CyberPatriot XI
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Team 508 competes in Round 1 of CyberPatriot XI
Aerospace Education Links November 2018
Aerospace Educations Links November
2018
The next
great discovery? Is there a form of life currently on Mars? New scientific
discoveries suggest that it is possible
Skywest
Airlines staff fail to notice aircraft/destination airport limitations when it
dispatched a flight on a larger aircraft than that originally scheduled.
Attempt to keep passengers happy backfires.
NASA seems
to have found a fix for malfunctioning gyroscope so that the observatory once
again has 3 functioning gyroscopes. The instrument may be able to resume its
scientific mission soon if engineering tests substantiate the fix.
Russia said
to have found problem with launch vehicle and will be ready to resume manned
space flights very soon
Hubble back
on the job doing its science mission. Guidance system appears to be fixed.
Parker Solar
Probe sets record for close encounter with the Sun. New records to follow soon.
Kepler
planet hunting telescope runs out of fuel. Last observational data downloaded
successfully. Probe completes milestone mission.
SpaceX plans
a number of Falcon Heavy launches in early 2019
Cause of
Russian launch vehicle failure reportedly a sensor damaged during the rocket
assembly process. Inspections ordered.
Unmanned
aerial systems have a changing role in search and rescue operations of the
future. Automation and advances in sensor technology will lead to expanded use
by emergency services.
New design
methods using artificial intelligence and unconventional materials along with
computer assisted design lead to NASA collaboration with Autodesk for
development of future interplanetary landers
Google
Assistant improvements announced that will take interaction with smart home
devices to a new level.
NASA sends
final closeout commands to Kepler space probe
NASA chooses
landing site for 2020 Mars mission designed to search for biosignatures of life
on the red planet
NASA
considers privatizing space travel by selling seats to ISS, naming ships, etc.
For me this is a terrible idea.
Mars Insight
lander scheduled to touch down in just less than a week.
Air Force
said to be making progress in addressing pilot and maintenance personnel shortages
Space probe
OSIRIS REx nears targeted asteroid. Prepares robotic arm to gather samples for
return to Earth
Peggy Whitson-American with longest time spent in space
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Updated Agenda for AE October 2018
October 24, 2018 Aerospace Education
Agenda Yuma Squadron 508
1840 Announcements
Midway
wrap-up
CyberPatriot team finalization-
Competition Dates: Round 1-11/3, Round 2-12/8,
State Round- 1/12/19
Meterology
STEM Kit and related activities
CyberPatriot
and STEM badge choices- see word document
1850 Cadet AE
Presentation- Hans Schmidt-Life Cycles of Stars
1910 Break
1915 Video- First
half of PBS video- Decoding the Weather
Machine
2010 Video-How to
land the Space Shuttle from space
2030 Adjourn
Saturday, October 20, 2018
AE Links October 2018
October 2018 AE Links
Is AI to be
a major advance in the training of new Air Force pilots?
Blue Origin
wins important rocket engine contract to the consternation of Aerojet
Rocketdyne
Small planet
spotted outside of Pluto hints that there may be a hidden huge planet at the
outer fringes of our solar system
***Advanced robotics-Japan fields a
robotic drywall installer.
Iron Ox
leaders announce the development of a robotically managed hydroponic farm on a
commercial scale
***Disney Research is developing a
system to spray paint surfaces using a robotic drone
Boeing and
Embraer may team up to produce the KC-390, a jet powered aircraft to replace
C-130 fleet
Lockheed
Martin at work designing lunar lander that can be reused and accommodate 4
astronauts
Russians
allegedly working for GRU in Fancy Bear cyberattacks are indicted by US Dept.
of Justice
First manned
space flights scheduled for next summer by both SpaceX and ULA
Cassini
found that Saturn’s rings rain huge amounts of material onto planet’s surface
every second
https://www.yahoo.com/news/saturn-iconic-rings-raining-thousands-pounds-material-onto-164959487.html
Voyager 2
bound for interstellar space. Cosmic ray counts increase 5 percent
Gyroscope
fails on Hubble Space Telescope forcing controllers to place it in safe mode
while engineers troubleshoot the problem, hoping for a satisfactory solution
***Watch launch of SpaceX rocket and
first landing back at Vandenberg during satellite launch
Global
climate change at the forefront in UN discussions-2 reports
Blue Origin
wins contract to build military booster rockets
Office of
Inspector General releases report critical of the state of Boeing’s SLS program
Another
space telescope failure for NASA-Chandra goes into safe mode for reasons yet to
be determined
MIT gets
huge grant to open new school dedicated to study of computer sciences
Air Force
F-22’s damaged by hurricane Michael
Start-up
rocket company Rocket Lab selects a Virginia site for its US based space port
with first launch expected third quarter of 2019
Vector Space
Systems raises funds for its new launch vehicle designed for low earth orbit
missions. Rockets to be built at a factory in Tucson
NASA
proposing unmanned missions to moon carrying small payloads with landings on
lunar surface by 2019 or 2020
International
observe the moon night marks 50 years since trip of Apollo 8 to the moon and
back
October 2018 AE Agenda Squadron 508
October 24, 2018 Aerospace Education
Agenda Yuma Squadron 508
1840 Announcements
Midway
wrap-up
CyberPatriot team finalization-
Competition Dates Round 1 11/3, Round 2
12/8 , State Round 1/12/19
Meterology
STEM Kit and related activities
CyberPatriot
and STEM badge choices- see word document
1850 Cadet AE
Presentation- Hans Schmidt
1910 Break
1915 Video- First
half of PBS video- Decoding the Weather
Machine
2015 Adjourn
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Cybersecurity Links for August and September 2018
Cybersecurity Links Aug./Sept. 2018
Google tracks location
information even if the location function is turned off. Sobering information
about lack of personal privacy and misleading statements from large technology
companies.
Leaker of NSA document about
Russian hacking into Florida elections software sentenced to more than 5 years
in prison.
***The
international consequences of Russian led NotPetya attack on the Ukraine in
2017. Was the attack just another ignored warning sign of what may come from a
self-declared enemy? (Excellent and alarming article.)
Learn how Russia is stealing
advanced night vision technology from the US
Hacker installs software that
skims credit card data from government payment sites
Company that specializes in
securing information in the cloud acquired by Palo Alto Networks
North Korea reportedly continuing
state sponsored bank heists around the world using cyberweapons
Chinese company imbedded
microchips on server hardware to steal confidential information from US
companies
Next version of Google Chrome
will require more secure certificates for https operations. Many websites are
behind on purchasing updated certificates.
Study alleges that weapons
systems are often lack adequate precautions against even relatively
unsophisticated cyberattacks
Monday, October 8, 2018
Arizona CAP cadets and senior members visit the USS Midway in San Diego
Yuma 508
teams with three other Arizona Wing squadrons for a drive to San Diego and a
day touring the USS Midway
Each year as part of the aerospace education program of Yuma
CAP Composite Squadron 508 we like to have at least one field trip to a
location outside our immediate geographic area. This year we chose to take a
journey to San Diego, California for a tour of the USS Midway floating museum.
For many, the event began with an overnight rest stop at our hangar in Yuma.
Accommodations were somewhat Spartan but fulfilled the need. Cadets enjoyed
getting to know their peers from other squadrons around the state.
Saturday, October 6th started early with a muster
of participants just before dawn at 0600.
 |
| Group photo Yuma Hangar 0600 6 Oct. |
My first stop was at the carrier’s island tour that was
reputed to have large crowds and long waits later in the day.
 |
| Elevated view of the flight deck |
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| Starboard island USS Midway |
 |
| Sextant and historic LOP on chart |
Entry to the self-guided tour of the captain’s and admiral’s
living quarters was at the base of the island. The living spaces were comfortable
but not luxurious. This tour also included stops at the combat information
center, radar facilities, and communications center. One young visitor was
enthralled by the rotary dial phone in one of the compartments. Huge radio
receivers and teletype printers were indicative of technology extant in the
early 1990’s. I was surprised to see the animatronics installation of with the
ship’s commander describing his duties. The display reminded me of the Abraham
Lincoln show operated by Disneyland in the last century that I saw when I was
the same age as our current cadets.
 |
| Midway tour or Disneyland? |
Our group reassembled for the short walk to Seaport Village
for lunch at the food court. It seemed like there were a lot of choices so
cadets again melted away to enjoy their meal selections. It was a good time for
a break.
Back on board the Midway, it was time to explore the main
attraction of the museum, the flight deck. Numerous static aircraft displays
spanned naval aviation from WWII to the F-4 Phantom and some of our current
operating aircraft including the F/A-18 Hornet.
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| F-4 Phantom parked on deck |
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| Launch! |
The queue for the video of the eponymous Battle of Midway was
too long for me but all who saw it reported that it was well worth seeing.
Seems like a good excuse for a return visit to the museum sometime in the
future. The battle represented a critical point in Pacific operations during
WWII. It was an important victory for US naval aviation.
Several of our more adventurous cadets joined the line for
full-motion aerial combat simulators. More cautious guests could watch the
action the “pilots” were seeing as well as the actions of those inside the
simulators. We clearly have some capable budding fighter pilots in our
squadron.
Our visit was over all too soon at 1500. Much of the driving
back to Arizona would be completed during daylight hours with the sun at our
backs and a very enjoyable day to add to our CAP memories.
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| Fair winds and following seas, USS Midway |
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