Aviation & Aerospace News

1. Research On Metallic Nanoparticles May Lead To Improved Solar Cells 7/28/2020

   In a new study, a research group at Uppsala University explain their outstanding success in harvesting “hot electron holes”. The results of their work can be used to improve solar cells, photochemical reactions and photosensors. The scientific article is published in Nature Materials.

2. Russia Developing Plane-Mounted Lasers To Blast Satellites, US Confirms Deployment Of Vehicle-Mounted Anti-Drone Lasers 3/1/2018

   Russian military engineers reportedly have completed an aircraft-based laser system capable of destroying enemy satellites out of space.

3. Pentagon Developing Laser-Shooting Drones To Intercept Enemy Missiles 2/15/2018

   The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is proposing to spend $66 million on a program to develop and deploy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that fire lasers at intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) shortly after takeoff, or during their boost phase of flight, when they are most vulnerable.

4. SPIE's AR/VR/MR All-Day Conference Delivers Immersive Experience 2/12/2018

   After feasting on a full day of insight from some of the most prominent names in altered and virtual reality technologies, attendees were treated to a panel discussion that assembled pioneers in the space, asking them to muse on its past, present, and future.

5. NASA Piggybacks Spectrograph On Comm Satellite To Study Ionosphere’s RF Disruption 1/9/2018

   The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is set to launch its Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission to study Earth's near-space environment and better understand what disrupts radio signals and satellites used for communications and the Global Positioning System (GPS) for radio navigation.

6. Powerful New Tool For Looking For Life Beyond Earth 12/20/2017

   NASA has developed an innovative new spectroscopy instrument to aid the search for extraterrestrial life. The new instrument is designed to detect compounds and minerals associated with biological activity more quickly and with greater sensitivity than previous instruments.

7. U.S. Air Force Aims To Deploy Laser-Armed Fighter Jets By 2021 11/30/2017

   The United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), through its Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program, has awarded Lockheed Martin a $26.3 million contract to design, develop and produce a high-power fiber laser mounted on a tactical fighter jet by 2021.

8. Wind Satellite Vacuum Packed 11/2/2017

   With liftoff on the horizon, ESA’s Aeolus satellite is going through its last round of tests to make sure that this complex mission will work in orbit.

9. ViDAR Optical Radar Installed In SKELDAR V-200 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle 7/3/2017

   ViDAR (visual detection and ranging) -- the world's first optical radar designed for maritime search and detection – was recently incorporated as a payload in the SKELDAR V-200, a heavy fuel engine VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) made by Swiss-based UMS SKELDAR.

10. NASA Readies World's First Spaceborne Sodium LIDAR System 5/18/2017

    Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center are developing the world's first space-based sodium LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) instrument to study the nature and dynamics of the mesosphere, the poorly understood middle layer of the Earth's atmosphere, which lies 40-100 miles above Earth’s surface and separates the planet from the vacuum of space.