Jonfliesgoats

You know, as homebuilt airplanes go, revisiting an inflateable plane may be in order. You can hangar it in your garage. Patch it easily. Corrosion isn't an issue. For the person who wants to fly around at 70knots and and count cows, this idea could be great.

They are saying it is the most curved mirror of that kind in the world. I am a telescope neophyte, but this seems pretty neat.

Yeah, the article was saying they are both uncontrollable, so maneuvering isn't an option.

@Elthy @Elthy That's a good suggestion. I was trying to build up steps on my Fitbit by jogging on the treadmill and thought "Lets find contemporary female innovators to discuss around my daughter!" Sweaty fingers make for bad typing! Sothe result is massive posts on similar things without much typing. Its not too late for me to go edit these things, however! (My daughter is swimming in my little ponies right now, and she isn't even a year old. They say early exposure to things is important so I am trying to get her blocks. I also want female role models who aren't her mom that are both girly and smart. Conventionally bookish ladies won't appeal as social pressures build an artificial choice between femininity and adventure/innovation in her mind.) Discussion doesn't work if it's not inviting. Does this stimulate more involvement from you?

Less than 1km. The article says some estimates had collision risks as high as 44%, but hat seems high considering we waited until 2009 for the first hypervelocity accident.

@Vanamonde Since many of these threads I posted are on similar topics (contemporary female innovators, DARPA stuff) how bout we condense threads? That may alleviate the flooding effect I have done.

Also, I recognize that you guys are trying to help me out. I do sincerely appreciate you saying something.

@Elthy @WinkAllKerb'' You are probably right. I go in spurts, typically at the gym. I am also comfortable being ignored. I read and post LOTS here. I like the responses and input. So I blow through a huge list of things that catch my attention, post something on all of them and wait. Do I have a problem? Maybe. But I am having a good time, and I am not screaming to coworkers about politics, posting racist things on facebook, etc. So while your critique is fair and accurate. I agree with it. I still like posting "Look at these professors! Oooh, weird helicopters! Check out these bobbing buoys! DARPA want proposals!". Is a little enthusiasm about this stuff really the worst thing out there? I would rather send out lots of crummy threads which are ignored than stuff myself into a corner and wonder whether things that catch my attention are worth discussing. I'm having fun!

This is Neri Oxman, who is working at MIT using additive manufacturing to blend art and engineering. She is one of many examples of female engineers and scientists who break the librarian-like stereotype of smart women. This video is sort of sales-pitchy video of her and her work. She also has some good presentations in TED talks.

Cynthia Brazeal is working on making robots more accessible to the masses at MIT. Unlike what we see on popular trelevisiion programs, she is a nerd that is not in the least bit nerdy (a friend of mine refers to these well-adjusted people as submarinerds). Her work in Robotics is impressive. This video is a little bit old, but still interesting. http://cynthiabreazeal.media.mit.edu/

Good points! The fact that it is publicly announced for such a specific application reminds me of the A-7 revitalization program.

Thanks for the explanation, Snark! @Snark

Too bad I can't afford this:

A small company in Virginia is trying to fly a heavy-fueled UAV for ten days. Aerospace innovation is literally out most of our back doors, and much more accessible to interested undergraduate students and high schoolers than people think. Check out this link from DARPA! http://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2017-01-04

Anyone legitimately interested in swarming robots can submit a proposal to DARPA by 30 January. http://www.darpa.mil/news-events/offset-proposers-day

TUNA is a project announced by DARPA. Essentially, buoys connected by fiber optic cables would be used for tactical communications in an environment with significant rf jamming. Methods of communication in hostile environments are pretty sensitive, so I would take this poster with a grain of salt. That said, the ability to drop buoys all over the place and develop a communications network does have some pretty interesting applications. What are your thoughts? http://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2017-01-05

A Scott Manly video was playing on the treadmill today between my work-required study modules. In it he mentioned that one of the Pioneer craf used folding and unfolding reflectors for attitude control. This got me thinking about the actual pressure exerted by solar radiation near Earth. Turns out it's about an order of magnitude stronger than I thought. " CR is the solar radiation pressure coefficient (typically between 1.2 and 1.5 N/m² or Pa) and Am is the aspect area [m²] to mass [kg] ratio of the satellite."

As most of you know, SpaceX is returning to flight with an Iridum satellite launch. This makes it official. http://spaceflight101.com/spacex-receives-faa-launch-license-for-upcoming-iridium-mission/

Cory Bird of Scaled Conposites built this plane. When he wasn't working on motherships, suborbital spacecraft and other things, he came up with his own GA airplane. Passionate people come up with beautiful ideas. His airplane is certainly beautiful. The only thing I don't like is the way the canopy opens, and that is a very minor gripe based on a particularly nitnoid safety concern. Gorgeous work! http://iflyblog.com/cory-birds-symmetry-an-airplane-as-art/

Agreed on the dodginess.

True. That was one of the reasons for the compressor on the engine, but it could only keep up with just a few small holes.

Two satellites may get a little too close to each other tonight. http://spaceflight101.com/close-orbital-encounter-january-7-2017/

Well, there are advantages to printing which yield improved structural integrity. For example we can use material gradients. Again, I refer to the GE GENX engine with its printed nozzles that are subject to high heat and stress. To be sure initial printing of materials today can't compete with forged and milled parts. I don't use printed cylinders on my personal airplane, for example. While the GENX engines at work use printed nozzles, they still use milled turbine blades for the parts under the most combined physical and thermal stress. Technology advances, though. Perhaps we need to think where these additive manufacturing techniques will be in thirty years relative to milled parts?

I like the push to use existing tech to prevent another thirty year procurement program. Forces being what they are, we'll see if the F-X project mushrooms into another turducken of lost opportunity. Miniaturization will be huge. Networked drones the size of birds rather than planes will likely become part of our air dominance plan.