Military & Aerospace
2012 another record-setter, fits climate forecasts
December 21, 2012 9:07 am | by SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer | News | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) -- As 2012 began, winter in the U.S. went AWOL. Spring and summer arrived early with wildfires, blistering heat and drought. And fall hit the eastern third of the country with the ferocity of Superstorm Sandy.
NASA posts YouTube video debunking Maya 'Armageddon'
December 20, 2012 2:52 pm | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | CommentsNASA was so sure there would be a December 22, 2012, it posted a YouTube video titled "Why the World Didn't End Yesterday." Scientists say rumors on social media and the Internet of Earth's premature demise have been prompted by a misunderstanding of the ancient Maya calendar, which runs through December 21, 2012.
Defense bill lifts barrier on satellite exports
December 20, 2012 12:34 pm | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | CommentsTucked into the annual U.S. defense budget bill making its way through Congress this week is a long-fought and potentially lucrative reprieve for U.S. satellite manufactures and suppliers to export their products, officials said on Wednesday. Since 1999, spacecraft and their components have been grouped with ammunitions, fighter jets and other defense technologies and subject to the nation's most stringent export controls.
The newest (and most invasive) surveillance technique
December 19, 2012 12:31 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsBetter watch what you say next time you take the bus; somebody could be listening in. We’re all pretty used to the increasing amount of cameras on public transportation, and a lot can be said in their favor. They provide a safer environment for the driver when dealing with unruly passengers.
Three-nation crew blasts off for space station
December 19, 2012 8:16 am | News | CommentsA Soyuz spacecraft carrying a Russian, an American and a Canadian blasted off on Wednesday to the International Space Station (ISS), where the men are to spend half a year in orbit.
A swoosh in space: Merry Christmas from Hubble
December 18, 2012 1:10 pm | News | CommentsPlanetary nebulae represent a final brief stage in the life of a star like the Sun. While consuming the last of the fuel in its core, the star expels a large portion of its outer regions, which then heats up and glows brightly, showing intricate structures that scientists are still trying to fully understand.
Hubble telescope spies seven galaxies from baby years of universe
December 18, 2012 12:49 pm | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | CommentsAstronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have found seven galaxies that formed relatively shortly after the universe's birth some 13.7 billion years ago, scientists said on Wednesday, describing them "as baby pictures of the universe."
NASA crashes two probes into a mountain on the moon
December 18, 2012 12:04 pm | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | CommentsA pair of NASA moon-mapping probes smashed themselves into a lunar mountain on Monday, ending a year-long mission that is shedding light on how the solar system formed. The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, spacecraft had been flying around the moon, enabling scientists to make detailed gravity maps.
NASA crashes two probes into a mountain on the moon
December 18, 2012 9:03 am | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | CommentsA pair of NASA moon-mapping probes smashed themselves into a lunar mountain on Monday, ending a year-long mission that is shedding light on how the solar system formed.The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, spacecraft had been flying around the moon, enabling scientists
Virgin Galactic future at Spaceport uncertain
December 13, 2012 8:53 am | by JERI CLAUSING Associated Press | News | CommentsThe deal was sold to New Mexicans in classic Richard Branson fashion. If taxpayers would build the colorful British businessman a $209 million futuristic spaceport, he would make New Mexico the launching point for a space tourism business catering to the rich and famous.
Laser diodes designed for wide variety of applications
December 12, 2012 10:17 am | Product Releases | CommentsOSI Laser Diode, Inc. (LDI) introduces a product family of high power monolithic stack pulsed laser diodes for a wide variety of military/defense, industrial, automotive, and machine vision applications. Single and stacked pulsed laser diodes are available up to 375W and fiber-coupled devices are available up to 188W. Custom packaging is also available, upon customer request.
Air Force sends mystery mini-shuttle back to space
December 12, 2012 8:44 am | by MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer | News | CommentsThe military's small, top-secret version of the space shuttle rocketed into orbit Tuesday for a repeat mystery mission, two years after making the first flight of its kind. The Air Force launched the unmanned spacecraft Tuesday hidden on top of an Atlas V rocket. As if on cue, clouds quickly swallowed up the rocket as it disappeared out over the ocean.
COTS/MOTS power converters available in new rack-mount configuration
December 11, 2012 12:06 pm | Product Releases | CommentsSchaefer announces new 19” rack mount configurations for their Raptor Series of military power supplies. The Raptor’s robust construction and high reliability make it an ideal choice for harsh military applications such as shelters, armored vehicles, avionics, naval and open air applications.
A new tool for secret agents -- and the rest of us
December 11, 2012 8:41 am | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsA secret agent is racing against time. He knows a bomb is nearby. He rounds a corner, spots a pile of suspicious boxes in the alleyway, and pulls out his cell phone. As he scans it over the packages, their contents appear onscreen. In the nick of time, his handy smartphone application reveals an explosive device, and the agent saves the day
Alan Alda asks scientists to explain: What's time?
December 11, 2012 8:37 am | by FRANK ELTMAN Associated Press | News | CommentsProfessor Alan Alda has a homework assignment for scientists. Yes, that Alan Alda. The actor known for portraying Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce on the TV show "MASH" and more recent guest shots on NBC's "30 Rock" is also a visiting professor at New York's Stony Brook University school of journalism
Hawking, CERN scientists win huge physics prize
December 11, 2012 8:36 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA Russian billionaire's foundation is awarding two special prizes of $3 million each to British cosmologist Stephen Hawking for his work on black holes and to seven scientists at the world's biggest atom-smasher for their roles in the discovery of a new subatomic particle believed to be the long-sought Higgs boson.
Undersea defense applications demand robust battery technology
December 10, 2012 4:43 pm | by Mike Sink, Saft, www.saftbatteries.com | Articles | CommentsUnmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) and sonobuoys continue to occupy a critical role in undersea warfare, and the design of such technologies – especially with regard to their power systems – is acutely important due to their growing indispensability to a variety of tactical defense operations.
British astronomer Patrick Moore dies at 89
December 10, 2012 9:10 am | by GREGORY KATZ Associated Press | News | CommentsBritish astronomer and broadcaster Patrick Moore died Sunday, according to friends and colleagues. He was 89. He died at his home in the coastal town of Selsey in southern England, according to a statement released Sunday. No specific cause of death was given,
COTS frequency convertors help program smart weapons and smart industrial applications
December 7, 2012 10:52 am | Product Releases | CommentsBehlman Electronics solved a vexing 1500 VA power supply problem sometimes experienced by US Air Force personnel when they must reprogram munitions in the field, and it grew into a 5000 VA solution for this and other applications, as well.
DC-DC voltage regulators designed for space applications
December 6, 2012 3:05 pm | Product Releases | CommentsInternational Rectifier introduced a series of high current, ultra-low dropout (ULDO) RAD-Hard hybrid linear voltage regulators available in Standard Microcircuit Drawings (SMD) for space applications including satellites and launch vehicles.
Gravity maps of moon reveal deeply fractured crust
December 6, 2012 2:28 pm | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | CommentsAsteroids and comets colliding with the moon not only pitted its surface but also severely fractured its crust, researchers with NASA said on Wednesday, in a finding that could help crack a Martian puzzle. On Mars, similar fracturing would have given water on the surface
To the moon? Firm hopes to sell $1.5 billion trips
December 6, 2012 2:19 pm | by SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer | News | CommentsA team of former NASA executives is launching a private venture to send people to the moon for a price that is definitely out of this world. For $1.5 billion, the newly formed business is offering countries a two-person trip to the moon, either for research or national prestige. The venture was announced Wednesday.
Cosmic radio waves mimic chirping of 'alien birds'
December 5, 2012 8:43 am | by MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer | News | CommentsTwin spacecraft have captured the clearest sounds yet from Earth's radiation belts - and they mimic the chirping of birds.NASA's Van Allen Probes have been exploring the hostile radiation belts surrounding Earth for just three months. But already, they've collected measurements of high-energy
Mars redux: NASA to launch Curiosity-like rover
December 5, 2012 8:41 am | by Alicia Chang AP Science Writer | News | CommentsIf you thought NASA's latest Mars landing was a nail-biter, get ready for a sequel.The space agency on Tuesday announced plans to launch another mega-rover to the red planet in 2020 that will be modeled after the wildly popular Curiosity.To keep costs down, engineers will borrow Curiosity's
NASA's Mars rover finds traces of carbon - one essential for life
December 4, 2012 9:18 am | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | CommentsNASA's Mars rover Curiosity, dispatched to look for the chemical ingredients and environments for microbial life, has found hints of carbon, though whether this building block for life on Earth has played a similar role on Mars is unknown, scientists said on Monday.
