World’s largest clean room gets a “Webb” cam

Mar 12 | News

At 1.3 million cubic feet, the Goddard Space Flight Center’s High Bay Clean Room, where the components of the James Webb Space Telescope are now being assembled, circulates a staggering one million cubic feet of air per minutes, ensuring no more than 10,000 particles larger than 0.5 microns. Progress on the telescope can now be viewed by webcam.

Crucial time for Boeing as 787 flights ramp up

Mar 10 | News

Even as EADS pulled out of the bidding process for the U.S. Air Force’s $35 billion contract for aerial refueling planes, the defense contractor Boeing is facing a busy time in it’s commercial business: the second Boeing 787 Dreamliner landed yesterday in Victorville, Calif., marking the first flight-test operations outside Washington state.

Alternative energy crops in space

Mar 9 | News

What if space held the key to producing alternative energy crops on Earth? That's what researchers are hoping to find in a new experiment on the International Space Station. The experiment, National Lab Pathfinder-Cells 3, is aimed at learning whether microgravity can help jatropha curcas plant cells grow faster to produce biofuel, or renewable fuel derived from biological matter.

Lunar tires, space MRSA, and resonating microfluidics

Mar 5 | RDBlog

I typically attend the annual Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy each year in pursuit of specific coverage. This year, I sought out candidates for coverage in a vacuum technology article, and pulled together some instruments for a spectroscopy guide. But as busy as that kept me, it wasn’t all mass spectrometers and vacuum pumps on the show floor.  

For NASA no easy answer for next space destination

Feb 24 | News

Suddenly, and for the first time in a long time, America’s space agency finds itself without a mission plan. Filling the void are a mix of old and new ideas, including the revived goal of an electric propulsion engine (they still lack thrust), and the possibility of making the next manned landing on a near-Earth asteroid (no gravity).

Microwaving Moondust

Feb 16 | Featured Articles

Physics software simulates parameters for extracting water from the Moon. Preliminary data from NASA’s Lunar CRater Observing and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) indicates that the mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009, impacts into the Moon’s south pole.

America’s Cup winner trounces “tradition” with technology

Feb 16 | RDBlog

A fine sail off the coast of Spain is hardly the reality for most Americans, who have been locked in a snowy wonderland for months. But that's apparently where the technology is: the USA 17 that brought home the America's Cup for the first time in 23 years could be the most advanced sailboat ever built.

NASA, GM believes Robonaut2 will work alongside humans

Feb 5 | News

Faster and more dexterous than its predecessor, Robonaut2, or R2, is being designed by engineers for use both in automotives plants and space travel. A combination of control, sensor, and vision advances are allowing R2 to perform complex tasks using its hands.

Biggest-ever sunshield for space telescope passes design review

Feb 3 | News

Workers at NASA and Northrop Grumman had to invent the techniques, materials, and mechanisms needed to build the James Webb Space Telescope’s complex sunshield system. The tennis court-sized solar deflector relies on five layers of Kapton, each as thin as a human hair.

Calling all aerospace contractors, your funding is ready

Feb 2 | RDBlog

Monday was probably a bittersweet day for NASA. Told that it would no longer be following President Bush’s lunar comeback effort or even launching its own astronauts into space, the agency must now look to contractors for their escape velocity needs.

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Much ado about next to nothing

Mar 15

The recent review of the past 10 years of the National Nanotechnology Initiative--as presented by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology--suggested the rise of nanomanufacturing as the near future of nanotechnology. But the actual proposed funding reflects a cautious approach, even about nanotech in general.

Lunar tires, space MRSA, and resonating microfluidics

Mar 5

I typically attend the annual Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy each year in pursuit of specific coverage. This year, I sought out candidates for coverage in a vacuum technology article, and pulled together some instruments for a spectroscopy guide. But as busy as that kept me, it wasn’t all mass spectrometers and vacuum pumps on the show floor.  

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NuGard Coating Ashburn Hill

Jan 7

NuGard First Response Protective Clothing are lightweight coveralls, jackets, and pants that provide protection from heat and flame while keeping the wearers body temperature constant.

Multi-Touch Music Maker

Jan 7

Professor David Wessel shows his multi-touch interface that uses computer technologies that allow him to experiment with fine controls to "caress" the instrument.