Thu, May 24, 2018

Steve Jurczyk Appointed NASA Associate Administrator

Krista Paquin Retires; Melanie W. Saunders Named Acting Deputy Associate Administrator

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has named Steve Jurczyk as associate administrator, the agency's highest-ranking civil servant position. Jurczyk has been serving in the position in an acting capacity since March 10. In addition, Deputy Associate Administrator Krista Paquin will retire from NASA at the end of May. Melanie W. Saunders has been assigned as the acting deputy associate administrator, effective June 10.

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Wed, May 23, 2018

China Launches First Rocket Designed By Private Company

Chongqing Liangjiang Star Rocket Successfully Achieves Orbital Altitude

An OS-X rocket named "Chongqing Liangjiang Star" saw its maiden flight finish at 7:33 am on May 17 in a test field in Northwest China. The launch of the "Chongqing Liangjiang Star" rocket, developed by OneSpace Technology, a Beijing-based private firm, marks the first time a non-state Chinese rocket has successfully entered orbit.

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Wed, May 23, 2018

Airborne 05.23.18: KSMO Legal Woes, B777X Folding Wingtip, #OSH18COOL Campaign

Also: 2nd ERAU Arrow Wing Cracked, Memphis Airport, Orbital ATK Launch, Flexjet Pilot Salaries 

Last week, representatives from the City of Santa Monica and the FAA sat before a judge in the D.C. Circuit Court jointly defending their consent decree that led to the shortening of the runway at KSMO, and will eventually lead to its closure. The two were before the court to respond to a Petition to Review filed by aviation interest groups in February 2017 asking the court to invalidate the Settlement Agreement between the FAA and the City. That agreement gave the city the authority to shorten the runway, which it did last December. The FAA has certified Boeing's design for folding wingtips on the 777X airliner that will allow the aircraft to operate at existing airport gates. The FAA said that the Boeing Model 777-8 and 777-9 airplanes will incorporate CFRP wings with folding wingtips. Boeing will incorporate this on-ground wingtip-fold capability to reduce the wingspan fro

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Wed, May 23, 2018

University Students To Test Microgravity Research In NASA's Underwater Analog

Experiments To Be Conducted In Through June 4

Twenty-five student teams from across the country will test their research underwater in May and June in simulated microgravity at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston as part of the Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Teams (Micro-g NExT) challenge.

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Tue, May 22, 2018

Airborne-Unmanned 05.22.18: Aurora ACUS, Horsefly Delivers, K2 LEO UAS

Also: Aero-TV: Textron's X5-55, InfraDrone App, NASA's Mars Helicopter, Gremlins on Track

This month, Aurora’s Autonomous Aerial Cargo Utility System (AACUS) successfully delivered cargo to U.S. Marines in the Integrated Training Exercise at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms in California. AACUS completed its first closed loop mission from takeoff to landing for its intended purpose of actual cargo resupply to Marines, as it successfully completed an autonomous cargo sustainment flight delivering more than 500 pounds of water, gasoline, MREs, and replacement communications gear including a packed cooler to represent urgently required cargo such as blood. Aurora says that this was the first ever “autonomous point-to-point cargo resupply mission” providing critical logistics support to Marines in need. The HorseFly truck-launched Autonomous Drone Package Delivery System is now making real-life package deliveries to homes in the Cincin

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Tue, May 22, 2018

NASA Spacecraft Discovers New Magnetic Process In Turbulent Space

Magnetospheric Multiscale Spacecraft Detects Event In Near-Earth Environment

Though close to home, the space immediately around Earth is full of hidden secrets and invisible processes. In a new discovery reported in the journal Nature, scientists working with NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Spacecraft — MMS — have uncovered a new type of magnetic event in our near-Earth environment by using an innovative technique to squeeze extra information out of the data.

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