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Aerospace

The latest developments in aviation, satellites, astrophysics, space flight, and space exploration
AerospaceTopicTypeRoboticsSensorsNews

Solar-Powered Microfliers for Swarm-Based Surveying

These drone-deployed, batteryless aerial motes change shape in midair

4 min read
Gold-colored, leaf sized origami surround a microflier
3 Challenges to Solve Before We Can Commute by Air Taxi
AerospaceTopicTypeFeatureTransportation

3 Challenges to Solve Before We Can Commute by Air Taxi

A Texas consortium is working out a traffic system for eVTOLs

9 min read
Artist's rendering of spacecraft with four legs shaped like flower petals
RoboticsTopicAerospaceTypeNews

Happy Landings: A Soft Robot to Probe Asteroids

“Softbots” could touch down without bouncing away or breaking fragile rocks

4 min read
Teledyne logo
TelecommunicationsTopicWebinarTypeComputingConsumer Electronics

Data Acquisition On-Demand Webinars

Get instant online access to Teledyne's on-demand webinars on high-performance digitizers, pulse detection, peer-to-peer streaming, high-level synthesis, and more

a group of people in all white suits standing at the bottom of a large hill covered in red mud
Artificial IntelligenceTopicAerospaceTypeNewsClimate Tech

Where Are Landslides Likely to Occur? This AI Has an Answer

AI can analyze satellite data to predict which areas might be most vulnerable to landslides

2 min read
Three fighter jets fly in the air. The one in the foreground does not have a cockpit like the other two, and is labelled XQ-58A.
AerospaceTopicTypeNews

The USAF Pairs Piloted Jets With AI Drones

Has AI spawned the ultimate “loyal wingman”—or just the next smart weapon?

4 min read

Download “The EV Transition Explained” E-book for Free

A 49-page report on the engineering challenges of making and supporting EVs at scale
Gold moon rover on lunar surface with sharp shdows
AerospaceTopicNewsType

Chandrayaan-3 Moon Landing: Win for a “New India”

It’s only the fourth country ever to manage a successful lunar landing

4 min read
an illustration of a long, white cylinder in space, with four gold nodules at the back and a bright blue stream of light emanating from the bottom of the cylinder.
AerospaceTopicEnergyTypeNews

DARPA and NASA Aim to Test Nuclear Rocket by 2026

The engine would drastically shorten trips to the moon and Mars

3 min read

Journal Watch

The latest engineering and computer science advances in context from IEEE Spectrum and the Xplore Digital Library
TransportationTopicTypeNewsClimate Tech

This Universal Charger Could Simplify the EV Landscape

2 min read
hand plugging in a gray device into a car
EnergyTopicTypeNewsClimate Tech

Solar-Powered Electric Motors for EVs That Never Plug In

2 min read
A photo-illustration of a car with solar panels on top moving in a symbol of the sun.
Climate TechTopicEnergyTypeComputingNews

Tape Storage Might Be Computing’s Climate Savior

4 min read
Textured rectangles bathed in blue light
Climate TechTopicEnergyTypeNews

Where There’s Smoke, There’s Wiggly Solar Output

3 min read
birds eye view of trees, houses and cars driving on a highway

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man in a red shirt and black mask standing in front of a tall screen with wires behind it and a red hue to it
AerospaceTopicTypeNewsConsumer Electronics

Microscopic Cracks in Metal Can Spontaneously Heal

Cold welding offers hope for self-repairing devices in the future

2 min read
Shadowed 4-legged space probe with moon and Earth in background.
AerospaceTopicTypeRoboticsNews

The Many Planned Moon Landings of 2023

This is the most ambitious year since the Apollo program

4 min read

James Webb Telescope

IEEE Spectrum explores the Webb Telescope’s groundbreaking engineering
See the full collection →
NASA's James Webb space telescople
Two men fix metal rods to a gold-foiled satellite component in a warehouse/clean room environment
AerospaceTopicMagazineTypeFeatureSpectrum CollectionsSeptember 2022Telecommunications

The Webb Space Telescope’s Profound Data Challenges

Rendering of James Webb Space Telescope including its 18-segmented primary mirrors and its five-layered sun shade
AerospaceTopicMagazineTypeFeatureSpectrum CollectionsSeptember 2022

Inside the Universe Machine: The Webb Space Telescope’s Chilly Sun Shield

Fourteen technicians in clean-room suits guide the hoisting of a honeycombed, hexagon-mirrored telescope inside a giant cleanroom construction space
AerospaceTopicMagazineTypeFeatureSpectrum CollectionsSeptember 2022

Inside the Universe Machine: The Webb Space Telescope’s Staggering Vision

AerospaceTopicArtificial IntelligenceTypeNews

AI Battles the Bane of Space Junk

Neural nets navigate nuances of rogue orbital objects—and near-misses

3 min read
An illustration of floating space debris around Earth.
Box-shaped gold rover. One of its four black wheels going over a rock.
AerospaceTopicTypeRoboticsNews

America's First Robotic Moon Rover Isn't Kid Stuff

The United States’ first robotic lunar rover was built by Carnegie Mellon students

4 min read
two illustrations, top of two islands with red dotted lines between and bottom of the earth and a satellite with red dotted lines between
AerospaceTopicTypeNewsTelecommunications

Laser-Comb Clocks Pierce Femtosecond Barrier

Portable, ultraprecise timekeeping will usher in high-res GPS and gravity mapping

4 min read
a gold-colored cube mounted on four wheels and bearing on its top a four-panel vertical structure is shown moving up a crater-pocked lunar hill, trailing a cable that connects to three tall vertical panels in the background
AerospaceTopicAugust 2023MagazineTypeFeature

How to Build a Power Grid on the Moon

To supply outposts sunk in the lunar night, solar power must come from the south pole regions

7 min read
a rendering of 3 white airplanes in the sky with clouds all around
AerospaceTopicSeptember 2023MagazineTypeNewsClimate Tech

MIT Unveils a Megawatt Motor for Electric Aircraft

The electrification of regional jets is now within striking distance

5 min read
A blue-gray, twin-engine fighter jet is seen from below, against a clear, blue sky; a red star is visible on the underside of each wing and on the side of the vertical stabilizer. Carried under the fuselage is a white rocket with small fins at the back.
AerospaceTopicArticleType

Is Russia’s Hypersonic Missile Vulnerable?

Perhaps the right question is whether it’s really hypersonic

5 min read
Photo of turbine, fan blades and housing of a jet engine for a commercial-sized jet airliner
ComputingTopicAerospaceTypeNews

Nvidia Spools Up Quantum Jet-Engine Simulations

Qubits poised to seize advantage over classical compute—and carbon footprints

3 min read
a person wearing an astronaut suit while looking out over black and white rocky terrain with crescent of Earth in the background
AerospaceTopicTypeComputingNews

Cybersecurity Gaps Could Put Astronauts at Grave Risk

Houston, we may have a malware problem

5 min read
A photograph of a small golden rectangular box with two lenses on the front face.
TelecommunicationsTopicAerospaceTypeNews

NASA’s Laser Link Boasts Record-Breaking 200-Gb/s Speed

Researchers doubled the downlink record they set just last year

4 min read
AerospaceTopicMagazineTypeFeatureSpecial ReportsJanuary 2023

Top Tech 2023: A Special Report

These two dozen technical projects should make significant advances in the coming year

2 min read
Top Tech 2023: A Special Report