Air Transportation Safety

Autonomous robotic plane flies indoors

New algorithms allow an autonomous robotic plane to dodge obstacles in a subterranean parking garage, without the use of GPS.

Awards

Close Approach to Earth by Asteroid 2012 KT42

The May 29 near-miss by the object catalogued as “2012 KT42” was the sixth closest asteroid encounter on record, and triggered a preplanned “Rapid Response Program."

Coherence Length and Source Spectrum

Demonstration of two-beam interference in a Michelson interferometer with collimated beams Demonstration of fringe contrast with path length difference for a single-frequency laser light source Demonstration of fringe contrast with path length difference for two- and three-frequency laser ...

Concept Question: Basic scaling for laminar boundary layers

Concept Question: Basic scaling for laminar boundary layers (yet another ...

Concept Question: Edge & wall pressure behavior for boundary layer flow

Concept Question: Skin friction behavior for separated flow

Concept Question: Strain on a fluid element (another example)

This course extends fluid mechanic concepts from Unified Engineering to the aerodynamic performance of wings and bodies in sub/supersonic regimes. 16.100 generally has four components: subsonic potential flows, including source/vortex panel methods; viscous flows, ...

Concept Question: Terms of Navier-Stokes Equations

This course extends fluid mechanic concepts from Unified Engineering to the aerodynamic performance of wings and bodies in sub/supersonic regimes. 16.100 generally has four components: subsonic potential flows, including source/vortex panel methods; viscous flows, ...

Concept Question: Terms of Navier-Stokes Equations (another example)

This course extends fluid mechanic concepts from Unified Engineering to the aerodynamic performance of wings and bodies in sub/supersonic regimes. 16.100 generally has four components: subsonic potential flows, including source/vortex panel methods; viscous flows, ...

Crash. Design. Rebuild: engineering design and rapid prototyping

During 2012 IAP, AeroAstro undergraduate students had seven days to redesign (and fly!) commercial, off-the-shelf, remote-controlled aircraft kits.

CubeSats: Tiny satellites work at MIT, U. Mich.

A reflection of work at MIT, the University of Michigan and other institutions on small satellites.

Curved Mirror Cavity -- Radial Modes

Demonstration of multiple beam interference in transmission using a cavity with curved mirrors and a single-frequency laser light source Observation of the intensity distribution associated with a variety of radial (or transverse) modes as a function of cavity tuning Observation of the cavity ...