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This week's Question: In recent years, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested into space ventures. SpaceX, an advanced spacecraft manufacturer founded by Elon Musk, has completed more than 30 successful launches since 2006, delivered cargo to the International Space Station, and secured...

NASA has developed a unique innovation to compute passed back spacing requirements in air traffic management. The air traffic managers of the National Airspace System (NAS) in the United States regularly implement various Traffic Management Initiatives (TMI) to handle...

Researchers at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center have dramatically improved upon existing ground collision avoidance technology for aircraft. NASA’s system leverages leading-edge fighter safety technology, adapting it to civil aviation use as an advanced warning system. It offers higher...

The purpose of this work is to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of acoustic measurements made in a wind tunnel with a microphone phased array. The functional beamforming method is improved to compensate for effects of acoustic propagation through turbulence, and to correct for inaccurate steering...

Each December, we ask our readers to cast their vote for the annual NASA Tech Briefs’ Readers’ Choice Product of the Year Awards. Each month, our editors choose a Product of the Month that has exceptional technical merit and practical value for our design engineering readers.

Motivated by public hazards associated with contaminated sources of drinking water, a group of scientists has successfully developed and tested tiny, glowing crystals that detect and trap heavy-metal toxins like mercury and lead.

North Carolina State University researchers will use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and insect cyborgs, or biobots, to map large, unfamiliar locations.

This week's Question: A new home security technology called the Sunflower Home Awareness System deploys a drone to patrol one’s property. The combination of intelligent outdoor sensors and an aerial drone-based camera detects motion, vibration, and sound, and provides users with a view of the home’s...

This week’s Question: Ride-hailing company Uber recently released a white paper outlining its new transport service: the flying car. The company envisions a “network of small, electric aircraft that take off and land vertically.” The proposal aims to use airspace to relieve transportation...