Luxembourg's Bold Plan to Mine Asteroids for Rare Minerals

jueves, 29 de agosto de 2019

In 2016 the tiny European country of Luxembourg announced an ambitious initiative to mine asteroids and other near-Earth objects (NEOs) for rare minerals. It wasn't the country's first foray into space—in the 1980s it launched some of the first European satellites—but the NEO mining plan …

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Drone disruption? Climate activists to target London's Heathrow airport | Article [AMP] | Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - British climate change activists said they would disrupt London's Heathrow airport with toy drones from Sept. 13, a step they hope will ground flights and put pressure on the government to take tougher steps to reduce carbon emissions. 


https://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUKKCN1VJ0EZ

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New Delhi in Talks With Moscow Over Rocket Engines for Indian Space Program

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Key ways aviation is trying to improve its environmental credentials

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Casey Erickson revs up for all-electric Air Race E innovations

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Spanish pilot union calls five-day Ryanair strike

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UAC and COMAC presented CR929 Program to air companies

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Thomas Cook sells 75% of tour operator business and 25% of airline to Chinese Fosun, owner of Club Med

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Western Europe's Top Five Engine MRO Countries


https://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/western-europes-top-five-engine-mro-countries

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ADS-B Equipage Update


https://www.mro-network.com/avionics-instruments/ads-b-equipage-update

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Russian Helicopters present Ka62, Mi-171A2 and Ansat Aurus at MAKS


http://russianhelicopters.aero:81/en/press/news/ka62_debut_in_flight_program_maks/


http://russianhelicopters.aero:81/en/press/news/rh_convertible_mi171a2_maks/


http://russianhelicopters.aero:81/en/press/news/rostec_nami_presented_ansat_aurus_maks/

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​MAKS: Russian Helicopters in deals for Mi-8AMT, VRT500

press releases
Rostec signed dealership agreements on supplying VRT500 to Malaysia


Russian Helicopters and Gazprombank Leasing signed a contract to supply 10 Mi-8AMT for Norilsk Avia





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MAKS: CR929 programme moves to select suppliers

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/maks-cr929-programme-moves-to-select-suppliers-460508/

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MAKS: Irkut shows off MC-21 interior in video


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY1Wr8-SJAU&feature=youtu.be










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MAKS: Polar Airlines seeks to be Il-114-300 launch operator


https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/maks-polar-airlines-seeks-to-be-il-114-300-launch-o-460555/

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Superjet with “Sabrelets” winglets Makes MAKS Show Debut


https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2019-08-28/superjet-sabrelets-makes-maks-show-debut

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CIMON is back on Earth after 14 months on the ISS

press release

  • A successor to the technology experiment will have additional functionality, and is currently being built and tested by Airbus on behalf of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Space Administration.
  • Second version of CIMON will also use Watson AI technology from IBM
  • Scientific elements of the project are supervised by the Ludwig-Maximilian University Hospital in Munich (Klinikum der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München).
 
 
 
Friedrichshafen – CIMON has returned to Earth: the Crew Interactive Mobile CompanioN (CIMON), the astronaut assistant featuring artificial intelligence, arrived back on its home planet on board a Dragon spacecraft from US company SpaceX. The SpaceX-18 undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on 27 August 2019 at 16:59 Central European Summer Time (CEST). The capsule then touched down in the Pacific Ocean around 480 kilometres southwest of Los Angeles and was recovered at 22:21h CEST.
 
“We expect to have the first CIMON back in Germany by the end of October,” says Dr Christian Karrasch, CIMON Project Manager at the DLR Space Administration. “The CIMON technology experiment has lived up to all our expectations,” Karrasch continues, summarising the past few months. “During its first mission in space – a 90-minute session with German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst on the ISS in November 2018 – CIMON demonstrated its ability to work well in microgravity conditions and to successfully interact with astronauts. We are still incredibly happy with the only artificial intelligence mission to take place on the space station to date, and have been working on a new, enhanced model for several months. The first CIMON has allowed us to lay the foundations for using social assistance systems in space – systems that support astronauts with their tasks and that at some point may even take some work off their hands.”
 
Just like its predecessor, the second CIMON is being built by Airbus in Friedrichshafen and Bremen on behalf of the DLR Space Administration and is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie; BMWi). Airbus in Friedrichshafen has assembled and tested the hardware for the new CIMON, while Airbus in Bremen is working to improve the software for flight and attitude control. IBM is implementing new AI features. “All in all there are several upgrades, including better microphones, a more robust computer, improved flight and attitude control, and new software features for conversation – for example in the areas of voice recognition, conversational skills and understanding intentions,” explains Till Eisenberg, CIMON Project Manager at Airbus.
 
Matthias Biniok, Project Manager at IBM, adds: “CIMON represents a unique application scenario in an extreme working environment. And we’ve seen that by using AI technology – in our case IBM Watson – we can support astronauts in their work. Our primary objective for CIMON’s next stage of development is to improve the comprehension of speech in specific contexts and the analysis of emotion in language.”
 
Ethical questions around the future use of CIMON are being examined and evaluated by medical experts at Ludwig-Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich. Privacy rights are affected by the interaction between humans and machines, as CIMON records, processes and interprets images and audio of astronauts. There needs to be high technical standards in data security while recognising that trust in such systems is an important factor for teamwork between humans and machines. Basically, this means deciding what CIMON is permitted to do, know and say. “The new CIMON has an in-built switch that allows the flow of data from all cameras and microphones to be interrupted from the ISS. This means that the astronaut is in control of CIMON at all times, which we thought was particularly important,” says LMU scientist Dr Judith Buchheim.
 
DLR Space Administration, which is responsible for German contributions to the European Space Agency (ESA), is working with ESA to send the new version of CIMON to the ISS in December 2019 so that it can benefit from crew time with astronauts.
 
The first CIMON arrived on the ISS as a technology experiment on 2 July 2018. On 15 November 2018, the robotic assistant with a smart ‘face’ received global attention when it was deployed for the first time: it successfully ‘worked’ together with German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst for 90 minutes. CIMON demonstrated its basic functions, such as its ability to fly in microgravity conditions using autonomous navigation, performing several turns and movements in every direction, and was able to search for Gerst’s face, recognise it, make eye contact and speak to him. It then showed the instructions for an experiment on its ‘face’ – a display in the centre of the sphere – and played music. It also used its cameras to record a video and take a photo of Gerst.
 
In 2018, the CIMON project won the US ‘Popular Science Award’ in the category ‘Best of What’s New in 2018’ in aerospace. Airbus was also awarded the ‘2019 German Innovation Prize’ (Deutsche Innovationspreis) in the large companies category (#dip19).
 
 
 
•CIMON – the idea
 
Developed and built in Germany, CIMON is a technology experiment to support astronauts and increase the efficiency of their work. CIMON is able to show and explain information and instructions for scientific experiments and repairs. The voice-controlled access to documents and media is an advantage, as the astronauts can keep both hands free. It can also be used as a mobile camera to save astronaut crew time. In particular, CIMON could be used to perform routine tasks, such as documenting experiments, searching for objects and taking inventory. CIMON can also see, hear, understand and speak. CIMON can orientate itself using its ‘eyes’ – a stereo camera and a high-resolution camera that it uses for facial recognition – as well as two other cameras fitted to its sides that it uses for photos and video documentation. Ultrasound sensors measure distances to recognise potential collisions. Its ‘ears’ consist of eight microphones to identify directions, and an additional directional microphone to improve voice recognition. Its ‘mouth’ is a loudspeaker that it can use to speak or play music. At the heart of the AI for language understanding is the IBM Watson AI technology from the IBM Cloud. CIMON has not been equipped with self-learning capabilities and requires active human instruction. The AI used for autonomous navigation was provided by Airbus and is designed for movement planning and object recognition. Twelve internal rotors allow CIMON to move and rotate freely in all directions. This means it can turn towards the astronaut when addressed, nod and shake its head, and follow the astronaut – either autonomously or on command.
 
 
 
The partners:
 
The interactive astronaut assistant was developed and built by Airbus in Friedrichshafen and Bremen on behalf of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) Space Administration and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie). Watson AI technology from the IBM Cloud provides voice-controlled artificial intelligence. Scientists from the Ludwig-Maximilian University Hospital in Munich (Klinikum der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, LMU) helped develop and oversee the human aspects of the assistance system. An approximately 50-strong project team from DLR, Airbus, IBM and LMU have been working on the implementation of CIMON since August 2016. CIMON has been on board the ISS since 2 July 2018. It is no coincidence that its name is reminiscent of ‘Professor Simon Wright’, the robotic assistant – or the ‘flying brain’ – from the Japanese science fiction series ‘Captain Future’.

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Airbus built ExoMars rover leaves UK for testing ahead of launch



press release




The European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover is leaving the UK for Airbus in Toulouse where it will undergo crucial testing ahead of delivery to Thales Alenia Space.

The ExoMars rover “Rosalind Franklin” will be Europe’s first planetary rover and is being assembled at Airbus in Stevenage. It will search for signs of past or present life on Mars and is equipped with a 2m drill to take samples from below the surface where they will have been protected from the harsh radiation environment.

The rover features nine instruments which will help scientists conduct a step-by-step exploration of Mars, from a panoramic scale and progressively converging to smaller (sub-millimetre) studies, concluding with the molecular identification of organic compounds. The rover is equipped with an autonomous navigation system developed by Airbus which will enable it to travel between sites of interest much more quickly than by being driven remotely in real time from Earth.

Rosalind Franklin is being installed in its special protective container in Stevenage for the journey to Toulouse for environmental testing to prepare it for launch. It is due to leave the Airbus site in UK on 28 August. Launch of the rover to the Red Planet is scheduled for July 2020.



About ExoMars

ExoMars is a European Space Agency programme executed in cooperation with Russian Space Agency Roscosmos with contribution of NASA.

On the 2020 mission, Thales Alenia Space in Italy, is the mission Prime in charge of the design, development and verification of the entire system, the development of the Carrier Module navigation and guidance system and perform EDL/GNC development, the Rover System, including the Analytical Laboratory Drawer (ALD) as well as supplying basic parts of the DM, including the Radar Altimeter. In addition, Thales Alenia Space in Italy implements a deep technical partnership with Lavochkin (RUS) with European contributions for the development Descent Module (DM) Kazachok. OHB is in charge of developing the Carrier Module (CM) as well as some ALD subsystems (SPDS Mechanisms, Structure and Harness). The Rover Vehicle itself is provided by Airbus Defence and Space in UK. Leonardo is developing the ExoMars drill, which will dig into the Mars subsoil at a depth of two meters plus the Drill and ALD mechanisms control unit and software. ALTEC – Aerospace Logistics Technology Engineering, a Thales Alenia Space in Italy (63.75%) and ASI (36.25%) company – will also be responsible for the design, development and maintenance of the ROCC (Rover Operation Control Center) and for controlling the Rover on the Martian surface.

@ESA_ExoMars @esaspaceflight @spacegovuk #ExoMars

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Second five-bladed H145 helicopter prototype performs maiden flight





Early August, the second prototype of the new five-bladed H145 took off for its maiden flight at the Airbus Helicopters site in Donauwörth. The helicopter will be used for additional flight tests to achieve EASA certification of the new five-bladed H145 in early 2020. The first prototype is currently performing a high altitude test campaign in South America. The second prototype will be mainly used for autopilot testing, performance and airframe structural validation.

The new H145, that was unveiled at Heli-Expo this year in Atlanta, offers 150 kg of additional useful load, while also raising the bar for in-flight comfort, simplicity, and connectivity.

About Airbus
Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2018, it generated revenues of €64 billion and employed a workforce of around 134,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the world’s leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

Learn more about the H145

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The X-37B space plane has set a new record for its class, spending 716 continuous days in orbit.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a28819806/x-37b-orbit-record/

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SpaceX Starhopper Prototype Makes Final Test Flight


http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=217af8da-ab5c-4860-846a-585a0720bb91


https://www.space.com/spacex-starhopper-aces-final-test-launch-landing.html

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Water bombers scramble to fight the Amazon forest fires

https://www.aerotime.aero/clement.charpentreau/23867-water-bombers-scramble-to-fight-the-amazon-forest-fires?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

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Russian company sues Boeing to cancel MAX order

Less than a month ago, Boeing CEO thanked customers for their understanding during the MAX grounding crisis, stating that there were “no order cancellations”. Now, the situation is changing as Russian company is reportedly seeking to not only cancel MAX order, but also to get a lengthy compensation


continue reading:


https://www.aerotime.aero/aerotime.team/23868-russian-company-sues-boeing-to-cancel-max-order?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

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