Saturday, February 3, 2018

Team 508 successful in first CyberPatriot effort

Maiden year of Team 508’s CyberPatriot competition ends with State Round


Scores for the latest round of the CyberPatriot competition were released this past week. Team 508 made a good showing in the State Round but unfortunately their score was not high enough to qualify for the Semifinal Round so this first year of competition comes to an end. The team did extremely well in initial effort at CyberPatriot competition. They qualified near the top of the Gold Tier, the middle tier, for the competition. The team achieved the highest score in the Gold Tier in Arizona for the provided images in the latest round but did not get any points in the Cisco Challenge.


We already have plans to participate again next year. Hopefully our cadets will be stimulated by our first year successes to form at least one team if not two for CP XI. We will use experience gained through our participation this year to develop a more in-depth training program for next year. We certainly plan to give more emphasis to the Cisco Challenge. Recruitment for next year’s team(s) will start in April with training to start shortly thereafter. This is a tremendous opportunity for cadets to gain experience in cybersecurity and networking. The demand for experienced personnel in the field is ever expanding.

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Aerospace Education Links January 2018

AE Links for January 2018

Possible changes for SLS booster design. The search for less expensive launch vehicles by NASA

Getting Falcon Heavy ready for launch early next year

Blue Origin in human space flight race.

NASA is developing plans new remote vehicles to explore objects in the solar system.

Jail term for US cyberterrorist

Will artificial intelligence be the next big high tech development?
Support for 32 bit operating systems is fast fading-Security a factor
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/nvidia-gearing-end-32-bit-090400230.html

Space X log record year of launches with 18

Russian Plans for Space Tourism on the ISS take shape

Fallout from failed Russian Rocket Launch from new Facility

Government agencies in US and UK find it difficult to recruit and retain cybersecurity staff

How do we prove our identity in the Internet Age? How could/should we?

Chinese space station will soon fall back to earth

Falcon Heavy on the pad at Cape Canaveral. Drone eye video.

***Photos from the cockpit of airliners

China has plans to land a robot on the far side of the moon.

***Huge launch vehicles on the horizon. See video comparison

***Grabbing images of sonic booms from jets in the transonic phase of flight


Juno spacecraft takes incredible pictures of Jupiter

John Young , astronaut with Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs dies.

Video of Blue Origin rocket engine test

China has ambitious plans for rocket launches in 2018.

****Race continues between SpaceX and ULA to bring next manned space vehicle online. Both programs face delays that may take first flights into 2019 instead of goal of 2018.

Large sheets of ice on Mars? Orbiting sensors indicate this is likely.

**** Kepler Telescope discovers eighth planet in a remote solar system using a computer neural network.


Reason for failed Russian satellite launch is reportedly human error-a big one at that.

Contractor steals 50TB of data from NSA

Could rock art found in India actually represent the oldest astronomical depiction of a supernova?







Aerospace Education Agenda-January 24th, 2018

Aerospace Education Agenda-January 24th, 2018

1845-1855       Announcements
Rocket Launch February 10 at Contreras Field-Parents invited
                        Possible Tower Tour-best day and time
Stargazing at Foothills library-schedule Foothills Library Stargazing Calendar
                        AE Links- https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6780266687317226364#allposts

1900-1955            Complete model rocket build/Complete programming quadcopter

2000-2030            Video: Science of Flight: Rocket science and evolution of launch



Friday, December 15, 2017

Stargazing at the Foothills Library

Foothills Library Stargazing

I went out to the Foothills branch of the Yuma County Library system last night to check out the stargazing sessions that the library sponsors. The library has used some of the funds it raises from donated book sales to pay for several high quality amateur telescopes. Library staff and volunteers set up in the east side parking lot and visitors are welcome. Last night they had 8 inch and 11 inch reflector telescopes trained on the night sky. They have a 16 inch telescope but did not use it because of high winds and dust in the air. A list is prepared ahead of time of interesting objects for viewing.

Everyone was very friendly. Also, they were knowledgeable about astronomy and the night sky and were more than willing to share that knowledge. A laser pointer makes it easy to follow where they are telling you to look. We reviewed a number of the winter constellations that I introduced last year in a PowerPoint presentation. The sky was clear so it was easy to spot the constellations. Through the telescopes we saw the Andromeda galaxy more than 2 million light years away from earth. Other celestial observations were several open clusters and an interstellar gas cloud. The telescopes used GPS and computer controlled servos to steer the telescopes around the heavens and then keep them pointed while we looked at the chosen objects. Magnifications ranged from about 25x up to 200x.

The library is participating in a NSF grant program. High school students learn to set up the telescopes, set up video cameras, capture video, and then upload it for processing. This is a program that CAP squadron 508 cadets could get involved with.

Stargazing takes place on alternate Thursday nights when the skies are dark (the moon can reflect so much light that less bright objects are hard or impossible to see.) The library Internet calendar site shows the schedule. The next chance to attend for cadets is on December 28th at 7 PM, weather permitting. Getting there about 30 minutes early will give you a chance to see how the telescopes are set up and aligned. Last night's activity only lasted about one hour so this should be doable on a school night.


One of my goals as Aerospace Education Officer for our squadron is ultimately to purchase a telescope for our use. This will be a good opportunity to learn about available telescopes and how to make a wise investment. I encourage all interested cadets to start participating in this worthwhile community activity.

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Aerospace Education Agenda for December 2017

AE Agenda for Squadron Meeting 12/27/17
1845-1855       Announcements/AE Links
1900-1955       Model Rocket build-complete   Quadcopter-complete
2000-2030       Breaking the Sound Barrier and Beyond


Aerospace Education Links for Yuma Squadron 508-December 2017

Aerospace Education Links for December 2017

Space Shuttle Columbia's Legacy

Launch Abort System for Orion to be tested in 2019

Icy treats for astronauts on the International Space Station

Programming a moon mission in the 1960's

Last photo by Cassini of Saturn before it crashed into the planet

New spacesuit design could rescue adrift astronauts during spacewalks

New Stand-off missiles for B-1 and F-18 target ships at sea


NASA announcement pending concerning on-going Kepler mission to discover exoplanets


A “nearby” habitable planet?

Brief History of the B-58 Hustler

Orbital ATK’s eighth mission to ISS delivers pizza and ice cream. See multiple photos of Gene Cernan memorial mission.

F-22 improves with SAR to enhance target identification

How to be productive and innovative despite fear

A new type of tire for Mars exploration. Will it lead to new tire designs for earth?

The A-10 Now and in the Future

How moons around Saturn affect the structure of F ring
NASA’s next telescope project after the Webb telescope faces criticism

New Hardware for the next Mars Lander scheduled for 2020

Orbiter Atlantis-a brief history of this multipurpose space vehicle

Space X heavy first launch delayed until sometime early next year at the earliest.

Unusual black hole pair spotted “in” Andromeda galaxy.

Exoplanet found to have unusual atmosphere.

Voyager 1 thruster firing assures that communication antennas will point to earth for radio communications a but longer

James Webb space telescope has completed thermal stress testing. NASA reviewing results.

Will supersonic commercial airliners make a comeback?

Delays in SLS may result in suspension of the program in favor of SpaceX option

Comparing Heavy Lift Rockets

NASA Aircraft used to survey California wildfires.

Juno Probes Jupiter’s Red Spot

****Free drone operating online course from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. See link to register for this FREE course. It will be completed just in time for us to fly our quadcopter.

Air Force secretary support A-10 wing upgrade to keep the Warthog flying

Blue Origin Returns to flight.

****Blue Origin simulation video of more powerful rocket now in design/testing stage

French send 4 more navigation satellites into orbit from South American launch site. Navigation system competes with US GPS system.

Now there is a UH-1 in development for autonomous supply delivery in combat areas.

Opportunity: The little Mars rover that could and still can


 **** Special Interest Links

CyberPatriot Competition continues with Round 2

Yuma CyberPatriot team completes round 2 of this year’s competition

The four members of the Yuma Squadron 508 CAP squadron completed the second round of CyberPatriot competition on Sunday, December10th. Several team members wore their newly- delivered CyberPatriot t-shirts to the meeting conference room. Round 2 included images from Windows 7, Windows 10, and Ubuntu 14 operating systems as well as a networking quiz developed by Cisco. The team used all but one minute of the six hours allowed for competition, thus saving themselves an overtime penalty. New, untrained subject matter was introduced in the Forensic Questions that required the team members to go the Internet to search for answers. This was a good exercise that reminded cadets to use all available, allowed resources.

Several teams apparently scored 100% unofficially at the national level. Overall though, most teams found the challenges in Round 2 were incrementally more difficult to identify and correct than Round 1. Preliminary and unofficial results for the Yuma team again showed them near the top third of teams in the All Services Division for Arizona. Official results should be in early next week.


Next, teams will be assigned to one of three tiers for the State Round of competition coming up January 19-21 based on their performance during Rounds 1 and 2. Yuma’s team will probably be assigned to the Gold Tier, the middle tier, for next month’s competition. Only teams in the Platinum Tier are eligible to go to the Nationals.