Boost Your Signal with Spray-On Antenna from Chamtech
Sadly, the answer to every problem in life can’t be found in a spray can. This is something to which anyone that’s had the misfortune to try spray cheese can attest. For awhile, spray cans were nearly considered heralds of the apocalypse, thanks to the ozone destroying chlorofluorocarbons contained therein. How times have changed.
Chamtech Enterprises has developed a spray-on antenna that has the potential to fundamentally shift communications technology. Most standard communications technology still uses some form of copper wire to transmit or receive signals, in a similar fashion to how radio technology was first developed.
ATK Continues Development of Liberty Spacecraft
With the main responsibility for near-Earth space missions being delegated to the private sector, competition for contracts becomes important to drive innovation and lower costs. The SpaceX test launch to the International Space Station has been postponed till tomorrow and being aborted at the last second over the weekend. However, other companies are continuing to move forward with their own commercial rocket and/or spacecraft projects. Alliant Techsystems (ATK) is among them.
ATK is building a two-stage rocket, called Liberty, to launch satellites and crew alike into orbit. Rather than starting from zero, the company is working with a design that incorporates the solid fuel boosters from the U.S. space shuttle and the liquid fuel secondary booster from the European Ariane rocket system.
NASA’s J-2X Engine Ready for Second Round of Testing
I remember the days of a TV being wheeled into class to watch the early launches of the space shuttle. Missions to launch a new satellite or conduct experiments were cool, but (as a kid) I always secretly hoped the astronauts would hijack the shuttle and zip off toward the moon or maybe Mars. The shuttle program might be in mothballs, but that doesn’t mean NASA is through with manned space exploration.
The J-2X engine is a serious rocket intended to be part of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), part of a drive to extend humanity’s reach into the heavens. The new liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket is a redesign of the old J-2s used in the Apollo program. It is being developed by Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne.
SpaceX Launch Delayed; Boeing Set for 2016 Test Launch
The planned SpaceX COTS launch scheduled for April 30 has been delayed until May 7 while SpaceX completes more hardware-in-the-loop testing.
The April 30 date was set after the completion of NASA’s flight readiness review. This was to be the second SpaceX demonstration launch for the space agency’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule will launch from Cape Canaveral, conduct a series of testing procedures, and then rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station (ISS).
After SpaceX announced the delay, NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, William Gerstenmaier, issued a statement: Continue reading
Altaeros Energies’ Inflatable Turbine Soars
Alternative energy sources are a good investment for the future. Potential oil scarcity aside, most alternative energy sources are green, which means less junk in the air to fuel worries about global warming. Fewer pollutants also mean fewer respiratory health problems. We recently covered a new solar energy solution and today we’ll look at a novel approach for wind turbines.
Even before Don Quixote tilted at them, windmills have been producing energy. Wind turbines are just an old idea with a new look. The Netherlands have been erecting turbines for the last few years, hoping to hit their goal of creating 9% of the total energy needs of the country.
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