NASA is preparing to test a redesigned lithium-ion battery module for its first electric propulsion demonstrator, the X-57 Maxwell, as it moves toward a maiden flight planned for early in 2018
aviationweek.com/business-aviation/electric-x-plane-nears-crucial-battery-test
Nota de Prensa
Nota de Prensa http://www.mineco.gob.es/
Nota de Prensa http://www.mineco.gob.es/
La livraison de huit avions russes SSJ-100 à la compagnie aérienne mexicaine Interjet sera terminée avant la fin de l’année en cours, tandis qu’à partir de 2021, Moscou pourrait commencer à livrer au Mexique le moyen-courrier dernier cri MC-21, a rapporté aux journalistes le ministre russe de l’Industrie et du Commerce, Denis Mantourov. https://fr.sputniknews.com/international/201710241033581402-avion-livraison-mexique/
France is likely to issue a preliminary development contract for its hélicoptère interarmées léger (HIL) programme by the end of the year, to allow manufacturer Airbus Helicopters to begin initial risk-reduction activities. https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/france-gearing-up-for-hil-helicopter-development-442494/
In WSJ:
At the 10,000-square-foot facility, researchers from Caltech’s Division of Engineering and Applied Science, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will collaborate to create the next generation of autonomous systems – advancing drone research, autonomous exploration and bio-inspired systems... continue reading https://www.wsj.com/articles/rule-and-law-in-catalonia-1508799201
press release:
Caltech Launches New Autonomous Systems Research Center
The Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST) will unite engineers and scientists from many disciplines to advance research on robotics, drones, driverless cars, and machine learning
On October 24, Caltech will officially open the new Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST), a 10,000-square-foot facility where machines and researchers will work together and learn from one another.
At CAST, researchers from Caltech's Division of Engineering and Applied Science (EAS), Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS), and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will collaborate to create the next generation of autonomous systems, advancing the fields of drone research, autonomous exploration, and bio-inspired systems. Researchers will continue pioneering work on technologies ranging from prosthetic legs that use machine learning to automatically adjust to a wearer's gait to a flying, self-driven ambulance.
"The goal is to teach autonomous systems to think independently and react accordingly, preparing them for the rigors of the world outside of the lab," says CAST Director Mory Gharib, Hans W. Liepmann Professor of Aeronautics and Bioinspired Engineering.
The facility will be a living experiment. While engineers construct and test drones, robots within CAST itself will learn to help run the facility—all while being observed by 46 cameras that provide complete coverage of the interior, tracking each robot's motion down to within 100 microns (about the thickness of a human hair).
The CAST team includes more than two dozen engineers and scientists. Instead of developing autonomous systems simply for the sake of advancing the technology, the work will be guided in part by scientists and other stakeholders who would benefit tremendously from autonomous systems. For example, by collaborating with seismologists and first responders, engineers could develop a swarm of flying sentinel drones that automatically activate during an earthquake, rapidly scan damaged areas, and relay information about where there are likely to be injured people in need of medical attention. "The CAST team will also work on the next generation of drones and robots to explore the solar system, including submersible vehicles designed to operate in the ice-covered oceans of Europa, a moon of Jupiter," says CAST steering committee member Woody Fischer, Professor of Geobiology.
The facility will include an assembly room with an 85-foot-long oval track for walking robots and an aerospace robotics control lab with high-precision flat floor that allows researchers to fly "spacecraft" that have been engineered to hover through high-pressure jets (like a reverse air hockey table) and simulate the frictionless motion of space flight. But CAST's centerpiece is a three-story-tall, wholly enclosed aerodrome—the tallest of its kind—in which to test flying drones. To simulate the ever-shifting environmental conditions that drones face in the real world, the aerodrome includes a 10-foot-by-10-foot wall of 1,296 fans capable of generating wind speeds of up to 44 mph, with a side wall of 324 fans to create a crosswind. The wall is capable of creating a nearly infinite variety of wind conditions for drones to learn to react to—everything from a light gust to a stormy vortex. It can also be tilted 90 degrees to simulate vertical take offs and landings.
"The current state-of-the-art in autonomous systems is very promising on two divergent fronts," Gharib says. "The bodies, or machines and sensors, have become more and more sophisticated and capable. Meanwhile, the algorithms that collect and interpret behavior are increasingly fine-tuned. We plan to bring these two together through a series of 'moonshot' challenges that we will undertake in the coming years."
Like their ambitious namesake that challenged Americans to send a human to the moon in the 1960s, CAST's moonshot goals will require advances in engineering to accomplish feats not yet possible. They include building a robot (guided by a network of flying drone scouts) that can walk from Mexico to Canada without assistance and creating a drone delivery service between Caltech and JPL.
One key goal of CAST is the development of an autonomous flying ambulance for urban applications. Flying vehicles offer significant benefits over their ground-based counterparts: three-dimensional space is easier to navigate safely than two-dimensional space, and there is an advantage to rising above the gridlock that, with 60 percent of the world's populations expected to live in cities by 2030, will only continue to get worse.
"This isn't just as simple as creating a UAV big enough to carry a person. You need a fault-tolerant vehicle that can adapt autonomously to shifting weather conditions and navigate through skies without colliding with other UAVs. You need the best in aerospace engineering, machine learning, GPS-free navigation—and all of it scalable," Gharib says. "It's a huge challenge, but at CAST, we can and will build it."
Corporations and industry members will play a key part in the development of CAST technologies and systems. With the lead sponsorship of Raytheon Company as well as the support of corporations such as AeroVironment, industry partnerships will help fund CAST and the development of the next generations of autonomous systems. Through these partnerships and collaborations, industry members will assist CAST researchers in bringing the resulting products to market faster.
This endowed center was established through the generous support of Foster and Coco Stanback. More information about the CAST facility can be found online at http://cast.caltech.edu.
Weighing just 475 lb. when it took off, Vanilla Aircraft’s VA001 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) landed back at NASA Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia coast on Oct. 23 after staying aloft for... http://aviationweek.com/awincommercial/vanilla-aircraft-uas-flies-more-five-days
From Vanilla Aircraft's web:
Powered by an efficient heavy-fuel engine, the VA001 completed first flight in Feburary 2015, flying autonomously in the national airspace. Additional flight tests have provided validation of the VA001 design and performance projections. In operation, the VA001's unmatched range and 10-day endurance will greatly reduce the operating cost and manpower burden to provide persistent aerial coverage, and will enable new missions previously beyond the capabilities of mid-size UAS. The VA001 is ready for operational demonstrations. Further payload integration is currently underway with Vanilla's customers, and flights are scheduled in 2017 to continue expanding the aircraft's full payload, endurance and altitude capabilities.
Photos and videos: http://www.vanillaaircraft.com/VA001.html
The big three Gulf carriers are slowing growth but will still be huge Airbus and Boeing customers
http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/big-three-gulf-carriers-review-strategies-ahead-dubai-airshow
Addaptative foldable wings
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-to-test-in-flight-folding-spanwise-adaptive-wing-to-enhance-aircraft-efficiency
Highly flexible wings
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/features/highly_flexible_wings_tested.html
Aircraft noise reduction during landing
https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/feature/NASA_Tech_Reduces_Airframe_Noise.html
"Green" X-Planes
https://www.nasa.gov/aero/nasa-green-aviation-x-planes
Airbus is working on further extending the range of the A350-900 and -1000. The company is quietly testing an extended Sharklet, which will extended the aircraft’s wingspan. An A350-900 test aircraft is flying since last week with the larger Sharklet... continue reading https://leehamnews.com/2017/10/25/airbus-working-new-sharklets-a350/
NASA wants to get a second opinion from Aurora Flight Sciences on the system-level performance of a turboelectric-powered commercial aircraft concept for starting the next iteration of a multi-year design process. Continue reading: https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/aurora-flight-sciences-to-evaluate-nasa-electric-air-442471/
also in aviation week http://aviationweek.com/awindefense/aurora-review-nasa-s-starc-abl-turboelectric-airliner
In New Atlas https://newatlas.com/sound-waves-find-downed-planes/51884/
In Youtube https://youtu.be/IFomVoL92oM
The second largest operator of Russia's SSJ100 airliners has expressed hope for a joint venture with the plane's manufacturer after signing a document on further development cooperation between the two companies. Continue reading https://sputniknews.com/business/201710231058456539-interjet-wants-venture-ssj100-production/
To the naked eye, turbulent flows exhibit whirls of many different sizes. To each size, or scale,
corresponds a fraction of the total energy resulting from a cascade in five dimensions: scale,
time, and three-dimensional space. Understanding this process is critical to strategies for
modeling geophysical and industrial flows. Continue reading: science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/357/6353/782.full.pdf
PR
ANN ARBOR—An advanced space engine in the running to propel humans to Mars has broken the records for operating current, power and thrust for a device of its kind, known as a Hall thruster.
The development of the thruster was led by Alec Gallimore, University of Michigan professor of aerospace engineering and the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering.
Hall thrusters offer exceptionally efficient plasma-based spacecraft propulsion by accelerating small amounts of propellant very quickly using electric and magnetic fields. They can achieve top speeds with a tiny fraction of the fuel required in a chemical rocket.
"Mars missions are just on the horizon, and we already know that Hall thrusters work well in space," Gallimore said. "They can be optimized either for carrying equipment with minimal energy and propellant over the course of a year or so, or for speed—carrying the crew to Mars much more quickly."
The challenge is to make them larger and more powerful. The X3, a Hall thruster designed by researchers at U-M, NASA and the U.S. Air Force, shattered the previous thrust record set by a Hall thruster, coming in at 5.4 newtons of force compared with 3.3 newtons. The improvement in thrust is especially important for crewed mission—it means faster acceleration and shorter travel times. The X3 also more than doubled the operating current record (250 amperes vs. 112 amperes) and ran at a slightly higher power (102 kilowatts vs. 98 kilowatts).
The X3 is one of three prototype "Mars engines" to be turned into a full propulsion system with funding from NASA. Scott Hall, a doctoral student in aerospace engineering at U-M, carried out the tests at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, along with Hani Kamhawi, a NASA Glenn research scientist who has been heavily involved in the development of the X3. The experiments were the culmination of more than five years of building, testing and improving the thruster.
NASA Glenn, which specializes in solar electric propulsion, is currently home to the only vacuum chamber in the U.S. that can handle the X3 thruster. The thruster produces so much exhaust that vacuum pumps at other chambers can't keep up. Then, xenon that has been shot out the back of the engine can drift back into the plasma plume, muddying the results. But as of January 2018, an upgrade of the vacuum chamber in Gallimore's lab will enable X3 testing right at U-M.
For now, the X3 team snagged a test window from late July through August this year, starting with four weeks to set up the thrust stand, mount the thruster and connect the thruster with xenon and electrical power supplies. Hall had built a custom thrust stand to bear the X3's 500-pound weight and withstand its force, as existing stands would collapse under it. Throughout the process, Hall and Kamhawi were supported by NASA researchers, engineers and technicians.
"The big moment is when you close the door and pump down the chamber," Hall said.
After the 20 hours of pumping to achieve a space-like vacuum, Hall and Kamhawi spent 12-hour days testing the X3.
Even small breakages feel like big problems when it takes days to gradually bring air back into the chamber, get in to make the repair and pump the air back out again. But in spite of the challenges, Hall and Kamhawi brought the X3 up to its record-breaking power, current and thrust over the 25 days of testing.
Looking ahead, the X3 will at last be integrated with the power supplies under development by Aerojet Rocketdyne, a rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer and lead on the propulsion system grant from NASA. In spring 2018, Hall expects to be back at NASA Glenn running a 100-hour test of the X3 with Aerojet Rocketdyne's power processing system.
The project is funded through NASA's Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnership, which supports not just propulsion systems but also habitat systems and in-space manufacturing.
Gallimore is also the Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Professor, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and a professor of applied physics. Kamhawi is also Hall's NASA mentor as part of the NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship. The $1 million upgrade of the test facility in Gallimore's lab is funded in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, with additional support from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and U-M.
More information:
TECNAM Aircraft s.r.l. of Capua, Italy, is proud to announce that it has newly established a corporate presence in Australia. The company’s worldwide Sales Director, Mr Walter Da Costa, made the announcement today, saying that it will be managed by its Australian Sales Team.
“After many years of successful operation, and with a brand-new product line to be offered in General Aviation, TECNAM has decided to confirm its presence in Australia and to sell and support its products directly”, Mr Da Costa said.
The company has prepared its marketing strategy, which will be in two parts. The first is its long-established and highly respected 600kg MTOW Light Sport Aircraft product line, which can be registered in the Recreational Aviation Australia area or VH with CASA. TECNAM will spearhead this entry into the market with its high-performing P2008 model, which has great looks, an impressive history of durability and is the ideal aircraft for all types of operations from personal flying to training.
Mr Da Costa said that management of the Light Sport Aircraft fleet, along with the management and supply of all spare parts, will be carried out by Mr Bruce Stark, a long-term representative of TECNAM products in Australia.
TECNAM is also announcing its entry into the certified Australian General Aviation market with the introduction of three new models. The P2006T is an outstanding light twin aircraft operating Rotax engines and it provides an ideal platform for Twin IFR training, as well as personal twin-engine transport. In addition, the company is offering a Special Mission Platform (SMP), which will be highly suitable for customs and police operations, fire management and border protection, capable of carrying top levels of surveillance equipment in its specially prepared structure.
TECNAM will also introduce the P2012 Traveller, a twin-engine, eleven-seat, Lycoming-powered commuter aircraft that will be very effective in the service of Australian requirements for rapid, economical, intermediate-range operations which have regional passenger loadings.
The P2010 will be managed by Mr Allan Bligh, who is one of Australia’s most respected aircraft sales representatives, together with his long-term associate, Mr Spencer Ferrier of Sydney.
“We are really proud to commence our corporate presence in Australia with such a strong and capable sales team,” Mr Da Costa said. “The introduction of our heavier aircraft in the VH category will make a strong mark in Australian aviation and we look forward to serving the Australian travelling public with our well-proven, advanced design, economical fleet.”
“The future of any successful company is ‘relentless innovation’ of the product and the business plan. In the 17 years I have been associated with TECNAM Italy, this has been the culture of the company and its staff. I look forward to being part of the new team in the Australian and New Zealand”. Said Bruce Stark
As the late Professor Luigi Pascale, co-founder of the company with his brother, has said so often: “Designing and building aeroplanes is not just a job, it is an extension of our passion for flying.”
TECNAM has been constructing aircraft for more than 70 years, starting with its first design, the P48, in 1948. Since then the company, based in Capua, Italy, has grown to be the world’s second-largest General Aviation aircraft manufacturer. Its dedication to reliability, quality manufacture, innovation and ruggedness is proudly based upon its motto, “Our customers are our friends”.
http://www.rusaviainsider.com/mc-21-prototype-arrives-zhukovsky-certification-tests/
https://youtu.be/TFcDImoeKe0
London, Airbus Helicopters has received EASA certification for the Rig’N Fly (Rig Integrated GPS approaches with eNhanced Flyability and safetY) for its H175 super medium helicopter.
Already certified for the H225, this avionics upgrade enhances the H175’s offshore mission capability providing fully automatic rig approaches. The automated mode also reinforces flight safety by allowing the crew to focus on the flight parameters and the external environment.
“With 19 helicopters now in operation, the H175 continues to evolve to meet the demanding Oil & Gas industry mission needs,” said Marc Allongue, head of the H175 programme. “This automatic approach procedure is a key element to increase the reliability and safety of our customers’ offshore operations. Thanks to the Rig’N Fly mode, their approaches to and take-offs from platform-based helipads will be safer and simpler.”
Rig’N Fly uses a combination of sensors (GPS, barometric altimeter, radar altimeter, weather radar, etc.) to provide enhanced flight precision and situational awareness for automatic rig approaches. The system also includes offset approaches, which can be tailored according to weather conditions and oil rig environment for the safest, standardized approach, placing the helideck in the most easily visible position for the crew.
By providing a repeatable path computation, the ability to couple the Automatic Flight Control System along with the flexibility to take environmental elements into account, Rig’N Fly reduces the workload of the crew, while enhancing situational awareness.
The H175 upgraded avionics suite also include advances in the Synthetic Vision System - offering a better display resolution and decluttering capability- and in the Helicopter Terrain Avoidance System, which optimises crew alerting time. Approach-deviation alerts have also been improved while enhancement of the maintenance functions and associated ground tools allow for better detection of failures and simplification of data downloading.
The @airfrance #A380 which suffered an engine failure is to be flown back with only 3 operating engines. Some notes about how that is done.. pic.twitter.com/XGe9FQ9Waf— Captain Dave (@DaveWallsworth) 10 de octubre de 2017
Aviation Week’s U.S. defense editors discuss pending battles for three new military airframes. The U.S. Navy has just issued a request for proposals for its MQ-25 UAV; the U.S. Air Force’s Jstars program is suddenly in limbo and its T-X trainer competition is delayed, while multiple competitors for that program jockey for position.
http://aviationweek.com/defense/podcast-trio-pentagon-combat-aircraft-competitions
If the order comes, the B-52s will return to a ready-to-fly posture not seen since the Cold War
http://www.defenseone.com/threats/2017/10/exclusive-us-preparing-put-nuclear-bombers-back-24-hour-alert/141957/
Sources indicate that the prospect of restarting the 767-300ER passenger line could serve as interim lift until the prospective entry-into-service of the Boeing New Midrange Aircraft, now commonly called the 797, for the Middle of the Market sector. Continue reading https://leehamnews.com/2017/10/19/boeing-ponders-restart-767-300er-passenger-line/
Study Cites El Niño-Caused Drought In Some Tropical Regions
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=e606b8e4-06e7-4e73-8f5e-9719202df98b
FMI: www.nasa.gov/oco2
In AeroNews
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=86a0d68e-9ee4-44fb-847f-7616e00366fd
MOD press release
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/autonomy-of-hazardous-scene-assessment-phase-2-minerva
Winners announced in the latest round of the Autonomy of Hazardous Scene
Assessment (AHSA) Defence and Security Accelerator competition which
will change the way chemical and bio-hazards are investigated.
PR
The first full-scale model of the rocket motor that will propel Ariane 6 and Vega-C into orbit has been cast and filled with inert propellant for testing at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The P120C is the largest solid-propellant rocket motor ever built in one segment.
Each P120C will hold over 140 tonnes of propellant in a carbon fibre casing almost 11.5 m long and about 3.4 m in diameter. It is derived from Vega’s current first stage motor, the P80, which holds 88 tonnes of propellant.
The design builds on existing expertise and lessons learned with Vega’s P80, and it increases Vega performance with Vega-C. Two or four P120Cs will be strapped onto Ariane 6 as boosters for liftoff.
The model casing, shipped this summer from Avio in Italy, took about 36 hours to fill with inert propellant blended at Europe’s launch base in Kourou.
Using non-ignitable fluid that has a similar density to the real propellant meant that engineers could safely test all the new equipment and procedures.
Filled and sealed, the fluid in the casing could stabilise, cool and harden – the curing process – which took 10 days.
Further tests on the motor, now horizontal, will confirm that it is ready to be integrated with other structures in January.
These tests are a step towards casting active propellant in November with a P120C development motor that will be static fired in April.
Vega-C is expected to debut in mid-2019, increasing performance from Vega’s current 1.5 t to about 2.2 t in a reference 700 km polar orbit.
Ariane 6’s maiden flight is planned for 2020. This new launch vehicle will be gradually phased in to succeed Ariane 5.
If there are habitable conditions on Mars, they may be underground. Scientists from around the world are now testing how to search for life in extreme environments by venturing a kilometre beneath the surface in a UK mine. ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer has joined the expedition.
For two weeks, nearly 30 scientists and instrument specialists are venturing deep below for the fifth Mine Analogue Research sortie.
“Some of the most exciting places for planetary exploration are way below our feet,” notes Charles Cockell, head of the UK Centre for Astrobiology.
One day, explorers could live underground in lava tubes or caves in the Moon and Mars because they offer ideal environments for human outposts.
Just like some regions of the Red Planet, the Boulby mine in northeast England features brines that could host microbial life.
“I did not imagine that highly concentrated salt solutions could be a good place to start searching for traces of life,” remarked Matthias from underground.
“These features are completely new to me. There is so much you can learn on Earth about other planets.”
Down in the mine, Matthias is using life-detection equipment, drills and cameras for robotic and human exploration.
One of his tasks is to follow the performance of a robotic hammer that could one day be part of a Mars rover. It would help to sample a hostile planetary surface, exposing fresh surfaces for the search of life.
There are some ‘guests’ from ESA’s ExoMars mission that is gearing up for landing a rover on the Red Planet in 2020. The prototypes of a high-resolution camera and a package of sensors to measure water vapour are also exploring the deep darkness.
Next stop: Lava tubes
ESA’s Pangaea geology course will continue the work next month in the Mars-like landscapes of Lanzarote, Spain.
The volcanic features and tunnels created by flowing lava on the island will be a perfect setting for a team of astronauts, spacewalk experts, engineers and scientists to study tools and sampling techniques for exploring other planets.
Some of the tools used in the mine sorties will be put to the test for geology research and investigating lava tubes.
Pangaea’s five-day November test campaign will include 50 people, 14 experiments, 18 organisations and four space agencies.
ESA press release
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