NASA has achieved a first for the class of tiny spacecraft known as CubeSats. The MarCO-A and MarCO-B CubeSats are designed to trail InSight on the way to Mars, aiming to relay back data about InSight as it enters the planet's atmosphere and attempts to land.

The MarCOs were never intended to collect any science data; instead, they are a test of miniaturized communication and navigation technology that can blaze a path for future CubeSats sent to other planets. They have already traveled farther than any CubeSat before them.

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Flight schedules that allow for a little carefully designed wiggle room could prevent the frustration of cascading airport delays and cancellations. By focusing on the early phases of flight schedule planning and delays at various scales, researchers have developed models to help create schedules that are less susceptible to delays and easier to fix once disrupted.

A reduction in delays, cancellations, and their cascading downstream impacts would greatly benefit the U.S. airline industry and travelers. Existing models are unable to distinguish the cascading downstream impact of one solution over another.

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Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) are lending their expertise in metal additive manufacturing to a new collaboration aimed at 3D printing critical replacement parts for the U.S. Navy.

The Office of Naval Research recently announced an award of $9 million to fund a collaboration led by GE Global Research and aimed at developing a rapid process for creating exact digital models of replacement or newly designed parts for naval, marine and aviation assets. The collaboration involves scientists and engineers from LLNL, GE’s aviation and additive divisions, Honeywell, Penn State University, the Nuclear National Lab (NNL) and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM).

Cardiff University’s School of Engineering joined forces with California-headquartered Microsemi to develop A-Ultra – a lightweight handheld system that uses ultrasound to spot damage to personal protective equipment.

Around five million armor units used by the UK’s armed forces are shipped periodically around the globe for X-ray inspection, representing a significant cost. The A-Ultra system allows the robustness of protective armor to be monitored locally, delivering both enhanced safety for the UK’s armed forces and savings for the Ministry of Defence.

A team at the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Center, Aviation and Missile, has been working to develop a new dual pulse rocket motor incorporating insensitive munitions capabilities. A dual pulse rocket motor contains propellant that is divided into multiple sections by an internal barrier, which will perforate as the second igniter fires to allow the propellant to exhaust through the same nozzle as the first propellant.

The project was born in FY13 out of a program known as the Accelerated Improved Interceptor Initiative, or AI3 Interceptor, as a potential upgrade to the baseline rocket motor. The AI3 Interceptor program was halted, causing the JIMTP funded team to change their focus and downscale. Because the team was successfully demonstrating insensitive munitions technologies that hadn't been demonstrated before, the program was encouraged to continue.

Copper cables run through the fuselage of aircrafts. They transmit electrical signals for temperature-measuring sensors, LEDs in ceilings, or electronic connections in seats. During their installation, individual cables are combined into harnesses. A new manufacturing process eliminates the classic laying of the cable harnesses, saving space and weight.

There are no gas stations in deep space, so engines must be reliable for the long haul. NASA has successfully operated a free-piston Stirling engine for more than 110,000 hours of cumulative operation.

Scientists have developed a non-contact method of internal voltage control in polymer composites, making it possible to assess the degree of internal damage during the operation of aircraft parts. The method uses amorphous soft magnetic circuits to assess the stress state in composite materials. Wires are laid between the carbon fiber layers, forming a stress-sensitive grid.

Gone are the days when the impact of products on the environment or human health were optional business concerns. Regulatory constraints on materials and chemicals are increasing, and many companies struggle to respond – and to do so quickly and efficiently. Restrictions on hexavalent chrome are one well-known example. Another is REACH – the European Union regulation concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & restriction of Chemicals – which applies to products that are either manufactured in, or imported into, the EU. Companies are under obligations to report the use of restricted substances, and to limit or avoid their use.

DMG MORI manufactures a wide variety of conventional chip-cutting and ultrasonic machining centers for OEMs and production job shops serving the aerospace industry. Inherent in this industry are several factors that require great care and planning in the machining process.