The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to collaborate on aerospace projects with Wichita State University (WSU).
The $23.5 million contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory will fund the development of composite inspection and repair techniques for better Air Force fleet sustainability.
Microscopic defects that occur in laser-based manufacturing of metal parts can lead to big problems if undetected, and the process of fixing these flaws can increase the time and cost of high-tech manufacturing. But new research into the cause of these flaws could lead to a remedy.
The roar of passenger jets once commonly caused permanent hearing loss, but one aerospace engineer in particular dedicated decades to making them quieter. Here are some of his methods, which landed him in the National Academy of Engineering in 2019.
Even a short stay for travelers in cities with high levels of air pollution leads to breathing problems that can take at least a week from which to recover, a new study shows.
University of Washington researchers used the paper folding art of origami to develop a novel solution to help reduce the forces associated with impact — like in car crashes, football helmets, landing spacecraft and more.
The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) has released its policy statement on airline seating in response to Congress requiring FAA update standards for passenger seat dimensions.
In a unique experimental setup, Swiss researchers have investigated the effect of exhaust particles from aircraft turbine engines on human lung cells. The cells reacted most strongly to particles emitted during ground idling. The study also showed that the cytotoxic effect is only to some extent comparable to that of particles from gasoline and diesel engines.
Whether for business or personal travel, now, more than ever, thousands of Americans spend their days in the air. While most airplane passengers are hoping for maximum comfort during their flights, airline companies look to maximize their profits — sometimes at the expense of passengers’ space.
How to meet the seat needs of airline passengers isn’t something that has been quantified, so a team of researchers at Penn State set out to measure seat accommodation.
Timothy Nuber, an aerospace engineering senior at Rutgers–New Brunswick's School of Engineering, is gearing up to watch a rocket he helped construct with Operation Space launch at the end of this month. Nuber founded and serves as president of the Space Technology Association of Rutgers (STAR), a democratic community of students that work together, not against each other, to stand out in the highly competitive space industry, and they plan to build and launch their own rocket here at Rutgers.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When traveling at five times the speed of sound or faster, the tiniest bit of turbulence is more than a bump in the road, said the Sandia National Laboratories aerospace engineer who for the first time characterized the vibrational effect of the pressure field beneath one of these tiny hypersonic turbulent spots.
The 2014 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 remains ones of the biggest mysteries in aviation. Recent efforts combining satellite data with a new mathematical approach, analyzing how debris moves around the ocean, aim to make headway in the search. Using what are known as Markov chain models, an international team of researchers has narrowed down a potential crash location substantially north of the region where most search efforts have concentrated. They discuss their work in this week’s journal Chaos
In a first-ever advancement in human medicine and aviation technology, a University of Maryland unmanned aircraft has delivered a donor kidney to surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore for successful transplantation into a patient with kidney failure. This successful demonstration illustrates the potential of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for providing organ deliveries that, in many cases, could be faster, safer, and more widely available than traditional transport methods.
The momentous flight was a collaboration between transplant physicians and researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore; aviation and engineering experts at the University of Maryland; the University of Maryland Medical Center; and collaborators at the Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland.
Amy R. Pritchett, professor and head of aerospace engineering at Penn State, was recently named one of six experts by U.S Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to serve on a U.S. Department of Transportation Special Committee that will review how the Federal Aviation Administration certifies aircraft.
Sandia announced today the formation of Autonomy New Mexico, a national academic research coalition whose mission is to create artificially intelligent aerospace systems.
Development of a virtual reality-like projection system to study insect vision could eventually provide the U.S. Air Force with a new type of navigation system.
Delta Air Lines is No. 1, and JetBlue is No. 2, according to the 29th annual Airline Quality Rating (AQR), released today, Monday, April 8. The AQR is the most comprehensive study of performance and quality of the largest airlines in the United States. The rating is a multifactor examination of the airlines based on mishandled baggage, consumer complaints, on-time performance and involuntary denied boardings.
The 29th annual Airline Quality Rating (AQR), the longest running and most comprehensive study of the performance quality of the largest airlines in the United States, will be announced via a nationally distributed news release on Monday, April 8, at 3:01 a.m. EDT.
To prevent ice formation and subsequent drag on aircraft during flight, current systems utilize the heat generated by burning fuel, but these high-temperature, fuel-dependent systems cannot be used on the proposed all-electric, temperature-sensitive materials of next-generation aircraft. As some scientists search for new anti-icing methods, some have taken a different approach. They’ve published evidence in Physics of Fluids showing that equipment important in controlling landing and takeoff can double-up as icing control. It depends on plasma actuators.
One key area of development in metallurgy today is the creation of new materials with especially high density, which can be used in the aerospace, aviation, military, and electric power industries. Researchers from South Ural State University are working with materials that are promising for all of these fields.
As part of a global industry research project, combustion experts from the University of Sydney’s School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering are one step closer to developing a more efficient and cost-effective access to space platform for satellite launches.
Having direct access to students’ talent and skills is a huge part of why Airbus Americas moved to the Wichita State University campus two years ago. One of those opportunities for collaboration played out perfectly this winter when Airbus officials in the research and technology department needed a last-minute artistic rendering for an airplane seat under development.
Flight attendants with past exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) have preclinical signs of accelerated vascular aging, reports a study in the February Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
UB aerospace engineer James Chen publishes a paper that extends classical kinetic theory into high-speed aerodynamics, including hypersonic speed, which begins at 3,836 mph or roughly five times the speed of sound. The new study and others by Chen in influential academic journals attempt to solve long-standing problems associated with high-speed aerodynamics.
'Structural battery' drone wings developed by a team led by Case Western Reserve University in Ohio allowed for a total flight time-- nearly three hours--that nearly doubled the craft's previous air time. The Feb. 22 launch at Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport was funded by Ohio and federal funds.
To investigate how shortfin mako sharks achieve their impressive speeds, researchers tested real sharkskin samples, using digital particle image velocimetry. They discovered that a “passive bristling” capability of the microscopic surface geometry of the shark’s scales controlled flow separation, which causes pressure drag -- the most influential cause of drag on aircraft. The work will be described at the 2019 APS March Meeting, and could lead to new designs to reduce drag on aircraft.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has released updated rankings for university research and development (R&D) expenditures, and Wichita State has held its position as the top university in the country for industry-funded aeronautical R&D with a total of $34 million.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute computer scientists Stacy Patterson and Carlos Varela have teamed up to develop a prototype framework, the “Virtual Sky” platform, to fuse and analyze flight sensor data correctly, reliably, and quickly. Virtual Sky would serve as a model extension of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Next Generation Air Transportation System, a sweeping modernization of the National Airspace System that includes greater use of computer and satellite systems in air traffic elements like communication, navigation, weather, information management, and tracking.
Winter in the United States can produce some of the most dangerous weather for the aviation industry, including freezing rain, freezing drizzle, and sleet. Those are the ideal conditions for a field campaign focused on collecting in-flight data in some of the most treacherous North American icing conditions.
Because heightened drone traffic also produces challenges for law enforcement as they try to identify and interdict illicit activity, DHS S&T is working closely with NASA and the FAA to develop its own independent USS to monitor traffic and enable greater transparency.
Jasper Baur and William Frazer, students at Binghamton University, State University of New York, won first place in the aerospace and defense category at the Create the Future Technology design contest for their project which uses drones to locate dangerous landmines.
Static electricity is one of the most common, yet poorly understand, forms of power generation. A new study suggests the cause of this hair-raising phenomenon is tiny structural changes that occur at the surface of materials when they come into contact with each other. The finding could someday help technology companies create more sustainable and longer-lasting power sources for small electronic devices.
The structures zipping together the barbs in bird feathers could provide a model for new adhesives and new aerospace materials, according to a study by an international team of researchers publishing in the Jan. 16 issue of Science Advances. Researchers 3D printed models of the structures to better understand their properties.
The National Science Foundation released their latest survey of federally financed research expenditures, and five UAH programs continue to be ranked among the top 25 in the nation.
The University of North Dakota, along with research partners from Harris Corporation and the Northern Plains Unmanned Aircraft Systems Test Site, achieved a major industry milestone on Dec. 21 with the first-ever test flights over a specially developed UAS network of technologies that opens the skies for broad commercial use of drones.
The 89th Airlift Wing, based at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, will conduct a tribute flight in honor of former President George H.W. Bush with an Air Force VC-25A over the interment site at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center on the campus of Texas A&M University today at about 3:55 p.m. CST.
The space industry is set to benefit from expert guidance from University of Adelaide lawyers on Australian and international laws that regulate their activities.
Many experts agree the future of flight will rely on zero-emission and/or renewable energy technology. That is, aircraft will be propelled by ions—electrically charged molecules—that create thrust in their wake. But that future is already here.
The study assigned a “Health Score” (5 stars = highest rate, 0 star = lowest) based on eleven criteria including health and calorie levels of meals, snack boxes and individual snacks, level of transparency (display nutrient information & ingredients), improvement and maintenance of healthy offerings, menu innovation, food and water safety and cooperation in providing this information. The survey includes health ratings, average calories per airline, comments, best bets, food offerings, costs, nutrition information (e.g., calories, and exercise equivalents.
Michael McGee, Ph.D., has made UTEP the focal point of efforts to significantly improve public safety and bolster border security through the utilization of drone technology. His ability to bridge communication between various governmental agencies has not only elevated UTEP’s drone program, it has also increased the campus’ footprint.
Scheduling and coordinating air traffic can be difficult, but taking the airlines’ and passengers’ delay costs into account can actually save airlines money and result in fewer delays, according to a new study from Binghamton University, State University of New York.
Sandia National Laboratories, with a hypersonic wind tunnel and advanced laser diagnostic technology, is in an excellent position to help U.S. defense agencies understand the physics associated with aircraft flying five times the speed of sound.
Cholene Espinoza, MD, is the second woman to fly a U-2 spy plane, and while her experience “touching the stars” was breathtaking, it doesn’t compare to the magic of her richest role yet: welcoming babies to the world.
Searching for solutions to supersonic fluid flow behavior, researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the U.S. Air Force are using neutron radiography at DOE’s ORNL. The team says a better understanding of spray dynamics will lead to improved fuel injector designs for the aeronautic and automotive industries as well as other spray-related applications used in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and more.