CATS: Cloud-Aerosol Transport System Earth remote sensing instrument

Roughly the size of a refrigerator, CATS will use the same two laser wavelengths on NASA’s CALIPSO mission, 1064 and 532 nanometers, and it will incorporate a third laser wavelength--355 nanometers. 

This will provide more detailed information about the particles in Earth's atmosphere. 

Credit: NASA

While felines in space may be what you're thinking, the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) is a much more helpful accompaniment planned for the International Space Station.

CATS will study the distribution of aerosols, the tiny particles that make up haze, dust, air pollutants, and smoke.

When Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted nearly four years ago, for example, officials grounded flights in Europe because particles contained within its massive plume could damage aircraft engines, resulting in potentially deadly consequences for passengers.

NASA couldn't dispatch aircraft-borne instruments for the very same reasons European officials had grounded commercial aircraft.

When the next volcano erupts, NASA will have a new tool in orbit that can monitor the spread of particles in Earth's atmosphere from its space-based perch.

This Earth remote sensing instrument is scheduled to launch to the space station in September 2014 as a demonstration project.

Its sensors will help researchers determine for the first time what state-of-the-art, three-wavelength laser technology can do from space to measure tiny airborne particles—also known as aerosols—in Earth's atmosphere.

Matt McGill

Developed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center scientist Matt McGill, and his team, CATS will be able to see the character as well as vertical and horizontal distribution of aerosols in a whole new light.

When CATS begins operations from its docking port on the Japanese Experiment Module-Exposed Facility (JEM-EF), the refrigerator-sized sensor will continue measuring atmospheric aerosols using the same two-laser wavelengths as NASA's Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) mission—the 1064 and 532 nanometer wavelengths.

The demonstration flight also is technologically important, using the space station as a test bed. The third laser is in the ultraviolet wavelength, just outside the visible range.

Though it adds an advanced capability, particularly when coupled with the new detectors, scientists believe it is susceptible to contamination.

"If you get contamination on any of your outgoing optics, they can self-destruct, and then your system's dead," McGill said. "You end up with very limited instrument lifetime."

Combating this risk to instruments is part of the CATS mission, showing how the equipment will fare in the space environment over time.

"[The space station] is a good, relatively low-cost, quick way to do that," said McGill. "In our current budget-constrained environment, we need to use what we already have, such as the [station], to do more with less."

If the CATS instrument succeeds and operates well in space, it can be scaled up to be a stand-alone satellite payload or 'free-flier' mission.

"One of the most exciting things for me has been the opportunity to develop a small, low-cost, quick-turnaround payload for the [space station], a pathfinder project representing what's possible for future technology investigations," said McGill.

"We did this using a small team, a streamlined process, and a build-to-cost mentality – and we proved it can be done."

NASA 'Mighty Eagle' Test Flight - Video

The Mighty Eagle, NASA's robotic prototype lander managed out of NASA"s Marshall Space Flight Center, recently completed a test series to monitor its systems functionality after coming out of winter storage.

This latest series included a test flight that was recorded by the Quad-Copter—a small vehicle also developed at Marshall that was equipped with a video camera allowing for never-before-seen footage of the Mighty Eagle.

The Mighty Eagle, nicknamed after one of the characters in the popular Angry Birds game, is a three-legged prototype vehicle.

It is 4 feet tall, 8 feet in diameter and weighs about 700 pounds when fueled. It is a green vehicle, fueled by 90 percent pure hydrogen peroxide, and is guided by an onboard computer that activates the thrusters to power the craft's movements.

"We were approached by the Mighty Eagle team to film the vehicle in flight, and we thought it would be a great collaboration," said Garrick Merrill, a member of the Aero-M team and a computer engineer in the Space Systems Department at Marshall.

"It gave us an opportunity to test the copter in a flight situation, and we were really pleased with the results. It really was a win-win situation for both teams—giving us both important data we can use on future flights." 

The Quad-Copter is an achievement in itself. The vehicle was designed and built by the Aero-M team at Marshall as part of the 2012 Unmanned Aerial Systems, or UAS, competition between various NASA centers.

The Marshall team was made up of young engineers from across the center who were tasked with designing a vehicle that could perform an autonomous search and rescue mission to locate people after a small plane crash.

The Quad-Copter is built with off-the-shelf, hobbyist-grade parts and uses an open-source flight computer.

The initial design of the vehicle uses a two-megapixel IP camera, but for the Mighty Eagle flights the IP camera was removed and a GoPro video camera was attached to provide high-definition video.

Read the full article here

For more information on NASA's robotic landers, visit here.

Health Care "Telepresence Robot" to aid high dependency care at Northern Ireland Hospital

A Northern Ireland Health Trust is the first in the UK to use a robot which allows intensive care specialists from one hospital to remotely assess patients in another.

The 'telepresence' robot enables doctors to examine and interact with patients in different locations.

It will be used at Daisy Hill Hospital in County Down.

Stormont Health Minister Edwin Poots said the new technology would create an "effective hospital network".

The robot has the ability to transmit heart and breath sounds and it is hoped it will prevent the need to transfer patients to intensive care in some cases.

It enables Dr Charles McAllister, based at Craigavon Area Hospital in County Armagh, to speak to staff and patients at a bedside in the Southern Trust in Newry more than 20 miles away.

"It means that although there are no intensivists on site in Daisy Hill Hospital, it means there will be 24/7 access to the intensivists on the Craigavon site to give advice and support on any patients in a high dependency unit or throughout the hospital," he said.

"You can get a huge amount of information via the robot.

"You can get real time information from the monitor, you can see the patient up close in high definition and look at all the charts and observations.

"There is also a facility for listening to the patient's lungs and heart through a stethoscope at the back of the robot."

More about "Telepresence" and robots, here.

Flying People in New York City - YouTube

Three people were spotted flying around the skies of lower Manhattan last Friday, causing dropped jaws from onlookers.

But while it appeared to be flying "death eaters" of  the "Harry Potter" series, it actually turned out to be a clever piece of viral marketing for this week's upcoming film "Chronicle."

In an interview to yahoo! James Percelay, the co-founder of Thinkmodo said he and his partner Michael Krivicka were approached by 20th Century Fox, the studio behind "Chronicle," and they came out with a plan for the viral video.

Those aren't people in the air, but some very intricately designed radio-controlled airplanes. Percelay has not disclosed who exactly was piloting the planes in the video. He only said: "They are expert AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) members with amazing skills."

ESA: ERS satellite missions complete after 20 years

The second European Remote Sensing satellite, ERS-2, was shut down on 5 September 2011. ERS-2 travelled 3.8 billion km during its lifetime, providing data for thousands of scientists and projects.

Credits: ESA

After a final thruster firing last week to deplete its remaining fuel, ESA's venerable ERS-2 observation satellite has been safely taken out of service.

Ground controllers also ensured the space environment was protected for future missions.

The mission ended on 5 September, after the satellite's average altitude had already been lowered from 785 km to about 573 km. At this height, the risk of collision with other satellites or space debris is greatly reduced.

The final critical step was to 'passivate' ERS-2, ensuring that all batteries and pressurised systems were emptied or rendered safe in order to avoid any future explosion that could create new space debris.

This primarily consisted of burning off the fuel, disconnecting the batteries and switching off the transmitters.

"As soon as we saw fuel depletion occurring, a series of commands was sent to complete passivation, before shutting the satellite down for good. The last command was sent at 13:16 GMT on 5 September," said Frank Diekmann, ERS-2 Operations Manager.


Atmospheric burn up

With the effects of natural atmospheric drag, ERS-2 is predicted to enter and largely burn up in the atmosphere in about 15 years. This is well within the 25-year-limit that is imposed to minimise the risk of collision before re-entry.

"ERS-2 deorbiting is being conducted in compliance with ESA's space debris mitigation requirements," said Heiner Klinkrad, Head of ESA’s Space Debris Office.

"This indicates the strong commitment by the Agency to reducing space debris, which can threaten current and future robotic and human missions."

First self-powered device can transmit data wirelessly over long distances

Recent advancements in sensor technology and electronics have allowed electronics to generate enough energy from movements.

According to a new study, scientists have developed the first self-powered nano-device that can transmit data wirelessly.

The device has a nanogenerator that generates electricity from mechanical vibrations. There’s also a capacitor that can store the extra energy and a Bluetooth-like communication system that transmits data wirelessly over distances of more than 30 feet.

It’s not far-fetched to think that surveillance cameras could travel in the air and be powered by the wind, wearable personal electronics could be powered by the person’s strides and implantable medical sensors could be powered by the patient’s blood flow.

It’s feasible that in the future, sources like airflow, solar or chemical energy could power devices so batteries don’t have to.

Source: American Chemical Society

Parrot AR drone video: Quadricopter controlled by an iPhone

They’re here and have been for some time. Smaller, commercialised versions of the pilotless drones that US forces and agencies deploy over world hot spots can now be purchased and used by used by consumers for £200 and up.

There are a lot of positives. Deliveries is one potential use of private drones. Equipped with cameras, they may help engineers scope sites, police fight crime, or firefighters save lives. Maybe they could be instrumental in keeping an eye on children or locating those that are lost, or finding lost hikers in the wilderness.

Unfortunately, some people are worried about the privacy and security implications. Celebrities are a prime target using paparazzi drones, but there may be all kinds of issues for the rest of us, privacy and otherwise.

The idea of citizens having their own ‘personal drone’ to ‘keep an eye on things’ may be a worrying sign for some.

The Wall Street Journal’s Siobhan Gorman reports commercial or personal drones will soon be flooding the market. “Several efforts to develop personal drones are scheduled for completion in the next year.” Gorman observes that “an unmanned aircraft that can fly a predetermined route costs a few hundred bucks to build and can be operated by iPhone.”

Consider such offerings as the Parrot AR drone, a quadricopter that can be controlled by an iPhone, iPod or iPad, or the swinglet Cam, a “flying camera” developed and marketed by senseFly in Switzerland.

The swinglet can fly for about 30 minutes up to 12 miles, providing capabilities such as aerial imagery, crop monitoring, land management, environmental monitoring, real estate, traffic monitoring, mapping, archeology, and wildlife monitoring.

Jet Turbine Propelled remote aircraft - Video

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This radio controlled jet is powered by a Jetcat P160 SE. On the 23rd of May, this Jet has been lasered @ 586 KpH Which makes it a 366 MpH plane!

But it's not the easiest thing to fly, as the next video demonstrates.

Spacenet - connecting remote location

The space-based network connectivity provider is ramping up multiple levels of support, enabling resellers to tailor services to meet the needs of customers in some of the most remote locations.

Spacenet, a provider of network connectivity services via satellites orbiting Earth, has launched a new services program designed to give its channel partners an additional revenue stream and its end users better support during critical need.

Spacenet, whose ConnexStar Reseller channel program is aimed at the small- to med-sized enterprise market, developed the Enhanced Support Program after noticing that certain industries were in need of higher touch support services, said Steve D’Argenio, vice president of small-to-medium enterprise sales at Spacenet.

“Some of our higher-end resellers were starting to have a demand, especially in certain industries, in which our standard support services didn’t meet their critical needs,” he said. “The typical response time for standard support is three days, but in certain industries such as oil and gas, for example, there are critical services needs that require immediate support.”

An oil platform in the ocean is one example, he said. “If you’ve got a fire on the rig, you need support immediately, not three days from now.”

The Enhanced Support Program, available now, offers two levels of service levels. Both offer dedicated customer engineering support from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time, dedicated customer network engineering path escalation during non-business hours, access to network utilization reports and a remote annual network health check.

The Silver level includes customer network changes within eight hours, a 10-day remote dispatch service and a 24-month warranty on all hardware.

The Gold level offers customer network changes within two hours, next-business-day provisioning of voice and fax lines, same-day maintenance dispatch service and a 36-month warranty on all hardware.

Channel partners are able to resell the enhanced services as an add-on service to their ConnectStar customers, D’Argenio said.

“The key to this program is this really shows the evolution of how far satellite service has come,” he said. “It can do anything terrestrial networking services can do. It can be the primary connection for any and all applications.

“A few years ago, we wouldn’t even be having a conversation about different service levels. Today, however, it’s a whole new story,” he said.