Nanocardboard Aircraft with No Moving Parts

Tiny aircraft that weigh as much as a fruit fly could serve as Martian atmospheric probes.

Bio-Inspired Wing Design for Small Drones

Taking a cue from birds and insects, the wing design helps drones fly more efficiently and makes them more robust to atmospheric turbulence.

Drones Change Shape Mid-Flight

This capability will optimize performance of the vehicle through different phases of flight.

Hummingbird Robot Uses AI to Maneuver in Tight Spaces

The robots could fly silently for covert operations and stay steady through turbulence.

Printed Polymer Makes Integrated Airplane Parts

In 2019, NASA engineers test-fired a 3D-printed rocket engine combustion chamber.

Facility Focus: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

See how "APL" is developing ways to ensure the safety and performance of autonomous systems.

Directional UAV Localization of Power Line Ultraviolet Corona

This method detects power line faults using a drone.

Enhancing Aircraft System Monitoring and Reducing Unscheduled Maintenance

Aircraft may have a huge amount of data available, but this doesn’t mean it’s the right data to troubleshoot a problem.

Machine-Learning Tool for Developing Tougher Materials

This rapid screening system tests fracture resistance in billions of potential materials.

Mars 2020 – Building Perseverance

Tech Briefs spoke with NASA’s Keith Comeaux, Deputy Project Chief Engineer, to learn more about the helicopter heading to Mars.

Nano-Infused Ceramic Can Report its own Health

A ceramic sensor could be embedded into structures such as bridges and aircraft to monitor their health.

Supersonic Spike Diffuser

This diffuser provides double the pumping efficiency in one-quarter the space.

Tackling Aircraft Laser Strikes from the Ground

To reduce the increasing frequency of attacks, the ground-based Laser Aircraft Strike Suppression Optical System (LASSOS) has been developed by researchers from the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

Optical Gyroscope-on-a-Chip

The gyroscope is smaller than a grain of rice — about 500 times smaller than the current state-of-the-art device.

Multiple Sensors Aid in Development of an Electrical Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft

Beta Technologies is putting their Electrical Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft (eVTOL) prototype through the wringer.

Facility Focus: Army Test and Evaluation Command

The Army Test and Evaluation Command provides essential information to acquisition decision-makers and commanders.

New Solution to Elderly Falls: Drones, Smartphones and Sensors

Drones, smartphones, and sensors could provide a lifeline to the world’s growing elderly population at risk of falls.

Insect-Inspired Arms Improve Drones

The new arm design enables unmanned aerial vehicles to fly in windy conditions.

High-Performance, Piezoelectric, Hybrid Synthetic Jet Actuators

These actuators provide active flow control for airfoil surfaces and supersonic inlets of wing-borne vehicles.

Celebrating Women in Engineering & Science: Jasmin Moghbeli, NASA Astronaut

Moghbeli has accumulated more than 150 combat missions and 2,000 hours of flight time in more than 25 different aircraft.

Multi-Objective Flight Control Optimization Framework

This framework can be used by commercial and military aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Facility Focus: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Explore Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA's first space flight complex.

Insect-Inspired Motion Sensing

This mechanical gyroscope can advance motion sensing capabilities in consumer-sized applications.

Robots Assemble Large Structures from Little Pieces

Systems of tiny robots could build high-performance structures, from airplanes to space settlements.

NASA’s BITSE Solar Scope

NASA and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) recently tested a new way to see the Sun

Thin Heat Shield for Superfast Aircraft

A carbon nanotube heat shield can better protect extremely fast aircraft.

Flow Disruption Devices for the Reduction of High Lift System Noise

This technique lowers airstream noise generated at the side edges of deployed flaps, elevons, or slats.

Shape Sensing Innovations Dramatically Improve Structural Design Tools

These advances are useful for transportation, infrastructure, and aerospace.

Design Treatment for Advanced Metals Enables Easier Machining

Applying a surface-active agent makes metal easier to cut and shape into parts and pieces.