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NASA officials and engineers are prepping to fly the agency’s F/A-18 research aircraft over Galveston, Texas, using a “quiet thump” technique designed to reduce loud sonic booms typically associated with supersonic flight. This week’s test flight sets off a series of quiet supersonic research flights off the coast of Texas to test ways to measure supersonic aircraft sound levels and the community’s response to the supersonic acoustic experience.

The search for ever-lower emission technology for future generations of aircraft engines is actively progressing on both sides of the Atlantic. Tucked away on a modest-size stand at this year’s Farnborough International Airshow was a highly varied collection of unconventional engine technology displays – a clear indication of radical innovation already being investigated as a part of Ultimate, the European Horizon 2020 research and innovation project.

Aerospace engineers at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, working on the NASA X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft in collaboration with Lockheed Martin engineers sought a safety-critical compute application programming interface (API) that supports safety certifications and powerful graphics and compute capabilities. They chose the VkCore SC safety-critical Vulkan driver from Core Avionics & Industrial Inc. (CoreAVI) in Tampa, Fla., for deployment into the X-59 in concert with the VxWorks 7 real-time operating system (RTOS) from Wind River, a provider of embedded software for intelligent connected systems and part of Intel Corp., in Alameda, Calif.

Having successfully completed the development-testing phase, Parker Aerospace’s BACS modulates high-pressure bleed air from the engine, which is used to draw cool ambient air from outside the aircraft as it takes off. Once the outside air pressure is too low to draw in and the bleed air temperatures are cooler, the BACS will transition to use only low-pressure bleed air to pressurize the cabin.

The electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) revolution is gaining momentum, as evidenced by the unveiling of the Bell Nexus hybrid-electric VTOL air taxi concept at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), affirms Mike Hirschberg, executive director at the Vertical Flight Society (VFS), a non-profit organization working to advance vertical flight, in Fairfax, Virginia.

Mobility engineers and executives at Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company, in Fort Worth, Texas, are developing new concepts of mobility to make moving people and products more efficient and effective – and launching urban air mobility (UAM) innovations, including the Bell Nexus air taxi design, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week. They envision and are helping to enable a fleet of on-demand, quiet vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft capable of safely whisking passengers over traffic and across urban landscapes by the mid-2020s.

Japan officials continue to boost the country’s defenses against threats, exercising the option to add a second Boeing KC-46 Pegasus military aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft, based on the Boeing 767 commercial passenger jet, to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s fleet of aircraft.

Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, is manufacturing the first part for the X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology aircraft, a milestone on the journey to bring supersonic commercial air travel one step closer to reality.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., at 04:39:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on July 25, 2018 and placed 10 new Iridium NEXT satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO), bringing the total number of Aireon space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads in orbit to 65 as global air traffic surveillance service nears debut and satellite constellation nears completion.

NASA’s Space Technology and Mission Directorate awarded Frontier Aerospace with “Tipping Point” funding to qualify Frontier’s Deep Space Engine (DSE) for flight. The compact and lightweight design of the 100-pound force DSE thruster will enable future development of smaller and less expensive spacecraft propulsion systems due to the lower temperature freezing characteristics of its particular propellant.

Shape the future of flight while competing for a share of $1.8 million in prizes. SAE International, an organizational partner of the Boeing-sponsored GoFly Prize international competition, invites innovators to build a personal flying device with the potential to change the future of mobility.

Stratos Aircraft in Redmond, Ore., is introducing the Stratos 716 model, an evolved version of its 714 proof of concept (PoC) aircraft. A multi-role very light jet (VLJ), the Stratos 716 is designed to seat six and support personal, business, and air taxi use.

In the “What’s Next for Aerospace and Defense: A Vision for 2050” study, AIA, New York City-based McKinsey & Company, and other industry partners reveal a comprehensive 30-year, Industry 4.0 forecast of air travel and spaceflight based on improvements in automation and digitization, next-generation materials, alternative energy sources and storage, and increased data throughput.

Four of these technologies – smart coatings for corrosion detection and protection, aluminum alloys for high temperature applications, particle contamination mitigation technologies, and thermal and environmental barrier coating systems – are among NASA’s most in-demand technologies and have been applied to mainstream engineering projects.

A cowling, or engine cover, is a critical airframe component that reduces drag and directing airflow into the engine. For the E-8C JSTARS, an aircraft with four massive Pratt and Whitney JT3D-based TF33-102C turbofan engines, each set of engine cowling components can cost up to $80,000 per set. Even a slightly warped cowling renders the entire housing unsafe and unserviceable.

An amended NASA budget for fiscal year 2020 would add $1.6 billion to a $21 billion initial budget request and fund deep space exploration, science, and technology initiatives. An acquisition approach to various projects would present significant opportunities for commercial partners and, likely, the entire aerospace supply chain.

Airbus SE is shifting its Connected Experience cabin concept into the first stages of reality with cooperative buy-in from gategroup Holding AG, Stelia Aerospace, and Recaro Aircraft Seating. Up until the partnership announcement, Airbus had been collecting extensive market feedback and refining its Internet of Things (IoT) approach to aircraft interiors, with real-time interconnected galleys, in-flight service carts, seats, and overhead bins.

Technology transfer and collaboration continue to grow globally among mobility engineering professionals focused on aerospace and automotive applications. Cross-industry partnerships received a boost this week, as Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corp. officials announced increased cooperation on unmanned, electrified, and automated rovers for space exploration.

Last month, AeroVironment, Inc. began accepting orders for their new Puma 3 UAS. As an “all environment” UAS, Pumas have operated effectively in some of the harshest climates on Earth.

Ford, GM, and Ram arm their profit-pumping half-ton pickups for the 2020s’ efficiency battle.