Advisory Systems Save Time and Fuel for Airlines

In the 1990s, Heinz Erzberger led a team at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California to develop a suite of automated tools to reduce restrictions and improve the efficiency of air traffic...

LED Lighting Masters the Art of In-Flight Calm

Aboard a state-of-the-art aircraft might be the last place you would think of yourself enjoying a warm “candlelit” dinner, followed by a good night’s sleep under a starry night sky. The truth...

Fast, Large-Area, Wide-Bandgap UV Photodetector for Cherenkov Light Detection

Due to limited resources available for power and space for payloads, miniaturizing and integrating instrumentation is a high priority for addressing the challenges of...

Predicting Aircraft Ice Formation with Simulation

Aircraft performance can be compromised when ice forms on aircraft surfaces such as the wings, nacelles, sensors, and control systems. This can cause safety issues due to significant changes in...

Anti-Icing Formulas Prevent Train Delays

In the winter of 2009, Washington, DC workers faced the prospect of a difficult commute due to record-setting snowfall. But thousands of the city’s Metrorail riders found the public transportation...

Curiosity: One Year Later

On August 5, 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, Curiosity, landed in Gale Crater in a perfectly executed procedure originally referred to as “7 Minutes of Terror.” A year into its two-year exploration...

Network Interface Links Sensor-Web Instruments

NASA Airborne Science operates a fleet of aircraft in conjunction with orbiting satellites for Earth observations. In 2004, NASA started planning missions to employ constellations of instruments...

Sensor-Web Experiments Advance Earth Science

NASA funds more atmospheric research by far than any other government agency or private concern internationally. More than 100 different instruments have been developed and flown in support of NASA...

Battery Pack Powers NASA Rocket Launch

Quallion, a developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion storage systems, assisted in the launch of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Pegasus® rocket, which carried NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Array...

Linear Guide Systems Streamline Aircraft Seat Assembly and Operation

When airline passengers travel in coach class, expectations are fairly low with regard to comfort. For example, most seats only offer two positions: straight for takeoff and landing, and a slight recline for the journey. Coach seats are relatively simple and lightweight structures compared to their more sophisticated counterparts in business class, first class, and super first class. Whereas a coach seat weighs approximately 100 pounds, seats in higher classes weigh 200 to 300 pounds each, depending on their features.

NASA Uses Video Processing Platform to Study Hurricanes and Wildfires

As part of NASA’s Hurricane Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) missions, video processing technology from GE Intelligent Platforms was deployed onboard NASA’s Global Hawk...

Solar Powered UAVs

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has been increasing worldwide as demands for agile, rapid, targeted response forces have grown. UAVs provide surveillance and detection capabilities to these smaller forces that are...

Bob Reisse, ALHAT Project Manager, Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA.

Bob Reisse coordinates the design and testing of ALHAT (Autonomous Landing Hazard Avoidance Technology) sensors. In December, ALHAT instruments were melded to HUEY...

LED Landing Light Is Impervious to Shock and Vibration

Hoffman Performance Lighting has introduced the firstever PAR64 LED Landing Light, a drop-in replacement for existing Q4559 and Q4559X quartz halogen lamps. The ruggedized PAR64 can be used...