ESA Integral manoeuvres to improve future observations

Credit: ESA

ESA’s Integral observatory is able to detect gamma-ray bursts, the most energetic phenomena in the Universe.

Since 2002, ESA’s Integral spacecraft has been observing some of the most violent events in the Universe, including gamma-ray bursts and black holes.

While it still has years of life ahead, its fuel will certainly run out one day.

Integral, one of ESA’s longest-serving and most successful space observatories, has begun a series of four thruster burns carefully designed to balance its scientific life with a safe reentry in 2029.

That seems far off, but detailed planning and teamwork now will ensure that the satellite’s eventual entry into the atmosphere will meet the Agency’s guidelines for minimising space debris.

Making these disposal manoeuvres so early will also minimises fuel usage, allowing ESA to exploit the valuable satellite’s lifetime to the fullest.

This is the first time that a spacecraft’s orbit is being adjusted, after 12 years in space, to achieve a safe reentry 15 years in the future, while maximising valuable science return for the subsequent seven to eight years.

“Our four burns will use about half of the estimated 96 kg of fuel available,” says Richard Southworth, spacecraft operations manager at ESA’s Space Operations Centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany.

“This will influence how Integral’s orbit evolves, so that even after we run out of propellant we will still have a safe reentry in February 2029 as a result of natural orbit decay.

“No further manoeuvres are required between now and then and Integral can continue to operate.”

Debris Mitigation
The latest ESA debris guidelines require that a satellite must be disposed of in such a way that it poses no risk to other satellites in protected orbital regions for more than 25 years.

Although Integral’s early launch date, in 2002, means it is not required to stick to the guidelines, they were followed for planning the disposal.

“We have done a great deal of modelling for Integral’s reentry in 2029,” says Klaus Merz of ESA’s Space Debris Office.

“We’re confident that this month’s manoeuvres will put it on track for a future safe reentry at latitudes in the far south, reducing risk far below guideline levels.”

Without these firings, the fuel supply would run out in perhaps 12–16 more years, after other essentials such as power end Integral's working life, but the satellite would not reenter for up to 200 years, which would present a hazard to other missions.

Cosmic rays threaten future deep-space astronaut missions

Artist's rendition of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) at the moon. 

The CRaTER telescope is seen pointing out at the bottom right center of the LRO spacecraft.

Credit: Illustration by Chris Meaney/NASA

Crewed missions to Mars remain an essential goal for NASA, but scientists are only now beginning to understand and characterise the radiation hazards that could make such ventures risky, concludes a new paper by University of New Hampshire (UNH) scientists.

In a paper published online in the journal Space Weather, associate professor Nathan Schwadron of the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS) and the department of physics says that due to a highly abnormal and extended lack of solar activity, the solar wind is exhibiting extremely low densities and magnetic field strengths, which causes dangerous levels of hazardous radiation to pervade the space environment.

"The behaviour of the sun has recently changed and is now in a state not observed for almost 100 years," says Schwadron, lead author of the paper and principal investigator for the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

He notes that throughout most of the space age, the sun's activity has shown a clockwork 11-year cycle, with approximately six- to eight-year lulls in activity (solar minimum) followed by two- to three-year periods when the sun is more active.

"However, starting in about 2006, we observed the longest solar minimum and weakest solar activity observed in the space age."

These conditions brought about the highest intensities of galactic cosmic rays seen since the beginning of the space age, which have created worsening radiation hazards that potentially threaten future deep-space astronaut missions.

"While these conditions are not necessarily a showstopper for long-duration missions to the moon, an asteroid, or even Mars, galactic cosmic ray radiation in particular remains a significant and worsening factor that limits mission durations," says Schwadron.

The study is the capstone article in the Space Weather CRaTER Special Issue, which provides comprehensive findings on space-based radiation as measured by the UNH-led detector.

The data provide critical information on the radiation hazards that will be faced by astronauts on extended missions to deep space such as those to Mars.

"These data are a fundamental reference for the radiation hazards in near Earth 'geospace' out to Mars and other regions of our sun's vast heliosphere," says Schwadron.

At the heart of CRaTER is material called "tissue equivalent plastic," a stand-in for human muscle capable of gauging radiation dosage. Ionizing radiation from galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles remains a significant challenge to long-duration crewed missions to deep space.

Human beings face a variety of consequences ranging from acute effects (radiation sickness) to long-term effects including cancer induction and damage to organs including the heart and brain.

The high radiation levels seen during the sun's last minimum cycle limits the allowable days for typical astronauts behind spacecraft shielding.

Given the trend of reducing solar output, the allowable days in space for astronauts is dropping and estimated to be 20 percent lower in the coming solar minimum cycle as compared to the last minimum cycle.

Journal Reference:
N. A. Schwadron, J. B. Blake, A. W. Case, C. J. Joyce, J. Kasper, J. Mazur, N. Petro, M. Quinn, J. A. Porter, C. W. Smith, S. Smith, H. E. Spence, L. W. Townsend, R. Turner, J. K. Wilson, C. Zeitlin. Does the worsening galactic cosmic radiation environment observed by CRaTER preclude future manned deep-space exploration? Space Weather, 2014; DOI: 10.1002/2014SW001084

New Commercial Rocket Descent Data Helps NASA with Future Mars Landings

NASA successfully captured thermal images of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on its descent after it launched in September from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The data from these thermal images may provide critical engineering information for future missions to the surface of Mars.

"Because the technologies required to land large payloads on Mars are significantly different than those used here on Earth, investment in these technologies is critical," said Robert Braun, principal investigator for NASA's Propulsive Descent Technologies (PDT) project and professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

"This is the first high-fidelity data set of a rocket system firing into its direction of travel while traveling at supersonic speeds in Mars-relevant conditions."

"Analysis of this unique data set will enable system engineers to extract important lessons for the application and infusion of supersonic retro-propulsion into future NASA missions."

NASA equipped two aircraft with advanced instrumentation to document re-entry of the rocket's first stage.

The first stage is the part of the rocket that is ignited at launch and burns through the rocket's ascent until it runs out of propellant, at which point it is discarded from the second stage and returns to Earth.

During its return, or descent, NASA captured quality infrared and high definition images and monitored changes in the smoke plume as the engines were turned on and off.

Thermal imagery of the Space X Falcon 9 first stage performing propulsive descent Sept. 21. 

Supersonic retropropulsion data obtained from this flight test is being analyzed by NASA to design future Mars landing systems.

Image Credit: NASA

"NASA's interest in building our Mars entry, descent and landing capability and SpaceX's interest and experimental operation of a reusable space transportation system enabled acquisition of these data at low cost, without standing up a dedicated flight project of its own," said Charles Campbell, PDT project manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA's Scientifically Calibrated In-Flight Imagery (SCIFLI) project team at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, had their eyes, cameras and telescopes trained on the Falcon with the help of two long-range aircraft provided by NASA and the U.S. Navy.

A NASA WB-57, a twin jet engine high-altitude research aircraft from Johnson, was equipped with a long-range infrared optical system to capture the images. 

It is a unique full-motion video camera system that is gimbal-mounted on the nose of the WB-57. It collects full-color high definition and infrared video.

A Navy NP-3D Orion aircraft from the Naval Air Systems Command Weapons Division's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron-30 at Point Mugu, California, was equipped with a long-range infrared optical system and also took thermal images of the launch.

Blue Origin to Build New BE-4 liquid rocket engine for US Launch Provider

Jeff Bezos looks on as a new model of Blue Origin's BE-4 liquid rocket engine is revealed during a press event on Sept. 17, 2014.

Credit: United Launch Alliance Instagram

Blue Origin, the secretive private spaceflight company led by billionaire Jeff Bezos, has teamed up with a veteran space launch provider to build a new rocket engine designed to reduce U.S. dependence on Russian hardware.

In an announcement today (Sept. 17), Bezos and the launch provider United Launch Alliance unveiled plans to develop Blue Origin's new BE-4 liquid rocket engine.

The new partnership will allow ULA's next-generation rockets to come equipped with engines that are built in America. At the moment, ULA uses Russian-made RD-180 engines to power its Atlas 5 rockets.

"ULA has put a satellite into orbit almost every month for the past eight years – they're the most reliable launch provider in history and their record of success is astonishing," Bezos, founder of Blue Origin and Amazon.com, said in a statement.

"The team at Blue Origin is methodically developing technologies to enable human access to space at dramatically lower cost and increased reliability, and the BE-4 is a big step forward. With the new ULA partnership, we're accelerating commercial development of the next great US-made rocket engine."

A model of Blue Origin's BE-4 rocket engine on display on Sept. 17, 2014.

Credit: United Launch Alliance Instagram

The United Launch Alliance is currently launches most U.S. government and military satellites using its Atlas 5 rockets, as well as Delta 4 booster variants.

The company is a cooperative venture by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Blue Origin's partnership with ULA states that full-scale BE-4 engine testing should begin in 2016, with the first flight due for launch in 2019, according to representatives.

Although ULA and Blue Origin did not release the cost of development for the BE-4 engine, it will be privately funded.

Blue Origin and ULA have committed to funding it 100 percent for the next five years. Blue Origin began testing its BE-3 rocket engine in 2013.

"This agreement ensures ULA will remain the most cost-efficient, innovative and reliable company launching the nation's most important national security, civil, human and commercial missions," Tory Bruno, president and CEO of ULA, said in today's statement.

"Blue Origin has demonstrated its ability to develop high-performance rocket engines and we are excited to bring together the best minds in engineering, supply chain management and commercial business practices to create an all-new affordable, reliable, American rocket engine that will create endless possibilities for the future of space launch."



Tensions between the United States and Russia have been heightened due to Russia's involvement with the conflict in the Ukraine. Because of that political situation, ULA has come under fire for its use of the Russian rocket engines.

Today's Blue Origin-ULA rocket engine news is the second time in two days that a commercial spaceflight vernture including Boeing has made headlines.

On Tuesday (Sept. 16), NASA announced that Boeing's manned CST-100 spacecraft, which is slated to launch on Atlas 5 rockets, was one of two vehicles picked to fly American astronauts as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability program.

Blue Origin's BE-4 engine won't serve as a direct replacement for RD-180s that power Atlas 5 rockets.

Instead, Blue Origin's new engine will outfit ULA's next generation of rockets, according to Blue origin representatives.

NASA also picked the Dragon spacecraft developed by California-based SpaceX, led by billionaire Elon Musk, as its second commercial space taxi for astronauts.

The announcement Tuesday came after a four-year competition of aerospace companies that included Blue Origin's Space Vehicle and the Dream Chaser space plane developed by Sierra Nevada among the spacecraft contenders.

Carbon monoxide predicts 'red and dead' future of gas guzzler galaxy

This image shows radio waves emitted from ALESS65 as observed by the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). 

Credit: Huynh et al.

Astronomers have studied the carbon monoxide in a galaxy over 12 billion light years from Earth and discovered that it's running out of gas, quite literally, and headed for a 'red and dead' future.

The galaxy, known as ALESS65, was observed by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in 2011 and is one of less than 20 known distant galaxies to contain carbon monoxide.

Dr Minh Huynh from The University of Western Australia node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) led the team on their search for galactic carbon monoxide in work published today in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

"We're familiar with carbon monoxide here on Earth as the deadly gas that can cause suffocation, but in galaxies it plays an important role in the lifecycle of stars," said Huynh.

"Out of the galaxies that we know contain carbon monoxide, less than 20 are as far away from Earth as ALESS65. Out of the billions of galaxies out there, the detections are very rare!"

Huynh, who grew up in Perth, said that at first astronomers didn't think there could be massive 'red and dead' galaxies in the distant Universe, so studying galaxies heading towards that fate is important to solve the puzzle of their existence.

This is NGC5044, a "red and dead" galaxy like ALESS65 will become in about 25 million years. 

NB:The X-Rays are shown in blue and the visible light is shown in yellow. 

Credit: X-ray: NASA /CXC /Stanford Univ /N.Werner et al; Optical: DSS

Using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) radio telescope in NSW, Australia, Huynh and the team worked out how much carbon monoxide they could see in ALESS65 and extrapolated that out into how much fuel the galaxy has left, how much gas it has.

"All galaxies have a certain amount of fuel to make new stars," said Huynh.

"Our galaxy, the Milky Way, has about five billion years before it runs out of fuel and becomes 'red and dead', but ALESS65 is a gas guzzler and only has 10s of millions of years left, very fast in astronomical terms."

The Atacama Compact Array (ACA) forming part of the ALMA observatory. 

Credit: ALMA, ESO

The team also combined their observations of the galaxy with the original data from ALMA to work out how similar ALESS65 is to galaxies nearer to Earth.

Arp220, a nearby ‘Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxy’ similar to what ALESS65 would look like if it were closer to Earth. 

Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Team

"We were able to work out the strength of the UV radiation in ALESS65; it's similar to some 'starbursting' galaxies in the local universe, but the stars in ALESS65 are forming in much larger areas when compared to local galaxies," said Huynh.

The team will now turn their attentions to the search for carbon monoxide in another galaxy near to ALESS65, named ALESS61.

"Finding and studying carbon monoxide in more galaxies will tell us even more about how stars formed in the early days of the Universe and help solve the mystery of far away 'red and dead' galaxies" said Huynh.

More information: "Detection of molecular gas in an ALMA [CII]-identified Submillimetre Galaxy at z=4.44" Huynh et al. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Published 9th of July 2014. mnrasl.oxfordjournals.org/look… 0.1093/mnrasl/slu077 . On Arxiv: arxiv.org/abs/1407.0463

Calculating paths to Asteroids reveals future exploration opportunities

This image of asteroid 433 Eros is a mosaic of images from NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR-Shoemaker) spacecraft, which visited the asteroid in 2000. 

The images were combined with elevation data from the spacecraft's laser rangefinder to build a 3D representation of the asteroid. 

Credit: NEAR Project, NLR, JHUAPL, Goddard SVS, NASA

As left over building blocks of the solar system's formation, asteroids are of significant interest to scientists.

Resources, especially water, embedded within asteroids could be of use to astronauts traveling through deep space.

Likewise, asteroids could continue to be destinations for robotic and human missions as NASA pioneers deeper into the solar system, to Mars and beyond.

NASA is developing the capabilities needed for astronauts to reach Mars in the 2030s.

To test these new technologies, the agency is planning a mission to identify, capture and redirect an asteroid to a stable orbit around the moon in the 2020s, which astronauts will visit.

Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) EVA

NASA is studying candidate asteroids for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM). One of the systems that helps to identify such an asteroid is the Near-Earth Object Human Space Flight Accessible Targets Study (NHATS) developed and maintained at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

NHATS is an automated system that uses specialized computer algorithms to compute spacecraft trajectories for possible round-trip mission opportunities to visit a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA).

It is the first study to perform a thorough investigation of NEA accessibility for human space flight and the only automated accessibility monitoring system of its kind in the world.

After two years of operation, NHATS has identified more than 1,000 NEAs that could be destinations for future robotic or human missions, enabled by future technology.

In the near-term, some of them could be potential candidates for the ARM mission.

"We didn't know what the NEA-accessibility landscape for human spaceflight really looked like until the NHATS was created," said Brent Barbee of NASA Goddard, NHATS project lead.

"As of 1 July, 2014, there are now 1,217 NEAs identified by our project that require less flight time and energy to visit and return from than does a Mars mission."

Asteroids have a wide range of sizes, from about the size of a car to objects resembling small moons hundreds of miles across.

Their gravity is relatively weak, making them interesting targets for exploration missions.

Most asteroids are found in the Main Asteroid Belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, but there is a substantial population whose orbits come close to Earth's.

Small asteroids are much more numerous than big ones, astronomers estimate near-Earth space likely contains millions of NEAs a few yards (meters) across, nearly 16,000 NEAs between 100 and 300 yards across, and nearly 5,000 NEAs between 300 and 1,000 yards in size.

To be classified as a NEA, the asteroid's orbit must come within 1.3 times the average distance of Earth's orbit about the Sun.

This conceptual image shows NASA’s Orion spacecraft (right) approaching the robotic asteroid capture vehicle, which has an asteroid in its capture bag (left). 

Credit: NASA

Because their orbits take them close to Earth's orbit, some NEAs are potential Earth impact threats.

NASA has a program to detect NEAs, estimate their orbits, and assess whether they pose an impact risk.

The automated Sentry system identifies potentially hazardous Near-Earth Objects (NEOs: "objects" includes comets as well as asteroids) using observations from telescopes at observatories around the world and in space.

Sentry was designed and implemented, and is managed, by NASA's NEO Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

All telescopic observations of NEOs (professional and amateur) to determine their position and orbit are transmitted to the Minor Planet Center (MPC), which is the International Astronomical Union (IAU) sanctioned global clearinghouse for all such observational data.

Once an initial orbit is determined, the MPC delivers the observational data for NEOs to JPL, which then computes a higher precision orbit for the NEOs based on the observational data.

The orbit data for each NEO can be accessed through JPL's Small-Body Database , and the JPL Horizons system provides an interface through which ephemeris data (position and velocity versus time) can be accessed for each of the NEOs.

Barbee developed the NHATS system to find easily accessible asteroid mission opportunities based on the JPL/Horizons data.

"In a sense, the NHATS system complements hazard tracking," said Barbee. "The NHATS system monitors the opportunities offered by NEAs, while the JPL Sentry system monitors the hazards NEAs may pose to Earth."

Each day the NHATS system downloads the list of the known NEAs, figures out which ones are newly discovered and which ones have updated orbit data available, and then downloads the orbit data files for those NEAs from Horizons.

The NHATS system then applies the NHATS algorithms to each of those NEA orbit data files to compute all the possible round-trip trajectories to those NEAs using a method of embedded trajectory grids that Barbee developed.

Embedded trajectory grids are used to calculate the various possible spacecraft paths, or trajectories, to a target NEA based on mission criteria.

For an NEA to be identified as a potential human mission destination, it must meet several criteria.

"The NHATS criteria were developed by a human exploration committee in September of 2010," said Barbee.

"The idea was for the criteria to mean that round-trip missions to the NHATS-compliant NEAs would be less demanding than even the least demanding round-trip missions to Mars."

The criteria include departure dates not too far in the future (no later than 2040), a reasonable amount of time at the asteroid to explore (at least 8 days), a round-trip flight time of 450 days or less, and a lower fuel requirement than a Mars mission.

Barbee maintains a mailing list to which the GSFC NHATS computer automatically transmits each day's processing results.

This chart shows the human-crewed mission opportunities to NEAs that have been identified as of June 7, 2014. 

Blue and green asterisks are missions that require less time (horizontal axis) and energy (vertical axis) than a Mars mission. 

This chart is updated every few months. Credit: Brent Barbee

"Anyone can sign up for the mailing list, but the intent is for astronomers and NEO scientists to sign up so that they receive rapid notification when a NEA is discovered that is particularly accessible. This helps ensure that follow-up observations are obtained in a timely manner," said Barbee.

This diagram shows various NEA orbits. 

The yellow dot is the Sun, the blue-green dot is Earth, and the thick black line is Earth's orbit. 

The thin black line is the NEA's orbit. 

AU is Astronomical Unit, Earth's approximate distance from the Sun, about 93 million miles (almost 150 million km). 

Credit: Brent Barbee

"I check the daily NHATS results message as soon as it arrives to see what 'the night's catch' brought in for newly discovered and updated NEAs," said Lindley Johnson, NASA's NEO Programs Executive.

"The information is crucial because it's our first look at opportunities to observe smaller NEAs when they are very close to Earth."

"Most often we have only a few days after discovery to make follow-up observations, so rapid notification is critical."

"Follow-up observations are important because they allow us to establish the NEA's orbit around the Sun more accurately, and to learn about the NEO's spin state, size, and composition. All of that information is vital for mission planning."

NHATS began in September of 2010 but was not fully automated until March 20, 2012. Barbee expects the project to continue indefinitely, as there are many more mission opportunities to be found.

"At present we have discovered 11,180 NEOs of all sizes, and we estimate that there are at least 10,000 NEOs larger than 100 yards in size that we haven't found yet," said Barbee.

Many will also provide opportunities for longer-duration robotic spacecraft missions.

This diagram illustrates the parts of a conceptual human-crewed mission to an asteroid. 

The blue oval represents Earth's orbit, the green oval is the asteroid's orbit, and the red arcs are the spacecraft's trajectory to and from the asteroid. 

Credit: Brent Barbee 

An example of a long-duration robotic asteroid sample return mission is the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, which will investigate and return a sample from a NEA named Bennu. Scheduled for launch in late 2016, the spacecraft will reach Bennu in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023.

This artist's concept shows the instrument deck of the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample and return mission. 

The spacecraft also has instruments that will measure anomalies in the astroid's movement and gravity. 

Image Credit: NASA

NASA's asteroid initiative is underway to support the agency's efforts to understand the population of potentially hazardous NEOs and characterize a subset of interest, including those suitable for future asteroid exploration missions.

The initiative brings together the best of NASA's science, technology and human exploration efforts to achieve President Obama's goal of sending humans to an asteroid by 2025.

NASA's New Mega-Rocket (SLS), Orion Capsule on Track for Future Test Flights

Artist's rendering of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket being stacked inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).

Credit: NASA

A new era of space exploration, supported by a history-making new mega-rocket and a spacecraft designed to deliver humans into deep space, could be on the horizon for NASA.

The space agency is gearing up to build the largest and most powerful rocket in history.

The huge launcher, called the Space Launch System (SLS), will move a new spacecraft dubbed Orion, designed to send up to four astronauts farther into the solar system than ever before.

A short list of destinations includes the moon, nearby asteroids and, eventually, Mars.

Everyone is looking forward to 2021, the year when the first manned launch will occur but before that happens, the rocket and spacecraft will have to pass a number of tests.



Most powerful rocket ever
NASA's SLS rocket might remind some space fans of the mighty Saturn V rocket used to launch Apollo moon landing flights in the 1960s and 1970s; however, the new launcher will be more powerful.

NASA currently envisions the SLS in two configurations: one weighing 77 tons and able to lift more than 154,000 pounds, another weighing 143 tons and able to lift more than 286,000 pounds.

The smaller configuration, which is expected to carry a crew of astronauts, will create 8.4 million pounds of thrust, 10 percent more than the massive Saturn V rocket.

The larger configuration, which will carry cargo, will create 9.2 million pounds of thrust, 20 percent more than a Saturn V.

This version will be as tall as a 38-story building. The SLS will truly be a mountain of a machine.

For its power, the SLS will rely on two solid rocket boosters in addition to the huge, 200-foot-tall (61 meters) core stage, which will carry liquid hydrogen and oxygen to fuel four RS-25 rocket engine.

The RS-25 rocket engine is a workhorse: It powered the space shuttle and "operated with 100-percent mission success during 135 space shuttle missions," according to a NASA statement.

The power produced by the three engines is equal to that from 12 Hoover Dams.

NASA currently has a stockpile of 16 RS-25 rocket engines at the Stennis Space Center, in Mississippi.

The engines themselves had to be modified to put out more power than they did for the space shuttle missions, and therefore still require testing. Those tests will probably occur in mid-July, NASA has said.

Flocking Drones UAV: Nature inspires future developments - Video

Biologically-inspired flapping-wing robots are shown. 

Image courtesy Pakpong Chirarattananon.

Researchers have been taking tips from nature to build the next generation of flying robots.

Based on the mechanisms adopted by birds, bats, insects and snakes, 14 distinguished research teams have developed solutions to some of the common problems that drones could be faced with when navigating through an urban environment and performing novel tasks for the benefit of society.

Whether this is avoiding obstacles, picking up and delivering items or improving the take-off and landing on tricky surfaces, it is hoped the solutions can lead to the deployment of drones in complex urban environments in a number of different ways, from military surveillance and search and rescue efforts to flying camera phones and reliable courier services. For this, drones need exquisite flight control.

The research teams have presented their work, 23 May, in a special issue of IOP Publishing's journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, devoted to bio-inspired flight control.

The first small drones have already been used in search and rescue operations to investigate difficult-to-reach and hazardous areas, such as in Fukushima, Japan.

A video by the COLLMOT Robotic Research Project showing a group of drones flying autonomously across a field.

A research team from Hungary believe these efforts could be improved if robots are able to work in tandem, and have developed an algorithm that allows a number of drones to fly together like a flock of birds.

The effectiveness of the algorithm was demonstrated by using it to direct the movements of a flock of nine individual quadcopters whilst they followed a moving car.

While this collective movement may be helpful when searching vast expanses of land, a group of researchers from Harvard University have developed a millimetre-sized drone with a view to using it to explore extremely cramped and tight spaces.

The microrobot they designed, which was the size of a one cent coin, could take off and land and hover in the air for sustained periods of time.

In their new paper, the researchers have demonstrated the first simple, fly-like manoeuvres. In the future, millimetre-sized drones could also be used in assisted agriculture pollination and reconnaissance, and could aid future studies of insect flight.

Once deployed into the real world, drones will be faced with the extremely tricky task of dealing with the elements, which could be extreme heat, the freezing cold, torrential rain or thunderstorms.

The most challenging problem for airborne robots will be strong winds and whirlwinds, which a research team, from the University of North Caroline at Chapel Hill, University of California and The Johns Hopkins University, have begun to tackle by studying the hawk moth.

In their study, the researchers flew hawk moths through a number of different whirlwind conditions in a vortex chamber, carefully examining the mechanisms that the hawk moths used to successfully regain flight control.

The whole collection of related papers can be downloaded for free from http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-3190/9/2

Boeing CST-100: Future Commercial Spacecraft Interior revealed

Boeing has unveiled a new commercial interior of its Crew Space Transportation (CST-100) next-generation manned space capsule, showing how people other than NASA astronauts may one day travel to space.

Boeing's new commercial interior of its Crew Space Transportation (CST-100) next-generation manned space capsule, showing how people other than NASA astronauts may one day travel to space.

Credit: Boeing

Boeing and partner Bigelow Aerospace highlighted the future commercial interior of the capsule it is developing for NASA, while Bigelow showcased a full-scale model of its BA 330 commercial space habitat.

Chris Ferguson

"We are moving into a truly commercial space market and we have to consider our potential customers, beyond NASA, and what they need in a future commercial spacecraft interior," said Chris Ferguson, former Space Shuttle Atlantis commander and current Boeing director of Crew and Mission Operations for the Commercial Crew Program.

Engineers from across Boeing leveraged the company's decades of experience in commercial and government aerospace to design the capsule's interior.

Full-scale model of the BA 330 inflatable space habitat, as seen at Bigelow Aerospace’s Las Vegas facilities, Wednesday, April 30, 2014.

Credit: Space.com/Robert Z. Pearlman

"Boeing's teams have been designing award-winning and innovative interiors for our airplanes since the dawn of commercial aviation," said Rachelle Ornan, regional director of Sales and Marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

"Designing the next-generation interior for commercial space is a natural progression."

"A familiar daytime blue sky scene helps passengers maintain their connection with Earth."

CST-100, developed as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability initiative, is designed to transport up to seven crew members or a mix of crew and cargo to low-Earth-orbit destinations such as the International Space Station and a planned Bigelow station.

DelFly Explorer: Dutch scientists flap to the future with 'insect' drone - Video

A view of the DelFly Explorer, the world's lightest autonomous flapping drone, during a demonstration at the Delft Technical University, on January 29, 2014 

Dutch scientists have developed the world's smallest autonomous flapping drone, a dragonfly-like beast with 3-D vision that could revolutionise our experience of everything from pop concerts to farming.

"This is the DelFly Explorer, the world's smallest drone with flapping wings that's able to fly around by itself and avoid obstacles," its proud developer Guido De Croon of the Delft Technical University told AFP.

Weighing just 20 grammes (less than an ounce), around the same as four sheets of printer paper, the robot dragonfly could be used in situations where much heavier quadcopters with spinning blades would be hazardous, such as flying over the audience to film a concert or sport event.

The Explorer looks like a large dragonfly or grasshopper as it flitters about the room, using two tiny low-resolution video cameras, reproducing the 3-D vision of human eyes, and an on-board computer to take in its surroundings and avoid crashing into things.

And like an insect, the drone which has a wingspan of 28 centimetres (11 inches), would feel at home flying around plants.

"It can for instance also be used to fly around and detect ripe fruit in greenhouses," De Croon said, with an eye on the Netherlands' vast indoor fruit-growing business.

"Or imagine, for the first time there could be an autonomous flying fairy in a theme park," he said.

'Real small insects'
Unlike other drones that use rotor blades and can weigh hundreds of times as much, the Explorer has two wings on each side that flap rapidly to create lift. "We got our inspiration from real small insects," De Croon said.

Chief Developer Guido de Croon releases the DelFly Explorer, the world's lightest autonomous flapping drone, during a demonstration at the Delft TU, on January 29, 2014

While smaller "flapping" drones exist, such as the RoboBee developed by students at Harvard University in the US, they are tethered for power, control and processing, and thus far from autonomous.

The Explorer has its own small lithium polymer battery that allows it to fly for around nine minutes, while it "sees" with its onboard processor and a specially-developed algorithm to make instant decisions.

RoboBee

It has wireless analogue video, gyroscopes and a barometer to calculate its height.

Different algorithms would allow it to perform different tasks, and because it is autonomous it could be sent into enclosed spaces such as concrete buildings or mine shafts, where radio control would be impossible, to search for casualties or hazards.

"The DelFly Explorer knows precisely where obstacles are located," said De Croon as the aircraft, built from composite materials including carbon fibre, fluttered towards a wall during a demonstration flight before veering elegantly away in search of another route.

But De Croon admits that humans are not quite able to produce swarms of autonomous robotic insects the size of bees or flies, mainly because of restrictions on battery life.

"Still there are some major challenges... and if I have to put a number on it, I think we are still a few decades away," he laughed.

NASA: Nuclear Fusion Rockets for Future Space Exploration

A concept image of a spacecraft powered by a fusion-driven rocket. 

In this image, the crew would be in the forward-most chamber. 

Solar panels on the sides would collect energy to initiate the process that creates fusion.

CREDIT: University of Washington, MSNW

Rockets that harness the power of nuclear fusion may provide the next big leap in humanity's quest to explore the final frontier, NASA's science chief says.

Nuclear fusion rockets could slash travel times through deep space dramatically, potentially opening up vast swathes of the solar system to human exploration, said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

John Grunsfeld

"It's transformative," Grunsfeld said last month after his presentation at Maker Faire Bay Area in San Mateo, Calif., a two-day celebration of DIY science, technology and engineering.

"You could get to Saturn in a couple of months. How fantastic would that be?"

For a little perspective: NASA's robotic Cassini spacecraft blasted off in October 1997 and didn't enter Saturn orbit until July 2004.



Traditional chemical propulsion systems can get humans to destinations in deep space, but with a lot of travel time.

For example, a roundtrip manned mission to the vicinity of Mars, which NASA aims to execute by the mid-2030s, would require about 500 days of spaceflight.

Speeding up the trip to Mars, or anywhere else, is desirable for a number of reasons — to minimize the radiation dose astronauts receive during the journey, for example, and to save money on consumables such as food and water.

So NASA and researchers around the world have been investigating advanced propulsion technologies, including space-bending "warp drives," enormous solar sails and matter-antimatter engines.

Nuclear fusion is perhaps the most promising of these possibilities, at least in the relatively near term, proponents say.

Fusion rockets would harness the energy released when the nuclei of two or more atoms combine.

Our sun and other stars are fusion-powered, converting this energy to light; the same principle also gives hydrogen bombs their immense destructive power.

NASA has funded several early-stage fusion ideas recently via a program called NIAC (NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts).

One of these groups, led by scientists at the University of Washington, recently calculated that a fusion rocket could make it possible to get astronauts to Mars in as little as 30 days.

Terrafugia Transition: Flying Car of the Future

The idea of the flying car, transporting us all in congestion-free skies in a fraction of the time has, until recently, been nothing more than a sci-fi fantasy.

But three years ago a flying car called the Terrafugia Transition took to the skies for the first flight of an airborne car. Now the company behind it has launched a second version – the Terrafugia TF-X.

The Transition® brings a new level of freedom, flexibility, and fun to personal aviation by combining driving and flying in one state-of-the-art vehicle.

Glass cockpit avionics, carbon fiber construction, and innovative mechanisms make the Transition® easy and fun to fly, drive, and convert.

A steering wheel and gas and brake pedals on the ground make it familiar to drive while a stick and rudder pedals provide responsive control in flight.

By being able to land and drive, not only is the "last mile problem" solved but inclement weather will no longer stop your trip.

Running on premium unleaded automotive gasoline, the same engine powers the propeller in flight or the rear wheels on the ground.

Converting between flight and drive modes is comparable to putting down the top on your convertible and you can keep the Transition® at home in the garage: flying has never been so convenient!

Brain Scans: Predicting Future Criminal Behavior?

A new study shows that neuroimaging data can predict the likelihood of whether a criminal will reoffend following release from prison. 

Credit: © jinga80 / Fotolia

The paper, which is to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), studied impulsive and antisocial behaviour and centered on the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a portion of the brain that deals with regulating behavior and impulsivity.

The study demonstrated that inmates with relatively low anterior cingulate activity were twice as likely to reoffend than inmates with high-brain activity in this region.

Dr Kent Kiehl

"These findings have incredibly significant ramifications for the future of how our society deals with criminal justice and offenders," said Dr Kent Kiehl, who was senior author on the study and is director of mobile imaging at MRN and an associate professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico.

"Not only does this study give us a tool to predict which criminals may reoffend and which ones will not reoffend, it also provides a path forward for steering offenders into more effective targeted therapies to reduce the risk of future criminal activity."

The study looked at 96 adult male criminal offenders aged 20-52 who volunteered to participate in research studies.

This study population was followed over a period of up to four years after inmates were released from prison.

Walter Sinnott-Armstrong

"These results point the way toward a promising method of neuroprediction with great practical potential in the legal system," said Dr. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Stillman Professor of Practical Ethics in the Philosophy Department and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, who collaborated on the study.

"Much more work needs to be done, but this line of research could help to make our criminal justice system more effective."

The study used the Mind Research Network's Mobile Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) System to collect neuroimaging data as the inmate volunteers completed a series of mental tests.

"People who reoffended were much more likely to have lower activity in the anterior cingulate cortices than those who had higher functioning ACCs," Kiehl said.

"This means we can see on an MRI a part of the brain that might not be working correctly -- giving us a look into who is more likely to demonstrate impulsive and anti-social behavior that leads to re-arrest."

"The anterior cingulate cortex of the brain is "associated with error processing, conflict monitoring, response selection, and avoidance learning," according to the paper.

"People who have this area of the brain damaged have been shown to produce changes in 'dis-inhibition' (the inability to be inhibited by their socially unacceptable actions), apathy, and aggressiveness. "

"Indeed, ACC-damaged patients have been classed in the 'acquired psychopathic personality' genre." Kiehl says he is working on developing treatments that increase activity within the ACC to attempt to treat the high-risk offenders.

Reference
Neuroprediction of future rearrest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1219302110

Mobile LIDAR technology expanding rapidly

LIDAR can capture considerable data on nearby terrain, as seen in this image of an ordinary highway. (Image courtesy of Oregon State University).

Imagine driving down a road a few times and obtaining in an hour more data about the surrounding landscape than a crew of surveyors could obtain in months.

Such is the potential of mobile LIDAR, a powerful technology that's only a few years old and promises to change the way we see, study and record the world around us.

It will be applied in transportation, hydrology, forestry, virtual tourism and construction - and almost no one knows anything about it.

That may change with a new report on the uses and current technology of mobile LIDAR, which has just been completed and presented to the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences.

It will help more managers and experts understand, use and take advantage of this science.

Facing Constraints
The full exploitation of this remarkable technology, however, faces constraints.

• Too few experts are trained to use it, 
• too few educational programs exist to teach it, 
• mountains of data are produced that can swamp the computer capabilities of even large agencies, and 
• lack of a consistent data management protocol clogs the sharing of information between systems.

"A lot of people and professionals still don't even know what mobile LIDAR is or what it can do," said Michael Olsen, an assistant professor of civil engineering at Oregon State University, and lead author of the new report. "And the technology is changing so fast it's hard for anyone, even the experts, to keep up.

"When we get more people using mobile LIDAR and we work through some of the obstacles, it's going to reduce costs, improve efficiency, change many professions and even help save lives," Olsen said.

This lidar (laser range finder) may be used to scan buildings, rock formations, etc., to produce a 3D model. 

The LIDAR can aim its laser beam in a wide range: its head rotates horizontally; a mirror tilts vertically. 

The laser beam is used to measure the distance to the first object on its path.

LIDAR
LIDAR, which stands for 'light detecting and ranging', has been used for 20 years, primarily in aerial mapping. Pulses of light up to one million times a second bounce back from whatever they hit, forming a highly detailed and precise map of the landscape.

But mobile LIDAR used on the ground, with even more powerful computer systems, is still in its infancy and has only been commercially available for five years.

Mobile LIDAR, compared to its aerial counterpart, can provide 10 to 100 times more data points that hugely improve the resolution of an image. Moving even at highway speeds, a technician can obtain a remarkable, three-dimensional view of the nearby terrain.