Collaborate Disseminate
Apollo astronaut Colonel Alfred Merrill “Al” Worden has died at the age of 88. In a Twitter post, his family revealed that the former Command Module Pilot for the 1971 Apollo 15 lunar landing mission passed away in his sleep on March 18, 2020, at his h… Continue reading Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden dies age 88
Preliminary human trials of a coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine have begun at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) in Seattle. The vaccine was injected into four volunteers as part of clinical trials funded by the US National … Continue reading First phase of human trials begin for experimental coronavirus vaccine
Diving into the autonomous submarine race, DARPA has awarded contracts to three companies as part of its Manta Ray Program. Intended to support a new generation of long-duration, long-range Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs), the end goal is to produc… Continue reading DARPA awards contracts for Manta Ray autonomous submarine program
Europe’s ExoMars mission has suffered a setback and will not launch until 2022. The joint ESA/Roscomos Space Corporation mission to send a rover to the Red Planet to seek out evidence of life has been pushed back from its 2020 launch date due to the ne… Continue reading ExoMars mission launch delayed two years until 2022
A tiny, 99-million-year-old skull found in a piece of Burmese amber in Myanmar may not only be the smallest known dinosaur of the Mesozoic era, but it could also provide new insights into the evolution of birds. Called Oculudentavis khaungraae, it was … Continue reading Hummingbird-sized dinosaur skull preserved in 99-million-year-old amber
Lockheed Martin’s Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) hit its target with “pinpoint accuracy” during its second test at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The next-generation long-range missile being developed for the US Army was fired from Lockh… Continue reading Lockheed’s new long-range missile nails target on second test flight
The US Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded contracts to three companies to develop mobile nuclear microreactors for military applications under a Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) initiative called Project Pele. Valued between US$11,953,036 and $… Continue reading US military pursues nuclear microreactors for rapid, remote deployment
DARPA has entered into a partnership with Northrop Grumman subsidiary Space Logistics LLC to develop robotic technologies for servicing and extending the service lives of orbital satellites. Based on the Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1), which recen… Continue reading DARPA teams with Northrop Grumman to build robotic service satellite
Robotics engineers from Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) are developing drones that can capture hostile drones in flight. Funded by the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme, the Mobile Adaptive/Reactive Counter Unmanned System (MARCUS) proje… Continue reading Drone swarms use nets to catch other drones in flight
The British government is investing up to £2.5 million (US$3.2 million) to begin the development of an extra-large autonomous submarine for the Royal Navy. Measuring 30 m (100 ft) in length, which is larger than the Boeing Orca eXtra Large Unmanned Und… Continue reading Royal Navy to develop 100-foot long unmanned robotic submarines