Technology

Construction has officially begun on the spaceahip that will achieve Americas goal of returning astronauts to the moon. Lockheed martin technicians and engineers at the NASA michoud Assembly facility near new orleans welded together the first two components of the orion crew module capsule for exploration mission-2. Orion is Americas exploration spaceship and the Em-2 mission will be its first Flight with astronauts on board taking them farther into the solar system than ever before. The flight launched atop the space launch system rocket will usher in a new era of space exploration, laying the ground work for NASA's lunar deep space gateway and ultimately for human mission to mars.

The successful capability enhancement for the H145M continues. In the first weeks of December 2017, Airbus Helicopters demonstrated the ability to fire laser guided rockets (FZ275 LGR from Thales) with its new H145M platform at the Älvdalen test range of the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration Flight test Centre. In a rough and challenging environment the system performed flawlessly. The electro-optical system (MX-15D) from L3 Wescam with embedded laser designation enabled a deviation of less than a meter for all rockets fired at a distance of up to 4.5 km. This 70mm laser guided air-ground rocket enhances the H145M’s engagement capabilities. It fulfils the precision strike needs of the armed forces worldwide by reducing the risk of collateral damage, particularly during asymmetric combat operations. “The laser guided rockets from Thales performed incredibly well especially taking into consideration the weather conditions we experienced during the trials which were far from ideal