The capability to routinely perform autonomous docking is a key enabling technology for future space exploration, as well as assembly and servicing missions for spacecraft and commercial satellites. Particularly, in more ...

Advances in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) have made possible the development of shirtbutton-sized gas turbine engines for use as portable power sources. As part of an effort to develop a microscale gas turbine ...

As portable electronic devices proliferate (laptops, GPS, radios etc.), the demand for compact energy sources to power them increases. Primary (non-rechargeable) batteries now provide energy densities upwards of 180 W-hr/kg, ...

Past spaceflight missions have shown that astronauts adapt their motor-control strategies to the microgravity environment. Even though astronauts undergo hundreds of training hours, the strategies for locomotion and ...

Aerodynamic flows involve features with a wide range of spatial and temporal scales which need to be resolved in order to accurately predict desired engineering quantities. While computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has ...

Space telescopes have the potential to revolutionize astronomy and our search for life-supporting planets beyond our Solar System. Free of atmospheric distortions, they are able to provide a much "clearer" view of the ...