Aviation & Aerospace News

  1. The Secret (Well, OK … Not Too Secret) Experiments On Board X-37B 12/22/2022

    I love space. I don’t pretend to understand it, but I’m constantly amazed at the natural wonders that are out there. Turns out, some of the wonders of space aren’t natural. For instance, there’s the Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, the newest and most advanced re-entry spacecraft.

  2. Accidentally Identifying Methane Super-Emitters From Space 12/16/2022

    NASA’s EMIT mission is mapping the prevalence of key minerals in dust-producing deserts. But — surprise! — it’s also detecting the presence of methane around the world.

  3. Bright Ideas — UCF Wins A Major Award, SPIE Names Startup Challenge Finalists, Designing An Ultra-Powerful X-Ray System, And More 12/14/2022

    Bright Ideas presents the most captivating news and innovations in optics and photonics. This week, we look at a couple of research-related breakthroughs, the latest on SPIE’s Startup Challenge, 6D!, and writing with ultrashort light pulses.

  4. Bright Ideas — New Laser Beam Steering Device Coming, German Armed Forces Test Fire HEL Weapon Against Drones 11/16/2022

    Bright Ideas presents the most captivating news and innovations in optics and photonics. This week, a University of Texas professor begins the exploration of an optical laser beam steering device for 3D sensing in autonomous cars and the German armed forces successfully conducted the first operational test-firing of a high-energy laser (HEL) weapon against drones aboard a German Navy warship.

  5. SWOT: NASA's Plan To Map Earth's Waterways 11/10/2022

    NASA's Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite is scheduled to launch in early December. The mission is to make measurements of over 95% of the Earth's lakes, rivers, and reservoirs and the results will help combat global warming, better forecast and respond to hurricanes, and more.

  6. Bright Ideas — “Optrodes” Could Revolutionize Prosthetics, Luminar Lidar Hits Production 11/9/2022

    Bright Ideas presents the most captivating news and innovations in optics and photonics. This week, NASA finally pins down a launch date for Artemis I Moon Mission, Luminar lidar hits the production lines, "optrodes" signal possible shift in development of prosthetic limbs. 

  7. New Optica Community Story Features Native American Physicist 10/28/2022

    The latest Optica Community story celebrates a Native American physicist whose life was transformed by a free pizza flyer.

  8. Bright Ideas — Quantum Inertial Sensors Could Save Communications, China To Open First Photonic Chip Fab 10/26/2022

    Bright Ideas presents the most captivating news and innovations in optics and photonics. This week, China is reportedly ready to break ground on the nation's first photonic chip manufacturing facility. And one researcher and his team at Sandia are trying to transform bulky quantum inertial sensors into smaller, more rugged packages to back up lost GPS signals. 

  9. Fast Steering Mirrors For Free Space Optical Communications – New Piezo & Voice-Coil Driven Solutions 10/25/2022

    Fast fine steering mirrors keep laser beams stabilized and pointed in the right direction, making sure they reach their targets exactly, over thousands of miles.

  10. New Way To Make Telescope Mirrors Could Sharpen Our View Of The Universe 10/20/2022

    Researchers have developed a new way to use femtosecond laser pulses to fabricate the high-precision ultrathin mirrors required for high-performance x-ray telescopes. The technique could help improve the space-based x-ray telescopes used to capture high-energy cosmic events involved in forming new stars and supermassive black holes.