Aeronautical and astronautical engineering

Jon Christian of The Boston Globe reports that MIT startup Accion Systems has developed a thruster technology that will allow satellites to adjust their orbits. “Eventually, we hope to be able to scale up the performance to address the really large, school bus-size satellites,” explains Accion co-founder and MIT alumna Natalya Brikner.

The U.S. Senate has confirmed Professor Dava Newman as the NASA deputy administrator, writes Janelle Nanos for BetaBoston. “It’s an enormous honor to serve at NASA in times when our country is extending humanity’s reach into space while strengthening American leadership here on Earth,” says Newman. 

Jordain Carney writes for The Hill that the Senate has approved Professor Dava Newman to be NASA’s next deputy administrator.

Prof. Kerri Cahoy speaks with John Hopton of redOrbit about miniature satellites or CubeSats. Cahoy explains that CubeSats are becoming increasingly popular because “they can be tucked into rockets and taken into space pretty cheaply, and we’ve been miniaturizing our electronics and our mechanical devices for spacecrafts so we can actually do something with these mini satellites.”

Prof. John Hansman speaks with AP reporter Rodrique Ngowi following the crash of a Germanwings flight about how it is it unlikely that a similar situation could occur on an aircraft operated by an American carrier. U.S. safety procedures require that two people to be in the airline’s cockpit “in case the remaining pilot becomes incapacitated," Hansman explains. 

Chris Neiger of BBC News reports on software being developed by Professor Brian Williams aimed at helping drivers arrive at their destinations on time. “The lab’s planning algorithms would give motorists an initial travel plan, which would adapt to externalities along the way,” writes Neiger.

David Hoag, an MIT alumnus and aeronautical engineer for the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory (now the Draper Laboratory) who led the development of the guidance, navigation and control systems for several Apollo systems, died on Jan. 19, reports Jasper Craven for The Boston Globe. “Technically, he was about as gifted a person as I have ever encountered,” said former colleague Norman Sears. 

Mary Bowerman writes for USA Today that while the Mars One Project has narrowed its applicants to the top 100, MIT researchers question whether the technology exists to accomplish the mission. "A lot of the technologies you need to sustain life on Mars are very much in development,” says Ph.D. candidate Sydney Do.

Following the announcement of the shortlist for participants for the Mars One project, Michael Rundle of The Huffington Post reports on an MIT study indicating that current technology makes the mission infeasible. Even with additional technology “the Mars One mission would become exceedingly expensive and unsustainable” over time, explains Ph.D candidate Sydney Do.

The Huffington Post reports on an analysis of the Mars One project led by Professor Olivier de Weck. “We’re not saying, black and white, Mars One is infeasible,” explains de Weck. “But we do think it’s not really feasible under the assumptions they’ve made.”

Justin Bachman writes for Bloomberg BusinessWeek about Prof. Dava Newman’s proposal for the skin-tight BioSuit, meant to replace today’s bulky spacesuits. BioSuit “shrinks onto the body, achieving pressurization not with gas but with a soft exoskeleton of heat-activated materials that shape to fit the traveler’s frame.”

Professor John Hansman reflects on the two Malaysian airliners lost in 2014 in this Boston Globe article. “It appears that in 2014 more people perished from terrorist acts in commercial aviation than all other aviation accident causes combined,” writes Hansman.

MIT engineers have “developed an algorithm that shows the relationship between luggage weight and fuel consumption,” writes Heather Hansman for Popular Science. The researchers found that reducing each person’s luggage by 11 pounds would save one percent of fuel consumption.

MIT engineers have examined the feasibility of the Mars One colonization plans and found that new technologies will be necessary for human survival on Mars, writes Lucy Draper for Newsweek. “[W]e do think it’s not really feasible under the assumptions they’ve made,” says Professor Oliver De Weck.

Wired reporter Kyle Vanhemert writes about the next-generation space suit Professor Dava Newman is designing to give astronauts greater mobility.  The suit, a “form-fitting ‘soft exoskeleton’,” would serve as a “second-skin suit” for astronauts, Newman explains.