Their original research results and technological progress have been published in AIAA’s Aerospace Research Central (ARC) at arc.aiaa.org, the leading source of aerospace industry archives. AIAA is committed to ensuring students and professionals have access to the most important advances in aerospace science and technology through ARC. Read more about AIAA publications on the technology and development of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at aiaa.org/ingenuitymarshelicopter.

On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we salute the whole team who made the dream of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter a reality. We admire your engineering determination in combination with your innovative and inspirational thinking.

Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has shaped the future of aerospace.”

AIAA 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, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

 

NASA’s Lucy Probe to Fire Engines in Space for First Time

SPACE reports that NASA’s asteroid-hopping Lucy mission “is finally getting fired up in space for its trip to the never-before-explored Trojan asteroids, which follow Jupiter as it orbits the sun.” On Wednesday (Jan. 31), the Lucy spacecraft “will fire its main engines off-Earth for the first time since its launch in Aug. 2021.” The firing of Lucy’s main engines “will see the spacecraft burn through around half of its onboard fuel.” This will be “followed by a second, larger maneuver, which NASA says is currently set for Saturday (Feb. 3).” The aim “of these two early 2024 operations is to change Lucy’s velocity by around 2,000 miles per hour (3,217 kilometers per hour).”
Full Story (SPACE)