PopSci's Best of What's New 2007

Aviation & Space
Darpa Orbital Express

A robotic handyman for satellite repair

In April, Boeing’s Autonomous Space Transport Robotic Operations (Astro) satellite eased up to the Ball Aerospace NextSat, docked with it, and successfully transferred fuel and parts, with no human intervention. This program, dubbed Orbital Express, was the first autonomous refueling and repair of one satellite by another— heralding an end to expensive manned repair missions. Astro used a laser-and-reflector guidance system to continuously monitor its speed and angle of approach relative to NextSat, and a robot arm reached out and grabbed the target satellite when it was in range. darpa.mil

OTHER WINNERS IN Aviation & Space

	CNES Corot The Satellite Searching for the Next Earth			Cessna 162 SkyCatcher Light Sport Aircraft THE STARTER PLANE
	Vision Systems International Helmet-Mounted Display SUPER-VISION FOR FIGHTER PILOTS			NASA Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy HAVE SCOPE, WILL TRAVEL
	Boeing EA-18G Growler A RADAR-JAMMING JET			ESA/EADS Astrium Automated Transfer Vehicle The space station’s delivery truck
	QinetiQ Zephyr MARATHON FLYER			Eclipse Concept Jet JETS GET PERSONAL
	Darpa Orbital Express A robotic handyman for satellite repair			V-22 Joint Program Office/Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey The tilt-rotor copter finally flies
	Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias Gran Telescopio Canarias THE WORLD’s LARGEST TELESCOPE