The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] was awarded a $38 million contract April 27 to develop and test a nonlethal, high power microwave (HPM) airborne demonstrator for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Counter-electronics High power microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP).
The CHAMP Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) program will be the first to demonstrate a counter-electronics HPM aerial demonstrator.
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Saturday, May 16, 2009
Wide Field Camera 3
After astronauts install the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) during SM4, it will continue the pioneering tradition of previous Hubble cameras, but with critical improvements to take the telescope on a new voyage of discovery. Together with the new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS), WFC3 will lead the way to many more exciting scientific discoveries.
Instrument Overview
WFC3 will study a diverse range of objects and phenomena, from young and extremely distant galaxies, to much more nearby stellar systems, to objects within our very own solar system. Its key feature is its ability to span the electromagnetic spectrum from the ultraviolet (UV, the kind of radiation that causes sunburn), through visible/ optical light (what our eyes can detect), and into the near infrared (NIR, the kind of radiation seen with night-vision goggles). WFC3 extends Hubble’s capability not only by seeing deeper into the universe but also by providing wide-field imagery in all three regions of the spectrum—UV-Visible-NIR. It is this wide-field “panchromatic” coverage of that makes WFC3 so unique. As an example, WFC3 will observe young, hot stars (glowing predominantly in UV) and older, cooler stars (glowing predominantly in the red and NIR) in the same galaxy.
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Instrument Overview
WFC3 will study a diverse range of objects and phenomena, from young and extremely distant galaxies, to much more nearby stellar systems, to objects within our very own solar system. Its key feature is its ability to span the electromagnetic spectrum from the ultraviolet (UV, the kind of radiation that causes sunburn), through visible/ optical light (what our eyes can detect), and into the near infrared (NIR, the kind of radiation seen with night-vision goggles). WFC3 extends Hubble’s capability not only by seeing deeper into the universe but also by providing wide-field imagery in all three regions of the spectrum—UV-Visible-NIR. It is this wide-field “panchromatic” coverage of that makes WFC3 so unique. As an example, WFC3 will observe young, hot stars (glowing predominantly in UV) and older, cooler stars (glowing predominantly in the red and NIR) in the same galaxy.
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Future Helicopters Get SMART
Helicopters today are considered a loud, bumpy and inefficient mode for day-to-day domestic travel—best reserved for medical emergencies, traffic reporting and hovering over celebrity weddings.
But NASA research into rotor blades made with shape-changing materials could change that view.
Twenty years from now, large rotorcraft could be making short hops between cities such as New York and Washington, carrying as many as 100 passengers at a time in comfort and safety.
Routine transportation by rotorcraft could help ease air traffic congestion around the nation's airports. But noise and vibration must be reduced significantly before the public can embrace the idea.
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But NASA research into rotor blades made with shape-changing materials could change that view.
Twenty years from now, large rotorcraft could be making short hops between cities such as New York and Washington, carrying as many as 100 passengers at a time in comfort and safety.
Routine transportation by rotorcraft could help ease air traffic congestion around the nation's airports. But noise and vibration must be reduced significantly before the public can embrace the idea.
Read More
Cheap Plastic Could Improve Electronic Devices
Cheap plastic in CDs and DVDs could one day improve the integrity of electronics in aircraft, computers and handheld electronics, researchers said today.
Shay Curran, associate professor of physics at University of Houston , and his research team created ultra-high electrical conductive properties in plastics, called polycarbonates, by mixing them with carbon nanotubes.
Computer failure, for instance, results from the build up of thermal and electrical charges, so developing these polymer nanotube composites into an antistatic coating or to provide a shield against electromagnetic interference would increase the lifespan of computing devices, ranging from PCs to PDAs.
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Shay Curran, associate professor of physics at University of Houston , and his research team created ultra-high electrical conductive properties in plastics, called polycarbonates, by mixing them with carbon nanotubes.
Computer failure, for instance, results from the build up of thermal and electrical charges, so developing these polymer nanotube composites into an antistatic coating or to provide a shield against electromagnetic interference would increase the lifespan of computing devices, ranging from PCs to PDAs.
Read More
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