A model of a proposed European manned spaceship has gone on show at the Berlin Air Show.

The design, from EADS Astrium, is based on the unmanned “Jules Verne” freighter recently sent to the International Space Station.

Astrium says a crewed version of the truck is a logical evolution, and could fly in the next decade if it received support from European governments.

The idea is to combine the avionics and propulsion end of Jules Verne (also known as the Automated Transfer Vehicle - ATV) with a crew compartment taking the place of the current cargo section.

Source: BBC

A new technique that mimics the natural healing process could enable damaged aircraft to automatically mend themselves, even during flight.

The technique, developed by aerospace engineers at Bristol University, is based on the bruising and bleeding/healing process seen in humans, and has the potential to be used wherever fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are used.

The technique involves filling the hollow glass fibres contained in FRP composites with resin or hardener. When the fibres break, perhaps due to a tiny hole or crack appearing in an aircraft, the resin and hardener ‘bleeds’ out, enabling the composite to recover up to 80 – 90 per cent of its original strength – allowing the plane to function at its normal operational load.

By mixing dye into the resin, any ‘self-mends’ would show as coloured patches that could be easily pinpointed during subsequent ground inspections, and a full repair carried out if necessary.

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Rolls-Royce has successfully completed the first run of its BR725 engine at its facility in Dahlewitz, Germany. The selection of the engine to power the new Gulfstream G650 aircraft was announced last month.

Dr. Rainer Hönig, Project Director – BR725 and Future Programmes, Corporate & Regional Engines, Rolls-Royce, said: “The engine powered up first time and attained 80 per cent of its full thrust rating. It is demonstrating full functionality and is performing in line with targets set in the early stages of the programme two years ago. This first landmark has been made possible by the strong relationships with our partners and suppliers.”

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The Russian Federal Space Agency is teaming up with Rosnanotekh to promoting nanotechnology in Russia’s long-neglected science departments. Head of Rosnanotech, Leonid Melamed, said the first project was to promote Russia’s space industry.

“The current task is to create competitive advantages for Russia`s space agency using nanotechnology. This will help our space industry not only to maintain its current market position but also to enter other international markets,” Melamed said.

Nanotechnology involves the use of tiny structures to create devices such as solar-heating panels and computer chips. In Russia, scientists have made breakthroughs in the fields of metals, medicine and molecular chemistry. However, business has been slow to take up their ideas.

Read more at Russia Today

Boeing has flown an aircraft powered by a hydrogen fuel cell for the first time in what could be an advance towards environmentally-friendly aviation.

Watch the video:

For more information see an earlier story from Inside Engineer here.

Space shuttle Endeavour will head off to space on Tuesday with an eighth passenger – $210 million dollar Dextre, a robot designed to take the place of astronauts for risky jobs in outer space.

The robot has two arms, each with seven joints that allow the limb to twist and bend more than a human arm. Each of its two hands has pincers to grip objects and built-in socket wrenches to drive bolts.

The robot is going into space in nine pieces. The crew of Endeavour will assemble it over the course of three spacewalks and place it on the International Space Station ready for it to begin operation in 2009. Once assembled, Dextre will be able to handle items as small as a phone book and as big as a phone booth.

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Virgin Atlantic has become the first airline to fly one of its commercial planes on biofuel.

A mix of standard jet fuel, coconut and babassu oils powered the Boeing 747 jumbo jet from London Heathrow to Amsterdam. Harvested from existing mature plantations, coconut and babassu oils were chosen for their environmentally and socially sustainable qualities.

No modifications were made to the engine to accommodate the biofuel, however extensive laboratory and static-engine testing on the ground was conducted to evaluate the energy and performance properties of the biofuel to be used in the flight. During the flight on-board technical advisors took readings and recorded flight data for analysis. Virgin Atlantic plans to share the results of its analysis with other airlines seeking ways of reducing their carbon emissions.

While the flight has been recognised as a step in the right direction, green groups have criticised how much bio-fuel was used. Three of the 747’s tanks were filled with jet fuel, while just over 20 per cent of the fourth tank contained the biofuel mixture.

Read more at Gizmag

Researchers at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have begun to develop hardware which it hopes will bring the possibility of using space-based solar cells to power the Earth a step closer.

At the end of February, JAXA will begin testing a microwave power transmission system designed to beam the power collected by satellites 36,000km above the Earth’s surface. The satellites convert sunlight into microwave beams that are aimed at receiving stations on Earth, where they are converted into electricity.

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Japanese scientists are preparing to launch a high-tech ‘paper plane’ from 250 miles above the Earth.

During tests, the planes, designed by the Japan Origami Airplane Association, and made from heat-resistant paper treated with silicon, survived temperatures of 250 degrees Celsius and winds of Mach 7, as part of a 30-second flight inside a hypersonic wind tunnel.

Following the tests, aeronautical engineers from Tokyo University are confident that the planes will be able to survive the fiery descent back to Earth when they are released by an astronaut on the International Space Station later this year.

Speaking to Reuters, Professor Shinji Suzuki, who heads the team of scientists involved in the project, explained: “Paper planes are extremely light so they slow down when the air is thin and can gradually descend.”

The engineers believe the technology could one day be adapted for use in unmanned spacecraft, however, for now, they would be happy to set a new world record for the longest flight by a paper plane, and to encourage children to take an interest in science.

While the 100 or so planes stand only a slim chance of striking land when they begin their journey in November, they will carry messages written in several languages and should anyone be lucky enough to find one, it is requested they send them back to Japan.

A team of scientists from the Naval Research Laboratory, the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL’s) Research Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., and the University of New Mexico (UNM) has detected the lowest frequency radar echo from the moon ever seen with earth-based receivers.

In the lunar echo experiment (more properly called a lunar bistatic radar experiment), the Air Force/Navy High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) high power transmitter, located near Gakona, Alaska, launched high power radio waves toward the moon. The reflected signal, weakened because of the long distance to the moon and back, was detected by receiving antennas in New Mexico.

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 Boeing has achieved a milestone in the development of its High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft by successfully testing a hydrogen propulsion system in simulated conditions of 65,000 feet.

The test, conducted over more than three days using a Ford Motor Company-developed hydrogen engine is a further step towards the realization of a UAV designed to remain airborne for more than seven days.

“This test demonstrates the technical readiness of the hydrogen engine system and confirms the capability breakthrough in flight endurance and altitude that could be realized by a variety of military and commercial customers,” said Darryl Davis, vice president and general manager, Boeing Advanced Precision Engagement and Mobility Systems.

Its potential applications include border observation, port security and telecommunications as well as battlefield intelligence and surveillance.

A routine shuttle mission, highlighted by a teacher’s first spaceflight and space station construction, is now overshadowed by a troubling gash in Endeavour’s thermal shield.A detailed laser inspection on Sunday of the difficult-to-reach area on Endeavour’s belly could send astronauts out to repair the 3-inch wound later in the week, although NASA said that prospect appeared less likely than it did a day earlier. A penetration, if severe enough, could let in searing gases when the shuttle returns to Earth in a possible replay of the Columbia accident.

As a pair of spacewalking astronauts installed a new beam to the international space station on Saturday, engineers back on Earth scrutinized images of the gouge, the result of a strike by fuel-tank foam insulation at launch.

NASA said late Saturday that the piece of foam came off a bracket on the tank, then bounced off a strut farther down on the tank and shot into Endeavour.

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