This week’s Top 5 engineering technology articles are almost completely out of this world with the one exception having the ability to propel us into the future.
- Virgin Galactic On Road To Recovery After Fatal SpaceShipTwo Crash
- NASA Tests Methane-Powered Engine For Future Landers
- Dawn Probe Heads To Superclose Orbit Of Dwarf Planet Ceres
- Mastcam-Z: The Future Of Stereo Imaging On Mars
- New Metal Alloy Could Yield Green Cooling Technologies
Virgin Galactic On Road To Recovery After Fatal SpaceShipTwo Crash
Space.com
Richard Branson is no stranger to a big payday, but any entrepreneur will tell you that success is always born of failure. No one wanted to see the failure that took the life of the copilot of the mission. But now, almost a year later, construction has begun anew on the next generation.
George Whitesides, the CEO, says that he is very optimistic about the progress made since the accident last year. They’ve almost finished construction and recently put the craft onto the launch vehicle since it does not have the same rocket propulsion other companies employ.
Though not ready for liftoff yet, Whitesides has said they will resume flight testing when they are ready.
NASA Tests Methane-Powered Engine For Future Landers
Cosmos Newsblog
And, perhaps when the Virgin Galactic does make it back into orbit, they’ll be carrying the latest and greatest landing that NASA is testing. Using methane power for thrusters increases the stability of using liquid hydrogen in the atmosphere with Mars.
NASA is planning on using a turbopump to deliver the methane to the landers thrust components.
Dawn Probe Heads To Superclose Orbit Of Dwarf Planet Ceres
Space.com
Ceres is about to get a little clearer. NASA’s Dawn probe is heading toward an orbit with the celestial object located between Mars and Jupiter. The orbital structure has been getting steadily closer. The probe has gone from 8,400 miles down to the final orbit of just 590 miles.
Launched in 2007 the probe previously orbited the protoplanet Vesta before moving toward Ceres.
To me it’s absolutely amazing how much we’re learning about the universe surrounding our tiny blue marble.
Mastcam-Z: The Future Of Stereo Imaging On Mars
The Planetary Society
And, speaking of learning about the broader universe, Mastcam-Z is the imager selected by NASA for the 2020 rover mission. The color stereo camera system with zoom capability is just now beginning to reveal why it was selected for this particular mission. Over the course of the next five years, we’ll be hearing much more about people involved in the development as well as what we will ultimately get during the payoff of pictures from our reddish-hued neighbor.
New Metal Alloy Could Yield Green Cooling Technologies
Phys.org
And, now for a story just a bit closer to home. A new metal alloy has the potential to change the world for the cooler, I mean better. Commercially viable refrigerants and cooling technologies that would have a smaller environmental footprint.
This iron-based alloy could very easily be part of the next-generation cooling technologies. It would be a substitute for some of the rare-earth metals that are currently used. This would alleviate supply and cost issues with the rare-earth metals. Which means even more environmentally friendly impact. So, win-win all the way around.
Well, that’s it for me this week. Keep your eyes open and, in my case, your head to the sky to see all that could happen here and above.
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