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Washington DC (SPX) Apr 17, 2006 Consider this perspective of a developmental engineer speaking in the April 2006 issue of Mechanical Engineering magazine: A conventional space satellite weighs more than 10,000 kilograms and costs $150 million to manufacture, $100 million to launch, and $62 million to insure. On the other hand, a satellite using micro-electromechanical systems, or MEMS, would weigh one to ten kilograms and cost $3 million to build, $200,000 to launch, and $800,000 to insure. Despite the obvious weight and cost advantages of the MEMS-enabled satellite, it resides in what the engineer calls the "valley of death" – the place between conceptual design and commercial implementation. Several other promising MEMS-based aerospace technologies are stuck in limbo, including a high-temperature sensor that could improve performance in fuel injection while reducing engine emissions. "Aerospace is one of the most conservative industries, because you can't afford to make a mistake," says the engineer, Miland Pimprikar, in Mechanical Engineering. "You cannot fly an application until it's flight-tested, and you have to fly to test it." According to Mechanical Engineering, which is published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Pimprikar along with other developers are committed to bringing MEMS and nanotechnology-based systems to aerospace programs and applications around the world. Through a group called the Canada-Europe-United States Organization on Micro-Nano Technologies for Aerospace Applications, or Caneus, Pimprikar and his colleagues are bringing together inventors, investors, business people, and systems developers in the aerospace markets to discuss ways to remove both the technological and financial impediments to the large-scale implementation of MEMS. Caneus, with the ASME Nanotechnology Institute as partner, will hold its next conference from August 27 to September 1, 2006, in Toulouse, France. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links The American Society of Mechanical Engineers Aerospace News at SpaceMart.com
BAE Systems To Sell Airbus Stake EADS Likely Buyers
London (AFP) Apr 07, 2006British defence and aerospace giant BAE Systems is set to sell its 20 percent stake in aircraft maker Airbus, most likely to its Franco-German counterpart EADS, the BBC reported on Thursday. The news prompted union leaders to seek urgent talks with BAE because Airbus directly employs some 13,000 people in Britain. |
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