Hasta La Gadget!

Bus-sized satellites require massive engines for even the slightest movements, but as far smaller structures become a possibility, a tiny driving mechanism can offer usable thrust. To serve this next-gen tech, MIT saw a need to develop “microthrusters,” which are each the size of a penny and can be mounted to tiny cubed satellites. With thruster components measuring a few microns each, the magnetic levitation system is able to accommodate 500 microscopic tips that emit ion beams in a very small package, serving to push two-pound structures through space. The tiny devices have not made their way into orbit yet, but they have been tested in a vacuum chamber. Because of their size, it’s possible to add several to each satellite, then enabling sophisticated movements for more precise turns.

There are currently two dozen “CubeSats” in orbit, each measuring only slightly larger than a Rubik’s cube, but without any thrusters to power them, positioning can’t be adjusted once they’re released. Because of their current location, CubeSats eventually burn up in the atmosphere, but once they’re released farther from Earth, they won’t be able to enter the atmosphere on their own, remaining in orbit as “space junk” even after completing their missions — micro thrusters could also serve to move these satellites closer to the planet so they can burn up during re-entry. There’s no word on when, or even if, MIT’s invention will make its way to the launchpad, but you can take a closer look in the demo video after the break.

Continue reading MIT ‘microthrusters’ are the size of a penny, could reposition tiny satellites

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MIT ‘microthrusters’ are the size of a penny, could reposition tiny satellites originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Aug 2012 09:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For this epic LEGO project, a team of people from Rolls-Royce the built an incredible 675-pound replica of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 jet engine. The LEGO jet engine you see here took 152,455 bricks to build and is accurate all the way from the fins of the intake fan to the combustion chambers were jet fuel would be burned. The LEGO engine is nearly 5 feet long making it 4 feet shy of the real thing.

The actual Trent 1000 engine, which is used on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, is 9 feet long and weighs about 12,710 pounds. The entire LEGO engine consists of 160 separate engine parts and took a team of four people about eight weeks to build. The entire project is amazing, and the builders made the individual components from actual CAD drawings of the real parts.

The blades on the intake fan are so thin it’s hard to imagine them staying together. Rolls-Royce Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stein said the company built the engine to inspire the younger generation. “We are very pleased some of our own graduates and apprentices have contributed to building it, ensuring it is as realistic as possible,” Stein said in a statement. “We hope that this representation of our technology will help to enthuse and inspire the potential scientists and engineers of the future about the career opportunities they could pursue.”

Or maybe they just did it because it’s fun to play with LEGO bricks.

[via Wired]