LeonardoTimes – Leonardo Times

10Mar

By LeonardoTimesNo Comments

Featured, Space flight

Starship’s Story

The development of a highway to Mars Authors : Marcos Talocchi and Lisanne Vermaas, Editors Leonardo Times Render of Starship in orbit during stage separation The future of spaceflight is, in short, defined by one word: sustainability. And what other way to achieve it other than leaving single use launchers in the past and embrace reusable rockets? This is what SpaceX proposes with Starship, the first 100% reusable space launcher. Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX in short, was founded by Elon Musk in 2002. His plans to colonize Mars in order to make mankind a multiplanetary species stems from even before SpaceX was founded. After generating his initial capital as co-founder of PayPal, Musk joined the board of the Mars Society and announced Mars Oasis:...

Amelia: A Look Back at the Pioneering Aviator.

31Jan

By LeonardoTimesNo Comments

Aviation

Amelia: A Look Back at the Pioneering Aviator.

Author : Katharina Ertman, Editor Leonardo Times On July 2, 1937, Amelia Earhart, in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe, disappeared mysteriously into the expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Somewhere en route from Lae, Papua New Guinea, and Howland Island, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, lost communications with those on the ground. The circumstances surrounding her disappearance have been the subject of years of speculation and fruitless efforts to determine Earhart and Noonan’s fate. Numerous theories, from sensational rumors, claiming Earhart was a spy for the US government or even she was working for the Japanese government, to more technical speculation, such as the crash-and-sink theory or that she landed on a different island, continue to fuel curiosity. However, the stor...

25Dec

By LeonardoTimesNo Comments

Aviation, Manufacturing, News, Operations, Propulsion

B-52 Re-engine program

The iconic Cold-war era Boeing B-52H Stratofortress bomber is getting its 1960s-vintage Pratt & Whitney TF33-103 engines replaced by more-efficient commercial replacements. The re-engine program will keep the colossal aircraft operational until 2050 and meet the high-power demands for next-generation weapons, a fire control radar, and other electrical systems. The B-52 is the most combat capable bomber in the U.S. inventory with 76 units completely operational. Due to its high mission-capable rate, large payload, long range, persistence and ability to employ both nuclear and conventional precision standoff weapons. The B-52s has eight engines in four pods, two under each wing. the Air Force overhauls each TF33 every 6,000 flight hours, as a rule, a process that costs $2 million per ...

Boeing shows UAV which can Refuel Fighter Jets in Mid-Air

21Dec

By LeonardoTimesNo Comments

Aviation, Manufacturing, Uncategorized

Boeing shows UAV which can Refuel Fighter Jets in Mid-Air

Past Tuesday, Boeing Phantom Works, Boeing's secretive design department, announced a new Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Its function is to refuel jets mid-air in order to enlarge the range of combat aircraft of the US Navy. One picture was presented of Boeings MQ-25, showing a slightly blended wing-fuselage design, probably to contain as much fuel as possible. Its V-tail stands out as well suggested to satisfy with the little space available on a carrier deck. While engines are being tested right now, flight testing will be done early 2018. Boeing’s MQ-25 design is their submission for a competition from the U.S. Navy to design a UAV which can refuel fighter jets in mid-air, in particular, to refuel the F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-35, which are already used in the U.S. ...

NASA finds a Solar System similar to our own

19Dec

By LeonardoTimesNo Comments

Astronomy and planetary sciences, News

NASA finds a Solar System similar to our own

Kepler Space Telescope launched by NASA in 2009 to find Earth-sized planets orbiting other sun-like stars has recently discovered a new planet orbiting the Kepler-90 star. This brings the number of planets around the star to eight, the same as the number of planets in our solar system. The star and the system in which the new planet is located is about 2,545 light years away from our planet. There could be more planets in the system which have not yet been spotted. The discovery came as a result of a team effort from NASA and Google Artificial Intelligence. A machine learning algorithm trained to look for signals that might belong to planets played a part in the discovery of the new planet known as Kepler0-90i. Paul Hertz, the director of the Astrophysics Division of NASA, says “By ap...

Drone Collisions More Damaging Than Birdstrikes

12Dec

By LeonardoTimesNo Comments

Aviation

Drone Collisions More Damaging Than Birdstrikes

Author: Maurits Rietveld, Editor Leonardo Times Birdstrikes have already been an important topic in aviation's safety for a long time. Considering the global rise of drones, collisions between drones and aircraft are starting to play a role in aviation safety as well. New studies have shed light on this issue. A study carried out by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) showed that small drones are more damaging to planes than birds. Simulations reinforced by physical material tests were done on aircrafts colliding with drones, varying in weight from 1.2 to 3.6 kilograms. The wing's leading edge, windshield and horizontal and vertical stabilizers were investigated as critical locations. Results showed that the horizontal stabilizer suffered most of the damage and the cockpit’s winds...

7Dec

By LeonardoTimesNo Comments

News, Operations, Propulsion, Space engineering, Space flight, Uncategorized

Revival of Voyager 1 after 37 years

The backup thrusters on the Voyager 1 spacecraft fired up after staggering 37 years. It took 19h and 35 min through space for the signal to reach an antenna in Goldstone, California, US, which is a part of NASA’s Deep Space Network. Voyager 1 was launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, 16 days after its twin, Voyager 2. Both these spacecraft are a part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System. On August 25, 2012, Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft to cross the heliosphere and thereby making it the farthest a man-made object has ever traveled. Voyager 1 traveling past the edge of the Solar System. Source: https://www.nasa.gov/ After staying in dormant for 13 billion miles, on November 28, the spacecraft’s four backup Trajectory Course Manoeuvring thrusters were...

Join Europe’s top engineers and scientists in European Patent Office

6Dec

By LeonardoTimesNo Comments

Join Europe’s top engineers and scientists in European Patent Office

Our engineers and scientists – drawn from over 30 different European countries – work at the cutting edge of technology, examining the latest inventions in every technical field in order to protect and promote innovation in Europe. If you have a diploma of completed university studies at Master’s level in physics, chemistry, engineering or the natural sciences, a good working knowledge of at least two of our official languages (English, French and German) and the willingness to learn the third, you too could be part of our team of patent examiners in Munich and The Hague. We offer a competitive net basic salary (EUR 5 300 -7 500 per month, depending on experience) as well as various benefits and allowances. The European Patent Office (EPO) is the second- largest ...

World’s First Mixed Reality Trainer Developed by Airbus

4Dec

By LeonardoTimesNo Comments

News, Operations, Uncategorized

World’s First Mixed Reality Trainer Developed by Airbus

The unlikely partnership between Airbus and the Microsoft Hololens has led to the development of the world’s first mixed reality trainer for aviation applications. In cooperation with Japan Airlines(JAL), Airbus has developed a prototype for training the mechanics and crew of A35 XWB using the ‘Hololens’ technology and immersive headsets. A considerable amount of resources is focused on training the crew to develop skills required for the operation of the aircraft. This new technology will provide a cost-effective and safer alternative to the traditional training methods. The headsets enable the user to train on an interactive, virtual 3D system while being aware of their surroundings and coworkers. Trainees can access the aircraft digital data which can be viewed from any angle to vir...

31May

By LeonardoTimesNo Comments

Aerodynamics and wind energy, Aviation

Active flow control for boundary layers

Author: Henry Tol, PhD Candidate Aerospace Engineering, TU Delft Article published in Leonardo Times Magazine, Edition of January 2017. Turbulence and the transition to turbulence are recognized as unsolved problems in physics. Likewise, control theorists have hardly ever come across a problem this challenging. The goal of active flow control is to cross these interdisciplinary boundaries by considering the relevant flow physics when designing the control algorithms. Motivation The ability to control fluid flows to any desired state has great consequences for many applications. Imagine future aircraft where the traditional control surfaces (elevator, rudder, etc.) are replaced with flow control devices, which can accelerate the flow over the wings to generate lift and control m...