Toshiba develops lifelike communication android - Video

Following in the footsteps of Hiroshi Ishiguro's eerily lifelike creations, Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has developed a lifelike communication android that can move its arms and hands smoothly and use Japanese sign language.

The android is a prototype that the company will continue to develop towards achieving a service robot able to assist people in the fields of welfare and healthcare.

The android will be showcased at CEATEC JAPAN 2014, which will be held from October 7 to 11.

The android has the appearance of a friendly young woman, an impression accentuated by blinking eyes and a warm smile.

At present, the android can mimic only simple movements, such as exchanging greetings and signing in Japanese, but Toshiba will integrate its wide-ranging technologies in areas including sensing, speech synthesis, speech recognition and robotic control to realize a more sophisticated social robot by 2020.

The goal is to design a companion for the elderly and people with dementia, to offer telecounseling in natural speech, communicate through sign language and allow healthcare workers or family members to keep an eye on elderly people.

Toshiba developed the android in collaboration with aLab Inc., Osaka University, Shibaura Institute of Technology, and Shonan Institute of Technology.

Drawing on technologies and expertise built up through the development of industrial robots, Toshiba created an algorithm to coordinate the movement of 43 actuators in the android's joints.

Shibaura Institute of Technology and Shonan Institute of Technology contributed robot driving and sensor-based motion teaching technologies, and aLab Inc. and Osaka University provided the technologies required to create a body with a human-like resemblance and emulate human expressions.

As a result, the upper part of the body has a human appearance and moves fluidly.

Toshiba aims to put the android into practical use as a receptionist or as an exhibition attendant within next year.

Northrop Grumman Developing XS-1 Spaceplane For DARPA

Northrop Grumman Corporation with Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic is developing a preliminary design for DARPA's Experimental Spaceplane XS-1, shown here in an artist's concept. 

In addition to low-cost launch, the XS-1 will serve as a test-bed for a new generation of hypersonic aircraft. 

Credit: Northrop Grumman.

XS-1 has a reusable booster that when coupled with an expendable upper stage provides affordable, available and responsive space lift for 3,000-pound class spacecraft into low Earth orbit.

Reusable boosters with aircraft-like operations provide a breakthrough in space lift costs for this payload class, enabling new generations of lower cost, innovative and more resilient spacecraft.

The company is defining its concept for XS-1 under a 13-month, phase one contract valued at $3.9 million.

In addition to low-cost launch, the XS-1 would serve as a test-bed for a new generation of hypersonic aircraft.



A key program goal is to fly 10 times in 10 days using a minimal ground crew and infrastructure.

Reusable aircraft-like operations would help reduce military and commercial light spacecraft launch costs by a factor of 10 from current launch costs in this payload class.

To complement its aircraft, spacecraft and autonomous systems capabilities, Northrop Grumman has teamed with Scaled Composites of Mojave, which will lead fabrication and assembly, and Virgin Galactic, the privately-funded spaceline, which will head commercial spaceplane operations and transition.

“We chose performers who could prudently integrate existing and up-and-coming technologies and operations, while making XS-1 as reliable, easy-to-use and cost-effective as possible,” Jess Sponable, DARPA program manager.

“We’re eager to see how their initial designs envision making spaceflight commonplace, with all the potential military, civilian and commercial benefits that capability would provide.”

"Our team is uniquely qualified to meet DARPA's XS-1 operational system goals, having built and transitioned many developmental systems to operational use, including our current work on the world's only commercial spaceline, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo," said Doug Young, vice president, missile defense and advanced missions, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.

"We plan to bundle proven technologies into our concept that we developed during related projects for DARPA, NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, giving the government maximum return on those investments," Young added.

The design would be built around operability and affordability, emphasizing aircraft-like operations including:

• Clean pad launch using a transporter erector launcher, minimal infrastructure and ground crew;
• Highly autonomous flight operations that leverage Northrop Grumman's unmanned aircraft systems experience; and
• Aircraft-like horizontal landing and recovery on standard runways.

Russia GONETS: Development of New Satellite Communication System

A scaled model of the Gonets-M satellite in orbital configuration. 

Credit: Anatoly Zak / RussianSpaceWeb.com

The new secure communication system is to be used by the country's leaders and the military, according to the newspaper. 

The system will be based on the Gonets-M1 and Gonets-M2 communication systems.

Russia intends to create a new powerful satellite communication system that will provide global coverage and communication security, Izvestia newspaper reported Thursday.

A cluster of Gonets satellites. Credit: ISS Reshetnev

The development of such a system will require the launch of a space complex ordered by the Russian Defense Ministry and the Russian Federal Space Agency.

The budget for the project is estimated at 65.6 billion rubles ($1.8 billion).

The system throughput is expected to reach 80 gigabits (Gb) by 2020, and 120 Gb by 2025. That will allow the simultaneous coverage of about a million high-speed terminals.

A Gonets-M satellite released on July 2, 2014. 

Credit: Roskosmos

The new secure communication system is to be used by the country's leaders and the military, according to the newspaper.

The system will be based on the Gonets-M1 and Gonets-M2 communication systems.

The space complex will consist of four satellites weighing up to 2.5 tons and equipped with transponders and air traffic control systems.

NASA Cassini Tracks Clouds Developing Over a Titan Sea

This animated sequence of Cassini images shows methane clouds moving above the large methane sea on Saturn's moon Titan known as Ligeia Mare.

Image Credit: NASA /JPL-Caltech /Space Science Institute

As NASA's Cassini spacecraft sped away from Titan following a relatively close flyby, its cameras monitored the moon's northern polar region, capturing signs of renewed cloud activity.

Image Credit: NASA /JPL-Caltech /Space Science Institute

NASA's Cassini spacecraft recently captured images of clouds moving across the northern hydrocarbon seas of Saturn's moon Titan.

This renewed weather activity, considered overdue by researchers, could finally signal the onset of summer storms that atmospheric models have long predicted.

The Cassini spacecraft obtained the new views in late July, as it receded from Titan after a close flyby. Cassini tracked the system of clouds developing and dissipating over the large methane sea known as Ligeia Mare for more than two days.

Measurements of cloud motions indicate wind speeds of around 7 to 10 mph (3 to 4.5 meters per second).

For several years after Cassini's 2004 arrival in the Saturn system, scientists frequently observed cloud activity near Titan's south pole, which was experiencing late summer at the time.

Clouds continued to be observed as spring came to Titan's northern hemisphere. But since a huge storm swept across the icy moon's low latitudes in late 2010, only a few small clouds have been observed anywhere on the icy moon.

The lack of cloud activity has surprised researchers, as computer simulations of Titan's atmospheric circulation predicted that clouds would increase in the north as summer approached, bringing increasingly warm temperatures to the atmosphere there.

"We're eager to find out if the clouds' appearance signals the beginning of summer weather patterns, or if it is an isolated occurrence," said Elizabeth Turtle, a Cassini imaging team associate at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Maryland.

"Also, how are the clouds related to the seas? Did Cassini just happen catch them over the seas, or do they form there preferentially?"

A year on Titan lasts about 30 Earth years, with each season lasting about seven years. Observing seasonal changes on Titan will continue to be a major goal for the Cassini mission as summer comes to Titan's north and the southern latitudes fall into winter darkness.

Podcast | Sopwith Lecture 2014 - The UK Aerospace Technology Enterprise: Latent Growth or Losing Ground?

International acquisition activity in the UK pharmaceutical sector has recently heightened concern over investment in UK research and development and the implications for the nation’s science base.

The UK aerospace sector is a major export revenue earner and similarly has deep roots both in research and in advanced manufacturing, facets that are vital in the re-balancing of the UK economy.

Much has been achieved through the creation of a number of ‘growth partnerships’ between dwindling UK industry and focussed exploitation by a profit-focused UK Government.

The sustainability of this approach in the aerospace and defence sectors was discussed at the lecture, as was the long-term implications for the creation of intellectual property in the UK.

Consideration was also given to whether design, development and manufacture in the UK will ultimately give way to build-to-print.

About the speaker:

Sir Brian Burridge, Vice President Strategic Marketing, Finmeccanica UK

Sir Brian Burridge is the Vice President Strategic Marketing at Finmeccanica UK and is currently the Technology and Enterprise Team Lead in the Defence Growth Partnership.

He previously spent a full career as a pilot in the Royal Air Force holding a front-line command at every level in the Service and spent a number of years in MOD policy posts.

He left the Royal Air Force in January 2006 as Commander-in-Chief Strike Command.

He is the President of the Air League and also the Vice President Defence on the Council of ADS, the aerospace, defence and security sectors' trade association.

With a first degree in physics, an MBA and two honorary doctorates, Sir Brian was previously a research fellow in political science at King's London and is now a visiting professor at the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Reading.

ASU USGS project: THEMIS Development of sharpest map of Mars' surface properties

A small impact crater on Mars named Gratteri, 4.3 miles (6.9 km) wide, lies at the center of large dark streaks. 

Unlike an ordinary daytime photo, this nighttime image shows how warm various surface areas are. 

Brighter tones mean warmer temperatures, which indicate areas with rockier surface materials. 

Darker areas indicate cooler and dustier terrain. For example, the bright narrow rings scattered across the image show where rocks are exposed on the uplifted rims of impact craters. 

Broad, bright areas show expanses of bare rock and durable crust. Fine-grain materials, such as dust and sand, show up as dark areas, most notably in the streaky rays made of fine material flung away in the aftermath of the meteorite's impact. 

Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University.

A heat-sensing camera designed at Arizona State University has provided data to create the most detailed global map yet made of Martian surface properties.

The map uses data from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), a nine-band visual and infrared camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.

A version of the map optimized for scientific researchers is available at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The new Mars map was developed by the Geological Survey's Robin Fergason at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, in collaboration with researchers at ASU's Mars Space Flight Facility.

The work reflects the close ties between space exploration efforts at Arizona universities and the U.S. Geological Survey.

"We used more than 20,000 THEMIS nighttime temperature images to generate the highest resolution surface property map of Mars ever created," says Fergason, who earned her doctorate at ASU in 2006.

"Now these data are freely available to researchers and the public alike."

Surface properties tell geologists about the physical nature of a planet or moon's surface.

• Is a particular area coated with dust, and if so, how thick is it likely to be?
• Where are the outcrops of bedrock? 
• How loose are the sediments that fill this crater or that valley? 

A map of surface properties lets scientists begin to answer questions such as these.

Darker means cooler and dustier
The new map uses nighttime temperature images to derive the "thermal inertia" for areas of Mars, each the size of a football field.

Thermal inertia is a calculated value that represents how fast a surface heats up and cools off.

As day and night alternate on Mars, loose, fine-grain materials such as sand and dust change temperature quickly and thus have low values of thermal inertia.

Bedrock represents the other end of the thermal inertia range: because it cools off slowly at night and warms up slowly by day, it has a high thermal inertia.

"Darker areas in the map are cooler at night, have a lower thermal inertia and likely contain fine particles, such as dust, silt or fine sand," Ferguson says.

The brighter regions are warmer, she explains, and have surfaces with higher thermal inertia. These consist perhaps of coarser sand, surface crusts, rock fragments, bedrock or combinations of these materials.

The designer and principal investigator for the THEMIS camera is Philip Christensen, Regents' Professor of Geological Sciences in the School of Earth and Space Exploration, part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on the Tempe campus.

NB: Four years ago, Christensen and ASU researchers used daytime THEMIS images to create a global Mars map depicting the planet's landforms, such as craters, volcanoes, outflow channels, landslides, lava flows and other features.


"A tremendous amount of effort has gone into this great global product, which will serve engineers, scientists and the public for many years to come," Christensen says.

"This map provides data not previously available, and it will enable regional and global studies of surface properties. I'm eager to use it to discover new insights into the recent surface history of Mars."

As Fergason notes, the map has an important practical side. "NASA used THEMIS images to find safe landing sites for the Mars Exploration Rovers in 2004, and for Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory rover, in 2012," she says.

"THEMIS images are now helping NASA select a landing site for its next Mars rover in 2020."

Astronomers pierce galactic clouds to shine light on black hole development - video

This is an illustration of the physical, spatial and temporal picture for the outflows emanating from the vicinity of the super massive black hole in the galaxy NGC 5548. 

The behaviour of the emission source in five epochs is shown along the time axis. 

The obscurer is situated at roughly 0.03 light years (0.01 parsecs) from the emission source and is only seen in 2011 and 2013 (it is much stronger in 2013). 

Outflow component 1 shows the most dramatic changes in its absorption troughs. Different observed ionic species are represented as colored zones within the absorbers. 

Credit: Ann Feild/Space Telescope Science Institute 

Jelle Kaastra

An international team of scientists including a Virginia Tech physicist have discovered that winds blowing from a supermassive black hole in a nearby galaxy work to obscure observations and x-rays.

The discovery in today's (June 19, 2004) issue of Science Express sheds light on the unexpected behavior of black holes, which emit large amounts of matter through powerful, galactic winds.

Using a large array of satellites and space observatories, the team spent more than a year training their instruments on the brightest and most studied of the "local" black holes—the one situated at the core of Type I Seyfert Galaxy NGC 5548.

What they found was a bit of a surprise.

The researchers discovered much colder gas than expected based on past observations, showing that the wind had cooled and that a stream of gas moved quickly outward and blocked 90 percent of x-rays.

The observation was the first direct evidence of an obscuration process that—in more luminous galaxies—has been shown to regulate growth of black holes.

By looking at data from different sources, scientists found that a thick layer of gas lay between the galactic nucleus and the Earth blocked the lower energy x-rays often used to study the system, but allowed more energetic x-rays to get through.


An animated journey through the active galaxy NGC 5548. For a more in-depth explanation of the video, please see the Supporting Online Material. Credit: Kaastra et al., Science/

Data from Hubble Space Telescope also showed ultraviolet emissions being partially absorbed by a stream of gas.

A multi-wavelength observational campaign simultaneously looking at an object to decipher its secrets is rare, the researchers said.

In this illustration, the position of a dark, absorbing cloud of material is located high above the supermassive black hole and accretion disk in the center of the active galaxy NGC 5548. 

Numerous other filaments twist around the black hole as they are swept away by a torrent of radiation "winds." 

Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)

"I don't think anyone has trained so many scopes and put in so much time on a single object like this," said Nahum Arav, an associate professor of physics with Virginia Tech's College of Science.

"The result is quite spectacular. We saw something that was never studied well before and we also deciphered the outflow in the object."

"We know far more about this outflow than any studied previously as to where it is and how it behaves in time. We have a physical model that explains all the data we've taken of the outflow over 16 years."

This image depicts the galaxy NGC 5548 taken at the MDM Observatory 1.3m telescope. 

Credit: Dr. Misty Bentz

The discovery was made by an international team led by SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research scientist Jelle Kaastra using the major space observatories of the European Space Agency, NASA, the Hubble Space Telescope, Swift, NuSTAR, Chandra, INTREGRAL, and other satellites and observation platforms.

"These outflows are thought to be a major player in the structure formation of the universe," Arav said.

"This particular outflow is comparatively small but because it's so close we can study it very well and then create a better understanding of how the phenomenon will work in very large objects that do affect the structure formation in the universe."

More information: "A fast and long-lived outflow from the supermassive black hole in NGC 5548," by J.S. Kaastra et al. Science Express, 2014. www.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/… 1126/science.1253787

Star Trek-style 'tractor beam' created at Scottish university

Scientists at Dundee University have created a working "tractor beam".

Normally the stuff of science fiction in Star Trek or Star Wars, physicists at the university used an ultrasound array to exert force on an object and pull it towards the energy source.

They say it is the first time such a beam has been used to move anything bigger than microscopic targets.

The technology could be put to use in medicine, helping to develop ultrasound-based clinical techniques.

Dundee researchers worked alongside colleagues in Southampton and Illinois on the project, the results of which have been published in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.

In another sci-fi inspired project, the same team from the university's Institute for Medical Science and Technology (Imsat) created a Doctor Who-style "sonic screwdriver", also using ultrasound.

Ultrasound device
"This is the first time anyone has demonstrated a working acoustic tractor beam and the first time such a beam has been used to move anything bigger than microscopic targets," said Dr Christine Demore of Imsat.

"We were able to show that you could exert sufficient force on an object around one centimetre in size to hold or move it, by directing twin beams of energy from the ultrasound array towards the back of the object."

The team used an ultrasound device that is already clinically approved for use in MRI-guided surgery.

The team's work was carried out as part of a £3.6m programme initiated by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, combining expertise at four UK universities in Bristol, Dundee, Glasgow and Southampton with industrial firms.

Professor Sandy Cochran, of the University of Dundee, said: "Our partnership with industry has been vital to developing devices and capabilities that are delivering unprecedented sophistication in the field of ultrasound."

Russian RD-180 Rocket Engine Replacement to Cost US $1.5Bln and take 6 Years

The development of a rocket engine to replace the Russian-made RD-180 used to launch the American Atlas V rocket, would cost $1.5 billion and take up to six years, Bloomberg said Wednesday, citing data from an independent panel advising the Pentagon.

The loss of the RD-180 may have a "significant" impact, as there are few "near-terms options to mitigate" the consequences, according to a study by an independent commission of advisors working in the space sector.

Despite claims by the US Air Force that there are enough engines in reserve for two more years of launches, the lack of new RD-180 imports may lead to launch delays, potentially leading to $5 billion in increased costs through 2017.

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel earlier ordered air force commanders to reconsider the principles of US cooperation with Russia in the military and technical sphere and reduce the US dependence on Russian rocket engines.

US Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall said the Pentagon has no means of replacing the Russian-made rocket engine, which the US uses to launch satellites for military purposes.

It was reported that as a solutions to the problem, the US Air Force could produce a US copy of the engine or increase launches of the Delta IV rocket with a completely different engine.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said earlier that in response to the US sanctions against Russia, Moscow will suspend the export of the RD-180 and NK-33 rocket engines to the United States.

US Military Developing Foldable Space Telescope - Video

The United States military's advanced research arm is working on a foldable space telescope that could image Earth in high resolution at a relatively low cost.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) says the telescope design, known as the Membrane Optical Imager for Real-Time Exploitation, (MOIRE), would be of great use in geosynchronous Earth orbit, the spot 22,000 miles (35,000 kilometers) up where most telecommunications satellites reside.

"Membrane optics could enable us to fit much larger, higher-resolution telescopes in smaller and lighter packages," Lt. Col. Larry Gunn, MOIRE program manager, said in a statement.

The Membrane Optical Imager for Real-Time Exploitation (MOIRE) is in Phase 2 of ground testing. 

If it ever reaches orbit. the telescope is billed as lighter than conventional designs and able to get high-definiton pictures of Earth from geosynchronous orbit.

Credit: DARPA

"In that respect, we’re ‘breaking the glass ceiling’ that traditional materials impose on optics design," Gunn added.

"We’re hoping our research could also help greatly reduce overall costs and enable more timely deployment using smaller, less expensive launch vehicles."

MOIRE is now in Phase 2 of development since work began in 2010. When this phase is completed, a 16-foot (5 meters) prototype of the telescope's mirror should be completed for ground testing.

No space missions have been set for MOIRE yet, DARPA officials said.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to the MOIRE design. The membrane is not as efficient as the usual glass, but it is lighter, which allows prime contractor Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. to make larger lenses to increase the telescope's efficiency.

DARPA estimates that a membrane system should weigh 86 percent less than a more traditional system of the same resolution and mass.

The size of the Membrane Optical Imager for Real-Time Exploitation (MOIRE)'s mirror compared with that of the Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope.

Credit: DARPA

Most telescopes either reflect light (using mirrors) or refract it (using lenses), but MOIRE's behaves differently.

Each membrane will instead diffract light using a piece of equipment known as a Fresnel lens.

"It is etched with circular concentric grooves like microscopically thin tree rings, with the grooves hundreds of microns across at the center down to only 4 microns at the outside edge," DARPA officials said in a statement. "The diffractive pattern focuses light on a sensor that the satellite translates into an image."

Columbia's Lemur Studio Design develops mine detector in a shoe

Lemur Studio Design based in Bogota, Colombia, has come up with a concept for insoles that won’t just save your instep, but could save your life.

Credit: Lemur Studio Design

A submission to the World Design Impact Prize 2013-2014 competition, SaveOneLife is a wearable mine detector that fits in a shoe and warns the wearer if and where a potentially deadly landmine might lurk nearby.

Credit: Lemur Studio Design

Colombia is not alone in having a major landmine problem but it is one of the worse offenders.

According to the International Campaign to ban Landmines (ICBL), Colombia is the second most mined in the world after Afghanistan, with over 10,000 casualties since 1990, including about 2,000 killed.

Anti-government rebel groups have strewn antipersonnel and antivehicle mines along roads and foot trails, near government bases, in rural areas, around schools, houses, national parks, and indigenous communities’ land.

The problem is made worse by drug gangs using mines to protect their coca farms from intruders.

This widespread, often indiscriminate mining combined with the mountainous jungle terrain of the region make detecting and clearing landmines extremely difficult.

The notoriously dangerous job requires money, special equipment, and expert crews. It’s a long, slow task that even under the best conditions can take decades to complete.

Meanwhile, soldiers, coca eradication teams, farmers, and local people are at daily risk of being maimed or killed.

Credit: Lemur Studio Design

According to the designers, SaveOneLife isn’t a solution to the problem, but more of a stopgap technology to reduce the danger from antipersonnel mines.

It works on the principle of a typical metal detector.

The insole is made of a conductive material and has a planar coil printed on it, which produces an electromagnetic field.

When the wearer walks within two meters (6.5 ft) of a mine containing metal parts, this disrupts the field and is detected by a microprocessor, which is also printed on the insole, as is a radio transmitter.

The transmitter sends a signal to a wristwatch-like readout that sounds an alarm and displays the location of the mine on a small screen.

Iván Pérez

SaveOneLife was designed by Iván Pérez under project leader Lorena Cárdenas.

It’s currently at a conceptual stage due to economic reasons, but is designed to be as realistic as possible with the aim of providing a template for eventually coming up with a practical, life-saving device based on nanotechnology.

ESA Rosetta OSIRIS Development and construction of the onboard camera system

Red planet: In February 2007, the Rosetta space probe flew past Mars. 

The OSIRIS camera system succeeded in taking this image. 

The two polar caps made of frozen carbon dioxide can be clearly recognised. 

Credit: ESA 2007 / MPS for OSIRIS-Team MPS /UPD /LAM /IAA /RSSD /INTA /UPM /DASP /IDA

The ten-year journey of the Rosetta space probe, which will end this year in August when it arrives at the Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet, was packed with interesting points of interest.

To increase its speed, Rosetta flew past Earth three times and Mars once; the asteroids Steins and Lutetia also crossed the probe's path and each time the OSIRIS camera system provided impressive images.

The development and construction of the eye was headed by a team of scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research.

Whereas Earth and Mars primarily offered the experts the opportunity to test and calibrate their instrument on a comparably close object, the asteroids were of major scientific interest.

Since the Rosetta fly-by in July 2010, the Lutetia asteroid numbers among the best-investigated small bodies - and has proven to be a true primeval rock.

Owing to its surface structure, the Max Planck researchers estimate it to be at least 3.6 billion years old.

OSIRIS' distinctive aspect: The camera system consists of a telephoto and a wide-angle camera.

The instrument can thus view the comet with a dual approach when it arrives at its destination: while the telephoto camera can resolve structures measuring a mere two centimetres on the surface of Churyumov-Gerasimenko from a distance of one kilometre, the wide-angle camera keeps the whole celestial object in view.

The cameras are additionally equipped with a total of 25 colour filters. This allows them to investigate the light which Churyumov-Gerasimenko reflects into space in specific wavelength ranges and tease out information on the mineral composition of the surface or the gas streaming from the comet.

Abstract continent: The second time it passed by Earth in November 2007, Rosetta took this picture of Europe - shown here in false colours. 

Credit: ESA 2007 / MPS for OSIRIS-Team MPS /UPD /LAM /IAA /RSSD /INTA /UPM /DASP /IDA

However, as recent years have shown, OSIRIS is not only suitable for research objects in the immediate vicinity.

In 2005, for example, when NASA's Deep Impact probe caused an object with a volume of one cubic metre to impact on the comet Tempel 1, OSIRIS observed the cloud of dust created by this impact from a distance of around 80 million kilometres.

And the instrument succeeded in taking a first picture of the targeted comet as early as summer 2011 - something which required 13 hours exposure time and sophisticated image processing, since the probe and comet were around 163 million kilometres apart at the time.

Carmat SA: European Space technology leads to artificial heart development

Four test patients suffering from terminal cardiac failure will soon receive artificial hearts from the French company Carmat, now approved for human trials in France. 

Brainchild of the cardiac surgeon Professor Alain Carpentier, the prosthetic is the result of 15 years of collaboration with aerospace giant Astrium, the space subsidiary of EADS. 

Credit: Carmat

An artificial heart containing miniaturised space technology will soon beat inside a person, having now been approved for human trials in France.

With heart disease killing over 100 million people in developed countries alone and the demand for transplants far exceeding donations, creating a totally artificial heart has been the holy grail of cardiovascular medicine for half a century.

Brainchild of the visionary cardiac surgeon, Professor Alain Carpentier, the prosthetic is the result of 15 years of collaboration with aerospace giant Astrium, the space subsidiary of EADS.

In 2008, with support from the French Government and investors, Prof. Carpentier founded the EADS spin-off company, Carmat, to complete the work.

Combining the unique expertise of Prof. Carpentier, known worldwide for inventing today's most used heart valves, with Astrium's experience in building satellites, Carmat produced their first completely artificial heart earlier this year.

The Carmat-developed prosthetic heart has been developed utilising the expertise and technologies from European space programmes. 

In particular, the expertise in guaranteeing the extreme reliability of electronics on satellites helped the Carmat team to build a device that could withstand the tough conditions of the body’s circulatory system and pump 35 million times per year for at least five years without fail. 

Credit: Carmat

It turned out that space had the ingredients that Carmat needed. Working closely with satellite engineers, the company applied EADS Astrium's expertise in building spacecraft to guarantee the necessary precision and durability for an artificial human organ like a heart.

Fashioned in part from biological tissue and in part from miniature satellite equipment, the device combines the latest advances in medicine, biology, electronics and materials science to imitate a real heart.

The team had to build a device that could withstand the tough conditions of the body's circulatory system and pump 35 million times per year for at least five years without fail.

They needed the ultimate in reliability, and the answer came from design methodologies, testing strategies and know-how for the electronics on satellites.

"Space and the inside of your body have a lot in common," says Matthieu Dollon, Head of Business Development in EADS Astrium's French Elancourt Equipment team, who are working closely with Carmat on the heart.

"They both present harsh and inaccessible environments."

Telecom satellites are built to last 15 years on their own in space, 36 000 km above Earth. The heart might be closer than a satellite but it is just as inaccessible.

Read the full story here

Mycrocryocooler: Satellite Cooling System Developed by Lockheed Martin

Weighing just over 11 ounces, and less than four inches long in greatest dimension, the microcryocooler is expected to have an operating life of 10 years or more.

Scientists and engineers at the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (ATC) have developed the lightest satellite cryocooler, (cooling system) ever built.

The breakthrough is seen as a game-changer in the design of affordable, advanced-technology flight systems, as it costs up to ten thousand dollars a pound for a satellite to orbit the Earth.

Known as a microcryocooler, the new cooling system weighs approximately 11 ounces, three times lighter than its predecessor, and is expected to have an operating life of at least ten years.

The microcryocooler operates like a refrigerator, drawing heat out of sensor systems and delivering highly efficient cooling to small science satellites orbiting the Earth and on missions to the outer planets.

"Temperatures as low as -320 F are required for infrared instruments and the coolers must operate with minimum power and long lifetimes," said Ted Nast, Lockheed Martin fellow at the ATC in Palo Alto.

"That is why we constantly pursue a deeper understanding of the dynamic effects of temperature on cutting-edge technology and develop new systems, like our microcryocooler, that will perform successfully within the demands and constraints presented by severe, operational thermal environments."

Lockheed Martin is the industry leader in satellite cooling systems, having successfully flown more than 25 cryocoolers in space over the past 40 years- most recently on the WISE and Gravity Probe-B NASA science satellites.

In addition to space applications, the microcryocooler can be utilized in tactical systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and tanks.

Developing a better motor for the Mars Rover

Elias Brassitos, a doctoral candidate in Distinguished Professor Dinos Mavroidis' Biomedical Mechatronics Laboratory, is developing a rotary robotic actuator that produces more power in a lighter package for a manipulator arm on NASA's Mars Rover. 

Credit: Brooks Canaday

In the world of robotics, identifying actuators that are strong and compact is probably one of the most important open technological problems yet to be resolved.

More often than not, the mechanical elements that translate data into doing are big, rough, and generally unfriendly for use in everyday robotics, said Dinos Mavroidis, Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University.

In the mid-2000s, Mavroidis' lab set out to develop a new kind of actuator—small enough to sit inside the joints of prosthetic limbs, but powerful enough for everyday tasks such as lifting and walking.

Backed by two new grants—one from the National Science Foundation, the other from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration—Mavroidis' team will work to tailor the technology for use in advanced space applications as well as everyday household robots.

The gear bearing drive, or GBD, as the team's unique actuator is called, consists of a motor embedded directly inside the gear transmission, allowing for cheaper, lighter, and stronger functioning. The GBD is a compact mechanism with two key abilities.

It operates as an actuator providing torque and as a joint providing support. Back in 2006, Mavroidis and then graduate student Brian Weinberg developed the idea in collaboration with John Vranish, a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center engineer.

Elias Brassitos, a doctoral candidate in Mavroidis' lab, will use funding from a Space Technology Research Fellowship to develop the GBD for use on the Mars Rover.

"For space applications, everything needs to be lighter and stronger," said Brassitos, who noted that the device would replace the entire joint assembly for the rover's manipulator, the arm that extends outside the vehicle to collect rock samples and other things

"Mobile Robotics, particularly the use of rovers as part of a wider NASA exploration strategy, puts pressures on actuation technology," said Brett Kennedy, supervisor of the Robotic Vehicles and Manipulators Group at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"We are always looking for ways to pack more torque, more power, and more functions into smaller packages," added Kennedy, who has high hopes that the GBD will help them do just that.

First, Brassitos must design various GBD architectures, each of which might be good for different applications. He'll design and build a prototype at Northeastern, and then assemble and test the device at the JPL.

While Brassitos works to develop the GBD for space, another graduate student will work to "commercialize it for earth."

In collaboration with the startup company Foodinie, which aims to make robots for the modern household kitchen, doctoral candidate Andy Kong and Mavroidis are developing an off-the-shelf version of the gear bearing drive that inventors can use for a variety of applications.

In some cases, the team will develop it for specialized needs as in the case of the Mars rover.

"There is a possibility for the GBD to be a source for innovation in the area of compact actuators for robotic systems," Mavroidis said.

Lockheed Martin developing Supersonic Spaceplane SR-72

Lockheed Martin SR-72

Lockheed Martin has begun work on a successor to the supersonic Blackbird SR-71 spy plane.

The unmanned SR-72 will use an engine that combines a turbine and a ramjet to reach its top speed of Mach 6 - about 3,600mph (5,800km/h).

Like its predecessor, the SR-72 will be designed for high-altitude surveillance but might also be fitted with weapons to strike targets.

Lockheed said the aircraft should be operational by 2030.

Jet engines
The SR-72 is being developed at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works R&D centre in California that designed and built the original Blackbird.

That aircraft first flew in 1964 and was a mainstay of US Air Force spying and surveillance work until 1998. It typically flew at altitudes of 24,000m (80,000ft) and could reach speeds of Mach 3.

Blackbird SR-71 spy plane

In a blogpost about the SR-72, Lockheed Martin said the aircraft would operate at similar altitudes but would fly far faster.

At Mach 6 the plane could travel the 3,500 miles (5,500km) from New York to London in less than an hour.

While spy satellites can photograph enemy territory, the relatively long time it takes for them to be moved to a new orbit so they pass over a target can limit their usefulness.

By contrast, wrote Lockheed Martin, the SR-72 "would be so fast, an adversary would have no time to react or hide".

For the SR-72, Lockheed Martin is drawing on work done on the Falcon HTV-2 hypersonic technology vehicle.

This is a test-bed for the futuristic technologies needed to support safe hypersonic flight and cope with the extreme conditions encountered by any object flying at such a speed.

For instance, on one test flight of the HTV-2, the aircraft hit a top speed of Mach 20 and its flight surfaces reached 1,927C (3,500F).

To reach Mach 6, the SR-72 will use an engine that acts like a normal jet turbine until speeds of Mach 3 are reached but which then operates like a ramjet to accelerate beyond that.

"Speed is the next aviation advancement to counter emerging threats in the next several decades," said Brad Leland, Lockheed Martin's hypersonic programme manager on the blog.

"The technology would be a game-changer in theatre, similar to how stealth is changing the battlespace today."

ESA ExoMars: Development of Martian Sample Return box

This spherical container has been engineered to house the most scientifically valuable cargo imaginable: samples brought back from the Red Planet.

Still probably many years in the future and most likely international in nature, a Mars sample-return mission is one of the most challenging space ventures possible for robotic exploration.

A robust, multifunctional sample container is an essential link in the long technical chain necessary to make such a mission successful.

Weighing less than 5 kg, this 23 cm-diameter sphere is designed to keep martian samples in pristine condition at under –10°C throughout their long journey back to Earth.

First, the sample container must be landed on Mars, along with a rover to retrieve a cache of samples carefully selected by a previous mission, according to current mission scenarios.

The container seen here hosts 11 sealable receptacles, including one set aside for a sample of martian air.

Then, once filled, it will be launched back up to Mars orbit. There it will remain for several days until a rendezvous spacecraft captures it.

To ease the process of rendezvous, the sample container carries a radio emitter and retroreflectors for close-up laser ranging.

Before being returned to Earth, the container will be enclosed in another larger bio-sealed vessel to ensure perfect containment of any returned martian material. This container will then be returned to Earth for a high-speed entry.

"Because there is the potential, however remote, that the samples contain alien life, we have to comply with strict planetary protection protocols not to bring them into contact with Earth's biosphere," explained Benoit Laine, Head of ESA's Thermal Analysis and Verification section, who oversaw the sample container project.

"In effect, the parachute technology is not reliable enough – which means the container must be able to withstand a crash landing without parachute.

"The mission design therefore does not include any parachute, and the capsule literally falls from Mars onto Earth, decelerated only by the pressure on the heatshield through Earth's atmosphere, and by the impact at landing."

MIT Develop Microthruster for next generation Cube satellites

Lozano holds a prototype of a microthruster, developed to propel small satellites in space. Credit: Bryce Vickmark

The MIT News Office is reporting that the University's Space Power and Propulsion Laboratory (headed by Paulo Lozano) is seeing progress with micro-sized thruster design to power the next generation of self-propelled cubesats.

Because traditional combustion or electric engines don't scale down well, the team has been testing ion electrospray thrusters that can be made as small as a postage stamp.

For most of their still relatively short history, satellites have been extremely expensive ventures, both to design and build and to launch into space.

Paulo Lozano

With the miniaturization of electronics, however, scientists see a way to reduce the costs associated with sending craft into orbit, and also for sending them into outer space—cubesats—satellites that are tiny versions of the older models.

They range in size from a shoebox to a Rubix cube. The current versions are sent aloft (sans engine) as part of a cargo load carrying other bigger equipment and remain orbiting the planet for a short time, till gravity pulls them back down.

To get more out of their investment, scientists would like to put an engine on the little satellites so that they could stay in orbit, or even be sent to other parts of the solar system.

Current research has centered around plasma or colloid thrusters.

The researchers at MIT believe that ion thrusters are the better bet.

Their idea is to use solar power to generate a charge to electrify a very small amount of liquid propellant—releasing an ion stream through a nozzle—generating just enough thrust to change the course of a cubesat or push it forward.

Four of the thrusters would be sufficient to provide both attitude control and propulsion.

Scientists believe it might be possible in the near future to send an entire fleet of cubesats into space for the amount of money it currently takes to send just one.

In addition to designing tiny engines for them, engineers have also been hard at work designing other components necessary for fully utilizing such a satellite—one such example is the recently developed (also at MIT) inflatable antennae that greatly extends their range. Some suggest cubesats may even provide the long-sought solution to cleaning up space junk.

RoboMate Project: Development of intelligent and wearable body exoskeleton

The Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO is partner in the Robo-Mate project, starting in September 2013. 

Together with 11 European partners this research project aims at designing a human-guided exoskeleton to improve work safety and enhance productivity in the industrial environment.

Various manual work tasks necessary to industrial manufacturing processes are difficult to automate – even today – due to their complexity.

This is particularly the case in assembling and dismantling operations, such as those used in the automotive or food processing industries. This type of work, however, entails severe risks of injury.

According to the Work Foundation Alliance (UK), as many as 44 million workers in the European Union are affected by work-place related musculo-skeletal disorders (MSDs), representing a total annual cost of more than 240 billion Euros.

To overcome these industrial and societal challenges, a new project, called RoboMate, has been designed.

Set to get underway in September 2013, the objective of the RoboMate project is to develop an intelligent, easy-to-manoeuvre, and wearable body exoskeleton for manual-handling work.

The project comprises 12 partners from 7 European countries, including key players from industry and academia.

The fundamental idea behind Robo-Mate is to enhance work conditions for load workers and facilitate repetitive lifting tasks, thereby reducing the incidence of work-place related injury and disease.

As a consequence, productivity, flexibility and the quality of production will increase. Bringing this concept to fruition involves merging human-guided manipulators with computer-controlled industrial robots in order to create a human-guided and computer-supported exoskeleton for use in various industries.

The development includes modelling and simulating the exoskeleton in a virtual-factory environment at the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO.

Putting the Robo-Mate exoskeleton into service will engender practical and far-reaching impacts, including making the industrial work-site safer for skilled personnel, providing a means for workers to apply less physical effort, and facilitating higher-quality outputs resulting in industrial benefit.