NASA Armstrong updates 1960s concept to study giant planets

NASA researchers are looking at the possibility of using a wingless, unpowered aircraft design from the 1960s to gather atmospheric data on other planets—doing the same work as small satellites but potentially better and ...

An atlas of the bumblebee brain

The buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris is one of the most common bumblebee species in Europe. It is not only active in nature as a pollinator—humans also use it in greenhouses and foil tunnels to get good harvests ...

Moths' flight data helps drones navigate complex environments

The flight navigation strategy of moths can be used to develop programs that help drones to navigate unfamiliar environments, report Ioannis Paschalidis at Boston University, Thomas Daniel at University of Washington, and ...

NASA's Mars helicopter testing enters final phase

NASA's Mars Helicopter flight demonstration project has passed a number of key tests with flying colors. In 2021, the small, autonomous helicopter will be the first vehicle in history to attempt to establish the viability ...

Too many airplane systems rely on too few sensors

The apparent connection between fatal airplane crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia centers around the failure of a single sensor. I know what that's like: A few years ago, while I was flying a Cessna 182-RG from Albany, New ...

NASA's Mars helicopter completes flight tests

Since the Wright brothers first took to the skies of Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina, Dec. 17, 1903, first flights have been important milestones in the life of any vehicle designed for air travel. After all, it's one thing ...

Image: Magnetometer boom built for ESA's mission to Jupiter

A test version of the 10.5-m long magnetometer boom built for ESA's mission to Jupiter, developed by SENER in Spain, seen being tested at ESA's Test Centre in the Netherlands, its weight borne by balloons.

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