NASA reported yesterday that it has received 58 proposals for science and exploration technology instruments to fly aboard its next Mars rover, which is scheduled to launch in 2020. That is twice the number submitted for other recent instrument competitions, the agency said. NASA opened the competition for Mars 2020 research proposals in September and
Right now, the best place to get permission to fly an unmanned aircraft system seems to be the Arctic, a fact that was once again proven recently when Northrop Grumman and NASA flew a Global Hawk UAS in Canadian airspace for the first time to study the Canadian Arctic. The two groups, along with a team
The International Space Station’s robotic crewmember Robonaut 2 is currently legless, which is less of a problem in space than it would be on Earth but still poses certain limitations. NASA engineers evidently weren’t satisfied with that arrangement, however, because they went ahead and built a set of legs that are scheduled to arrive at
NASA’s Curiosity rover has to be very, very careful when driving around Mars because if it gets stuck in a ditch, no friendly drivers will be passing by to tow it out. That’s essentially what happened to Curiosity’s predecessor Spirit, which NASA was forced to give up on in 2011. So it’s interesting to hear
The Ohio/Indiana Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center & Test Complex reported yesterday that it will host the NASA Unmanned Aircraft Systems Airspace Operations Challenge in April. The goal of the competition is to help pave the way for UAS in the national airspace by developing appropriate sense and avoid technology. It will take place April 28
