Dry runs are a critical aspect of any Desert RATS analog field test. After the objectives of this years field test were established, each team went to work on their aspect of the project. Engineers created solutions such as PUP, the Portable Utility Pallet. This device has stowage space, geological evaluation tools, and even a wireless mesh network repeater. As the field test approaches, each subsytem needs to be fully tested and evaluated. Sometimes this is as simple as a functionality test, however it can expand into finding ways to improve durability, usability, and even things such as ergonomics.

The Cassini spacecraft charts a quartet of dark albedo features on the moon Titan. From upper left to lower right of the image are Fenzal, Aztlan, Aaru and Senkyo.

This view looks toward the Saturn-facing side of Titan (5150 kilometers, or 3200 miles across). North on Titan is up and rotated 16 degrees to the right.

Moscow, 18 August 2009, -- Excalibur Almaz Limited (EA), an international space exploration company, today announced plans to open up a new era of private orbital space flight for commercial customers, using updated elements of the "Almaz" space system originally developed by JSC MIC NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) of Russia.

Another satellite that NASA uses is the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES. GOES-12 covers the Atlantic Ocean, and is managed by NOAA. On August 17 at 12:15 p.m. EDT, GOES-12 captured Tropical Depression Claudette over Alabama, and Tropical Depression Ana raining on Puerto Rico. Credit: NASA/GOES Project

Researchers have created the tiniest laser since its invention nearly 50 years ago. Because the new device, called a "spaser," is the first of its kind to emit visible light, it represents a critical component for possible future technologies based on "nanophotonic" circuitry. The color diagram (a) shows the nanolaser's design: a gold core surrounded by a glasslike shell filled with green dye. Scanning electron microscope images (b and c) show that the gold core and the thickness of the silica shell were about 14 nanometers and 15 nanometers, respectively. A simulation of the SPASER (d) shows the device emitting visible light with a wavelength of 525 nanometers. (Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University)

University of Utah mathematicians developed a new cloaking method, and it's unlikely to lead to invisibility cloaks like those used by Harry Potter or Romulan spaceships in "Star Trek." Instead, the new method someday might shield submarines from sonar, planes from radar, buildings from earthquakes, and oil rigs and coastal structures from tsunamis.