The "Scorpio" Mars rover constructed by students of the Polish Wroclaw University, at the European Rover Challenge 2014 on September 4, 2014 in Checiny, Poland
Robots built to traverse the rugged terrain of Mars battled it out in Poland on Friday in a competition to find the best way to explore the Red Planet.
The European Rover Challenge 2014 has drawn competitors from as far as Colombia, Egypt and India, keen to prove their machines have what it takes to conquer the giant mountains and unforgiving canyons of Earth's neighbour.
The automated vehicles, designed to emulate NASA's Mars rover explorers, will be tested performing four tasks on red soil imitating the surface of Mars.
Tasks include surface exploration, helping an injured astronaut, gathering soil samples and searching for signs of life.
"At last, our robot Scorpio 4 is ready for the competition," Szymon Dzwonczyk, a 21-year-old student at the Wroclaw University of Technology in southern Poland, told AFP.
"It's a four-wheeled modular build that can be used in different ways for scientific exploration," he said.
An early version of his team's robot won second place in last year's global University Rover Challenge, organised by NASA in a Utah desert.
First place went to students from Bialystok, in eastern Poland.
"Coming second made us want to work harder," says Dzwonczyk, who is also hoping to attract commercial interest in the versatile machine.
The weekend competition is being organised by the Polish branch of the International Mars Society, focused on "furthering the exploration and settlement of the Red Planet," according to its website.
Members of the Kielce University of Technology team watch their "Impuls" Mars rover before the European Rover Challenge 2014 on September 5, 2014 in Checiny, Poland
Under way in Checiny, southern Poland, the European Rover Challenge is open to the public.
NASA experts are expected to attend a conference on its sidelines exploring humans in space.
As NASA funding continue to dissipate, space agency officials are left trying, frustratingly, to figure out what's worth paying for and the Spitzer Space Telescope is just the latest in a growing list of defunded and soon-to-be-extinct projects.
Since the Apollo missions to the moon ended in 1973, NASA's budget has steadily declined, from 1.35 percent of the federal government's total expenditures to less than 0.6 percent today.
Although the 2014 budget recovered a small portion of previously cut funds, the writing has been on the wall for some time now: do more with less.
Or just do less. So far, that's been the approach -- a run of tough decisions, a run of cuts. The Space Shuttle program was retired.
"It turned out that we had to make very difficult choices about where we go with astrophysics and planetary science and Earth science, and SOFIA happened to be what fell off the plate this time," NASA administrator Charles Bolden said shortly after the latest budget proposal came out.
Even more recently, a NASA review panel, convened every two years to determine the merits of various NASA programs, decided to decommission the Spitzer Space Telescope, the the first telescope to directly capture the light from extrasolar planets. A last ditch effort to save Spitzer looks likely to be unsuccessful.
Yet as NASA funding shrinks, the possibilities of scientific exploration continue to grow, leaving NASA's task of project decision making tougher than ever.
Go back to the moon, some say. How about a mission to Jupiter's moon Europa? What about deep-space exploration? Or Mars?
The House is expected to soon vote on a spending bill that would fill some gaps in NASA's funding. Even so, NASA's purse strings are likely to remain tight and tangled for the foreseeable future.
The James Webb Space Telescope, a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, is a stated priority of Canadian government astronomy funding. Other projects, astronomers say, are threatened by budget cuts. CREDIT: ESA
Flashing a picture of the star HR 8799 and its four alien planets on a big screen, astronomer Andrew Cumming smiled.
"This is the most amazing picture in exoplanet science!" he exclaimed.
Cumming described how astronomers tracked minute variations in the system to study these alien worlds: "Over four years, we started to see one planet moving in its orbit," he told delegates of the Canadian Science Writers' Association during a talk at McGill University here June 7.
Cumming is a theoretical astrophysicist at the university who focuses on compact objects, particularly super-dense neutron stars, as well as exoplanets.
These days, though, his attention is somewhat distracted. There are changes afoot in Canadian astronomy funding.
Last year, at least one of the Canadian Space Agency's astronomy programs came close to the chopping block amid government cost-cutting, he said. Even today, many researchers are nervous.
"One always wants more invested in the field you're working in," Cumming told reporters, echoing concerns of several astronomers at the conference.
Money is tight these days in the Canadian government, however. Officials with the ruling Conservative party have said they are conscious of the federal budget deficit and must make cuts. Critics, however, argue that fundamental research is coming under attack.
In May, Tory officials said they would change the NRC's mandate to "invest in large-scale research projects that are directed by and for Canadian business."
In response, the Canadian Association of University Teachers called the change "short-sighted, misguided and unbalanced" because it would jeopardize the resources of universities that rely on NRC labs to perform research. Other researchers cried foul in the media.
Meanwhile, the CSA's budget for space exploration, which includes astronomy, will fall in coming years, according to the latest figures released by the agency in mid-2012.
From $148.2 million ($151 million in Canadian dollars) in 2011-12, funds will decrease 40 percent to $91.2 million ($93 million CDN) in 2014-15.
One initiative called the "space science enhancement program" (SSEP) was nearly canceled last year, Cumming said. The CSA website now has a notice saying it is suspended.
The top goal of SSEP was, according to the CSA website, "to maximize the scientific return to Canada by providing funding to space science projects and activities in the areas of initial instrument studies, data analysis and other space science-related academic studies."
Cumming added that with the James Webb Space Telescope taking $143.6 million ($146 million CDN) from Canadian space funds over 10 years, he worried the slices of research left would starve to death.
The over-budget successor telescope to Hubble is expected to launch in 2018, costing more than $8 billion, most of which is coming from NASA.
The EADS Airbus A350 makes a pass over the airport during its maiden flight from Blagnac airport near Toulouse, southwestern France, Friday, June 14, 2013. The EADS Airbus A350 has taken off on its maiden flight, setting the stage for intensifying competition with U.S. rival Boeing in the long-haul wide-body aircraft market. Credit: AP Photo /Bob Edme
The Paris Air Show, which opens for business on Monday Jun. 17, brings hundreds of aircraft to the skies around the French capital, the usual tense competition between aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus, and a slew of innovations large and small.
BATTLE OF THE WIDE-BODIES
The much-anticipated Airbus A350 flew for the first time on Friday, launching a new air race between the European plane maker and Boeing for long-haul wide-body aircraft.
Boeing has dominated the market so far, but troubles with the lithium ion batteries in its 787 Dreamliner are giving customers a reason to give a close look at Airbus' first all-new plane in eight years.
The CEO of Airbus parent EADS, Tom Enders, has said he expects a "few hundred" new orders.
Boeing executives, meanwhile, downplayed the air show's importance for orders, noting that the two companies have historically split the commercial aircraft market.
A year ago, at the Paris Air Show's sister event in Britain, Boeing beat Airbus for the number of orders announced.
The U.S. company took in $37 billion in orders and commitments, well above EADS Airbus' $16.9 billion.
But the announcements during the air shows are not always a reliable indicator of business since prices are often negotiated down heavily and big orders don't always coincide with the event.
The race for the title of biggest plane maker is as tight as ever. Over the whole of 2012, Airbus delivered 588 planes. That was a record, but one Boeing beat with 601 deliveries, the first time since 2003 it came out on top.
UAV - DRONES
They have swooped into wildfires to take temperatures and tracked animals across Africa. They have guided a fuel tanker to safety through icy waters.
Drones are increasingly being used for non-military purposes and are expected to feature prominently at the Paris Air Show.
There are still tough restrictions on their flight for safety reasons, but while the Federal Aviation Authority works on new rules, the makers of drones will aim to show off innovation and technical prowess at the show.
Eurocopter, a company based in France, will showcase new technology that can transform a manned helicopter into one that flies without a pilot.
US SEQUESTRATION TAKES TOLL
American fighter jets aren't taking to the skies above Paris, nor will they be seen on the ground, for the first time in more than two decades thanks to the U.S. government's spending cuts—the infamous 'sequestration'.
The U.S. pavilion remains the largest, but the event will be less of a sales showcase for latest military hardware and more a place for suppliers to meet up with potential customers.
Russia, on the other hand, is looking to make a splash by presenting fighter jets and military helicopters at the show for the first time since 2001.
The Sukhoi manufacturer will showcase its Su-35, a twin-engine multipurpose fighter, for the first time outside Russia. Britain and France also will have fighter jets on display.
EVERY LITTLE BCOUNTS
Less flashy but just as important for the industry will be the myriad technological innovations that parts suppliers will come to Paris to present. The biggest issue? The cost of fuel.
The price of jet fuel has more than tripled worldwide since 2003—a trend both jet manufacturers and airlines expect to continue. Electric- or solar-powered commercial flights are wildly improbable and biofuels aren't yet economically viable, so airlines are looking to improve mileage any way possible.
For long-haul flights, that means more carbon-fiber in airplane bodies and other design tweaks, such as electric motors for taxiing. For passengers, it means no end in sight on extra baggage fees.
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