Aerospace & Defence

Seven Earth-sized exoplanets circle the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, just 40 light-years from our own blue planet. Now an international team of scientists at the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland, MIT, and elsewhere, report that the outer planets in this system may still hold significant stores of water. Three of these potential water worlds are also considered within the habitable zone of the star, giving further support to the possibil...

Astronomers have measured magnetic fields in a galaxy 4.6 billion light-years away — a big clue to understanding how magnetic fields formed and evolved over cosmic time. In an article published in Nature Astronomy, a collaboration led by Sui Ann Mao, the Minerva Research Group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy and a former postdoctoral Jansky Fellow at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, reports the discover...

Unmanned equipment and technology systems are expanding into nearly all walks of our lives. We are developing new systems that can expand our reach and capabilities using remote controlled equipment. By Rory Jackson and Bob Stanton, Omnetics Connector Corporation.

  The aerospace industry is of the most technically challenging industries in the world. There are growing pressures to look at new manufacturing methods to reduce production times and increase efficiency. One of the determining factors in the production chain is the choice of the right CAM solution.

  Engineering and manufacturing company that specialises in aerospace and defence programmes, Varley has announced the initial delivery of the new H-60 Bridge Tool Kits to the US Army, Army National Guard, and US Coast Guard.

Imagine you're on your way to Mars, and you lose a crucial tool during a spacewalk. Not to worry, you'll simply re-enter your spacecraft and use some microorganisms to convert your urine and exhaled carbon dioxide (CO2) into chemicals to make a new one. That's one of the ultimate goals of scientists who are developing ways to make long space trips feasible. The researchers are presenting their results at the 254th National Meeting & Expo...

  The fuselage, wing, flaps as well as the horizontal and vertical tail of the latest generation of aircraft are produced out of CFRP aluminium stacks. For the assembly of aircraft, innumerable bores including countersinking are drilled in these components for the rivet connections. In most cases drill feed units are used for machining.

Cosmic radiation is considered the main health hazard to human spaceflight and space exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond, which is why ESA has made cosmic radiation a focus of its research programme. Radiation poses a risk to the human body in the form of cancer, central nervous system disorders, cardiovascular problems and tissue degeneration.

The Unit Telescope 4 (Yepun) of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has now been transformed into a fully adaptive telescope. After more than a decade of planning, construction and testing, the new Adaptive Optics Facility (AOF) has seen first light with the instrument MUSE, capturing amazingly sharp views of planetary nebulae and galaxies. The coupling of the AOF and MUSE forms one of the most advanced and powerful technological systems ever ...

Daniel Whitmire, a retired astrophysicist who teaches mathematics at the University of Arkansas, once thought the cosmic silence indicated we as a species lagged far behind. "I taught astronomy for 37 years," said Whitmire. "I used to tell my students that by statistics, we have to be the dumbest guys in the galaxy. After all we have only been technological for about 100 years while other civilizations could be more technologically advanced ...