UK plugs into more-electric drive
Its eye firmly on the next generation of Airbus and Boeing single-aisle airliners, the UK is stepping up research into more-electric aircraft technology to reduce emissions and costs. Goodrich is to lead a UK industry consortium developing electric engine-start capability, while Honeywell is leading an international team developing tools to design more efficient air-cycle air-conditioning systems. Both projects are funded by the UK Department of Trade and Industry's Technology Programme.
www.dti.gov.uk/innovation/technologystrategy
100h-endurance hydrogen UAV advances
A liquid hydrogen-fuelled unmanned aircraft able to stay aloft at 65,000ft (19,800m) for 100h is a step closer, with Aurora Flight Sciences receiving $6.2 million in Congressionally earmarked US Army funding to complete its prototype Orion HALL (high altitude, long loiter) UAV. Two air vehicles are under construction, with a first flight expected in 2009. The 40.2m (132ft)-span, 3,175kg (7,000lb) gross-weight Orion has an automotive piston engine modified to run on hydrogen.
www.aurora.aero/science/orion.aspx
'R2D2' mini-robot searches airliner for bombs
A wastebin-sized robot conducted a simulated bomb search through the cabin of a decommissioned airliner during an exercise in Ottawa staged by the National Research Council of Canada's Institute for Aerospace Research. The Boeing 727 had no seats, but aisles were recreated using sheets to cover areas that would have seating. Frontline Robotics' 530mm (21in)-high 914 PC-BOT robot was used. "We wanted to make sure it worked on aircraft floors and it did. No floor is totally true and robots can drift [when floors are uneven]," says business development manager Susan Hardman. Afterwards a bomb was detonated in the 727's cargo hold to recreate an on-ground attack and Geospatial information specialist Terrapoint Canada used a vehicle-mounted LIDAR to create a three-dimensional model of the debris field.www.whiteboxrobotics.com/PCBOTs
Astronauts could breathe easier with nanosensor
A nanotechnology chemical sensor tested in space on the US Naval Academy's MidSTAR-1 satellite could potentially monitor trace gases inside a spaceship, detecting minute amounts of harmful contaminants that could build up gradually over a long mission. Funded by NASA's exploration programme, the Nano ChemSensor Unit uses carbon nanotubes coated with a material that reacts to a specific chemical, causing a change in electric current. "We demonstrated that [the sensor] can survive in space conditions and the extreme vibrations and gravity change that occur during launch," says NASA principal investigator Jing Li. The test used a chip with 32 nitrogen dioxide nanosensors. Sensors have been made to detect ammonia, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen peroxide, hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds.
www.nasa.gov/exploration
Deployable boom could make bigger satellites
A deployable boom enabling very large satellite structures to be launched by existing boosters despite their limited payload fairing volumes is to be investigated by Colorado-based mechanical systems specialist Starsys under a 24-month, $750,000 US Air Force Research Laboratory contract. The large, high-stiffness, high-expansion-ratio boom could be used to deploy very-large-aperture space-based radar. "This technology takes advantage of recent innovations in spacecraft mechanical deployment systems to form large, stable structures for deployment and positioning of instruments and sensors," says Mark Sirangelo, chief executive of Starsys parent company Spacedev.
www.starsys.com
Source: Flight International