Elon Musk’s Starlink internet project continues to move forward, launch by launch.
SpaceX launched another 47 internet-beaming satellites from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday morning.
Continue reading “Watch a SpaceX rocket fly for a record 11th time” »
A series of experiments using paper airplanes reveals new aerodynamic effects, a team of scientists has discovered. Its findings enhance our understanding of flight stability and could inspire new types of flying robots and small drones.
“The study started with simple curiosity about what makes a good paper airplane and specifically what is needed for smooth gliding,” explains Leif Ristroph, an associate professor at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and an author of the study, which appears in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics. “Answering such basic questions ended up being far from child’s play. We discovered that the aerodynamics of how paper airplanes keep level flight is really very different from the stability of conventional airplanes.”
“Birds glide and soar in an effortless way, and paper airplanes, when tuned properly, can also glide for long distances,” adds author Jane Wang, a professor of engineering and physics at Cornell University. “Surprisingly, there has been no good mathematical model for predicting this seemingly simple but subtle gliding flight.”
Autonomous drone mapping startup Emesent has announced its latest survey-grade LiDAR payload: Hovermap ST. The lightweight, IP65-rated solution is being launched with Emesent’s new Automated Ground Control feature that, the company stresses, enables autonomous data capture in harsher environments than ever and for a wider range of use cases.
Emesent’s LiDAR payloads leverage a process called simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), in which a drone builds a map and, at the same time, localizes the drone in that map.
As battles erupt in Kyiv, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense appeals private drone owners to use or donate them to repel invading Russian troops.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has called upon citizens who own drones to use them in support of the country’s armed forces in their battle to prevent the invading Russian Army from capturing the capital, Kyiv.
SpaceX prepares its first orbital Starship flight.
Drone capture 360-degree video of SpaceX Starship.
SpaceX is currently developing its Starship rocket at the firm’s Starbase facility in Texas. The project could lead to a giant, fully-reusable rocket system.
Specialized Atlanta-based UAV consulting firm Skyfire is itself launching into aerial action with the release of its SF2 drone, which is designed and manufactured specifically for public safety and critical sector operators.
Skyfire’s entry into specialized drone manufacturing with the SF2 was motivated by the understanding, insight, and feedback it gathered in its work with hundreds of US public safety and critical sector clients as they navigated the Federal Aviation’s certification of authorization process. Relying on that information flow from diverse partners, Skyfire decided to provide solutions to shortcomings and close operational gaps it was hearing about.
Draganfly is celebrating a major health and safety milestone with its spraying drones disinfecting more than 500,000 seats using the company’s proprietary pathogen and surface sanitizer technology.
The company’s spraying technology was also implemented ahead of NASCAR’s June 2021 tripleheader weekend at the Nashville Superspeedway and Barrett-Jackson’s March 2021 collector car auction in Arizona.
DJI is rolling out a new firmware update for the Mavic Air 2 drone. At the same time, the technology giant is updating the DJI Fly app to version 1.5.10.
According to DJI’s release notes, the update “optimizes user experience and improves overall software stability.”
