Infrared technology, based on a wavelength of light invisible to human eyes, is being harnessed for dozens of astonishing uses. Just below the color red on the electromagnetic spectrum, this type of radiant energy was discovered by Sir William Herschel, an amateur astronomer famous for finding Uranus in 1781. During World War II, German scientists developed night-vision technology based on infrared light. Today, the military has adopted a wide range of uses for this scientific breakthrough, including infrared scanners, guidance heads for missiles, night vision goggles and missile defense systems, such as Northrop Grumman's LAIRCM system, for aircraft. But infrared applications go beyond the battlefield to help improve life in unexpected ways. Here are just three. Forecast Extreme Weather  Weather on Earth is intense and costly. A new report published in December 2018 by Christian Aid, a U.K.-based charity, found that the three most expensive weather disasters worldwide that year occurred in the United States. They were Hurricane Florence, which killed 53 people and caused $17 billion in damages; Hurricane Michael, which killed 43 people and cost $15 billion; and the Camp Fire in California, the state's deadliest and most destructive in almost a century. It killed at least 85 people, wiped out the town of Paradise and destroyed about 14,000 homes, causing an estimated $7.5 to $10 billion worth of damage. Predicting extreme weather depends heavily on satellites that orbit the Earth and track conditions in the oceans and atmosphere. Two new satellites — GOES-16 and GOES-17, launched in 2016 and 2018, respectively — are now online and working together to provide high-resolution visible and infrared imagery as well as lightning observations for improved forecasting. Part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System, the sister spacecraft will draw upon a suite of sensors, some of which rely upon infrared technology to measure aerosols in the atmosphere, along with clouds, thunderstorms, hurricanes, rainfall, moisture, atmospheric motion and volcanic ash. They'll also identify fire and hot spots, crucial to forecasters in the western United States. Data from the satellites will reveal atmospheric processes associated with thunderstorms and hurricanes, reports NOAA. It will also indicate cold clouds, which are associated with storms that produce tornadoes, hail and strong wind. Catch Wildlife Poachers Wildlife poaching has reached epic proportions. In 2018, 769 rhinos were killed illegally in South Africa for their horns, according to Save the Rhino. And about 100 elephants are killed every day in Africa for their ivory tusks, meat and body parts, reports World Elephant Day. Until recently, wildlife rangers equipped with military packs, weaponry and vehicles were no match for poachers, who typically prowl sanctuaries and savannahs at night by foot to make stealthy getaways. But recently, the World Wildlife Federation started enlisting infrared and other technology to give gamekeepers an advantage. Handheld infrared cameras as well as those mounted on vehicles, stationary posts and even on drones help security personnel spot unwelcome visitors — up to a mile away. Image analysis software, such as that developed by the University of Southern California, distinguishes human from animal, and specialized software that uses a wireless network can alert rangers to potential intruders, reports NPR. The ability to see threats before they happen could save the lives of thousands of animals already headed for extinction. Uncover Historical Clues in Paintings For decades, art historians and conservators have been using infrared cameras to analyze paintings or validate their authenticity. The technique, called infrared reflectography (IR), works because many common pigments in paint are partially transparent to infrared light, revealing clues to what might be underneath. For instance, the camera may pick up so-called "underdrawings," sketches the artist made before applying paint. Differences between the drawings and the final painting provide insight into the artist's decision-making and ultimately, their creative process. "When you see things with infrared light, you start to look at the painting in a different way," Aaron Steele, an imaging specialist and photographer with the Detroit Institute of Arts, says in a video for PBS. The same technique can be used to detect art forgeries, reports the Art Law Journal. One such forgery was that of the painting "Virgin and the Child with an Angel" by Francesco Francia (1450—1517). It was donated to the National Gallery in 1924 by a wealthy businessman who had purchased it from an art dealer. In 1954, another version of the painting came up for auction in London. In 2009, investigators examined both pieces of art using IR. Analysis of the underdrawings found that the painting that had surfaced in 1924 had been sketched using graphite, a material that wasn't around when Francia was alive. It was the fake. Who would have known hundreds of years ago that an invisible band of light would lead to technologies that help humans see the unseen? Most people associated infrared technology with military gear that lets soldiers see at night and pilots defend against guided missiles. But infrared applications extend into unexpected fields that benefit millions of people — and animals — worldwide.

Infrared Technology Reveals the Unseen

The concept of radar, while revolutionary at the time of its creation, seems deceptively simple today. Preteens playing military-themed video games see and track their enemies on the radar display in the lower right corner of their screen. Speeding motorists pulled over by police officers hear their exact radar-verified velocity when told why they were stopped. Television meteorologists casually instruct viewers to look at the Doppler radar as an impending storm approaches.  The term "radar" itself is so common and widely understood in today's lexicon, it's easy to forget its origins. RADAR was an acronym first used by the U.S. Navy in 1940 to stand for radio detection and ranging that found its way into the public conscience.  But what if a radar does more than the detection and ranging the technology's primary forefather, Scottish physicist Sir Robert Watson-Watt, envisioned? Is it still a radar? As military technology becomes more sophisticated and threats continue to evolve, the need for multifunctional and adaptable equipment on the battlefield continues to grow. As a result, the radars of today and the future are doing far more than their predecessor's mission of detection and tracking. "In today's warfare environment, as we try to pack more capability in to less space and weight, single-function systems are being replaced by multifunction systems," said Curtis Pearson, director, strategic captures, Northrop Grumman. "This allows the space that used to be occupied by only a radar to contain a radar, a communications node or an electronic attack system based on the need of the warfighter." Modern actively-scanned electronic array (AESA) radars, including the APG-81 for the F-35 and APG-83 for the F-16 Viper, incorporate counter-jamming measures and can even act as electronic attack assets, affecting other radars, sensors, and communications nodes in the battlespace. "For the warfighter, having the ability to quickly toggle between multiple functions on a single sensor provides a more efficient and effective means to meet and defeat unexpected threats or circumstances while completing the mission," said Dan Dixon, Director, F-35 development planning, Northrop Grumman. "Another advantage is the ability to reduce the overall SWAP [Space, Weight and Power] requirements as compared to traditional federated mission system solutions. If one system can perform a variety of tasks at near simultaneous speeds, there's potential to optimize next-generation system performance."  An example of radar multifunction is the company's Vanguard radar. Each Vanguard array contains a scalable number of small radar panels that link together. During missions, the panels can be programmed to either operate together as one large antenna unit or act separately as individual radars, jammers, or communications nodes. For example, in a six-panel array, four panels could be devoted to creating a synthetic aperture resolution map of an area below while two panels could be communicating out the data being collected.  "Vanguard redefines the way we produce radars and the capabilities that are possible within one flexible, scalable design," said Paul Kalafos, Vice President of Surveillance and Electromagnetic Maneuver Warfare, Northrop Grumman. "Vanguard's modular radar panels are the building blocks for a multitude of future radar aperture applications." In other words, Vanguard is an indication that a new era of radar is upon us. If you can still call it that. 

When is a Radar Not a Radar Anymore?

U.S. and allied defense industry leaders recognize that a digital transformation of the military is critical to maintaining a decisive advantage over adversaries who are trying to win the information race. The victors of future wars will gather and secure trusted information while denying it to the enemy. military exercises Adversaries know this and many are spending more on systems that deny information than on building bigger arsenals. That's why the U.S. and its allies must invest in game-changing multifunction mission systems that can sense, interpret and understand information in the battle space faster than an adversary. To help develop and learn how to fight these systems across domains, military exercises are playing a more important role than ever. In fact, these exercises provide an important backdrop for trials and experimentation and help establish a clear understanding of requirements. Earlier this year, the U.S. military conducted Northern Edge 2017 (NE17), a biennial, U.S. Pacific Command-sponsored air combat exercise at the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex. The exercise, led by Alaska Command, involved nearly 6,000 airmen, Marines, sailors and soldiers, more than 200 aircraft, and Navy and commercial vessels. During the exercise, defense company Northrop Grumman rolled out numerous cutting-edge digital technologies for the military brass, including next-generation air dominance, fifth- to fourth-generation communications, advanced self-protection electronic warfare (EW) and cognitive (artificial intelligence) applications to EW. "Participation in NE17 enabled us to demonstrate emerging technologies and operating concepts in one of the most complex and operationally relevant environments currently available, allowing us to highlight 'art of the possible' capabilities to our warfighting customers," said Jack Forsythe, director of airborne C4ISR mission engagement at Northrop Grumman. NE17 enabled the defense company to accomplish several first-ever successes in key airborne capabilities. Northrop Grumman paired fire control radars with advanced imaging to develop unique kill-chain capabilities. Second, Northrop Grumman demonstrated the ability of fifth-gen aircraft to communicate with fourth-gen aircraft by simultaneously receiving F-22 and F-35 data-link messages and then re-transmitting them to fourth-gen fighters through Link-16. Finally, the company's advanced EW team confirmed for the first time that their system blinded "enemy" threat radars using a new multi-function resource manager.  "Northern Edge is an incredible opportunity for the military and its defense partners," said Steve Bryant, vice president of advanced strike and mission enablers, Northrop Grumman. "It provides us insight into our systems from more of the warfighter's perspective and enables us to develop capabilities more efficiently and cost-effectively for them." "Northern Edge allows us to operate our sensors in a representative combat environment that our warfighters could face in a high-end scenario," said Tom Jones, vice president and general manager, airborne C4ISR, Northrop Grumman. "Participants learned what it's like to succeed in complex air warfare scenarios." NE17, and other military exercises like it, enable the participants to collect and examine data in innovative ways so allied partners can gain the decisive advantage they need to win the information race. 

Military Exercises Provide Proving Ground for Winning the Information Race

How ice-penetrating rockets and robotic submarines could help find life beyond Earth When it comes to exploring other worlds, we typically think of observation satellites taking pictures and scientific measurements from orbit or robotic rovers trekking along the red desert of Mars. But what about harpooning the icy shell of a moon, like Europa, with a rocket-propelled spear and searching for life beneath the surface with an autonomous robotic submarine? This is one of many alluring concepts that could be employed in man's undying quest to find life beyond our planet. Beyond Mars, Europa seems like our next closest hope for finding the past or present signature of biological life forms somewhere in our solar system. Europa's Ingredients for Life Scientists believe that Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, possesses the ingredients for life: water, chemistry and energy. Long-held predictions that Europa has an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust were confirmed in 2019 by scientific observation through the world's largest telescope, the Keck Observatory, in Hawaii. An international group of researchers spotted water vapor emitting from a geyser on the moon's surface, a phenomenon that explains Europa's unique surface "chaos" geology. This observation has heightened interest in the Galilean world, with NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) both planning missions to Europa in the 2020s. NASA's Europa Clipper mission would be ready for launch in the 2023-25 timeframe, whereas ESA's JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft is already taking shape with a planned launch in 2022. These two missions primarily focus on scientific observation but depending on the data they return, mankind might want to take a closer and more exploratory look. One option is to land a mobile probe on the surface like the Mars rovers. But another — perhaps more fruitful — endeavor is to go beneath the crust and swim around looking for life such as floating bacteria or more complex organisms, like the fish and crustaceans we find living deep within our own oceans. Breaking the Crust The first challenge is to find an opening in the crust through which to send a robot carrying various sensors, such as acoustics for detection, gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy for chemistry, cameras for observation and sonar for mapping. For this kind of mission in a far off world, there would be a lot of cross-pollination between the technologies developed by the civil space sector for interplanetary observation (i.e. launch vehicles, deep space communications, re-entry and landing, etc.) and the national security sector ( i.e. rocket motors, penetrators, communications, navigation, sensors, etc.). Over the past few decades, the U.S. military has ramped up the development of so-called hard-target munitions — or bunker busters — to destroy structures buried deep underground. Additionally, billions of dollars have been invested in exquisite sensors for land, air, sea and space platforms to get a better view of the battle space and detect hazards like roadside bombs. Together, these two technology sets could form the basis for an eventual Europa mission. To punch an opening in the surface, a large, high-kinetic energy penetrator could be propelled like a pile driver into an area of Europa where the ice is the thinnest to create a straight opening through which an autonomous robot could enter. In the military, aircraft drop guided earth penetrators from high altitudes to take out underground bunkers using the sheer kinetic force produced by gravity, often combined with depleted uranium, a high density element which generates large kinetic energy. However, because Europa is smaller and has far less gravitational pull than Earth, the spear would need to be very dense, and accelerated by a rocket booster. Using kinetic energy to punch a hole in a distant world might seem like an extraordinary measure, but this isn't a novel concept. In April 2019, Japan's Hayabusa-2 asteroid sample-return mission made history by firing a copper lug into the rocky surface of the asteroid Ryugu. The spacecraft essentially shot the asteroid using an instrument called the Small Carry-on Impactor (SCI) to blast a crater and free up debris for collection. Not to be outdone, NASA plans to slam a spacecraft into the Didymos binary asteroid in an attempt to nudge it off course. This Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will prove whether it is possible to stop Armageddon by changing the trajectory of an asteroid before it potentially collides with Earth. Deep Dive into Europa's Waters Once the ice shell of Europa is breached, an autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle could be lowered through the opening to start exploring the newly unlocked ocean. There are many similarities between this type of vehicle and the towed or free-swimming mine-hunters used by the U.S. maritime force to protect ships from undersea mines. Aerospace and defense companies such as Northrop Grumman are leaders in this field, with expertise in undersea minehunting and torpedo guidance, navigation, communications, sonar, infrared and other areas. There needs to be some way to beam data back to Earth for analysis. That information would be passed from the robotic explorer to a relay on the surface of Europa and then to an orbiter for deep-space communications back to Earth. Passing information from the explorer to the surface relay would be the greatest challenge, since the jagged ice would rip, crush or sever any trailing copper or optical fiber cables. This problem would be familiar to military forces operating in the Canadian North, Arctic or Antarctic. The autonomous undersea robot would instead need to communicate using low-bandwidth radio frequency, free-space optical or acoustic transmission. Each type of transmitter has its limitations, but some data is better than no data. The bit rate of the transmissions would range from low to very low depending on the thickness and opacity of the moon's icy crust. Onboard the explorer would be a navigation and guidance system as well as eyes in the form of electro-optical/infrared cameras for a near field of view. A sensitive microphone should also be onboard to detect the acoustic signals of geological movement and biological life in the deep ocean. A gas chromatograph and spectrometer is desirable for chemical analysis. In order to detect weak magnetic fields, a superconducting quantum interference device, or SQUID, which is a very sensitive magnetometer could be used to observe the magnetic environment. The primary instrument for mapping the hereto uncharted world is a miniature synthetic aperture sonar. The military uses sonar, a system for detecting objects under water and measuring depth by emitting sound pulses measuring their return, for submarine and torpedo navigation, mapping, and detecting undersea threats like anti-vessel mines. Ocean explorers have been using sonar since the 1980s to discover, map and photograph shipwrecks like the Titanic. Unlocking the mysteries of Europa would be a monumental scientific and technological achievement for mankind and many of the elements needed for success already exist. How you combine them and structure the mission makes the difference. Thanks to ambitious Clipper and JUICE projects being pursued by NASA and ESA, respectively, we Earthlings should soon know if the potential for life on Europa is great enough to merit such an ambitious undertaking. See how you can be at the forefront of cutting-edge research and development in space exploration or undersea minehunting at Northrop Grumman.

Harpoon Europa to Unlock Hidden Mysteries

Japan's population is aging at an unprecedented rate. One in five people are currently over age 65, and by 2030, that ratio will shift to one in three. For a country ranked as the world's third largest economy, Japan must find ways to bolster its aging workforce, while also fortifying national security and attending to its elderly. Autonomous systems designed with advanced robotics, artificial intelligence and other digital innovations could replace or enhance human labor. According to analysts at McKinsey & Company, Japan's potential for automation exceeds that of other countries, such as Germany and South Korea, where aging populations are also growing rapidly. Labor-intensive work (i.e. construction) and tedious, repetitive work (i.e. data collecting and machine operation) top the list of occupations that could be replaced by autonomous systems. That would put the available workforce into more flexible jobs that require more creativity and higher levels of thinking, which could allow companies to lower costs and boost productivity, researchers say. Construction Only about 10% of construction workers in Japan are below the age of 30, as the Japan Times reports. Nonetheless, construction projects are booming in the country. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched a stimulus program, known as Abenomics, partially aimed at ramping up infrastructure projects ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, which was slated for 2020 but rescheduled for 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the tight labor market, construction companies such as Shimizu Corp., headquartered in Tokyo, have invested billions to develop robots that can build materials, weld steel, inspect premises, install ceilings and more. Equipped with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, cameras and sensors, Shimizu's Robo-Welder and Robo-Buddy can weld and bolt for hours without tiring. In Mie Prefecture, on the southeast coast of Japan's main island, robots are building a concrete dam. Huge, crane-like equipment from Tokyo-based Obayashi stacks enormous slabs of concrete, each about 15 square yards. The layers are made by remote-controlled tower cranes that pour concrete into molds onsite, according to Asia Nikkei. The 275-feet-high dam is scheduled for completion in March 2023. Dam building requires many of the repetitive actions robotic technology has already honed in factory-based assembly — but robotic bricklayers need bricks. Enter Tokyo-based Kajima, which is developing robots to clear the way and also deliver materials. The company has self-driving bulldozers and dump trucks that use sensors like LIDAR and GPS to "see" the environment. They can excavate, deliver and dump 24 hours a day, if needed. National Security Japan is currently ranked as one of the most peaceful countries in the world, according to the 2020 Global Peace Index. However, its close proximity to China, Russia and North Korea make the island nation vulnerable to military posturing. Japan's Self Defense Force, established in the 1950s, stands guard and patrols more than 18,000 miles of coastline. According to CNN, in 2019, a report from Japan's Ministry of Defense said its Air Defense Force scrambled jets more than 900 times that year to intercept potential incursions into Japanese airspace from Chinese and Russian aircraft. An aging workforce has reduced the pool of available pilots, though. Unmanned autonomous aircraft could step in. In June 2020, the US Air Force deployed an RQ-4 Global Hawk to help patrol the air space over Japan. It flies at altitudes up to 65,000-feet high and can stay aloft for 30 hours at a time. "An autonomous system such as Global Hawk does not get tired, does not need to return to base for more than a day at a time and can patrol huge swaths of area from a very high altitude," said Om Prakash, Northrop Grumman Japan, in a press release in November 2020. Onboard sensors support a broad range of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. In 2015, Japan agreed to purchase three Global Hawks to be delivered in 2022 and supplement its surveillance portfolio, which includes earth-orbiting satellites, sea- and land-based radars, manned patrol planes and reconnaissance pods on supersonic fighters. Global Hawk could also aid during times of national emergencies. In the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, which caused catastrophic failure at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, a U.S. Air Force Global Hawk flew above the plant to help assess atmospheric radiation. "That operation proved that Global Hawk could be effective even in disaster," said Prakash. Patient and Eldercare Robots in Japan can be big and tough, building bridges and securing borders. But some robots have a tender side. Paro, which looks like a furry baby seal, can be found at elderly care facilities helping to calm residents who have dementia or other cognitive disorders. Developed by researchers at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Paro has five sensors that detect sound, light, touch, heat and posture. Its software learns from the sensory data to recognize people and adapt to a user's preferences. Some studies have shown that Paro reduces reliance on drugs, improves blood pressure and oxygenation levels and stirs up emotions in patients who may not have expressed them for a long time, reports Wired. Companion and "care bots" like Paro are rising in popularity in Japan, where the government predicts a shortage of more than 300,000 healthcare workers by 2025. Healthcare spending is also ticking upward and is expected to go from $98,000 per year for inpatient nursing care to $235,000 per year by 2030, as strategy + business reports. Adding robots to the staff could help to keep costs down. Some robots have more specialized capabilities. Telenoid, a baby-sized device with no legs and tiny arms, can emit sounds, words or songs coming from a distant caregiver or family member. Robear, from RIKEN-SRK Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research and Sumitomo Riko Company, lifts patients out of beds and into wheelchairs and can assist a person with standing. Mira Robotics created a robotic butler named Ugo that can wash dishes, fold clothes and vacuum. It's clear that Japan's aging society will put pressure on the government as well as technology firms to find solutions for an aging workforce and rising healthcare costs. Technology alone can't deal with these challenges. But as autonomous systems advance, they can free up how much time humans spend on repetitive tasks, as well as augment security portfolios and even reduce loneliness. Are you interested in science and innovation? We are too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Autonomous Systems to Bolster Japan's Aging Workforce

On February 11, 2016, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory — LIGO — announced the detection of gravitational waves for the first time. It ended a 50-year search for direct confirmation of the elusive gravitational waves, first predicted by Albert Einstein.The observatory is sometimes described as two observatories, because its key instrument, a laser interferometer, has two sections. One is located in Livingstone, Louisiana, the other in Hanford, Washington. Working together, they form a single precision instrument a couple of thousand miles across.If success in detecting gravitational waves marked the end of one era, it signaled the beginning of another: the exploration of the universe using new instruments of fantastic, nearly unimaginable precision, of which LIGO is only a beginning.Elusive GravitySir Isaac Newton identified gravity as a basic property of nature and described its characteristics, but he did not explain how it worked. Albert Einstein proposed in 1916 that gravity was not a mysterious "force" but rather a bending of space itself in the presence of a heavy mass. He also showed that the massive accelerating objects — such as orbiting black holes — would distort the fabric of space, sending gravitational waves outwards in all directions like ripples expanding on a pond.Strong indirect evidence supported Einstein's theory of gravity, but actually detecting gravitational waves was difficult — so difficult that while active efforts to detect them began in the 1960s, no one succeeded until LIGO did a year ago.The LIGO instrument consists essentially of two vacuum pipes, each two and a half miles long, containing lasers that can measure each pipe's length with extreme precision. Extreme as in measuring a change equal to 1/5000 the size of a proton. Neil DeGrasse Tyson describes this as "the most precise measurement ever made, by far."This unfathomable precision allowed researchers to detect the subtle jostling of the pipes by a powerful gravitational disturbance: the collision of two black holes, each many times more massive than the Sun, in a distant galaxy.David Yeaton-Massey, an experimental physicist doing basic research at Northrop Grumman, had the opportunity to work on LIGO while completing his PhD at Caltech."Being part of a team dedicated to listening to what the universe is whispering to us was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The concept is relatively simple, much like electromagnetic radiation is produced when you shake an electron, gravitational radiation (a little ripple in spacetime) is produced when you shake matter. Despite the simplicity the analogy offers, it took a pair of massive, distant black holes colliding close enough to earth (140 billion light years) for us to see the event. The scale and scope of what the LIGO community accomplished cannot be underestimated."A Quiet Place in the SkyWhile scientists were already confident that Einstein was right, LIGO's success opens the way to a new branch of astronomy, exploring the universe by measuring gravitational waves and mapping their patterns.This will require even more precision than LIGO achieved, and by far the best place to make such measurements is in outer space. A space mission called LISA Pathfinder has already been launched — not to detect gravitational waves itself but to test the technology needed for a future mission.A deep space gravitational wave observatory remains years down the road, but 2018 should see the launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). A successor to the famed Hubble Space Telescope, it will take precision astronomy in space to a new level. Unlike Hubble, the JWST will primarily observe the universe in infrared light, blocked from ground-based observatories by Earth's atmosphere.And instead of orbiting a few hundred miles above Earth, JWST, for which Northrop Grumman is the main industrial partner, will float in space in a position about a million miles from Earth (technically, in the second Sun—Earth Lagrange point). The distant location will help shield the JWST from Earth's own heat radiation, which otherwise would wreak havoc on infrared sensors that must operate at very low temperature.The JWST will not observe gravitational waves, but its infrared telescope will be able to look farther into deep space — and further back into the early history of the universe — than any existing telescope. The science is astounding: JWST will help us see the first stars and galaxies, better understand how galaxies form over billions of years and, finally, help identify earth-like planets that potentally support life. Whether earth-based or space-based, a new era of amazingly engineered machines will unlock mysteries that we can only guess at today.Learn more about how you can play an active role in Northrop Grumman-affiliated projects such as the James Webb Space Telescope.

Making Waves: LIGO Celebrates an Anniversary of Proving Einstein's Theory

As visual representations of scientific concepts go, the periodic table is hard to beat. It's easily recognizable, relatively simple to understand and for the last 150 years has acted as a reliable roadmap to help chemists uncover new elements and expand the sum of human knowledge. The American Chemical Society (ACS) described it as "perhaps as foundational to chemistry as the discovery of DNA has been to biology." But Dmitri Mendeleev's elemental Excel spreadsheet has also become a kind of cultural touchstone. Tables of every size and shape are easily available. Want a colored-coded representation of key elemental groups? No problem. Need a dog-themed periodic table of the EleMUTTS? Of course! Want to learn the periodic table through a song set to the tune of Jacques Offenbach's "Infernal Galop"? Of course you do. It's no surprise, then, that the United Nations decided the table's sesquicentennial was worth recognizing: According to the official UNESCO website, 2019 is the International Year of the Periodic Table. So let's dive in — how did Mendeleev develop his table? How well does it stand up under pressure? And what happens when the table's not big enough for all the elements at the party? Let's Table This Discussion As noted by the Royal Society of Chemistry, Dmitri Mendeleev wasn't the first scientist who attempted to group the elements into some type of easily recognizable framework. In 1789, Antoine Lavoisier classified elements by their properties (gases, metals, non-metals and earths). In 1865, John Newlands noticed similarities in elements of atomic weights that differed by seven. He called it the "Law of Octaves," later known as the "Periodic Law." Mendeleev noticed that certain types of elements regularly reoccurred when elements were arranged according to atomic weight — reactive non-metals were directly followed by light reactive metals and less reactive light metals. He wasn't afraid to move elements around the table based on their behavior, says the Royal Society of Chemistry. This ran counter to the notion that elements should be ordered by atomic weight, but it produced better far results. For example, nickel is lighter than cobalt but better aligns with palladium — located in the next row down — than rhodium. Choosing action over atomic weight made Mendeleev's table much more accurate, especially after protons were discovered; when classified according the number of protons in the nucleus, Mendeleev's table was spot-on, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. The table's biggest benefit was predictability. Elements directly above or below each other in columns — or "groups" — share similar characteristics. For example, the alkali metals of the first column "usually carry a +1 charge in reactions, react vigorously with water, and combine readily with nonmetals," as noted by ThoughtCo. Those in the same row — or "period" — share the highest unexcited electron energy level. The table helped paved the way for a better understanding of chemical reactions work, predict outcomes when combining elements of differing groups or periods, and helped pave the way to discover new elements. Filling In the Gaps Along with his Law of Octaves, John Newlands also created a version of the periodic table. The problem? Keeping the pattern meant cramming multiple elements into the same space and hoping for the best. Needless to say, the Chemical Society was not impressed. Mendeleev, meanwhile, knew he didn't have all the answers. So whenever he came across a potential gap in his table, he left it alone. What's more, he predicted that new elements would be found to close these gaps — and sure enough, they were. He knew there should be an element after aluminum (which he called "eka-aluminium") but since no known elements had the right properties, he left the space blank. He also predicted the properties of eka-aluminium, which included an atomic weight of around 68, a solid density of 6.0 grams per centimeter cubed and a valency of three. In 1875, Paul-é‰mile Lecoq de Boisbaudran discovered gallium, which had an atomic weight of 69.72, a density of 5.9 grams per centimeter cubed and a valency of three — just as Mendeleev predicted, says the Royal Society of Chemistry. Also of note was the discovery of the noble gases by William Ramsay. While some saw them as contradictions to Mendeleev's work, further research found their natural home as the final group on the periodic table. What's Next for the Nature of the Universe? Chemists have been regularly adding new elements to the table. As noted by JSTOR Daily, the table currently caps out at element 118 — oganesson — a noble gas that has a half-life of just 0.89 milliseconds. Work is already underway to find elements 119 and 120 but as oganesson's short-lived existence makes clear, this isn't an easy task. Starting with element 105, rutherfordium, artificial preparation is required and researchers have very little time to observe any inherent properties before decay occurs. There are predictions that an "island of stability" will be found — a group of elements with exceptionally stable nuclei because their nuclear shells are filled with the "magic number" of protons or neutrons. According to the JSTOR piece, 184 neutrons is the next predicted magic number. New elements may also be found using technologies from other disciplines, such as the soon-to-launch James Webb telescope, which will observe and help analyze distant gas clouds. Just because we can't produce super-heavy, super-stable elements here on Earth, that doesn't mean some ancient gas cloud isn't out there doing great work. And while we're at it, let's go really far out on a scientific limb: According to Phys.org, a new paper suggests that once elements chunk their way up over an atomic weight of 300, the rules of normal matter may break down. Here's the idea: Normal, or baryonic, matter is made of protons and neutrons that contain bound quark triplets. Past 300, there's speculation that elements may be composed of "freely flowing 'up' and 'down' quarks" that aren't bound into triplets. This up down quark matter (udQM) would be stable for super-heavy elements beyond the end of the periodic table and could exist on a "continent" — not just an island! — of stability. Don't Mendeleev Me Here Mendeleev's work was a critical jumping-off point for the advancement of chemistry, technology and scientific speculation. As our brief history of the periodic table shows, however, this isn't a find-and-forget situation: There's always more room for elements left off the first draft (and even some that might be too big for our current table). Along with recognition through 2019's International Year of the Periodic Table, Mendeleev himself was immortalized in Element 101: a metallic radioactive transuranic element in the actinide series that was discovered in 1955 and named mendelevium in honor of his work.

It's Elementary: A Brief History of the Periodic Table

Key Takeaways Data creation from Internet of Things devices and sensors is accelerating globally. Increasing volume and variety of data needs faster transmission and analytical capabilities to extract value. Autonomous surveillance success from Triton MQ-4C relies on onboard AI with machine learning and connectivity for real-time data transmission back to base.It's often said that data is the new oil and that data drives business. Yet, just like real oil, a glut of data is almost useless.The U.S. Navy is one such organization trying to make sense, in real time, of massive amounts of information. It might have found an engine for its oil: an unmanned aerial vehicle with advanced processing powers to provide in-the-moment insight about the world's seas.The MQ-4C Triton aircraft, built by Northrop Grumman, began supporting U.S. Navy operations in early 2020, demonstrating unprecedented data collection capabilities as part of operational capability deployment.But it's not just the autonomous capabilities of Triton that excites the Navy — the aircraft's ability to process a massive amount of data means they can distinguish an authorized shipping vessel from an unauthorized, potentially threatening one.The Gigabyte ProblemData is everywhere. Just about every type of organization and business emphasizes digital-first operations and strategies as the linchpin to efficiency, productivity and ingenuity. However, increased data brings a new set of problems with volume, transfer speeds and diversity.Organizations are tripping over structured and unstructured data from a wide variety of sources. Advances in Internet of Things (IoT) and, more specifically, the Internet of Bodies mean more data is coming in from more connected devices, and the tricky part is analyzing it all.Even organizations that have data scientists can't keep up. Already, daily data production runs at an estimated 328.77 billion gigabytes per day, according to Business2Community. By 2025, Deloitte estimates global data creation at 175 zettabytes.Just like any other organization, the Navy faces this kind of data challenge deploying advanced technologies. At first, the Triton aircraft seems like just another source of data to manage: an unmanned vehicle that will give military commanders in the Pacific region and, eventually, around the globe all sorts of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) information. Yet, Triton is unique for more than its ability to fly for more than a day without coming "back home" — it actually solves the gigabyte challenge with its onboard analytical processor that sifts through data in the air for easier interpretation.A Vast Theater"Triton is a real paradigm shift in unmanned systems," said Bill Beck, director of advanced development for Northrop Grumman's Triton program. To put this in context, Beck points out that Triton will be on a mission longer than the shifts of the Navy personnel managing those missions.In sports, it's difficult to compare athletes of different eras — gear, training methods and travel have all changed. In surveillance air flight, it's perfectly acceptable to contrast Triton to the P-3 Orion maritime aircraft of the 1960s. Triton builds on P-3's long legacy of mission-critical capability and extends that capability, integrating state-of-the-art electronics, software, sensors and data analysis.The original P-3 had analogue data that couldn't be transferred until the plane returned from a mission, Beck explained. Triton, however, is a high-powered network relay and data center with wide-band satellite connectivity. It receives messages and data input from a variety of sources — other planes, ships at sea and land sensors — and synthesizes it all to create a picture of the theater of operations it's canvassing. That picture is created and transmitted over satellite link in near-real time to ground operators.And quite a theater it will be: Check out this Northrop Grumman video that describes how Triton has an operating altitude greater than 50,000 feet and its 360-degree radar can scan 2.5 million square kilometers (0.96 million square miles). It can also survey four million nautical miles in one 24-hour mission.The MQ-4C's mission payload includes multiple sensors and radars specifically designed for the maritime environment. They account for the movement of water and wind to absorb key information.The advanced technologies wouldn't matter, though, if all the data Triton collects couldn't be disseminated during the mission. The data links that send information from the aircraft back to base are critical to Triton's successes. This real-time dissemination also includes operation during disasters, where autonomous unmanned aerial reconnaissance helps plan for aid and support."The data links on Triton are what make it all happen," Beck said of the design process. "A major design and operational consideration is how much processing needs to be done aboard the aircraft autonomously. Too little processing aboard means a huge amount of data needs to be offloaded, requiring large and available communications links. Too much processing aboard, with too little bandwidth available to offload data, and the operators question whether they're really getting all the information and data they need."Limitless PotentialBetween the advanced sensors and the data analytical capabilities on Triton, the Navy can accomplish a broad range of surveillance tasks.Trying to locate specific vessels in packed waterways is like looking for a needle in a haystack, Beck said. "These dense areas are a great place to hide and conduct mischief. With advances in AI and machine learning, Triton is able to sort through much of the noise and confusion in a way that allows clarity that the human eye simply cannot discern."The sky is the limit, as is the sea. "Time matters," Beck said of the aircraft's real-time data processing. "With Triton, you can figure out what you're looking at and what you're encountering. Time is of the essence, so sooner is better."Learn more about Triton and what it's capable of.

The Triton Aircraft Quickly Makes Sense of a Mysterious Sea

As its advocates have espoused for generations now, technology aims to improve how humans live, work and have fun. Technology can also hinder that progress, particularly when bad actors or design flaws make machines work in ways that don't help humans. Those shortcomings have been evident with AI technology, like machine learning algorithms, which, instead of preventing bias, have advanced the prejudices held by humans. From a chatbot that unleashed racially insensitive tweets to an algorithm that predicted crime based on race, these AI-supported programs have behaved just as imperfectly as people. But several new tools propose to end bias in AI, while observers in and out of the tech industry call for human designers to go a step further and be more mindful of what they create. Biases Found in Machine Learning Algorithms The algorithms of machine learning, natural language processing (NLP) and other foundational elements of AI supposedly operate outside the boundaries of human imperfection. AI programs promise to neutrally screen job candidates, handle loan applications, predict criminal activity and make other decisions that are subject to human biases. But a string of discoveries has shown many programs — even those designed to perform seemingly frictionless tasks — can't make objective or even good "choices." A University of Massachusetts study revealed that many NLP algorithms are programmed with only natural English, decreasing its ability to detect dialects. Many widely used NLP tools identify African-American English as "not English" at higher rates than expected. A ProPublica investigation of a software that was designed to detect future criminals found that its algorithms were more likely to falsely flag black defendants as candidates to again commit crimes, wrongly labeling them as reoffenders at almost twice the rate as white defendants. The software also mislabeled white people as low risk more often than black people. Tech giants were not immune to AI-produced biases. An MIT study found IBM visual recognition technology had an error rate of 34.7 percent when identifying women with darker skin tones, while the error rate for identifying that same group of people with Microsoft technology was 20.8 percent. And as CNBC observed, Facebook and YouTube could stand to learn a lesson from Microsoft, whose Twitter chatbot generated racist and anti-Semitic tweets in 2016; two years later, both social media platforms came under fire for offering offensive content in their search bars. Building the Ethics of AI Although the list of biased technology looks long, the list of bias technology and ideas to counter prejudice just might be longer. On the tech side, IBM has created a tool that the company says can review AI-backed software for unintentional bias, as Fortune reported. Google introduced a "What-if Tool," an open-source web application that lets people analyze machine learning software for algorithm fairness. Microsoft also made significant improvements to clear the biases in its facial recognition technology. According to Fortune, the software didn't have a diverse enough data set to include as many photos of women with darker skin as lighter-skinned men. Some observers contend that humans are inherently biased and AI technology itself will correct those leanings, because it is "learning" largely without human involvement. Others, though, argue that if humans design the programs, the algorithms will be flawed from the start. "It's not enough to try to avoid bias in AI—we must actively work to identify and counteract unintended bias in our algorithms," said Amanda Muller, Technical fellow, Northrop Grumman. "Technology advances like Explainable AI help us identify potential bias by providing insights into how and why AI decisions are reached. Advances in the development of synthetic data allow us to reduce or eliminate bias in our training data sets. And inclusion of bias testing in our AI governance processes provide for the identification and correction of bias during development and operations. As AI technology continues to evolve, so must our diligence in recognizing and actively countering AI bias." Business leaders whose companies use AI tools and who lean toward increasing human responsibility can consider following five standards that two professors proposed in MIT Technology Review. To hold algorithms accountable, the professors say, companies should have someone always responsible for the technology, be able to explain decisions made by the program, understand the errors that AI makes, let the public or a private entity audit the product and strive to be fair by evaluating any discriminatory effects. Machines, like humans, might always have some inclination toward biases. But as the professors believe, humans have an undeniable duty to ensure that the machine learning algorithms don't run astray. Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Preventing Bias in AI Technology Requires Human and Tech Oversight

 Drone warfare is about to change in ways that could change the nature of warfare itself.  Right now, ISIS has figured out how to weaponize off-the-shelf drones, using quadcopters to drop bombs on Iraqi soldiers. Their use of attack drones has made the hobbyist aircraft the latest asymmetrical threat, evolving from use for reconnaissance into a scaled-down, $200 version of the attack drones used widely by the U.S. military in the Middle East.  With help from U.S. targeting technology, Iraqi fighters have been able to destroy some of those drones on the wing, Defense Systems reported in a February 2017 article. But the U.S. military is looking at more innovative ways to stop drone attacks. A system that jams radio transmissions used to control drones is already in testing, and the Pentagon would like to find other ways to protect targets from attack.  Each year, the Department of Defense hosts Black Dart, a live-fly, live-fire exercise for testing new counter-drone technology. Among the defenses against attack drones demonstrated there in 2016 was Northrop Grumman's Mobile Application for UAS Identification (MAUI). According to GlobalNewswire, it's a "mobile acoustic sensor that operates on Android cellphones and uses the phone's microphone to detect Group 1 drones" — those that weigh less than 20 pounds, fly lower than 1,200 feet and fly slower than 100 knots.   Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  In November, DARPA issued a request for proposals for a $63-million contract to develop drone-defense systems for military convoys, RT reported. One of the challenges is making such a system small and energy-efficient enough to ride aboard a Humvee or a 25-foot Coast Guard patrol boat.  France's military is developing a system that would satisfy that requirement, and hearkens back to medieval arts of war. A French military unit has raised four golden eagles from chicks, training them to attack and bring down drones, the Washington Post reports. If you saw the viral video of one drone's final moments in 2014, you know how effective birds of prey can be against your average quadcopter. [skyword_iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/AhDG_WBIQgc" width="560" height="315" ]  But the Pentagon isn't interested in eagles. The RFP specifically states that DARPA won't consider any proposals that use live animals. Lasers are also out.  Beyond defending against asymmetrical attacks using off-the-shelf drones turned deadly, the Pentagon may be looking ahead to defending against the next generation of attack drones. A system the Pentagon is developing, called Perdix, would employ a swarm of AI drones, each not much bigger than the size of a human hand. The drones, called Perdix, can communicate with each other, and learn and adapt to conditions in order to locate targets and communicate with weapons systems elsewhere, CBS reported.  Defending against an attack like that will require new technology — a fact demonstrated by an unnamed U.S. ally that used a $3-million Patriot missile to take down a $200 attack drone, as reported by Business Insider.  "You have maybe 100 or 1,000 surface-to-air missiles," Col. Travis Burdine, Air Force division chief for unmanned aircraft, said in April 2017, according to FlightGlobal. "But we're going to hit you with 10,000 [drones]."  That kind of tactic could be used to penetrate a nation's radar defenses, Burdine said, with some drones acting as decoys, others as target finders and still others carrying weapons, themselves.  Be at the forefront of cutting-edge research and development in drone technology by joining the team at Northrop Grumman.

An Answer to ISIS Attack Drones and a New Kind of Aerial Warfare

The auto industry is developing alternatives (i.e. hybrid and electric) to the gasoline-powered engine. But pollution from aircraft is often overlooked. Solar flight could be one solution to this problem.Aircraft PollutionWhile cars and coal-fired power plants are worse for the environment, according to Yale Climate Connections, flying does significant harm. A 2010 study from the University of Cambridge and MIT estimated that the emissions from cruising aircraft alone were responsible for around 8,000 premature deaths each year. That estimate doesn't include deaths from the pollution caused when aircraft take off and land. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, airplanes may generate 43 gigatons of pollution by 2050 — nearly 5 percent of earth's remaining carbon budget.Tweaking MaterialsResearchers and industry are looking for ways to reduce planes' use of fuel, according to National Geographic, including more energy-efficient engines, more aerodynamic shapes and even a coating that would prevent bugs from sticking to the fuselage, thereby reducing drag. Simply being more operationally efficient could save a lot of fuel and reduce emissions, according to PBS.Instead of incremental measures, some innovators want to change the very nature of aircraft.One milestone in this search began back in 1982, when Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan started to develop an aircraft that could fly around the world without stopping or refueling. To do this, he needed to design the lightest, most efficient plane possible. The plane, christened Voyager, used an innovative construction method, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association: a sandwich of paper honeycomb and graphite fiber that was molded and oven-cured. The resulting craft weighed just 939 pounds, sans fuel.The Voyager, piloted by Burt's brother Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager, successfully completed its trans-global flight on December 23, 1986, after flying nonstop for nine days. Today, Scaled Composites is part of Northrop Grumman and continues to push the envelope of the possible through rapid prototyping using advanced materials.Solar FlightWhile measures to reduce fuel and emissions are necessary, some have a bigger dream: flying with clean, renewable energy from the sun.In 2004, Bertrand Picard, a Swiss psychiatrist who had previously company-piloted the first trans-global flight in a balloon, set out to prove the viability of solar energy by flying around the world in an aircraft powered only by the sun.Working with André© Borschberg, a Swiss entrepreneur and pilot, began work on a solar plane. In July 2005, their first plane, the Solar Impulse, completed a flight from Hawaii to Japan in five days. It was the longest solo solar flight in history.In 2016, Bertrand Piccard and Borschberg set out again. This time, they overcame the challenges and Picard completed the 40,000 kilometer flight, this time solo.On completing the flight, Picard told the Guardian, "I hope people will understand that it is not just a first in the history of aviation, but also a first in the history of energy."What's Next?Picard remains committed to furthering the development of solar-powered and clean-energy travel. In November 2016, his organization launched the World Alliance for Clean Technologies during the UN Climate Conference.Solar Flight is another company working on sun-powered aircraft. It's developing planes for high-altitude, long-distance flights and a six-seat transport craft. It successfully completed a multi-stop, trans-American journey in 1989 and has successfully flown a two-seater.Meanwhile, the sky isn't quite the limit. In December 2016, Raphaé«l Domjan, a self-described eco-adventurer, unveiled SolarStratos, which he hopes will be the first manned, solar-powered airplane to penetrate the stratosphere.All this innovation relies on industry to come up with lighter, stronger materials, more advanced sun-powered engines and more efficient solar cells. The goal of cleaner skies through solar flight could be within our reach.

Could Solar Flight Clean the Skies?

Whether it was playing professional ball with the Chicago Cardinals in 1949 or serving as one of three female managers with Northrop Corp. during a distinguished 37-year career, Maybelle Blair has blazed trails her entire life. Batter Up! Born in the Redondo Manor area of Inglewood, Calif., in January 1927, Blair, 91, spent many of her formative years in Texas before heading off to play professional women's baseball. A right-handed pitcher who also batted right, she began her career with the Peoria Redwings in Peoria, Ill., in 1948. Blair played just one game with the Redwings due to an injury, but she showed promise and moved up to the Chicago Cardinals organization the next year. "It was absolutely wonderful. I realized that a dream came true. I played with my brother, my father back home, and here I was playing baseball — a game my father loved — for a living," Blair says. "The fans were great to us."  Enable targeting cookies to view this content.   But there were drawbacks. Players had to wear dresses that lacked any protection, so when they slid into a base or home plate, it meant an unpleasant encounter with the Earth. "I'm still digging gravel out of my rear end," Blair says with a laugh. "These days, professional players hurt a fingernail and they go on the disabled list." In case you're wondering, yes, the movie "A League of Their Own" is indeed based on Blair and her teammates who entertained crowds as part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. While no one actress portrays Blair in the movie, she earned the nickname "All the Way May." She also remains friends with stars from the film, including Ann Cusack, Anne Ramsay and Tracy Reiner. Blair is still deeply involved in women's baseball, having served on the board of directors and as chair of the fundraising committee for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She and league representatives are working to establish a home for girls' baseball in Rockford, Ill., similar to one that boys have in Williamsport, Pa., home of the Little League World Series. "We're trying to raise money to build a museum for women all over the world," Blair says, adding that there are women's teams in Japan, South Korea, Australia and Pakistan, to name a few. "It's just as important as it is for men. These women have the same ambitions and the same dreams. They should have the same chance. "These little girls who are coming up are dreaming of being able to play ball just like I did," she continues. "The girls who put their feet on the field at Rockford â€¦ tears were streaming down their faces. We want to create a place where they can go to play — a league of their own." Life after Baseball Following her baseball career, Blair attended Compton College and the Los Angeles School of Physiotherapy. After graduation, she worked at a treatment center in Los Angeles before starting a nearly four-decade career at Northrop Corp., where she began as a chauffeur and finished as the manager of Highway Transportation. When she started, Blair was one of just three female managers. "I loved every minute of it; I was shocked by it at first," she says. "I had a lot of backing." Blair retired in 1986 after almost four decades with the company. "We really had some good people working for Northrop," she says. "Every day going to work was such a joy." Among her favorite memories was riding in a simulated flight in a B-2 bomber. But the most exciting project she worked on was overseeing the journey of a YF-17 fighter aircraft, complete with the wings attached, from the L.A. area to Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert. Blair had to plan the route first. By the time the plane arrived at Edwards, she said, her legs were so wobbly she could barely stand — one tiny dent in the aircraft would mean complete failure. Getting the plane through downtown Los Angeles was one of the trickiest parts of the mission. Blair remembers a man staggering out of a downtown tavern and looking up at an aircraft wing. "Rather than pink elephants, he saw a fighter plane pass over him," she says. When Blair takes stock of her life, she sees a road that few, if any, would ever get the chance to travel. "I have been one of the luckiest people in the whole cockeyed world," she says. To learn more about starting a career at Northrop Grumman like Maybelle, visit us here.

Maybelle Blair Is in a League of Her Own

Many of the first women in STEM careers did not get the recognition they deserved at the time because traditional gender roles kept them out of the spotlight. Geraldine M. Hoch — or Gerry for short — was one of the earliest female STEM professionals to work for Northrop Grumman. She was a chemical engineer who invented new ways to prevent corrosion on aircraft and was a key player in Snark — a groundbreaking intercontinental cruise missile program that led to the development of one of the first digital computers and early gyroscopic and astronomical guidance systems. "At the time, her job title was administrative staff. Today, it would probably be VP of research," says Lynn Jenson, Project Manager and Advisor to the Board of the Western Museum of Flight. Early Life and Career According to her obituary, Geraldine Marie (Holm) Hoch was born on June 10, 1924 in Independence, Missouri. She was a studious child who graduated from high school at age 15, earning an award for being the best English student in her school. She was interested in math and science, although she grew up during a time when career options for women were mostly homemaker, teacher or librarian. After high school, she attended Southwest Missouri State Teacher's College and was selected for "Who's Who for Colleges and Universities" in 1940. She excelled in math and science and taught physics at Air Force classes at the age of 17. After graduating with honors degrees in physics and mathematics, Gerry was hired by Bendix to work in the research and development department. She left Missouri to seek better aerospace career opportunities and headed to Los Angeles, California. She was hired by Northrop Aviation and worked alongside founder Jack Northrop. She could often be found in the laboratory and at ribbon-cutting ceremonies as part of a publicity campaign to promote the company's efforts to recruit women during and following World War II. She met Harry Edward Hoch, an industrial engineer, at a restaurant where employees met to carpool to work. They ended up agreeing to purchase a car together to help with the commute, and eventually they moved closer to Northrop and got married. Later, they moved back to Kansas in 1952 to start a family. Gerry took time off while she had three babies, and then she returned to work a few years after her youngest was born so she could contribute financially while her husband started a business. Back in Kansas, she got a job at Midwest Research Institute where she worked on new materials and techniques to support the space program. She brought home samples of freeze-dried hamburger so her kids could try astronaut food, and she brought home a few laboratory mice that became her children's pets. Although she was recognized for her professional talents, she wasn't paid fairly. At the time, men were often paid better salaries because they were considered the default head of household. Midwest Research Institute told her that, because she was earning a secondary income for her family, she would be paid an administrative salary. An Industry Leader Hoch left Midwest Research Institute and was hired at Lockheed, which quadrupled her salary and hired her as a Research Scientist specializing in metallurgy. She specialized in corrosion research and helped design methods for aircraft to identify and inhibit erosion on aircraft skins to prevent catastrophic damage. Gerry and her team earned patents and received royalty checks for this invention. "She was a key person at Lockheed in coming up with a new, innovative way to protect airliners from corrosion, and at Northrop Grumman, she likely contributed to the fuselage panels for the 747," says Jenson. He adds, "I'm sure that we used her process in manufacturing those 747 skins, I suspect that on that program she could have also been involved with the jet propulsion." In an era with very limited opportunities for women in STEM, she was honored and recognized as an industry expert. In 1971, she received an invitation addressed to Mr. Geraldine Hoch that asked her to present a paper at the NATO conference. She accepted the invitation and traveled to Belgium to speak to scientists and engineers about her work. Hoch suffered from cancer but continued to work at Lockheed while she was sick. She died on May 3, 1973 at age 48 in Los Angeles. Diversity and Innovation The legacy of Geraldine M. Hoch demonstrates the lasting benefits of a more inclusive workplace. As one of the first women in STEM, she contributed to aircraft manufacturing best practices such as corrosion prevention that are still in place today. Her career serves as an early example of the positive impact a diverse culture can have on the STEM fields. "When we include [women] in these programs, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts," says Jenson. "You have a synergistic effect. The more diverse you can be, the more innovative you're going to be." Being on the forefront of change, especially regarding space, physics, and engineering has been part of the Northrop Grumman culture for generations. Click here to search jobs in these areas of scientific innovation. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery in science, technology, and engineering.

Innovative Women in STEM: Geraldine M. Hoch

Sensors are usually embedded or hidden, so it's easy to take them for granted, but they are sophisticated devices that deserve a second look. The technology behind them has dramatically improved in the last couple decades and research and development continues to expand future capabilities. While the basic sensor has existed in various forms since the late 1800s, this century's version is smaller, more precise and more reliable. The latest versions are also multifunctional. Just like our smartphones are capable of doing much more than phone calls, a modern sensor can also multitask. Ed Eberl, Chief Technologist at Northrop Grumman's Amherst Systems unit explains, "At one instant a sensor could be acting as a communications link — transferring data back and forth — and then an instant later it could be acting like a radar tracking a target, and another instant later it can be jamming something, trying to detect someone else's communications." Sensors Are Everywhere With the Internet of Things, it might seem like sensors are already everywhere (from your coffee maker to your watch), but this is just the beginning. The optical sensing market is projected to grow to $3.46 billion by 2023 (three times greater than in 2016). Sensors are essential for consumer electronics such as wearable fitness trackers, virtual reality, smartphones and gadgets that haven't been invented yet. They are also increasingly used for industrial applications, such as allowing factories to automate manufacturing and shipping goods. There is massive potential in the medical field, since they can be used to provide doctors with detailed information about patients' health in real time. Sensors are components in the latest medical devices but they can also be embedded directly into the body to track heart rate, muscle movement and biomarkers. Many recent advancements in sensor technology were initiated by military projects. The Distributed Aperture System (DAS) sensor, for example, can give pilots the benefits of collision avoidance, weather tracking, night vision, ground mapping and early warnings of any incoming missile threats. While this type of high-tech situational awareness was originally meant for the military, similar technology is now being used by automakers to improve safety features and even create self-driving vehicles. Today's vehicles can already detect cars passing in blind spots and warn drivers if they drift into the wrong lane. Smart pressure sensors are a critical component to how airbags function in smart cars. Some automakers, such as Tesla, even offer autopilot mode for highway driving. No doubt, tomorrow's fully autonomous cars will be loaded with multifunction sensors. Sensor Technology Improved Modern challenges — whether in military or civilian settings — demand high-tech goods that require a sensor. Fortunately, two major factors have driven recent improvements in sensor technology. Researchers have greatly improved signal conversion, where you take a microwave signal and convert it into a digital format. The accuracy with which the latest devices can measure a radio frequency signal is constantly increasing because engineers keep developing faster and faster data converters. In addition to these more precise measurements, a second aspect has continued to improve at the same time: processing power. So now, better measurements are taken and they can be processed quickly on site or even in-flight. In the military, for example, there used to be intelligence platforms that would go out into the field and collect signals. This data would be recorded and sent back to an analysis center at a different ground location. Now, with the advancements in computing power and higher sampling rates, more information can be extracted in real time and analysis can be done right from the fighter jets. As sensors become more precise, the artifacts which hold them are becoming smaller, reducing the weight of the airframe. Another advancement in sensor technology is how multifunction sensor arrays are evolving. Typically, a set of sensors is assigned to work together to perform a task. A multifunction array is a collection of many smaller sensors, and each of these individual sensors can be independently assigned a specific task or function. The parameters of individual sensors can also be controlled to "point" the array in a desired direction. Think of a multifunction array as an LED light fixture. One LED bulb by itself may not be bright enough, but several of them can illuminate an entire area. Sensors work similarly. One of them may not be able to detect a target or signal, but a group of them working in unison provides increased sensitivity to perform a task. Because sensors play such an integral role in a variety devices and applications, advancements in their form and function are not only expected, but inevitable. Anticipating Future Capabilities What will a sensor be able to do in the next few years? Anything is possible. Eberl and his colleagues have to anticipate future capabilities. His team provides simulation and testing so that the engineers who are developing new devices can work out any bugs. One of these testing simulators — the Combat Electromagnetic Environment SIMulator (CEESIM) — provides RF simulation of multiple, simultaneous emitters so that engineers can see how their devices respond to the most complicated potential scenarios. The challenge is anticipating the many ways that a multifunction sensor will be used in the future. For example, recent improvements allow for a large array of individual sensors to be subdivided into multiple groups of sensors, each performing a different task. These types of array can perform multiple tasks simultaneously. Think of your cell phone and the multiple things you can do from this one device -- talk to a friend, while scrolling through an app to order dinner and have the big game streaming in the background -- all at the same time. Similarly, CEESIM needs to be able to test multiple different functions at the same time. "This is an exciting challenge for us," Eberl says, "to have to simulate all the different types of signals and different types of utilization of that sensor in a very dynamic environment because we as a simulator don't know what the sensor is going be doing from instant to instant." Check out opportunities to join Northrop Grumman's effort to predict the future at our career page.

The Incredible Shrinking Sensors and Their Massive Growth

A great motivator to creating a startup is the aspiration of achieving a "hockey stick" revenue curve. At the outset, a small scrappy team with a grand idea faces tough times — revenue is zero, and good will investment (both financial and human capital) is fuel. With hard work and some luck, the company escapes that period into one of gradual growth and then abruptly into very rapid growth — the "handle" of the hockey stick. If the company is to continue existing as a stand-alone entity, they have to get good at growth and good at delivering ever-larger volumes of products or services to consumers. That often means focusing less on innovation and more on efficiency. The recipe — invent something, get good at doing it profitably and repeat — is not so simple. Most large companies got that way because the economies of scale for production mandated an ever-bigger workforce and infrastructure. At some point, companies stop paying a third party to take care of legal matters and set up an in-house legal department. Likewise with establishing a dedicated marketing organization. Perhaps they build a production line and invest in specialized capital equipment. Eventually, they figure out how to be efficient, and in the process develop mass and momentum. One might think that having all these assets at their disposal would encourage employees at large companies to feel empowered and go innovate with them. After all, if you can repeat that startup process without those hard times (where a small team has to do everything themselves), wouldn't things move faster? Wouldn't it be possible to constantly make small bets, try new things and create new growth? If you happen to work at a large company, you might be laughing at this point. More often than not, when a large company finds success at doing something, the dynamic radically shifts and the mantra becomes "protect the core at all costs." Worse, when a company suddenly wins some new business, a new cycle of efficiency building occurs, and those assets become further specialized at doing what it takes to maintain momentum. Employees are incentivized by how well they enable the core, rather than challenge it — and in the short term this makes sense. There's money to be made, and there's a clear path to do it. Surely at some future point the company will invest in long-range planning, but that's for the next C-suite to handle. And then the digital camera was invented. The story of Kodak is one that no one wants to repeat, but it keeps happening (at an accelerating pace) and has earned a name now firmly embedded in our culture — disruption. No executive wants to be the one who just watches as their once-mighty business comes crashing down because a startup takes advantage of some new technology. So for at least the last 10 years, many large companies have created innovation organizations, and they range from completely ineffective to business model—changing. One common denominator of innovation organizations is that they infuse new ways of working into an established culture. Large companies such as Adobe, LinkedIn, MasterCard, Coca-Cola, MetLife, GE, IBM, Cisco, Tyco and Northrop Grumman have established internal employee incubator programs. These programs allow employees to explore new business models, customer solutions and, fundamentally, a new way of working. In the process of standing up a new business, participants are able to experiment with and learn about new ways to manage risk insulated from the core, but with all the amenities of an enterprise. With a 2015 survey by Accenture indicating that only 15% of millennials would prefer to work at a large corporation, programs like these address business growth and development, as well as recruitment and retention. There's some evidence that startup behaviors are providing real results and affecting the way large businesses operate — for instance, the recent success of the DARPA R3D2 project, which was executed and launched in just 20 months by a company that typically works on much longer timescales. The small, agile, Northrop Grumman—led team made use of streamlined procedures and even utilized an internal maker space to expedite integration efforts. The threat of disruption isn't slowing; as such, businesses can no longer afford to simply operate as normal. The barriers to bringing new ideas to market continue to fall, and many large companies are taking notice and putting real efforts into augmenting their scale and reputation with the agility of startups. Start up your own career by checking out the latest opportunities at northropgrumman.com/careers.

Large Companies Acting like Startups: Agility and the Capacity to Scale

Some organizations have a history of being innovative; others do not. Younger organizations are more open to change and more likely to innovate as they are not constrained by long-standing and established practices. However, younger firms are at a disadvantage with respect to innovation compared to more established companies that have stronger relationships with customers, more manufacturing experience in reducing costs and more experienced employees with a larger knowledge base, all of which can improve the company's ability to generate innovation.[1] But many successful large firms can experience structural inertia (rigidity of organizations' practices and specifications) and become bureaucratic, which stifles their ability to innovate. Thus, the paradox for the modern industrial corporation is that, in order to grow, or even to survive, it is necessary to undertake technological change — change that is disruptive to its stable state. Innovative Attributes What are the characteristics of a highly innovative company? Flourishing innovation can be attributed to corporate structural arrangements[2][3][4] (for example, organizational adaptability, matrix organizations, job rotation programs and innovation banks) that enable an enterprise of effective social networks, such as integrated communication channels, communities of practice, internal expos and forums, employee culture publications and access to distinguished scientists. These types of organizations also tend to cultivate supporting cultural attributes for innovation — entrepreneurial values, calculated risk taking, tolerance of failure, collaboration and employee recognition and rewards — that facilitate working together to incorporate technical change for the corporation. Enabling the Innovation Process We can think of the innovation process as having three major phases: creativity, prototype design and testing, and diffusion to adopters. Previous case studies on advanced materials at Northrop Grumman provide strong evidence of the influences of organizational arrangements and an effective social enterprise in developing and advancing game-changing technologies throughout these phases.[5][6] In addition, champions (such as creative scientists, entrepreneurial project managers, executive sponsors and end-user adopters) will typically emerge throughout the three phases of the innovation process to promote and advance innovative technology. The Creative Phase: Several structural and social factors within organizations have a major influence in sparking the creativity of individual scientists. Organizational structures that provide interpersonal communication channels and a corporate climate marked by collaboration across levels promote creativity. Matrix organizations, in which mid-level employees report to both a project manager and a functional manager, force cross-area communication.[7] Organizations with internally recognized and accessible senior technical staff members, such as subject matter experts and fellows, will facilitate social networking and technical discussions that create new ideas and increase the innovation rate. This informal organization, not generally shown on org charts, consists of ad hoc problem-solving teams of employees from different functions who exchange information and provide support for innovation. Prototype Design and Testing Phase: Unlocking the value of creative ideas often requires a new design and testing a new prototype.[8] Typically, the program manager or the corporate "intrapreneur"[9] will assemble a working team and procure funds to convert the creative idea into working prototypes to verify its value. However, the intrapreneur's success in building the innovation tends to be as much a function of how well external relations are handled as of the technical feasibility of the idea itself. It's critically important to keep supporters up to date on the project and its success, protect the group from outside interference and handle any subtle threats or opposition that could jeopardize the project. Hence, in practice — contrary to popular narratives about innovation being the result of an extraordinary, heroic inventor — innovation is a social enterprise. There is no "I" in innovation.[10] The Diffusion Phase: The culmination of innovation is the transfer of a product value to the potential adopters who will exploit the innovation and incorporate it as an ongoing organization practice. This is the most critical phase of the innovation process. Studies have indicated that, again, social practices make the principal difference, even more than the technical value of the innovation.[11][12] Because of perceived risks or entrenched ideas and/or specifications, the innovation might be seen as controversial, and the target adopters might even refuse to use it.

The Sociology of Innovation at a Large Corporation

Arlene Camp Made History as the First Female Aviator Assigned to her Navy Squadron  Arlene Camp has never been afraid of an opportunity. She earned her Naval Flight Officer wings of gold just after a policy restricting women from serving in combat roles was lifted and became the first woman assigned to naval squadron VAQ-138 on Whidbey Island, Washington. At age 24, this wasn't the first time she was the first female in a group. In high school, Arlene was the first and only girl to opt out of home economics. Instead she chose shop class, where she excelled in carpentry and metal working. Her dad taught her the value of independence and that she could do anything she wanted to do at an early age. Her desire to blaze her own trail led to a career at Northrop Grumman where she has worked for nearly 19 years. Arlene is the vice president of operations for Maritime/Land Systems and Sensors in Baltimore where she leads a team of more than 1,100 employees. In a brief Q&A, Arlene shared more about her historic career. How did you become a naval aviator? When I was in college, I joined the ROTC program. After receiving my commission, my first assignment was as an Intelligence Officer in Iceland for a year and a half. I wasn't physically qualified to be a pilot and I had missed a letter on the eye chart of the physical exam. I asked some other officers stationed with me about what it was like to be a Naval Flight Officer. I decided to apply to the program and was chosen to go to flight school for my next assignment. The timing worked out perfectly. Literally, a month before I got my wings in June 1993, the combat exclusion policy was lifted, allowing women to serve in more roles in the military.  Did you feel empowered by putting on the same uniform as the men in the squadron?  The flight suit was actually very comfortable. It's like wearing your pajamas to work! But I've always been comfortable doing things outside of the norm. When I joined the Navy, I knew that I was a definite minority, but it didn't bother me. My friends and classmates were going through the same training I was, and we worked alongside each other and relied on each other to make it through. That created a bond that has lasted a lifetime. I remember when I was assigned to the VAQ-138 Yellowjackets after my training was complete — all of the guys looked at me with the proverbial question mark over their head. Like, "how are we going to act around her? Is she going to mess up what we have?" So I did what I had always done — put my head down, jump right in and work hard to learn my job. For example, I would offer to fly the night schedule that others didn't want to do, and I tried to earn my qualifications as quickly as possible. In a squadron you have to build credibility and prove that you are trustworthy because you depend on each other and lives are at stake. My goal was to earn the respect and trust of my squadron mates as soon as I could. How did your dad help inspire your career choice?  I learned about service from my dad. He enlisted in the Navy during World War II, and when he got out, he went to college on the GI Bill. He was also a private pilot, and I got to fly with him and my mother and sister when growing up. I also learned about electronic warfare from him, because of what he did later as an engineer. My dad worked for a subcontractor to Grumman on Long Island where I grew up. I'm really proud — and think it's pretty cool — that my dad was one of the original designers of the weapon system on the EA-6B, the plane that I flew in the Navy. What lessons have you learned in the Navy that have helped you build a successful career?  One lesson I learned was how to compartmentalize. It's a skill that's taught to aviators to help focus on the task at hand with the intent of increasing performance and safety. It means to leave the distractions that may cloud your thinking outside the cockpit (or workplace). Turn your mind from thoughts of anything other than the job at hand, and pick them up again when the job is done. Other ways to think about it is being "laser focused" or "fully present" in the moment. Like anything else, it takes practice. What advice would you give to women looking to climb the corporate ladder? Get out of your comfort zone and do something a little bit different. When I interviewed for my first vice president position, I didn't get it. The feedback I received was that I didn't have enough diversity of experience, which shocked me because I had all different types of programs, different customers, and different technology areas across two campuses. When I look back, my resume had lots of program management experience, but that was just scratching the surface of what is possible here at Northrop Grumman. It didn't represent the breadth of the company, and there was so much more I could learn and benefit from if I did something different. My advice would be to realize the value of stepping outside your comfort zone — and then do it.

Naval Aviator and Pioneer

Maybelle Blair is everything you would want a 91-year old, former professional baseball player to be. She is passionate and witty and exudes the type of energy that is simply contagious. I had been told stories about Maybelle since I was a little girl — she hired my dad at Northrop Grumman in 1979. That one decision shaped my life and led to my interest in having my own career at Northrop Grumman, to the point that I feel forever indebted to Maybelle. Having the opportunity to sit down with her to talk baseball, Northrop and "A League of Their Own" was exhilarating and renewed my passion for the job I do at Northrop Grumman.  Shana: Tell us about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and what it meant to you as a girl who loved to play baseball. Maybelle: Oh, it was absolutely wonderful. It was probably one of the most exciting times of my life. I had all this opportunity, and at the time I didn't realize it. All I was doing was playing the sport I loved. And that was baseball, not softball. I never thought I would ever be able to play professional baseball. Because, you know, girls just didn't play baseball professionally, and today they still don't — but we're working on that. We want to have a league of their own again. Shana: Are you part of a movement to bring back girls' baseball? Maybelle: That's what I'm working for â€¦ to get girls a league of their own. To give them the opportunities that I had — to open doors for them. They want to play baseball, not softball. And it's so wonderful. These little girls come up to me and say, "I know every word of the movie, and I want to be a baseball player too."  Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  Shana: Speaking of the movie, "A League of Their Own," are you "All the Way May?" Maybelle: Yeah, that's what they called me. Everybody calls me All the Way May, 'cause I guess I'm nuts, I don't know. [Laughs] I hit a lot of home runs. Before the movie came out, nobody even knew that we played baseball, especially here in California. We played in the Midwest, so unless you knew someone personally, you would not know they played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Shana: What was it like watching those actresses tell your story? Maybelle: It was wonderful, absolutely wonderful. Penny Marshall [the director] was really great to us. About 90 percent of the movie is true; the rest was just Hollywood stuff. Like, a man couldn't go into our dressing room. Never. Our chaperone always took care of us. And you know, like, Madonna running out and catching the ball up against the fence? Well, it was a guy standing up there who dropped it into her mitt. And Geena Davis doing the splits and all of that, that was a man dressed like a woman. You take all of the Hollywood stuff out of it, and it was absolutely correct. They did a fantastic job. And these gals have become my very, very good friends now. Shana: Can you tell us about your early experiences working for Northrop, now Northrop Grumman? Maybelle: Well, I started off years and years ago when I was in high school. I worked during the summers in public relations. I would make scrapbooks with all the pictures of the aircraft coming in. Mr. Northrop would come in all the time, so I got to know him. In fact, I had a little softball team I put together, and he'd come out and say, "Boy, you sure are throwing good today, Maybelle." He was the greatest guy, honest to God. Every time I think of him it brings tears to my eyes because everyone loved him so. That's why working at Northrop was so great. If I had to go back and do it again, that's exactly what I'd want to do, work at Northrop. Shana: And you saw the flying wing take off? Maybelle: I did see the flying wing take off, I'll never forget that! Jack Northrop was way ahead of his time as an engineer — that was the start of the B-2. When the B-2 Bomber took flight, I said, "He's smiling ear to ear because that was his dream, and it's up there flying." Mr. Northrop ran his company first class. Everybody was family. At one time, I think he knew everybody by name. Shana: How did you go from intern to employee? Maybelle: One summer I worked in the mailroom. I was very fortunate because the manager liked how I worked and asked me to come work full time in transportation. I decided I needed to learn everything. So, I became a courier, and after that I became a dispatcher, and then I learned how to drive all the equipment. I worked my way up and took every step to become a manager. I worked hard and dedicated myself to my job and to the company. Shana: At that time, you were only one of three female managers. What was that experience like? Maybelle: Well, at that time, I didn't realize it. I was just doing my job, and I loved every minute. Northrop was the best company in the whole cockeyed world. It still is. They opened the doors for so many people, not only for women. They gave more opportunities, and we had more vacation time and better raises than other aircraft factories at the time. I was a very fortunate girl working for Northrop. I never felt like the only girl; everyone treated me with respect. We had such a great crew that it was a piece of cake for me. Of course, when I interviewed new candidates they had to like baseball or I wouldn't hire them. [laughs] That's one of the reasons I hired your dad! Shana: You did hire my dad, and that forever influenced my life and career course. My dad worked for Northrop Grumman for 30 years, I have worked here for 11, and my husband is coming up on 10. We are carrying on your legacy. Maybelle: Hey, you better carry it on, and carry it on good for me. [laughs] 'Cause that's what I worked so hard for — not only for myself, but for other people, you know. That's what I'm still doing today, working for women to have the opportunities that I had. Shana: Tell us about the big project you are working on today. Maybelle: Well, today my life is all about raising money to build the International Women's Baseball Center in Rockford, Illinois. We're going to have a museum, batting cages, umpire school, groundskeeping school â€¦ anything to do with baseball and education will be right there in that facility and open to women from all over the world. I'm traveling all over and get to speak about women's baseball — what we're doing, what we're trying to do, and what we're going to do. I just have to make sure I stay on this side of the grass. [laughs] I got to live long enough to see it through. We're going to get the league going for these girls and let them have the opportunity to play the sport they love. Shana: Maybelle, talking to you has been an absolute honor and pleasure. Thank you for the influence you have had on my life and for the service you gave to Northrop Grumman. And thank you most of all for being such an inspiration to girls of all ages who love to play baseball. Maybelle: Ah honey, well thank you, that's real sweet of you. Hey, I enjoyed you kids coming here, I'll tell ya! Visit www.internationalwomensbaseballcenter.org to learn more about Maybelle's passion. To learn more about starting a career at Northrop Grumman like Maybelle, visit us here.

Maybelle Blair: 91 Years Young

Clearing houses as part of a U.S. military-led campaign to rout al-Qaeda, two servicemen were met with machine gun fire the moment they walked into a dimly lit house in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. One of those men was Matthew Palacios, a staff sergeant and combat engineer in the Second Marine Division. The Army infantryman in front of Palacios was shot and fell to the ground, wounded. Then a grenade rolled between Palacios' legs. Now an employee of Northrop Grumman, this military veteran looks beyond his own career-shaping experiences. Ever cognizant of the meaning of Memorial Day, he remembers those who died while serving in the hopes that he can honor the sacrifices of these fallen heroes. Heroism in Battle Palacios confesses to just barely doing enough to get by in high school. All he wanted to do was be a Marine, a dream that began after reading military histories and watching war movies when he was younger. Palacios had never played competitive sports while growing up in Lorraine, Ohio, a blue-collar steel town outside of Cleveland. But in that cramped house in Fallujah, with no time to think, he grabbed the grenade, ran a few steps and threw it into another room -- much like a shortstop throws to first base, he recalled. The grenade exploded at a distance, sparing his life and those of the service members alongside him. For this act of bravery, Palacios received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. "I was so close to dying," he said of his daily routines in Iraq. "Almost being blown up in an ambush IED attack or being shot at and hearing the whizzing of the bullets and seeing the concrete snap off a wall near you or hitting the tree above you — there were so many situations." A Life After War After two deployments during the Iraq War, Palacios left the Marine Corps with two medals and a newfound sense of confidence as a military veteran, which helped him to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering — something he would have never dreamed of in high school. He eventually earned that bachelor's degree in 2014. Palacios joined Northrop Grumman in 2017 where he is a structural engineer, performing structural analysis on spaceflight hardware. "It's exciting to work on these projects...things to go into space," he said. But he couldn't imagine having the job without first serving in the military. "I gained the confidence I needed. I realized I can actually do it," Palacios said. "I don't feel like I got smarter in the Marine Corps, but it gave me the confidence and discipline to make a plan on a particular goal and follow through." The Importance of Memorial Day A day after that battle in Fallujah, his best friend in the Marines was killed in action. Palacios will always remember returning to the U.S. to recuperate from his injuries and attend his fallen friend's funeral. After meeting "his family and newborn son who will never know who he is," the meaning of Memorial Day, and the selfless sacrifice of our military veterans, will never be far from Matthew Palacios' mind.

A Military Veteran Who Followed His Dream to Northrop Grumman

Nanotechnology isn't a new concept. As noted by News Medical, human notions of nanoscale technologies have existed for centuries, but over the last few decades rapid technological advancements have empowered nanotech solutions in manufacturing and development. The caveat? Human-centric solutions have been more difficult to deliver. Now, alternative energy sources and antiviral compounds are in development as the evolution of nanotechnology picks up speed. What's next for nanoscale solutions? Viral Victories Viruses are stubborn. While pharmaceuticals exist to block specific viral protein bindings, they're limited. The emergence of drug-resistant viral strains is of critical concern, since these new strains are often more potent and resilient. Because of that, they require larger doses of medication, potentially causing adverse side effects. Some work on anti-viral nanocompounds has already been done, using rigid gold and silver nanoparticles to mimic heparan sulfate (HS) proteoglycans used as binding points for many viral variations. According to Phys.org, new research from the Potsdamn Institute of Biochemistry and Biology and the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, along with work from the Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Center for Infection Medicine (both of Freie Universitat), has led to the development of flexible antiviral nanotech compounds which "can effectively and permanently bind and shield viruses, thus preventing infections." Initial data shows inhibitory effects of up to 90 percent. Color Conditions Humans have a fascination with color. From fashion to safety to emotional well-being, color impacts the human condition. Sadly, though, traditional colors fade. Here's why: Pigments and dyes block certain wavelengths of light, in turn producing specific colors. But over time — and under exposure to sunlight — these pigments decay and fade. Naturally occurring colors in beetles and butterflies, however, are produced by slit-covered, nanoscale pillars. Varying slit widths produce destructive light interference which in turn creates long-lasting, fade-resistant color, according to Phys.org. As noted by Nanowerk, a team from the University of Hamburg, the ITMO-University in St. Petersberg and the Helmholtz-Center Geesthacht have developed a "photonic glass" that uses 200-nanometer hollow spheres, which "produce a blue color much closer to the perimeter of the chromaticity diagram," solving previous problems with weakly saturated colors produced by homogenously filled sphere solutions. Transistor Transformations Current transistor technology requires substantial power for operation. Another evolution of nanotechnology focuses on the development of all-carbon nanotube transistor radios capable of high-speed transmissions that require just one-thousandth the power of existing solutions. According to Nanotechnology Now, the technology, developed as a joint venture between between Northrop Grumman and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, uses "thousands of perfectly aligned, single-walled carbon nanotubes as a type of semiconductor thin film." Both proof-of-concept and power considerations are important: This is the first radio prototype that leverages carbon nanotubes for all active and vital components, and it could potentially increase battery life seven-fold compared to current transistor technology. Energy Evolution Nano-driven alternative energy sources are also in development. <a target="_blank" class="SWhtmlLink" href="https://www.power-technology.com/news/researchers-create-hydrogen-energy-source-using-nanotechnology/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Power Technology reported that researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom are working nanoscale, screen-printed, graphene-like electrodes that are embedded in carbon-based ink. Used in electrolysers, these electrodes separate water into its component parts — hydrogen and oxygen — and store the hydrogen for later use. The big advantage here? Not only are these electrodes environmentally-friendly, they don't require consumer demand to make economic sense. Hydrogen can be captured and stored as a gas with no deterioration or loss, then used on demand in a fuel cell. Potential use cases include remote communities that currently import expensive fossil fuels, and power-intensive military applications. Nano Tech, Big Impact The evolution of nanotechnology is now delivering human-centric value. From flexible antiviral compounds to non-fading colors, low-power transistors and renewable energy sources, thinking small delivers big impact.

Energy Sources and Viral Defenses: The Evolution of Nanotechnology

Perhaps it was someone's dark sense of humor, but whoever created the acronym 'C4ISR' surely did so with a wry smile. As an acronym, it almost single-handedly makes the case that defense and security agencies have an unhealthy appetite for unsightly abbreviations. It's hard to disagree that acronyms can be obstacles to clear communication, especially those that combine letters and numbers, and it is a doozy. Let's start though by acknowledging that acronyms serve a useful purpose; without them we'd repeat ourselves ... a lot! Acronyms can be valuable shorthand for complex and important constructs or concepts.  C4ISR is a terrific example of where an acronym helps avoid repetition. After all, who wants to say Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance more times that you must? 'C4ISR' helps us put together arguably the most important elements of the infrastructure of global national security into a single, memorable term. While it's easy to remember the acronym— after all, we do tend to remember awkward terms — it's not as easy to recall, or even agree, what it means precisely. There's a danger that, as it comes to mean many things to many people, it won't have one common meaning to anyone. We should all understand, in broad and easily-shared terms, the value of the capabilities encapsulated in C4ISR. Ron 'Squeek' Henry, Strategy Manager, Airborne C4ISR Division at Northrop Grumman has a simple definition. "C4ISR is about gaining decision superiority to enable mission success." More specifically, Squeek defines C4ISR as the network of platforms, sensors, communications nodes, and decision aids which connects systems to operators.  This networked web seamlessly operates across domains, fuses data, adapts and evolves with the mission, while ensuring high speed, decision quality data to the operator at the tactical edge he says. "It's the web that joins platforms, payloads, sensors and people."  Imagine a world where you can mobilize a response team before a disaster fully unfolds, or send military intelligence in real time to help save soldiers' lives and ensure mission success. You don't need to imagine it: Today C4ISR is helping solve the world's toughest security challenges through groundbreaking software and highly advanced technology.  "The key to effective C4ISR is optimizing the functionality, synchronization and interoperability of land, sea, air, cyber and space systems to rapidly turn data, non-kinetic effects and intelligence into mission-winning action with superior tactical battle management," Squeek said. "It's about providing a decisive advantage to the warfighter," he added. It may be an ugly acronym, but C4ISR systems provide critical decision-making intelligence and allow security forces to sense, share, collaborate and act with greater speed and assurance, and that's a beautiful thing.  If you want to learn more abour Northrop Grumman's C4ISR technology check it out here.

C4ISR: An Ugly Acronym for a Key to Global Security

Imagine it's the year 2034, and you're boarding a lunar railroad that will carry you from your research base to your living quarters after studying the lunar landscape. This isn't as far-fetched as you might think. NASA's Artemis program, for example, currently includes plans to establish a human presence on and around the moon, an outpost at the moon's south pole and expeditions across the lunar surface.In fact, a moon economy with sustained human settlements, held together by a network of robots and automated trains for transportation on the moon, is solidly in the works.Planning a Lunar RailwayThe Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has been developing a model for NASA, international governments and commercial industries to rapidly scale up both lunar exploration and commerce. The agency has been conducting a 10-Year Lunar Architecture Capability Study (LunA-10) with the goal of making progress in the development of future lunar habitats.Scientists and engineers across the space community have teamed up during this seven-month-long study, combining their knowledge and skills to develop a future civil lunar framework with sturdy and reliable infrastructure for activities on the moon. Fast Company and others report that, as part of the LunA-10 Capability Study, DARPA selected Northrop Grumman to develop the concept of a moon-based railroad network."For a mission to the moon today," says Northrop Grumman Program Manager Steven Floyd, "you must bring everything to the moon yourself — your mining experiment, your power and your communications equipment."Once permanent lunar bases are established, surface transportation will be necessary to expand human activities.Northrop Grumman Principal Investigator Spencer Levin, who came up with the idea for better transportation on the moon, says, "A lunar railway would provide mobility to many missions."Connecting Valuable Locations on the MoonEngineers at Northrop Grumman started by thinking innovatively about the feasibility of using a lunar railroad for transportation on the moon and identified several important uses. The lunar railroad could provide access to remote areas of the moon, such as permanently shadowed regions in the south pole region that may contain valuable deposits of water ice and hydrocarbons. Other local resources, such as mined regolith, could be used for construction instead of hauling the needed supplies all the way from Earth.The study also looked at the types of metallic materials that could be extracted to produce the rail network. In an ideal situation, the lunar railroad would be constructed from indigenous lunar materials by tele-operated robots. "We're studying how to make the trains and the rail network with as much material sourced from the moon as possible," says Floyd.The payloads, then, would need to be transported around the lunar base — for example, to and from living quarters to landing zones and other outposts. NASA or a private company could also use the moon as a launch point to Mars, so a lunar station would act as a depot, like the Wild West, where cities grew around train stations.Advantages of Rail Transportation on the MoonAnother advantage of the lunar railroad is that railway carts move large quantities of materials significantly faster than traditional lunar rovers. "The rail network would move about the speed of a golf cart," says Floyd. Each train car is shaped like a large version of a mine cart and could haul enough material to fill a full-sized truck bed. Depending on demand, a single train could connect hundreds of cars.Industrial-grade construction rovers with autonomous robotics would be the primary means of laying the track. Like bulldozers on Earth, these rovers would prepare the area and then place the materials. As the railroad grows outward from the lunar base, it would provide transportation for its growth and other construction projects, such as the lunar electric power grid, solar arrays and telecommunications networks. Eventually, the lunar rail system would be expanded to all geographic areas of interest.In addition, LunA-10 investigated which type of propulsion mechanism made the most sense: batteries and electric motors versus electrification, which is currently used for light rail transit on Earth.The Moon Meets Lunar TourismThe study also looked at what could be monetizable. "There could be a market for people willing to pay for a tour around the moon," says Floyd. "A tourist might want to see different sights on the moon, and a rail network would facilitate those types of opportunities."To an astronaut on the moon, riding the lunar railway might seem like an attraction at an amusement park, except that, instead of an artificial set, it's actually the surface of the moon."If someone wanted to send me to the moon and bring me back, I would 100% do that," says Levin, noting that the moon is still a wild, uncharted place."Part of the mission of Northrop Grumman is to have a vision for what the future could be," says Floyd. "We can do that because we understand how to operate complex vehicles in the harsh environment of the lunar surface."Even if you don't get a seat on the lunar train, it's still possible that someone might send you a postcard from the moon someday... as long as the next plan is for a lunar post office.Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Learn more about our people and life at Northrop Grumman, or check out our career opportunities to see how you can be a part of defining possible.

Building a Lunar Railroad in Space

Neil Armstrong could never escape the spotlight that always followed the world's most famous astronaut. But behind the scenes, more than 400,000 government employees and private contractors toiled in anonymity on the Apollo 11 mission, helping to ensure NASA would win the space race with the Soviet Union. For years, engineers, scientists and even security guards worked feverishly around the clock to answer President John F. Kennedy's call to put the first man on the moon and return him safely to earth. For Gerard "Jerry" Elverum, work on the "moon shot" started in 1960, a year before the Apollo program formally began, with him designing the rocket engine that powered the descent of the lunar module (LM) used on all six moon landings. Meanwhile, Howard "Howie" Frauenberger alternated college studies with a Grumman Corporation internship that had him participating in three high-profile scientific tests on Apollo. Their ingenuity, scientific insight and diligence enabled Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to bounce around the moon's surface on July 20, 1969. Millions of people back on Earth watched in astonishment, while Elverum and Frauenberger observed history with a mix of confidence and the slightest of worries. Now, as the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing approaches, the retired engineers look back on their accomplishments with wonder and pride. "No matter what you were working on, there was this intense feeling that you have to get it right," Frauenberger recalled. Elverum remembers being driven by an expectation that individual efforts had to match the collective national drive to achieve the extraordinary. "We had a goal and knew we had to be committed to make it work," he said. Confidence in a Design In 1960, a year after Elverum joined Grumman legacy company Space Technology Laboratories (STL), he started creating one of the most critical mechanical components for a moon landing. The LM needed an engine powerful enough to separate from Apollo's command and service module (CSM) in lunar orbit but also nimble enough for a soft and precise touchdown on the moon's surface. Elverum knew he had the right stuff, but it took a bit of convincing. Grumman Corporation was charged with developing and building the LM, and Rocketdyne — then one of the biggest rocket engine companies — had secured the job to create the spacecraft's descent engine. But, as Elverum recalls, NASA was worried about Rocketdyne's design. Hearing this, he showed his design to NASA officials, who wondered aloud about the legitimacy of an engineer from a largely unknown company. But tests supported Elverum's belief that his rocket would consistently perform under all conditions. In 1963, NASA asked STL to build its engine as a backup to Rocketdyne's product; a year later, it realized Elverum was correct all along. Now 92 and living about 80 miles east of Los Angeles in Murrieta, California, Elverum still holds the patent on the concept of the lunar descent throttling engine. "The lunar module descent engine probably was the biggest challenge and the most outstanding technical development of Apollo," according to "Chariots for Apollo," a NASA history of the program. "It had a dynamically stable configuration, so if there was a major disruption, it would recover within 10 seconds and could take all types of glitches," Elverum said in a telephone interview. "I was convinced of that. And all through the time we were developing it, that had to be the most critical thing that NASA and Grumman would have to see. I had a lot of confidence in it." The throttling capabilities of the engine enabled Armstrong to safely guide the LM to a new landing spot when it overshot the planned touchdown area. "During those 12 minutes, it felt like I had the whole world on my shoulder," Elverum said. His engine performed capably not just on the Apollo 11 mission but on five others. On the Apollo 13 mission, when the engine intended to bring astronauts home was irreparably damaged in an explosion on the way to the moon, Elverum's engine ultimately brought them back to earth. For that and other career accomplishments, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1987. He retired three years later. A Dream Internship Frauenberger attended Pratt Institute, a university in his native Brooklyn, New York, because it offered a unique work-study program. Although it would take five years to earn an engineering degree, he gained work experience by interning for three full semesters at Grumman's campus in Bethpage, New York. It didn't take long during his first internship semester, in spring 1966, to be assigned to the LM project, as he helped vouchsafe the dependability of the craft's landing gear. "It better work, because if it doesn't work, you can't land," Frauenberger joked in a recent telephone interview from his home in Malverne, New York. Not long after, Frauenberger found himself in the cold-flow test facility, using inert gases in a methodical assessment of the functionality of ascent and descent vehicles that were ready to be shipped to Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. "It was a test that had to keep going and going around the clock for about six or seven days for each module," he recalled. Two years later, with NASA pushing hard to land the first man on the moon, Frauenberger had one more Apollo assignment: help the thermodynamic engineering department conduct an analysis of the LM's cabin, simulating the conditions it would face on the moon. He ran a computer program that examined "how the temperature would vary from the landing to the take-off from the moon," he said. "It was for the sake of the astronauts and the electronic equipment." Several times throughout his internship, Apollo astronauts stopped by the Grumman facility to check on progress and inspire employees. Frauenberger has forgotten which astronauts visited because at the time he was unabashedly giddy about meeting his heroes. "You don't wash your hands for days. It was the closest thing to meeting God." Frauenberger graduated in the summer of 1969, just in time to witness the moon landing on television while at a friend's birthday party. Five decades later, he believes his work on Apollo was the pinnacle of his career. His colleagues might disagree. Grumman hired him after college, and he spent 47 years with the company, working on, among several projects, the development of the F-14 Tomcat fighter jet and the MQ-4C Triton. Now retired, the 72-year-old holds the distinguished title of Grumman technical fellow. Frauenberger can't believe 50 years have passed since Armstrong stepped down from the ladder of Apollo 11 and left his first imprint on lunar soil. Those heady times still seem like they happened yesterday. "The whole world kind of stopped," he said. "It is one of the greatest events in history. It is certainly one of the greatest aerospace events."

Northrop Grumman Engineers Recall Their Work on Apollo 11 Mission

 In the late 1960s, up-and-coming New Jersey painter Phil Weisgerber ventured out to southern California in his twenties and landed a job within one of the U.S. government's most sensitive and closely guarded industries. Over the next 40-plus years, he would go on to become one of the most influential and well-respected conceptual artists in Northrop Grumman's history. In October of last year, I had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Weisgerber in his studio and discuss his colorful life and career. Following is a transcript of my interview with this talented artist.
 Adam: Today is October 31, 2016, and I'm sitting in Phil Weisgerber's home in Redondo Beach, California. So Phil, I'm just going to start at the beginning and walk through your life and career essentially. There are no wrong answers.
 Phil: Good. I don't want to fail a test or anything.
 Adam: I read that you grew up in New Jersey. What was that like?
 Phil: I always thought I was going to live there. I love New Jersey. I go back there for three or four months every year. Most of my family is there and my girlfriend Maria lives there. I just like the smell of it. I grew up in a wilderness area known as the ""Great Swamp."" I worked for hunt clubs and as a guide out in the swamp until I was about 20 and moved to California.
 Adam: I imagine the surrounding beauty influenced a lot of your work.
 Phil: Most of the landscapes that you see around us are paintings of the swamps. I paint them for myself but I sell them as well. I tend to paint what I want and not care if anybody buys them or not. They sell eventually.
 Adam: You attended the National Academy School of Fine Arts and Design in New York City. Was it a difficult transition to go there from such a wide-open space?
 Phil: I stayed in New Jersey because I was only 25 miles from New York. I would take the train in every morning. But yes, I loved walking around in the city before or after class. I had no idea what I was going to do. I had these scholarships from high school so I figured I might as well use them to attend the National Academy.
 Adam: Do you have any favorite artists or people you draw inspiration from?
 Phil: I studied Rembrandt for so long and I always liked his style. Even though satellites and landscapes don't look like Rembrandt, I'm always thinking of Rembrandt. When I was at the National Academy, this one instructor (who looked like he could have known Rembrandt) said that he studied under Rembrandt. The Metropolitan had a huge collection of Rembrandt paintings so I would do just like he said and go down and study the Rembrandts. It was only walking distance. I had special access so I could go down to the basements and the vaults and look at things that weren't on display.
 Adam: What was your motivation to move to Los Angeles?
 Phil: It was actually an art teacher in high school who prompted me to apply to the Art Center School in Los Angeles. In the National Academy, all you really did was nudes: figure painting in the morning and figure drawing in the afternoon. The instructors were world famous. I had no idea what I wanted to do but my high school teacher said, ""I want you to go to California and go to school at Art Center,"" and I didn't even know what for. But I did come out and was accepted.
 
 Photo by Alex Evers, Northrop Grumman
 Adam: After Art Center, what led you into aerospace and defense?
 Phil: I think it was because it was the first place that hired me. I called major companies in Southern California that might have an art department. I was ready to go back to New Jersey but needed money to get back there. A guy at Purolator was going to hire me in Thousand Oaks but I never got a degree from Art Center, only a Certificate of Completion. I could have gotten the degree if I'd taken two more classes but the head of the department said, ""You don't really need the degree. Your work will speak for itself."" So, after I filled out the paperwork at Purolator, the receptionist said, ""You didn't put down your degree."" I said, ""I don't have one."" She threw my application in the trash and said, ""We don't hire anyone without a degree."" I called TRW [Thompson Ramo Wooldridge — the space branch of which was purchased by Northrop Grumman for $7.8 billion in 2002] and they asked me to come in, but then the art director from Purolator called me and asked why I didn't show up for my interview. I said, ""I don't have a degree."" And he said, ""You went to Art Center, right?"" And I said, ""Yeah."" And he said, ""Well, I'd have hired you anyway. You didn't need a degree. "" Well, I didn't know that at the time. I was 24 years old and didn't know how the work world worked.
 Adam: So describe what it was like to go from Art Center to working at a massive aerospace corporation.
 Phil: When I started at TRW, I was in the Presentation Art Department and did speedball lettering for four or five years, which I had never done before.
 Adam: Can you describe that process a bit?
 Phil: We would produce these 30 by 40-inch flip charts with India ink and speedball pens. They would use these for presentations. We also did pastel work. If there were illustrations on the charts, we always did them in pastels. I won an award for one of those pastels back in 1969. There were five or so established artists at TRW and they did all the color work. Anything painted was usually done by John Desatoff or Frank Warren and a few others. It wasn't until about 1980, when everybody was so busy that somebody came to me and asked if I could do a satellite painting. I did it in three days and it was very well received. That got my foot in the door and afterward I produced most of the color illustrations. And then my work won some international awards and garnered attention from TRW and customers.
 Adam: Can you describe the creative process of how you would work with the customer to come up with a painting?
 Phil: A lot of them started as conceptual drawings. Some of the products had no plans, no blueprints, and we'd draw them up; others had engineering drawings. I would do a lot of roughs and that was the fun part — the conceptual drawings and paintings. Sometimes I would do up to 10 or 15 of them with different varieties of painting to choose from.
 Adam: So would you establish which rough to start from and then bring it back to your studio and start painting?
 Phil: I never did oil at TRW. Everything was done in gouache which is an opaque watercolor. Once a rough was done and approved, I'd refine the rough a little bit or give them a transitional painting. When that was approved, I would paint the finish. The fun part was doing the roughs and solving a problem. A lot of them were a challenge to show what the customer wanted to show. Often the roughs were more dynamic because you could splash a highlight that was bigger than the subject on it and make it look really good.
 Adam: Do any of the paintings really jump out at you as favorites?
 Phil: Yes. Actually, when President Reagan was in office, I liked a lot of the Star Wars program art. There were all these Brilliant Pebbles and autonomous things flying around in space. It was fun figuring out a lot of them because often you had to go back to the engineers and find out what the orbits were and how high they were to make the pictures right. There were other ones that were fun. I ended up doing a lot of these long pieces that just evolve from one thing into another. Such as this timeline that starts with the Big Bang and ends with AXAF.
 Adam: And what is the size of that one, for our readers?
 Phil: It's about 60 inches by 8 inches.
 Adam: It's gorgeous.
 Phil: A lot of these have gone through transitions. Sometimes over a 10-year period, I would work on that same piece of art. Instead of doing a new one each time, I would take out the old one and wipe part of it off. That's one thing about gouache — you can just wipe off what's on there with a wet cloth and have a clean board to work over. It would save the company a lot of money and me a lot of time. The gouache was the worst media I had ever seen when I was going to art school. Depending on how you used it, it could dry lighter or darker and it would never dry the same color. It took so many years but after working with it for forty years at TRW, it became the easiest paint to use. You could mix your colors up and it would look like it was three values different and you'd put it down and it would dry right up to the same color. I felt really proud of that — that something I hated so much at school turned into my favorite medium.
 Adam: Your work has been featured at Northrop Grumman, NASA, the Pentagon and Smithsonian, among others. You've been covered in Popular Science, Global Defense Review, Aviation Weekly. Even Steven Spielberg owns some of your work. Are there any specific milestones that stand out to you as career accomplishments, or experiences that are particularly memorable?
 Phil: The company travel was fun. I also traveled with the Air Force to the Middle East and Europe as a member of the Air Force art program. One time in Iraq, I remember I was walking to go see the Temple of Ur and a guy telling me, ""Remember to stay on the tank tracks."" I asked, ""Why?"" And he said, ""Because there's live ordnances out there."" I said, ""Yeah, I don't need to see the temple that bad."" It was an experience just seeing a whole other part of life — the way they live in that region.
 
 Photo by Alex Evers, Northrop Grumman
 Adam: Tell me about your relationship with the company's customers. What was it like for a free-spirit artist working for the military?
 Phil: The Air Force would fly you to AF bases all over the country and they'd treat you real nice. My part was to paint something for the Air Force that showed their impact around the world. Over the years I've painted a guy releasing a weather balloon ... another one was a moose up in Alaska. And I would paint missiles, launch facilities, satellites and space paintings.
 The Air Force had a lot to do with the space program. When I was in England at Lakenheath Air Force Base, I did a painting of a distant F-15 at the top with all these flowers in the foreground. The painting, which was called ""End of Runway Lakenheath,"" went over well.
 Even with TRW, I'd go up to Vandenberg to do research for when they were building SLC-6 for the shuttle launches. I was out with this guy and I kept telling him to stop the car because I wanted to take pictures of the flowers. After about the third stop he said, ""You seem more interested in the flowers then the buildings we're going to."" And I said, ""To tell you the truth, I am."" So he said, ""Well, let me go get the four-wheel drive."" He came back with the four-wheel drive and we spent the rest of the afternoon riding all over Vandenberg taking pictures of landscapes. I said, ""I really like this."" He said, ""If you ever want to come up again, call me."" And I used to go up and see him and we'd just go out for rides all over the place and shoot the landscape.
 Adam: It's not just the aerospace industry that appreciated your talent. Tell me how Steven Spielberg ended up with one of your works?
 Phil: It was a gift from a man that I was doing some freelance for, who happened to know Steven Spielberg really well. He bought one of my prints to take to a dinner party at Norman Lear's house to give to Spielberg as a gift. I understand Spielberg actually liked my version of E.T. hugging the Earth and said it was one of his favorite versions of E.T. And that's how Spielberg ended up with my work.
 Adam: Well, you've accomplished so much over your amazing career, but are there any dream projects that remain to be done?
 Phil: I guess my dream project would be to have the incentive to do any of the ones that are already in my head. I have reference pieces that I shoot all over the country when I'm out, and I'd like to do a lot more paintings. I still like painting the swamps; it's still one of my favorite subjects.
 Phil Weisgerber passed away peacefully in his home on January 13, 2017, surrounded by family. His legacy includes four children, three grandchildren, and his art.

From New Jersey Swamps to Top Secret Satellites: An Appreciation of the Life and Work of Phil Weisgerber

The James Webb Space Telescope (often referred to as Webb) is the world's largest, most powerful, and most complex space science telescope ever built. And guess what? It detected what is believed to be a new supernova about 3 to 4 billion light-years away during its first week of operation.
This is a big deal because Webb wasn't specifically designed to search for new supernovae — and they are really hard to detect. But the telescope looked in the exact right direction at precisely the right time. Let's break down the discovery by starting with the basics.
What Is a Supernova?
The "super" half of the name is obvious — it is really big and impressive — and the nova half means "new." From our perspective on Earth, a new supernova looks like a sudden, short-lived brightening so intense that it looks like a new star being created.
But the supernova doesn't happen during the birth of a star. No, just the opposite. A supernova represents a star's self-detonation near the end of its evolution. It can be either the final moments of a massive star's life as it runs out of fuel — the explosion of a dying star — or the result of a star accumulating matter from a nearby neighbor until a runaway nuclear reaction ignites.
A supernova occurs when a massive star explodes and collapses into either a neutron star or a black hole. As the star runs out of fuel, the pressure drops and gravity causes the star to collapse inward. The outer layers then rebound during the collapse and explode violently. This explosion releases huge amounts of debris and particles.
Supernovae are one of the brightest events in the entire cosmos. At its peak brightness, a supernova can be as luminous as an entire galaxy. But new supernovae are relatively rare events, occurring on average about once every 50 years in the Milky Way.
How Do Astronomers Find Supernovae?
Normally, astronomers find new supernovae by using a telescope that makes surveys by searching large swaths of sky. But people have been finding them since at least 185 A.D., the oldest appearance of a supernova recorded by mankind.
In the year 1054, before telescopes, Chinese astronomers recorded a supernova in the Crab Nebula that was so bright they could even see it in the daytime. Scientists are still studying it today. Another supernova, Kepler's Supernova, was discovered in 1604. Kepler's Supernova is the most recent supernova to be discovered in our Milky Way galaxy, and it was observed with the naked eye.
Since the development of the telescope in 1608, the field of supernova discovery has expanded. In 1933, a team from Caltech used a 45-cm telescope at Palomar Observatory to discover 12 new supernovae within three years. They did this by comparing new photographic plates to reference images of extragalactic regions.
Using the comparison technique, the Earth-based telescopes that usually look for supernovae take images of the same wide areas of the sky every few nights. Data-processing software compares every new image with previous images of the same area, looking for anything that might have changed. By the 1960s, astronomers began using computer-controlled searches to discover even more supernovae, and by the 1990s, several automated programs searched the skies for supernovae. Even amateur astronomers have used the comparison technique to discover new supernovae.
In more recent years, supernovae have been detected by looking for neutrino emissions, and the remnants of supernovae could be found by looking for gamma rays from the decay of titanium-44. On May 21, 2008, astronomers were able to catch a supernova on camera for the first time just as it was exploding. They were looking at a galaxy 88 million light-years from Earth when they noticed a burst of X-rays by chance.
A variety of telescopes were aimed in that direction just in time to capture it.
Webb's Infrared Camera
The Webb telescope was built to look very closely into deep, small areas of the universe to find details from an area as small as a grain of sand — not to scan the skies for new supernovae. Astronomers planned to use Webb to look at light from the earliest stars and galaxies that formed in the universe in the short hundred million years after the Big Bang. That's why finding a supernova right away was such a surprise. Astronomers were extraordinarily lucky to happen upon a supernova at the perfect moment in time as it exploded.
Webb's primary imager uses a Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) that was designed to focus with unprecedented resolution on the near-infrared and mid-infrared wavelength range of 0.6 to 5 microns, which is outside the visible range. These wavelengths are important for peering through gas and dust to see distant objects that would otherwise be hidden.
Unlike the short, tight wavelengths of visible light, longer wavelengths of infrared light penetrate the dense molecular clouds of dust that block most of the visible light. Because of this, the dust is transparent in these infrared wavelengths, meaning stars and planets going through the process of formation will come into clear view with Webb.
The Latest Find
Just a few days after the start of its science operations, Webb's NIRCam instrument spotted an unexpected bright object, which dimmed over a five-day period. This is classic supernova behavior and suggests that it could have been a supernova caught by sheer luck. The object was discovered in a galaxy that's between 3 and 4 billion light-years away from Earth, which means that astronomers are seeing an explosion that happened over 3 billion years ago.
The Webb team used software to compare the new observations with images of the same galaxy taken from the Hubble Space Telescope in 2011 to show that this bright object was indeed new. Scientists are careful and want to be extra sure before they confirm that what Webb saw really was a supernova, so they'll continue to collect time series data.
What Else Can the James Webb Space Telescope Do?
Since astronomers were able to detect such a special event in the first week of operations, does this mean Webb could spot supernovae regularly? Each of Webb's deep field images includes hundreds of galaxies representing hundreds of opportunities to spot a supernova. Additionally, Webb's deep view could make the aftermath of a supernova easier to track. Astronomers could watch how light from the supernova dims over time or measure its spectra to reveal what chemical elements made up the parent star that exploded.
Webb was designed to see the earliest galaxies that formed in the universe in the first 100 million years after the Big Bang. Just imagine what scientists could learn if Webb was able to capture the death throes of one of the universe's first generations of giant stars. Those early stars — made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium — would have been massive, about 200 to 300 times the mass of our sun. They would have burned hot and fast and exploded into enormous supernova.
As Webb continues its investigations of the early universe, it's sure to rewrite all the textbooks and fundamentally change our understanding of the universe.
Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

Surprise! The James Webb Space Telescope Detects a New Supernova

Following the recent landing of NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover, one group of engineers reflected on how their innovative work with deployables led to the discovery of water on Mars.
In 2000, a small team of engineers and technicians at Astro Aerospace in Carpinteria, California (now owned by Northrop Grumman) were presented with a particularly vexing challenge: to develop a 40-meter long antenna powerful enough to survey beneath the surface of Mars, and able to fit on the Mars Express, a space exploration mission proposed by the European Space Agency (ESA).
At the time, the team had little idea that their innovative antenna would eventually support the discovery of liquid water on Mars.
Pioneering a New Concept
The team had the opportunity to be creative in coming up with a design for the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) antenna.
"It was a very 'soft' program," said Geoff Marks, who was lead technologist for MARSIS. "Our customer provided with the required thickness and length of the radar antenna, then asked to come up with an idea for how to fit it in the spacecraft, then deploy it in space."
The antenna had to be built for a low frequency radar, so it had to be very long once fully deployed in orbit. But it needed to stow to about 1.5 meters in length while in transit and be able to fit on the side of a spacecraft the size of a subcompact car.
Fortunately, the team had some tricks in their deployables toolbox. Since 1958, their company, Astro Aerospace, had been pioneering the technology of space-deployable structures — devices that can be dramatically reconfigured once in space.
For the MARSIS mission, the team designed a lightweight deployable dipole antenna: two 20-meter booms or poles, which would collect information by sending radar pulses to Mars' surface and receive pulses in return. A third, shorter boom would eliminate interference between real signals and possible scatter, like a really large set of rabbit ears for your television set.
The most innovative aspect of the design was a new concept imagined by Marks, called foldable-flattenable-tube (FFT) booms, which enabled the antennas to stow. FFT booms could support the full length of the antenna's electrical elements and, like the cardboard tubing inside paper towel rolls, were long, light, thin-walled and — with some tricky engineering — able to fold.
Taking MARSIS from Concept to Reality
In just a few short years, the first-of-its-kind deployable antenna was developed by Astro Aerospace's group of passionate problem solvers with backgrounds spanning from bicycle mechanics to doctorates in physics.
"The technicians and the engineers both brought different sides of the equation to execute the hardware," said Michael Beers, who was the structural engineer for MARSIS. "You need a diversity of skills and backgrounds to bring a product from concept to execution."
The team took advantage of computer simulation tools to successfully test components of MARSIS, an important step since Earth's gravity makes it physically difficult to test fully constructed deployable space hardware, according to Bob Chang, senior principal representative in business development.
"On Earth, the antenna doesn't pop straight out like it does in space, so these mock demonstrations are key to building our confidence in the success of the mission," said Bob.
A Cool and Wild Ride
In 2004, a year after arriving at Mars, the MARSIS antenna was deployed — and the MARSIS team had redeployed to new projects, from addressing challenges in satellite-based telecommunications to working on products studying the effects of climate change.
Still, Marks said it wasn't difficult to keep up with the Mars Express, as its findings were published in numerous scientific journals — including the exciting discovery of a subglacial lake of liquid saltwater trapped under Mars' southern ice cap. One of the antenna's most groundbreaking findings, this upended the previous belief that water only existed on Mars in solid or gas form. Later research found three additional bodies of water.
"We knew MARSIS was for deep surface penetration, but didn't know what we'd find with it," Marks said. "It's pretty cool and a wild ride that MARSIS found liquid water on Mars, which may pave the way for human exploration or even lead to the discovery of life on the red planet."
Today, NASA's quest to explore the mysteries of Mars continues with the Perseverance Rover, which landed on Mars on Feb. 18. For one Mars year — about 687 Earth days — the Rover will collect information to further our understanding of Mars.
While new discoveries on Mars are often several years — or, in the case of the MARSIS antenna, over a decade — in the making, that never deters forward-looking engineers and scientists. After all, each team builds on the hard work of their predecessors, confident that their work today will pave the way for those who follow.
Being on the forefront of change, especially regarding space, physics, and engineering has been part of the Northrop Grumman culture for generations. Click here to search jobs in these areas of scientific innovation.

The Art of the Deployable: Reflecting on the Innovative Antenna Which Led to the Discovery of Water on Mars

 Each year, hundreds of adventurers crowd the slopes, hoping to make it to the summit of Mount Everest. Unfortunately, this popularity is causing ecological problems on the world's highest peak, since not everything that goes up comes back down again. Climbing season to ascend Mount Everest comes around each May when the weather window is favorable. Although this remote area should be a pristine wilderness, visitors leave reminders from the outside world that are threatening to overwhelm Mount Everest as a high-altitude garbage dump. The very conditions that make this mountain a bucket-list climbing challenge also make it an eco-challenge for tourism.Trash in but Not Trash Out For many years, only highly experienced climbers would consider heading to the peak, and only after major preparation; one in four would die on the mountain. Nowadays, trekking firms will take you there in relative safety for a fee. Each year has seen increasing numbers of clients heading to the top, bringing climbing gear, oxygen bottles, provisions and camping equipment. Harsh conditions mean harsh choices — survival or carry out your trash? When every step in the low-oxygen atmosphere is an effort, waste removal is low priority; trash left on the mountain includes climbing gear, tents, packaging and human waste. There are no porta potties in the death zone. And neither is there decomposition. Conditions are too cold, too extreme for bugs and enzymes to break down waste materials. So, the trash, the feces and even the bodies stay there frozen in time.Climber Clean Up Last year, the Nepali government issued climbers with a refundable deposit alongside climbing permits that encouraged each person to bring back 8 kg of garbage from the mountain. In 2017, it is equipping climbing parties with giant canvas sacks to take with them. Holding more than 80 kg, the plan is to leave these at various points up the climbing route to accumulate trash. Once full, the helicopters that bring climbing ropes up to the slopes will return laden with trash. This climbing season also started well for trash removal, with Chinese teams removing more than four tons from the north side of Everest ahead of peak season. However, these methods rely on willingness and ability. So far they're unenforceable, and when safety is a concern, removing trash is the lowest priority.Eco-Climbing to the Rescue Some climbers deal with waste proactively, committing to eco-climbing. Asian Trekking, a firm that organizes annual trash removal expeditions on the mountain, minimizes waste by smart outfitting. By switching to solar power for cooking stoves, they reduce reliance on local firewood. Although studies have shown that deforestation and resulting soil erosion is not primarily from supporting climbers on Everest, they found that increasing tourist numbers put greater pressure on local forestry resources for building and fuel. In addition to mobile water filtration and trash bags, climbers keep it clean by carrying personal sanitation storage to carry human waste off the mountain.Climate Change Reveals Urgency There is urgency in cleaning up Mount Everest; climate change is affecting the world's highest peaks, shrinking glaciers and reducing snow cover. As well as making climbing conditions more hazardous (the 2014 and 2015 avalanches are thought to be due to glacier and icefall instability), this exposes trash. Along with an opportunity for record-breaking high-altitude kayaking, the meltwater carries human pathogens from the vast amounts of human fecal waste into water systems below.  The Mount Everest Biogas Project (MEBP), however, is attempting to capitalize on all that shit by installing a local bioreactor. Normally, human fecal waste is carried away from base camp by Sherpas, using barrels to bring approximately 26,000 pounds of poo annually to the open pits at Gorak Shep. Here it sits, leaching into the local water system. MEBP engineers are proposing an ingenious system to digest the waste and create methane gas as fuel with fertilizer as a useful byproduct. Since the temperature hovers around freezing year round — not good for the digestive bacteria that the bioreactor relies on — the system will be warmed by a solar panel array. Extreme Recovery As glaciers recede and snow cover diminishes, it uncovers more than trash. Everest holds around 200 bodies, either visibly along the climbing routes as a stark reminder of the extreme conditions, or hidden in crevasses or inaccessible gullies. The dead do not decompose in the extreme cold and wind, but freeze into the landscape. Transporting a 75 kg cadaver at sea level may be easy, but above 8,000 meters in the death zone, rescuers must overcome low oxygen conditions while freeing what is now a 150 kg frozen block from the ice. Although some grieving families request repatriation, many acknowledge that climbers simply wish to remain on the mountain after death so teams remove them to less visible locations. Despite proactivity, trash removal from the summit of Mount Everest will remain a hands-on venture until autonomous recovery vehicles are developed. It could, however, benefit from an eye in the sky. Although helicopter rotor blades cannot create lift at such extreme altitudes, unmanned aerial reconnaissance such as the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk is more than able to fly at that altitude. Equipped with multiple sensors, the Global Hawk has already taken part in post-disaster recovery missions. Capable of surveying debris, terrain and even bodies from high altitude, this sensor capability could prove valuable for directing human garbage removal efforts on the mountain.

Peak Trash: The Summit of Mount Everest

As a child, Nancy Grace Roman was curious about the world. Thanks to her father, who was a scientist and encouraged inquisitiveness, and her mother, who pointed out the wonders of the night sky, Roman became fascinated by the stars. She wanted to know what they were made of, what they were like and how they behaved. By age 11, she formed her own astronomy club; by age 12, she resolved to become an astronomer. Little did she know, she would become one of the most celebrated female pioneers of astronomy in America.  However, she had a long road yet to travel. It was the 1930s, and there would be barriers. For instance, in high school, she asked her guidance teacher for permission to take a second year of algebra instead of a fifth year of Latin. "She looked down her nose at me and sneered, 'What lady would take mathematics instead of Latin?'" Roman recalled in a 2018 Voice of America interview. "That was the general attitude of women going into science," said Roman.  Despite this mindset, which would follow her through graduate school and into her early career, Roman became NASA's first chief of astronomy and its first female executive. She was even nicknamed the "mother" of the Hubble Telescope because of her leadership in helping to plan and manage the project that lead to the famous space-based instrument. Roman blazed a remarkable trail for women scientists, bolstering America's space program and inspiring future female pioneers to pursue careers in STEM.   Undeterred  Nancy Grace Roman was born on May 16, 1925, in Nashville, Tennessee as the only child of Georgia Frances and Irwin Roman. Her father was a geophysicist who worked for an oil company and moved the family from Tennessee to Oklahoma, Texas, New Jersey, Michigan and, finally, Nevada — all when Roman was still young. It was in Nevada, with it's clear, dark skies, that Roman fell in love with the stars. She organized her friends into an astronomy club and frequently carried around a small, thin pocketbook called "Seeing Stars," which had maps of the constellations. "I still have the book," she said in a 1980 oral history interview for NASA.  Her fascination with the stars and her natural ability to bring people together would shine later in life. But first, she had to get through school — during a time when women were discouraged from scientific pursuits. At Swarthmore College, her professor of astronomy, Dr. Peter van de Kamp, gave her the "first lukewarm encouragement" for choosing science. He told her, "I usually try to dissuade girls from majoring in physics, but I think maybe you might make it."  At the University of Chicago, she again found resistance while working on her PhD. Her thesis adviser, William Wilson Morgan, ignored her for six months. "He didn't want anything to do with me," Roman said in a 2018 video interview with NASA. She was also encouraged to accept a teaching position at another college before she completed her degree, but she persisted. Roman acquired her PhD and became the first female member of the department's staff.  It was during this time that Roman made an important discovery. She noticed that some stars containing elements heavier than hydrogen orbited the Milky Way's galactic plane in a circular path, whereas other stars that had spewed heavy elements into interstellar space (seeding new stars) had more eccentric orbits. Roman surmised that the heavier stars were younger than those with irregular orbits. "This was the first indication that common stars were not all the same age," she said in an interview with NASA, describing it as one of her favorite moments in her career. "I realized that I had discovered something important that no one had ever suspected," she said.  New Horizons  Despite gaining the respect of her peers and making important contributions to astronomy at the University of Chicago, Roman did not believe that she would be granted tenure as a full professor. She accepted a job with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, where she worked as a radio astronomer. In 1958, she caught wind of a new governmental organization being formed — the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Many prominent NRL scientists were being recruited to join, including one of Roman's colleagues, Jack Clark, who had been NRL's director of geophysics and astronomy. When he asked Roman if she knew anyone who might be interested in setting up a program in space astronomy at NASA, she took it as an invitation to apply. She got the job.  For the next 20 years, she served as NASA's Chief of Astronomy and Relativity Programs, initiating many programs around space observations. Among numerous missions that she helped organize, the Hubble Space Telescope stands the most well-known. She knew that engineers at NASA wanted to build a rocket-launched telescope and that astronomers wanted one, too, but that the groups couldn't agree on the specifications. So, she organized a meeting between them to hash it out. They did.  Over the years, she worked to convince the stakeholders, including NASA and Congress, that spending an estimated $400 million in taxpayer money was worth it. She estimated that "...for the price of one night at the movies, each American would receive 15 years of exciting discoveries."  "She made it possible to get early telescopes up [into space] to learn what needed to be learned," science historian Bob Zimmerman told Space.com back in 2009. "As soon as that technology started to mature, she was pushing for the design work. Her hard-nosed nature helped get the telescope built."  Over the course of her career, she won many awards, including the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award, the NASA Outstanding Scientific Leadership Award and the Women in Aerospace's Lifetime Achievement Award. Roman retired from NASA in 1979 at the age of 54, 11 years before the Hubble Space Telescope would launch. But for her early planning work and advocacy, she was nicknamed the "Mother of Hubble."  Looking Back  She continued to work, first as a consultant and then eventually as the director of the Astronomical Data Center. In 1997, she retired for good and began volunteering. Roman was drawn to educating children and spent several years with an organization called Journey to the Universe, which brought space-based educational programs to schools in the Washington D.C. area. In 2001, NASA established the Roman Technology Fellowship in Astrophysics, meant to give early career researchers the opportunity to develop leadership skills.  On her 90th birthday in 2015, Roman looked back on her long career in an interview with NASA and expressed happiness that women could finally land senior jobs in academia and business. "They're not being quite as discouraged as I was," she said. But there was still room for growth, she said, adding that more women needed to be in senior positions and salaries were still too low. She offered this advice to women looking to advance to higher levels of management: "Remain open to change and new opportunities."  Roman died in 2018 at the age of 93. She will always be remembered for her passion and advocacy for science. 

American Astronomer Nancy Grace Roman's Legacy for Female Pioneers

What has a sunshade the size of a tennis court, an 18-segment mirror, and a great view of the early universe? The James Webb space telescope — or just Webb for short. After more than two decades of design, construction, and travel to the far side of the Earth-Moon system, the James Webb Space Telescope has finally seen the light. Webb left its final assembly point at a Northrop Grumman facility near Los Angeles and traveled to French Guiana on the Atlantic coast of South America for launch at the tail end of 2021, and the world's space scientists watched as our next generation space telescope cruised more than a million kilometers past the moon. Currently stationed 1.5 million km (about 932,000 miles) from Earth, this super-cool space telescope is singularly positioned to look back at the bleeding edge of space and time — to when the first stars opened their radiant eyes and the first galaxies formed. But first, all 18 of those mirrors must align. The process of getting more than a dozen curved pieces of gold-coated glass to behave like a single, giant light collector will take several months to complete. It will take substantially less time to recount how many pieces had to fall into place for the telescope to become the biggest eye to ever sail into our sky. On the Shoulders of a Space Giant It's nigh-impossible to launch into a discussion of the James Webb Telescope without first mentioning the telescope that set the very, very, very high bar for astrophotography. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a workhorse in the sky. After being ferried into low Earth orbit on the space shuttle, HST had to be serviced several times by astronauts before it could rise to the task of capturing images of galaxies forming and plumes erupting from Europa. But indeed, it has seen these sights and more. HST brought us the deep field — then the ultra deep field. It found four moons around Pluto. With HST, we tracked asteroids and other objects in the universe. We hunted the cosmos for dark matter and energy. Our understanding of the universe exploded, and it continues to expand at light speed, thanks to this school-bus-sized satellite and its 4.5 m2 (5.38 square yard) mirror. After more than two decades in service, Hubble's gaze is still sharp. It can see objects the width of a human hair a mile away. But HST's sight is largely limited to visible wavelengths of light (wavelength 2.5 to 0.1 microns). There's far more cosmos to see than what meets Hubble's telescopic eye — for instance, heat emitted by exoplanets as they form. Unfortunately, signals such as the first rays of light shed by the earliest stars — still cooling and stretching across space 13 billion years later — lie outside HST's capacity to detect. It is exactly those kinds of signals that Webb was designed to pick up. Using technology similar to what firefighters use to see through smoke, James Webb will look past what Hubble would see in the visible light spectrum to collect far fainter infrared (IR) signals. Using IR, the Webb will see giant jets of gas in nebulae. It will see through giant jets of gas surrounding newly born stars and recently exploded ones. The planets forming in dusty disks around distant suns will be clearer than ever thanks to Webb's primary mirror — which, at 6.5 meters (21 feet, 4 inches) across, is more than twice the size of Hubble's . Webb's vast capacity to collect IR signals is secondary to its careful engineering. All 18 segments of Webb's mirror are coated in a microscopically thin layer of gold. As it turns out, gold is an excellent reflector of infrared light. Once the segments have been brought into alignment, they will send the signals they collect to Webb's similarly coated secondary mirror. Finally, the information will pass to Webb's infrared camera, which itself has an image-collecting area roughly six times greater than Hubble's. All of this means clearer pictures of the Universe and all it contains, further out in space and farther back in time, with up to 100 times more sensitivity than Hubble can see now, but in a slightly different wavelength. Keeping It Cool Calling Webb a "super cool" satellite isn't just a turn of phrase. When it comes to detecting IR, super cool is the key to success. IR radiation is, simply put, heat. The cooler an IR detector is, the better it can differentiate between heat signals coming from the depths of the asteroid belt, the Oort cloud, or distant stars and heat lifting off its own body or from nearby bodies, such as the Sun. When it comes to IR signals, the Sun is a non-stop source of heat-based noise. Hiding from the biggest source of infrared radiation in several light-years is no mean trick. The Spitzer space telescope used active cooling to keep itself hot on the trail of IR signals. Webb stays cool by staying behind a giant reflective sunshade. One of its instruments, the MIRI, hides behind a flying refrigerator. The MIRI — or mid-infrared instrument — receives super cold helium gas from a cryogenic cooler and compressor that live on the spacecraft's warm side near the shade. Webb is so big that the MIRI is 10 meters away from both the sun side and the compressor. The helium gas pumped away from the cooler toward MIRI keeps the instrument 10 degrees Kelvin colder than the other Webb instruments, which allows it to pick up very small signals: between 5 and 28 microns. For reference, a human hair is between about 50 and 90 microns thick. With the Webb launch on December 25, 2021, not only did humankind put a larger telescope into space than ever before — it also expanded our Earth-Moon-Sun system. The Webb telescope now lives more or less permanently in L2: a gravitational balance point that keeps Webb roughly 930,000 miles away from the Earth. There, it faces away from the Sun, the biggest source of infrared energy in our neighborhood. Seeing back to the beginning of time requires that Webb keep its back turned to the Sun and the Moon and the Earth, facing away from a generation of engineers and scientists who laid eyes or hands on it. Unfolding Space The last human to lay eyes on Webb in person saw the biggest space telescope in history folded up like origami. HST was only the size of a school bus; Webb is many times bigger. It had to be accordioned like a fan the height of a three-story building into the rocket that carried it away. No one who watched it be packed away, loaded onto the launch pad, and sent into space knew for certain if it would unfold. If it unfolded, would all the pieces deploy as they should? The mirrors alone took 10 days to fully deploy. Now that the pieces are out, will they work together? Unlike Hubble, which was rescued by human hands, Webb sits far beyond our physical reach. The Webb telescope will face away from us forever. The sensors are online. The systems are warming up (while keeping it cool). On Earth, the world waits to see if the earliest parts of the universe will emerge from the darkness to light up our screens, introducing us, image by image, to a place we've lived in forever but have never fully seen. Being on the forefront of change, especially regarding space, physics, and engineering has been part of the Northrop Grumman culture for generations. Click here to search jobs in these areas of scientific innovation.

Unfolding Space and Time: The James Webb Space Telescope Launch

 The Battle of the Coral Sea was about the strategy of dealing with an unseen enemy. Nearly all competitive strategies have an element of knowing your opponent to gain the upper hand. For centuries, military forces have designated individuals and groups to provide reconnaissance and intelligence on enemy forces. In modern military technology, this is often wrapped up in the acronym C4ISR, which stands for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.  Enable targeting cookies to view this content. Use of Technology  Military powers of the past would employ whatever technology they had available. Take the 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval engagement between two fleets that never even saw each other. That battle was possibly due to the use of SIGINT (signals intelligence) by U.S. forces, who located the Japanese fleet using CXAM radar.  This engagement of naval fleets was fought primarily by air from aircraft carriers. The first aircraft into the fight were Northrop Grumman F4F-3, launched from the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. The F4F fighter plane was a fighting staple of World War II and now has a place in the Smithsonian Museum. New Military Technology  Fighter plane technology has grown exponentially since the days of the F4F Wildcat. Take, for example, the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider. Packed with the best of today's stealth technology, the B-21 is an update to the iconic stealth bomber, the B-2, which itself holds records including longest bomber run (44 hours). For those pilots over the Coral Sea during World War II, the aerial endurance demonstrated by the B-21 would have looked like something out of science fiction.  Technology has come a long way, and aviation and naval suppliers require knowledge in a variety of fields. The B-21 is still a work in progress, which means teams of engineers are working to integrate the newest radar and sensing technologies, but the computing power of a single modern bomber today exceeds the total that existed globally during World War II.  One of the reasons for this computational power is the simple need for data processing. Even a commercial surveying unmanned aerial vehicle, used in construction and mining industries, is capable of modeling a full 3-D model of the surrounding terrain. Couple that capability with personnel movement, anti-detection and stealth technologies, and communications systems, and the sophistication just keeps growing. Once airborne, the aircraft of today are outfitted with enough sensing technology that getting lost is nearly impossible.  Even without seeing the ships they were battling, the vessels engaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea built an understanding of their unseen enemies' movements. This command of intelligence was crucial to preventing damage. Ultimately, the Battle of the Coral Sea ended with both sides suffering aircraft losses.  As a leader in C4ISR, Northrop Grumman enables vehicles and vessels of all types to find their way effectively. From autonomous systems that can make on-the-fly decisions to sensing technology that can pinpoint the location of a threat, today's military machines are even more refined in the art of automated and sightless combat. Are you interested in science and innovation? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

How the Battle of the Coral Sea Changed Military Technology

Cyber is an increasingly risky space. With more and more companies and institutions relying heavily on online operations, the need for enhanced cybersecurity has never been greater. The more people who connect their organization's phones and laptops to home networks, the bigger the risk it is for the organization's networked systems. Such vulnerabilities allow opportunity for cyber threat actors to operate undetected inside a network for long periods of time. The recent SolarWinds cyber-attack is a prime example that most organizations are not prepared for such a large-scale cyber intrusion. Traditional cybersecurity is focused on countering cyber threats to enterprise IT networks, like hacking into email servers. Over the past few years, efforts to secure critical Operational Technology (OT) systems have become more prominent. Built on the baseline idea of cybersecurity — the ability to preserve a network's confidentiality, integrity and availability in the face of cyber risks — two additional lines of cyber defense have emerged: Cyber Resilience and Cyber Survivability. This is especially important when it comes to military defense. Enhanced Cybersecurity As challenging as cyber threats are to most people, imagine an advanced cyber-attack against a fighter pilot during a mission. Once a system is breached, the jet's cyber defenses need to withstand the attack long enough for the warfighter to complete their assignment and return home safely. As antagonists are constantly evolving their cyber-attack methods, it's imperative for defense networks to have the ability to prevent, mitigate and recover from serious cyber events all while performing the assigned tactical mission. An aircraft's platforms must be cyber survivable to be able to successfully operate in the face of adversaries. "Cyber Resilience evolved beyond the Risk Management Framework (RMF) — largely procedural and compliance activities — into an idea that we want to design key system attributes into a weapon or mission system that enable that system to continue to function in the face of unplanned disruption," said Northrop Grumman Cyber and Information Solutions Director of Business Development, Dean "Data" Clothier. "As a specialty within System Security Engineering (SSE), Cyber Resilience is all about engineering design and the kind of system attributes that you want." Clothier went on to provide example questions that one may ask regarding the system attributes needed to fight through a cyber-attack: Does a mission system continue to operate when facing a range of potential sources of disruption, ranging from extreme weather events, to critical component failure, to operator error, to sophisticated malicious cyber activity? Once this cyber systems security engineering design is complete, then it naturally flows into the technology element of the NIST Risk Management Framework cybersecurity control selection. Clothier further explained that cyber resiliency ensures that a system, or the infrastructure on which it depends, is designed to "anticipate, withstand, recover and adapt" to disruptions and continue to function effectively, especially those caused by cyber-attack. In today's cyber battlespace, it's not only vital for weapon systems to be resilient, but to be survivable as well. "Cyber Survivability came from a different community — the joint warfighter who has systems survivability requirements that a weapon system, to be an effective defense warfighting platform, has to be designed to be survivable in its planned operational environment," Clothier said. "If you're the United States European Command, you want to be able to have weapon systems that can operate in the face of Russian weapon systems. If you're United States Pacific Command, you're worried about North Korean or Chinese-specific threats." Understanding what nation state cyber threat actors are capable of doing is key to the "threat-driven design" approach needed to counter the highest tier of actor the systems have to operate against, explained Clothier. The U.S. government states the performance requirement and it's up to the system designers to figure how best to do that. Today, the cyber requirements on a U.S Department of Defense (DoD) weapon/mission system are likely to include elements from all three areas: Cybersecurity RMF, Cyber Resilience/SSE and Cyber Survivability. It is important to interpret these requirements from their individual frameworks, and then identify the complementary inter-relationships between all three. Preserving Critical Functionality to Complete the Mission A program is only cyber survivable if it understands the highest adversary threat tier that the DoD states it needs to be designed against for which to operate. This requires a threat profile that details the capabilities and threat chain of the most capable actor of the required threat tier. Once this is determined, the threat driven design of a system begins with an analysis of the overall threat chain that examines how the actor would seek to breach and disrupt that system. This threat chain is then aligned against the three pillars of Cyber Survivability: Prevent, Mitigate and Recover from cyber-attacks. "First, the 'Prevent' pillar focuses on a range of technology approaches that can keep nation state actors from breaching the system and establishing root level access inside our system," Clothier said. "Second, we have to assume that sooner or later they will breach it — that's explicitly a requirement from the DOD — so that leads to the 'Mitigate' pillar. This pillar aims to keep the system operating at its required level of performance to complete the mission." Warfighters can't disconnect from the mission and go home—the cyber survivability performance mandates that they can complete the mission even if breached. "Once the mission is over, we must have systems that rapidly restore to full functionality within a specified time — that's the 'Recover' pillar," he continued. "If you can then take the cyber threat profile, design and test against it, then you know it's a cyber survivable system." Cyber survivable systems need to be built to maintain effectiveness against a certain threat level across its entire lifecycle. "That necessitates that you not only think of the architecture and cyber solutions when you build a system, but design it in a way that it's rapidly reprogrammable and has a strong modular design to facilitate regular upgrades for the entirety of a weapon system's lifespan, which often reaches 30 years," Clothier said. Outdated weapon systems can be used for decades, but the cyber threat changes incredibly fast. The system's ability to be reprogrammable and make quick upgrades is essential to cyber survivability. Flexibility is Key Any digitally-connected device needs to be modular and quickly reprogrammable in order to make cyber updates for a secured network. For instance, smart TVs are equipped with video and audio recording capabilities that can pose a risk to people's privacy when hacked, yet they lack security software that detect virus signatures, much less so than more advanced cybersecurity technologies. The ability to upgrade a system's security software is fundamental. "Cyber exploits are driven by vulnerabilities, and these vulnerabilities are driven by new technology releases that are driven by new product release cycles," Clothier explained. The more niche the hardware, the less likely it will have reprogrammable systems. As adversaries continue to advance and evolve their cyber warfare capabilities, it's especially important for our military weapons systems to be cyber survivable against these nation state threats. Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.  

A Cyber Future that is Not Only Secure but Survivable

A record number of climbers are venturing up the world's tallest summits each year to test their limits. These adventurers often train for years to prepare themselves for the harsh terrains they will try to conquer. But as ecological conditions worsen, even one false step could put the most seasoned hiker in peril. One man who knows the risks and rewards of mountaineering is Northrop Grumman engineering manager Jim Diani, who has successfully climbed all Seven Summits (the seven continents' highest mountains). Having recently summited the world's tallest peak, Mt. Everest, Diani shares his first-hand experience of what it's like trekking through unpredictable situations and how technology could help save lives. The Sherpa Way  "Sherpas are people of the land," says Diani. They're native to the mountainous Himalayan regions and have adapted to the high altitude, low oxygen environments that foreigners are unaccustomed to. Their job is to support expedition teams along their trek by preparing the hiking route, setting up camp, carrying gear and food, and guiding them to safety.  Lines of yaks transport heavy equipment and hay up to the forward basecamp. (Photo Credit: Jim Diani) The Sherpa method for climbing Mt. Everest remains traditional. They use yaks to haul equipment to each basecamp, ropes and ladders are placed on the route to help people maneuver around tough peaks, and the protective clothing they use are low-tech regular mountaineering gear. Their elite mountaineering skills and acclimatization abilities allow them to maintain a traditional lifestyle, unlike Western trekkers. "They're tough people from a very early age," describes Diani. "I'll have $1,000 worth of gear on to keep me warm and there will be a mother bathing a child outside in near-freezing temperatures with cold water." Recent studies show that Sherpas are in fact more genetically acclimatized for harnessing oxygen and converting it into energy compared to the average person. Because of this, Westerners must use advanced technologies to better prepare for their climbs in order to keep up with their native guides. An Adventure Industry Revolution Over the past couple of decades, technology has made a significant impact on the adventure industry. Satellite communications give climbers better situational awareness and help direct them to their destination. There are hiking trail phone apps, like Guthook Guides, that work offline and use the phone's internal GPS to give beginners the ability to hike long trails on their own. Weather at higher elevations is incredibly unpredictable and extreme. There's only a short weather window on Mt. Everest that allows for safe climbing. Climbers used to base their ascent on long-range forecasts that were unreliable. Now, there are more accurate weather prediction systems that provide the most up-to-date information. Helicopters make rescue missions more feasible but are still risky. In 2015, a 7.8 earthquake hit Mt. Everest, destroying the icefall route and causing avalanches that led to the deaths of multiple people. Diani and his crew were trapped above the icefall and were eventually rescued. "The helicopter barely touched down," he recalls. "Loading had to take less than 30 seconds, so one-by-one people would run and jump into the helicopter. The pilot then tilted forward, making the helicopter descend down the icefall and land on a makeshift landing pad, which was just rocks." As high altitude rescue remains difficult, there is great potential for autonomous recovery vehicles that could offer a safer solution. Defeating Altitude Sickness Extended times in a high altitude environment is the greatest challenge to climbing the tallest peaks in the world. The amount of oxygen in the bloodstream decreases significantly at higher elevations, causing a variety of negative symptoms. "The altitude affects you physiologically and psychologically," Diani explains. "You don't have the same oxygen for your body, so it's more difficult to digest food, there's a loss of appetite, you become dehydrated quicker with the lower pressure, you are rapid breathing for days, and there's some loss of cognitive ability." In some cases, climbs need to be a rapid ascent due to environmental factors that come to play on the summit. There's not much time for individuals to acclimatize during their climb, so it's imperative to prepare beforehand. Hypoxic training, also known as altitude training, is the only proven way for people to pre- acclimatize to high levels of elevation. Modern fitness companies are creating home altitude systems and sports accessories, like oxygen deprivation masks, that help improve altitude performance. Diani slept in a hypoxic tent months before his expedition for his oxygen saturation levels to adjust easier on the mountain.   Diani examines which rope is safest to clip onto for safety. Rope exposure from previous years are hazardous, as only one rope is safe and climbers must choose at high altitude in extreme weather. (Photo Credit: Jim Diani) The Future of Hiking High-quality mountaineering gear is fundamental to a successful trek. Advances in these materials could improve climbers' survivability through harsh, erratic environments. Clothing that can absorb and retain heat, while still maintaining breathability, will add a protective layer against below freezing temperatures. Climbers also need stronger, lighter gear that can withstand high winds and snowfall. The less weight to carry will always be beneficial. Developments in performance training will also better prepare explorers for their expeditions. Telemetric clothing uses artificial intelligence to monitor body metrics and track how well the athlete performs. The data is displayed on a mobile platform for the person to understand their body physiology and see how they can adjust. Diani believes there is a great opportunity in virtual reality to simulate what you will experience in a life-or-death situation. These realistic simulations can help people strategize how to get out of dangerous circumstances they will most likely encounter on their journey. Each second matters when climbing at high altitudes. As conditions on Everest change over time, it's extremely beneficial to develop products that will help explorers accomplish their goals safely. Nothing can replace the hardiness and expertise of the Sherpa, but cutting-edge technologies will continue to make summits of these great mountains more accessible to people craving adventure. Northrop Grumman is recognized as one of the best places to work in the world. Explore the unique life at Northrop Grumman and see why people love to work here.

Adventure Technology Could Make Extreme Climbing (a Little) Easier

Though often glossed over in history books as hidden figures, the women of the Apollo space program are finally being recognized for their contributions to space exploration. Aerospace engineer Judith Love Cohen is one of them. As one of the first female engineers at TRW (later acquired by Northrop Grumman), she helped to build the Abort Guidance System that brought Lovell, Haise and Swigert back to Earth on the Apollo 13's Odyssey module. She also worked on guidance computing for Minuteman missiles, ground systems for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, and the science ground station for the Hubble Space Telescope. Her work was essential to early years' successes and even now continues to benefit space exploration. What's more is she's also inspiring the female engineers of tomorrow. The Only Woman in Math and Engineering Judith Love Cohen was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. An interview in the LA Times notes that, by fifth grade, she was the go-to person in her class for help with math homework. In middle school, she was the only girl taking intermediate algebra. Despite discouragement from career advisors who told her that math was not for young women, Cohen persevered with her passion. She enrolled in engineering school following a brief period being intent on working as a math teacher. Working as a junior engineer during the day and attending USC Viterbi School of Engineering at night, she gained her Bachelor's in 1957 and her master's in 1962. One of the Few Female Engineers After graduating, Cohen joined Space Technology Laboratories (later, TRW), working there until her retirement in 1990. She worked on several notable projects that still impact space exploration today. She was on the team that created the ground systems for the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) that kept NASA and others in contact with space craft, high-altitude balloons and the International Space Station, among others. Forbes describes how the satellites replaced ground relay stations for communications and data to increase the amount of in-contact time between ground control and rocket launches. The U.S. Antarctic Program notes that TDRS provided initial communications support for the Amundsen-Scott South Pole research station. Visualizing the Stars Judith Love Cohen's work also helped astronomers work with the giant Hubble Space Telescope. In a video by Cascade Pass, the multimedia publishing company she founded with her husband David Katz, Cohen explained that by listening to the astronomers who would be using the Hubble, engineers were able to add valuable functionality. Her work enabled real-time controls to focus, change filters, plan observations and collect images. She was also involved in colorizing the images collected through the various filters — when you look at the amazing images of galaxies in deep space, you're looking at Cohen's work. The Apollo Program: The Highlight of Her Career According to her obituary, written by her son Neil Siegel for USC Viterbi, Cohen considered her work on the Apollo Space Program as the highlight of her career. The Abort Guidance System (AGS) computer, developed to keep the lunar module safe during its descent to the moon's surface, became essential to keeping the three astronauts of the Apollo 13 mission alive. IEEE Spectrum magazine describes how, when an oxygen tank exploded and damaged the command module, ground control instructed the three astronauts to move to the lunar module as a lifeboat. The AGS as a standalone computer kept critical systems online as crew and mission control worked round the clock to bring the mission home safely. Another initiative was the return-to-Earth orbit. In a BBC Science Focus article, Siegel describes how Cohen lobbied hard with NASA to include this in the mission planning — and thankfully so, as it played a critical part in bringing the crew home safely. Judith Love Cohen and the Female Engineers of Tomorrow Although Cohen retired from engineering in 1990, she never forgot being the only woman in math and engineering classes. Noticing the success that her husband had in using rap music to connect with students in his work as a teacher, Cohen wondered if she could somehow encourage more girls to become engineers. So, she wrote about her experiences, and Katz created the illustrations. Her book, You Can Be A Woman Engineer, uses Cohen's story to inspire girls to study engineering. With the book's success, the couple founded Cascade Pass, releasing more than 20 titles highlighting careers that weren't often recommended for girls in school. At the time, it was difficult to pitch a book with the word "woman" in the title. Katz describes Cohen as a pioneer with the books and shares how they traveled across the country promoting the titles. They also spent time talking with Brownies and Girl Scout groups to inspire girls to think beyond the traditional for future careers. "Judith translated engineering into terms the girls would understand," he shares. "She enjoyed breaking it down for them, and getting the girls excited about the subject." According to Katz, Cohen's view was that although women and men have their differences, a woman could do anything a man could, and that included math and engineering. "I think she just wanted to make it easier for the next generations — for it to be easier for them and to be more accepted." Being on the forefront of change, especially regarding space, physics, and engineering has been part of the Northrop Grumman culture for generations. Click here to search jobs in these areas of scientific innovation.

Judith Love Cohen and the Female Engineers of Tomorrow

These days, data is easy to collect, but harder to interpret. With the Internet of Things and digitization of information, there are billions of data points that can lead to effective solutions for a wide variety of industries. But what use is all this unstructured data? Such massive quantities can be overwhelming, and the value gets diluted. Computer science techniques, such as machine learning and blockchain, can help make sense of the data by finding patterns that can predict future behaviors. Predictive analytics allow people to make advanced predictions about unknown future events based on data from the past. Not Just for Marketers Businesses can use predictive analytics to understand their customers and forecast sales, and now a wide range of organizations are using data to forecast trends and behaviors, according to CIO. It's not only about predicting future revenue, but also getting specific enough to have the right inventory in the right places. For example, a car company can analyze data to predict which models and colors will sell at each dealership. Another more traditional way to use data for marketing is for targeting advertising and offering discounts to customers who are likely to buy something. Retail companies track customer browsing and purchasing patterns, and algorithms generate customer segments so companies can offer discounts or adjust prices in a precise, targeted way. But similar techniques can provide insight into different fields, such as manufacturing, healthcare and energy. Aerospace companies, medical researchers, financial firms and logistics companies have all found effective solutions derived from predictive analytics. Healthcare While marketers may use big data to predict potential customers' behavior, healthcare providers use data to understand their patients and diseases. For example, predictive analytics can inform scientists on which strains to include in a vaccine like the flu shot. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the viruses in the flu vaccine are selected each year based on surveillance data that indicates which viruses are currently circulating and forecasts which viruses are most likely to circulate during the coming season. Recent studies have shown that algorithms can predict and diagnose diseases such as cardiovascular illnesses and cancer with incredible accuracy. In a study published in Nature, deep learning models used 46,864,534,945 data points from electronic health records to predict patient outcomes. The algorithms were highly accurate at predicting whether patients would die in the hospital; if patients would need to be hospitalized again in the next month; "prolonged length of stay ... and all of a patient's final discharge diagnoses." Predictive Maintenance Mechanical failures are bad for any business, but predicting problems before they occur can save time and money. That's why, according to CIO, manufacturing companies are starting to analyze data to optimize raw material delivery and predict when different machines will fail so operators can be proactive and keep manufacturing supply chains moving. Commercial airlines are especially interested in predictive analytics. In aerospace, predictive maintenance can help avoid flight delays, and algorithms can help pilots with fuel efficiency. In an industry where timeliness is essential, and fuel is one of the biggest business expenses, sifting through data can quickly pay off, said Aviation Today. Aircraft are already equipped with avionics that collect data. The next step is to analyze all that data to find patterns that reveal inefficiencies. Aviation Today reported that Qantas Airways uses a data analytics platform based on 10 billion data points to provide automated updates that "identify fuel efficiency gains and offer operational insights" to help pilots reduce fuel burn and emissions. Pilots can see a visual representation of their performance (and that of other pilots) at different times throughout a flight to see where and when they could be saving fuel. Similarly, China Airlines used a fleet-planning platform that "led to a 10% increase in line management process efficiencies," which resulted in an annual cost savings of $560,000. The airline also "achieved an average reduction of 30 days layover in scheduled aircraft maintenance, resulting in a savings of $1.3 million," Aviation Today reported.  Distributing Resources  UPS is using 1 billion data points per day to cross-reference with historical delivery trends to predict future demand, according to the Wall Street Journal. By analyzing details like package volumes and routes, logistics companies can direct resources so that the right number of trucks are available at the locations where demand will be the highest at any given time. Energy companies use algorithms to forecast "long-term price and demand ratios," as well as to "determine the impact of weather events, equipment failure, regulations and other variables on service costs," according to CIO. Retail and manufacturing industries also use similar techniques to make sure they don't tie up their money in unnecessary inventory. Ultimately, an entire smart city can use data to improve quality of life for its citizens.

Predictive Analytics Provides Effective Solutions in Surprising Industries

According to NASA, there are more than 500,000 pieces of debris, or "space junk" the size of a marble or larger, orbiting the Earth. At least 20,000 of those objects are larger than a softball. All of the objects, which travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph, pose potential dangers to satellites orbiting the Earth, both now and in the future. Orbital debris (NASA Image) One way to potentially reduce these hazards, and the costs and risks of launching new satellites, would be to build and launch an on-orbit recycling system. Notionally, the system would have the ability to vaporize small existing space debris; recycle and recover manufacturing materials from existing satellites; and even perform in-space manufacturing of structural elements for new satellites. "Think of this space recycler as an on-orbit refinery, powered by that amazing source of energy in space called the sun," said Howard Eller, Advanced Missions Tech Fellow, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems. Bringing the Sun into Focus In its basic form, the recycler would include a large parabolic reflector, perhaps 50 to 100 feet in diameter; a spherical crucible made of material with an extremely high melting point; a set of compartments in which different types of salvaged materials could be stored; and several robotic arms for capturing "dead" satellites or other space debris.  Space Junk Recycler (Northrop Grumman Artist Concept) The recycler's reflector would concentrate solar energy into a small spherical space, creating an intense source of heat. The heat could be used either to simply vaporize existing small debris, or to heat larger pieces of space debris in the recycler's crucible. The crucible could be rotated through the thermal flux like a rotisserie grill to heat the debris to a desired and uniform temperature. Using this approach, explains Eller, "we could selectively melt and capture material of type A, heat the crucible more to melt and capture material of type B and so on." Materials melted and captured at each stage of the recycling process could be stored in separate compartments in the form of ingots, or perhaps piped in real time to another part of the recycler as source material for in-space 3-D printing manufacturing operations. Any unneeded leftovers from the recycling process could be compressed into small pieces and vaporized by the solar concentrator. There could also be self-sustaining aspect to this recycler, adds Eller. "If the mirrored surface of the solar concentrator became contaminated, the recycler could vaporize a piece of scrap aluminum in such a way that material is deposited as a new thin and highly reflective layer on the mirror, effectively recoating it," he said. Scavenging the Graveyard An ideal source of dead satellites for the recycler would be so-called "graveyard" orbits several hundred kilometers above geosynchronous (22,500 miles) altitude. Satellites are typically "safed" (batteries drained, propellant tanks emptied) and placed in a graveyard orbit at the end of their operational lives to reduce the chance of colliding with an operational spacecraft.  Space recycler captures "dead" satellite (Northrop Grumman artist concept) According to Eller, a recycler could either be placed in a relatively fixed location in orbit where dead satellites could be brought for recycling, or the entire facility could maneuver from satellite to satellite in a graveyard orbit. In theory, an in-space 3-D manufacturing facility could be attached to the other end of the recycler. As old satellites are ingested (think PacMan) and converted to raw materials, new satellite structures would be produced and pushed out the other end for in-space assembly.  Smarter, Lighter, Cheaper The ability to perform on-orbit recycling and manufacturing could also enable a new generation of simpler, lighter and potentially more capable satellite systems. Free from the impact of gravitational forces during launch, satellites could be assembled in space using simpler designs and materials with far less mass and structural strength. As a result, they might look very different from traditional spacecraft buses, which are essentially boxes with one or more solar array appendages. "If we built a satellite in space, it could be a single panel of any desired length," explains Eller. "One side could be an array of RF [radio frequency] elements and electronics, like a single large circuit board. You could produce additional panels to serve as solar arrays, or perhaps attach solar cells to the back of the original panel." After building this "panelsat" in orbit, you could plug in a module launched from Earth containing all of the electronic or spacecraft bus components that are currently too difficult to produce in space. Working the Vision In the end, admits Eller, space recycling is a vision that should be driven by economics. It makes perfect sense to recycle existing satellites because they are made of the materials most often needed to make new satellites. "But right now there is no financial incentive to get rid of space debris," he says. "That's why we should develop this or similar concepts as a nation. If we can figure out a way to convert dead satellites from a waste product into an economic benefit, recycling in space will happen." # # # If you'd like to explore a career helping Northrop Grumman unravel the mysteries and technical challenges of space exploration, please contact us at www.careers.northropgrumman.com.

How to Recycle Space Debris and Reduce Launch Costs

Anil Deane knew he had an affinity for numbers when, at an early age, he studied his older sister's math textbook instead his own, realizing it had more advanced math. Deane, a technical fellow at Northrop Grumman, reminisced about that watershed moment as he contemplated the significance of Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month. Years after reading his sister's math book, his love for numbers — and science — remains strong.    A Cause for Celebration Deane is one of countless mathematicians who have a reason to celebrate in April. Every year at this time, the U.S. celebrates an appreciation for numbers. It started as a week-long celebration in 1986 per a proclamation by President Ronald Reagan and extended to a month-long event in 1999, according to MathAware.org. Colleges, high schools, math clubs and other organizations use the month to host workshops, competitions, exhibits, festivals and more.  Stats Included What was originally called Mathematics Awareness Month is now Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month. The associations that put on the annual celebration believe statisticians deserve specific recognition because they contribute "so much to furthering discoveries, solving problems, and finding beauty in our world." The Math Behind Security Every day, Deane conducts research that supports company projects and consistently illustrates the importance of mathematics in science, technology and engineering. An expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and High Performance Computing (HPC), he develops models to verify or reject theories as he helps build systems and programs for Northrop Grumman clients. "Mathematics is an amazing tool," Deane said. "The understanding and the insight it provides in the modeling is the goal. I want not just to understand the research, but to also understand what is best for our customers and our corporation. That's what I get out of numerical models. They help me design systems better." For example, Deane and his Northrop Grumman colleagues created a cybersecurity model that allows a government customer to identify and stop cybercriminals who could steal valuable information. Most of Deane's projects revolve around data analytics and its grounding in mathematics and statistics. World-Class Innovation In a nutshell, Deane's job calls for him to "deal with these algorithmic parts but also understand how it maps onto real computing hardware and graphical processing units," he said. "It's how you have the math but also the algorithms and how it all meshes to computing hardware and then the data center." Many companies base some or a large part of their operations around AI-type programs, but that doesn't mean human minds aren't needed in this new frontier, according to Deane. "The computer is doing the heavy lifting," Deane said. "But you have to set it up initially â€¦ You 'train' a certain type of data and let the machine go, and it will find anomalous data." A Northrop Grumman employee for more than ten years, Deane previously worked for NASA, where he focused on large-scale parallel computing. He also had a two-year stint at the Department of Energy, where, as a program manager for applied mathematics, he contributed to a math program that "was responsible for many of the scientific and engineering advances that are used in this country and in the world," he said. "I'm very proud of that program. It is really world-class." Go in for the Love  For more than 20 years, Deane has also served as a research professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. What advice does Deane give students who want to follow his career path, or at least one that demonstrates the importance of mathematics? "Go in for the love of it. Our higher brains are built for complex thinking, and there is deep satisfaction in following this." he said. Of course, Deane recognizes that not everyone is mathematically inclined, but that shouldn't dissuade them, he said. He believes educators need to do a better job of presenting math in friendly terms. "Nobody should be afraid of it," Deane said. "It's fair enough to say they don't like it, but they shouldn't be afraid."

Mathematics and Statistics Shape the Work of Northrop Grumman's Anil Deane

From space travel to the World Wide Web, email to nanoscale robots, humanity's constant drive for improvement and innovation has changed the course of history. So hop aboard and get comfortable — the time machine is all fired up and ready to relive the top scientific discoveries of decades past. Let's go! First it was the 1960s and the development of microchips, then a quick stopover in the '70s for the personal computer. Now it's time to for a hard look at technology in the '80s — and the world's first mobile phones. Let's Get Digital The '80s were about getting noticed — think neon leotards, suits with shoulder pads and the rise of punk music. Subtle was not in the decade's vernacular as evolving technologies provided easy access to low-cost products and services. It's hardly a surprise that the "Me Generation" took on the task of developing over-the-top cellular technologies to function as chunky, clunky status symbols — and ultimately paved the way for the widespread uptake of mobile devices. Can You Hear Me Now? Current mobile devices rely on microwaves to carry signals from one device to another, which have wavelengths of one meter to one millimeter and frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 Ghz, according to Lumen Learning. This offers a distinct advantage over radio waves, which have longer wavelengths and are more susceptible to interference while traveling over long distances. But even using more powerful microwaves presents a problem: limited bandwidth. As noted by Physics.org, around 800 frequencies are available to any mobile phone network — what's more, two-way communication requires two frequencies, one for transmitting and one for receiving. Cellular networks solve this problem by dividing network coverage areas into hexagonal, isolated "cells" each equipped with their own signal tower, allowing frequencies to be reused rather than forcing users to wait. The first batch of car-connected mobile phones often required users to wait up to 30 minutes just to place a poor-quality call. Adoption of cellular methodology made multiple calls on duplicate frequencies possible and significantly expanded the mobile market's reach. Cell-ing Points The '80s sparked some interesting trends, but it wasn't the first decade dedicated to mobile communications. As noted by The Washington Post, "field telephones" were used during the First World War to coordinate military operations, and by 1941 hand-held radio transceivers were developed for vehicles and then adapted for use during the Second World War. 1973 saw the first cellular telephone call — made from a giant brick of a thing that weighed more than two pounds and provided just 30 minutes of talking time after a 10-hour charging cycle.  In the early 1980s, the first commercially available phone hit the market. For just $4,000, which is currently about $10,000 adjusted for inflation, users could get their hands on Motorola's 1.7-pound monster, the DynaTAC 8000x. Cue up the synthesizer and get ready to take Wall Street by storm — with this phone in hand (and one undoubtedly muscular arm after all that lifting), you were going places. By 1989, Motorola debuted a smaller version called the "MicroTac" which was small enough to fit (badly) in shirt pockets and bore more than a passing resemblance to original "Star Trek" communicators. And lo, the mobile revolution was born. The Future Is Mobile Building on the cellular advances of the 1980s, and bolstered by the falling size and cost of microchips, mobile devices shrunk in dimension even as they rapidly gained new capabilities. By the mid-1990s, "smart" phones included access to email and faxes, and in 1999 BlackBerry released its first two-way pager with native web browsing. In 2007, the original iPhone hit store shelves — forever changing the way consumers interact with mobile devices. Today, the market includes everything from smartphones to tablets, internet-connected sensors to wearable devices, all connected via myriad networks types including LTE, 4G and 5G. In addition, users now demand speedy, secure wireless connections to empower everything from streaming digital content to sharing social interactions across global content networks. And it all started with that ugly brick of a phone. Talking Points If technology in the '80s had a motto, "hideous but usable" might be the most accurate. While the decade's cellular phone solutions were hilariously chunky and unbearably primitive by current consumer standards, there's no doubt that '80s mobile tech remains one of the world's top scientific discoveries. Next up? '90s kids remember: the birth of the World Wide Web.

Technology in the '80s: The Cellular Solution

Over the past decade, we've seen every type of science fiction TV series hit the market, from adaptations of novels like "The Expanse" and "Altered Carbon" to original series like "Black Mirror." The opportunities to showcase science, as well as stretch the truth, are seemingly endless. Topics explored in some of the best sci-fi shows span all realms of science, but some shows are more realistic than others. Let's take a look at topics that get the most attention from the genre. Space Travel: Not Quite a Cruise Most modern depictions of space travel aren't realistic, according to Space.com. One show that accurately depicted the harsh reality of current space travel was SyFy's series, "The Expanse." Based on the sci-fi novel series of the same name by James S.A. Corey, the pen name for authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, "The Expanse" has been a quiet darling in the science community because of its dedication to getting the physics of space travel as accurate as possible. While a classic science fiction TV series like "Star Trek" makes hurtling through the universe seem pleasant, "The Expanse" depicts it much more accurately. As Public Radio International noted, "Spaceships aren't sleek and responsive, and space isn't sexy — it's downright inhospitable." Naren Shankar, the show's executive producer, told PRI, "The issues of air and water and just protection from that environment are constantly an issue in the show." Body Swapping The Netflix series "Altered Carbon" has taken topics in biology and neuroscience to the outskirts of current possibilities, but it isn't that far off. "Altered Carbon" explores the world of body swapping, where one's consciousness can be uploaded into new bodies, called "sleeves." These sleeves go on living the life of the consciousness now inhabiting the body regardless of what they were in their old sleeves — a child could become a middle-aged woman, or a man could wake up centuries after his death in an entirely new body. But wouldn't human consciousness be too deep and profound to be boiled down to a few uploadable cells and neurons? Not necessarily. Anil Seth, a professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience, explained to SyFyWire that consciousness is "any kind of subjective experience" and lives in a series of neurons that produce memories when activated. Transferring neurons to a new body could be as simple as mapping and recording them. Seth explained that, in the case of "Altered Carbon," the problem lies in the transferring. As SyFyWire puts it, "A person's sense of self is not just a set of memories but is tied to their physical body. So if human consciousness could be transferred then it would 'massively' alter their personal identity." Even transferring just the brain to a new body doesn't ensure that the consciousness will remain the same. Recreating Memories The same concept holds true for visual reconstruction. In season 4 of "Black Mirror," visual reconstruction, or the concept of gathering the memories of others for viewing, is explored. In the series, this method is used for tracking and surveillance, and to aid in criminal investigations. Constraint-free neural image reconstruction was recently tested by a Chinese research team. They "found that the reconstructed images resembled the natural stimuli, especially in position and shape. The experimental results suggest that hierarchical visual features can effectively express the visual perception process of [the] human brain." The science journal Nature also reported on a technique called multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA), which can decode the brain by uploading fMRI data to software that learns and assesses neural patterns that coincide with certain thoughts and experiences.  While some of the best sci-fi shows have taken more liberties than others, a few take their depictions of science very seriously and do their best to be as realistic as possible. Even if they aren't 100 percent accurate, promoting the sciences is important. More interest translates into a bigger and brighter future for the world of research. If you're interested in making scientific research your life's work, consider a career with Northrop Grumman.

The Reality of Science Fiction TV Series

A DDoS attack — which stands for "distributed denial of service" — is a type of cyberattack that hijacks innocent users' computers in order to attack a website and render it temporarily inaccessible or inoperable.  In such an attack, the targeted website is flooded with fake user requests, so many of them that they cannot handle the traffic. The site may be knocked offline entirely by the overflow traffic, or its response to legitimate requests may simply slow to such a crawl that the website becomes unusable by its intended users.  And because DDoS attacks operate by hijacking innocent machines, they are exceptionally difficult for security experts to trace back to their originator, meaning that the targeted website usually cannot determine the attacker's identity.  Botnets on the March  But the most distinctive feature of DDoS attacks is that they victimize not only the targeted website (and its users, who suffer the actual denial of service) but also the owners of other computers and internet devices — up to hundreds of thousands of them — whose machines are taken over in order to send the fake requests that cripple the targeted website.  Not all denial of service attacks are "distributed"; such attacks can also be launched using a single machine to send the fake service requests. But as Kim Zetter notes at Wired, such single-origin attacks have been largely supplanted by DDoS attacks.  The computers hijacked for a DDoS attack are "recruited" by being infected with a computer virus that places the infected computer under control of the attacker. A computer thus infected is called a bot (short for robot) or zombie. A network of bots used in an attack is a botnet.  The owners and users of these infected computers are generally unaware that their computers are infected, or being used in an attack. They may notice sluggish performance when their computer is being used in a botnet, but without knowing the cause.  While the computers used in a botnet are infected, the website targeted by a DDoS attack is not itself directly infected by the attack, and its data is not being stolen — it is simply flooded with spurious service calls. However, the disruption caused by DDoS may also be used to attempt other attacks on the targeted website.  Motives for DDoS attacks can vary from straightforward money extortion ("pay up, or we'll keep knocking you offline") to political motivations. The latter involve both so-called hacktivists and state intelligence agencies. One of the most notable DDoS attacks to date was launched in 2007 against Estonian websites by actors associated with Russia.   DDOS Hits Warp Speed  More recently a new type of DDOS attack has come to the fore. ZDNet reports that attackers have learned how to hack into servers running a software application called Memcached, which is designed to speed up web page loading. Servers running Memcached should never be exposed the public Internet — but many website operators fail to provide this protection, allowing DDOS attackers to hijack the servers and put Memcached to work for them.  In 2018, reports Wired, the developer website GitHub was subjected to the most massive DDOS attack yet recorded, when request traffic suddenly jumped to 1.7 terabits per second — roughly comparable to a million users all trying to access the same website at the same time.  The good news is that GitHub recovered within minutes. But most websites are not as well-prepared to handle such an attack.    Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  Enter the Internet of Things  In and of themselves, DDoS attacks are not the most damaging form of cyberattack, since the target website is only temporarily disabled, and — unless another type of attack is also involved — its data is not compromised. The machines used in the botnet are compromised, but the attackers are often interested only in using the bots to send fake service requests, not stealing data from them.  But as Margaret Rouse reports at SearchSecurity, the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) is raising the stakes for DDoS attacks. The things in the Internet of Things are internet-connected gadgets of all sorts, from exercisers' activity tracking wristbands to industrial controllers. Few of these IoT devices have been designed for security — meaning that they are all too vulnerable to hackers who want to take them over and use them in DDoS attack botnets.  The challenge of protecting IoT devices against being hijacked by DDoS attackers underlines just one facet of a transformation now overtaking the computing and technology world.  Because of the Internet of Things, "tech" in the sense of computers and information technology is no longer separate from the broader domain of technology. Every sophisticated machine is now likely to also be an internet device, with all the implications for security as well as capabilities.  At Northrop Grumman, you can work with some of the world's most sophisticated connected devices, up to and including automated technology. And security in all its forms is the heart of the business. 

Service Denied! The DDoS Attack Threat

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed Nov. 15 as National Philanthropy Day to "reinvigorate the American spirit of neighbor helping neighbor." Around that same time, "corporate social responsibility" became a catch-phrase and goodwill began to seep into business plans. Today, thousands of companies from startups to multi-billion dollar firms consider themselves philanthropic companies and invest in social and environmental causes that are frequently aligned with company goals. Here are five well-known tech companies and how they're positively impacting the world. Autodesk In 1982, the same year that Time magazine called personal computers "Machines of the Year," computer programmer John Walker invented AutoCAD, a computer-aided design software. The program revolutionized design by giving architects and engineers the ability to draft and model buildings on a computer. Today, the Autodesk Foundation leverages the company's expertise to fund design efforts aimed at addressing environmental, social, health and education challenges. Through grants, donations and partnerships, Autodesk helps nonprofit organizations, social and environmental entrepreneurs, early-stage ventures and more affect change. The company also encourages their employees to provide services pro bono and to volunteer for special events. Cisco Systems As a global leader in information technology and networking, Cisco Systems uses hardware and software to connect people, societies and the planet — their philanthropic priorities. As a result, their charitable ventures extend far and wide. When it comes to people, Cisco allows their employees to take five days of paid time off to volunteer, said Fortune. When it comes to society, the company's charitable extension, the Cisco Foundation, teams up with other nonprofits as well as non-governmental organizations to develop technology-based solutions that address education, economic and social disparities. When it comes to the planet, the company works to minimize waste and greenhouse gas emissions and also funds welfare groups that advocate for domestic and wild animals. Google In 2005, Google — now held by the firm Alphabet — founded Google.org, the charitable arm of the search engine giant. The nonprofit harnesses Google's vast, expert knowledge of technology and data to, among other things, support racial justice, improve educational opportunities for underserved communities, assist job seekers and improve employment opportunities and offer crisis response after health epidemics and natural disasters. In 2017, Google's CEO Sundar Pichai announced the Grow with Google initiative meant to offer American workers and veterans free skills training and tools to fortify their career plans or business. The company also earmarked $1 billion in Google.org grants over five years for global nonprofits, and offered 1 million volunteer hours from Google employees. Northrop Grumman This global aerospace and defense technology company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, has deep, historical roots in scientific research and technology. The firm was formed in 1994 after Northrop Aircraft, founded in 1939, bought Grumman Aerospace, the company that built the Apollo Lunar Module, which put humans on the moon. With a past so immersed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), Northrop Grumman has made it a priority to invest in STEM education as a way to inspire future scientists, engineers and technicians.  The company's Aid to Higher Education, for instance, offers grants that support scholarships, student organizations and STEM projects that advance research and technology at college and universities. Because Northrop Grumman works closely with the military, it actively recruits veterans and wounded warriors and contributes to veteran service organizations like the USO, Operation Gratitude, Armed Services YMCA and more. The company's charitable organization, the Northrop Grumman Foundation, also supports national-level STEM programming, including for grades K-12. Nvidia The interactive graphics of video games require complex computer chips that process millions of calculations per second. Back in 1993, Nvidia, based in Santa Clara, invented such a computer chip and brought the future of gaming into the present. As part of their charitable work, Nvidia Foundation has committed to tackling what is arguably one of the world's most complex problems: cancer. Through their Compute the Cure initiative, the company donates to cancer researchers who use innovative computing techniques to research, diagnose and treat the disease, as well as to nonprofit groups that focus on cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and end-of-life care. Nvidia also encourages its employees to participate in walks, runs, and fundraising events to fight cancer. To date, the company has invested $4.5 million toward a cure. On National Philanthropy Day, individuals, communities and philanthropic companies are recognized for trying to make the world a better place. Businesses that donate money, resources and employee time help strengthen bonds, not only between their coworkers, but between the organization and the community at large.

Five Tech Companies Giving Back to the Community

Biomimicry, the design and production of solutions modeled after nature, has resulted in many inventions that are helping solve human challenges. From Kingfisher birds inspiring the nose cap design of Shinkansen bullet trains to an optoelectronic camouflage system mimicking the skins of cephalopods, nature-based technologies allow humans to develop solutions that once seemed impossible. In recent years, engineers have developed recoverable or expendable autonomous systems that can imitate animal swarming to search unknown territories and perform complex tasks. These robotic platforms — drone swarms — can organize themselves into different flight patterns or spread out and work individually to complete a mission. Companies across multiple industries have found practical uses for swarming technology to help solve problems in challenging environments. Urban Combat Operations  Current mission operations in urban settings rely on dismounted soldiers who have limited situational awareness of their surroundings. City landscapes pose many disadvantages that can leave warfighters vulnerable and prevent them from being readily available when needed. Soldiers must have the ability to look around corners and see through doors to see if any threats, like insurgents, are lurking in a surprise trap. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program aims to improve small-unit urban combat operations through enhanced manned-unmanned teaming with over 250 small air and ground vehicles. OFFSET utilizes low-cost air and ground vehicles that can operate as a heterogeneous swarm to achieve diverse mission objectives. In the future, these swarming platforms will offer more eyes and ears on the battlefield to detect and combat threats. "Swarm technology enables warfighters to solve problems in complex environments more efficiently and creatively," said Erin Cherry, program manager in Emerging Capabilities Development at Northrop Grumman, a Swarm Systems Integrator for OFFSET. "Attritable, unmanned platforms collaborate as a swarm to help warfighters asymmetrically gain an understanding of a situation, make decisions, and take actions." OFFSET swarming technology is built on top of Robot Operating System. The vehicles used for swarming are the Uvify IFO-S air vehicles and the Aion R1 ground vehicles. Each vehicle has sensors and algorithms for behaviors like coordination, collision avoidance, and path planning. Intra-agent communication between platforms is enabled with a mesh network. OFFSET incorporates artificial intelligence and cooperative autonomy in a variety of ways from object recognition and classification to multi-agent swarm tactics. A human operator defines a high level plan with an advanced sketch-based user interface and then the swarm coordinates their actions to efficiently perform the mission. Space Exploration  Researchers at California State University Northridge are turning to much smaller, insect-like drone swarms for extraterrestrial applications. Essentially, these robots will be dropped into unexplored space territories to autonomously complete tasks they're given. The platforms will be able to problem solve in austere environments and adjust to challenges, like reorganizing their formations to accommodate the loss of any individual systems. These rover swarms are an alternative to larger space exploration programs. Their built-in redundancy allows for more opportunity to complete the mission, whereas if a larger rover encountered a fatal error, the mission would end in failure. The swarms can also self-assemble into smaller groups to survey more ground and accomplish multiple tasks, which would take a single rover significantly more time to perform. Expendable insect-like swarming systems will give researchers a better method to collect planetary data that could explain the many mysteries of the universe. Disaster Relief  As recent wildfires wreaked havoc across the globe, emergency responders are turning to swarming technology to help extinguish rampant fires and for search and rescue operations. Drone swarms use artificial intelligence and machine learning to map the spread of the fire with points of interest that need immediate attention. These systems will provide emergency responders with a situational awareness they have lacked due to hostile conditions of the environment. The autonomous vehicles can deliver real-time imagery to emergency responders that will equip them with the most accurate information. Swarms are able to maneuver through tight areas that reconnaissance helicopters cannot fit through and can fly low enough to capture accurate footage. These images can help identify potential openings for fire fighters who need to be on the ground fighting off flames. Some drone swarms are also equipped with thermal imaging cameras that can detect the location of stranded individuals through heavy smoke. Northrop Grumman and Carnegie Mellon University have recently partnered to sponsor five artificial intelligence research projects that seek to address different aspects of natural disaster response. The projects aim to improve small unmanned aerial vehicle rescue capabilities and human-machine communications. The initiative — titled Strategic, Operational and Tactical Emergency Recovery through Innovations in AI (SOTERIA) — supports the Department of Defense's push for better humanitarian aid and disaster relief technologies. Swarming technology allows emergency responders to better survey life-threatening areas at a further distance and respond quicker to the wildfire. These robotic platforms could potentially minimize the damage of natural disasters and reduce the cost of the overall rescue operation. The potential these drone swarms provide will change how we approach disaster relief, space exploration, and urban operations. With this technology, humans will be able to survey unknown territories and problem solve in a much more strategic way through advanced manned-unmanned teaming. Interested in working on the forefront of emerging capabilities? See how you can fit at Northrop Grumman.

Swarming Behavior: Drone Swarms to Survey Unknown Environments

Population studies for personalized medicine. Particle physics collisions. The internet of things, driven by omnipresent 24/7 smart devices. The exploding levels of data available across the globe makes data visualization a necessity. Only the data we can "see," after all, has value. But it's not all line graphs and bar charts. Many artists and even scientists themselves use creativity and imagination to reach new audiences. From an artist who explains flow dynamics through landscape sculpture to a tropical-disease researcher making an impact through sand art, data visualization brings the numbers alive. Why Visualize? Maybe you remember your first thrilling encounter with Excel, where a few clicks created "art" in the shape of graphs, pie charts and box-and-whisker plots. Suddenly the columns of numbers came to life and made sense. You can see this power amplified in infographics, such as this one on assistive technology: More eye-catching than lists of numbers, graphics help the viewer interpret and digest information intuitively. Fluid Dynamics in Motion What's more meaningful to you, a mathematical theorem    or a walk among the fountains in Alnwick Castle's Serpent Garden? Torricelli's equation shows that the speed of water leaving a container is a function of the height of the fluid above its exit point. Sculptor William Pye's Torricelli fountain in the Serpent Garden shows water jets falling in step with the columns of water that feed them. Both illustrate Torricelli's theorem of fluid dynamics, but only Pye's fountain shows data visualization at work. The equation explains what factors affect the magnitude of the jets. The fountain shows that shorter columns make smaller jets with fluid dynamics in action.  Enable targeting cookies to view this content. Put On a Show Performances can also make data come to life. Medical researcher Shelly Xie learned all she could about sand art to teach people about schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease with as much global impact and burden as malaria. For her piece "Neglected: A Story of Schistosomiasis Infection in Ghana," Xie built a light table on which she could project images of sand being manipulated with her hands in a real-time animation that took her audience beyond medical textbooks and health statistics and into daily life in the schistosomiasis zone. Creating shapes and images in sand brought audiences face to face with the inevitability of disease in endemic areas in a way that raw data never could. Digital animation similarly helps visualize data. For example, while it's difficult to explain the complexity of cancer and how cells escape control as they grow, digital artists Ben Fry and Casey Reas capture the complexity of malignant transformation using algorithms to display protein signaling among cancer cells. Generated from clinical research lab data, growing webforms vividly depict how protein signaling changes, becoming more dysfunctional and more "cancerous." Entertainment, Education, Information It's not all about entertainment, though. Data visualization translates information into more accessible forms. University of Toronto astrophysicists translated data from the Cassini spacecraft's unique mission into a tactile woodcarving of Saturn's ring structure for visually impaired people. They also made music by boosting the natural frequencies of Saturn's moons and rings system. This created a musical score that illustrates Cassini's final descent through the rings towards the planet. Even CERN, the European Council for Nuclear Research's massive underground facility, uses music. Software translates Large Hadron Collider event data into sounds that represent the different particles emitted during collisions.  As the term itself suggests, data visualization helps us "see" data. Artist Johannes Girardoni's installations rebroadcast the impact gallery visitors make on their surroundings to highlight the data we're surrounded with every day. Since you can't "see" the data generated by simply walking through an art gallery, art and technology collide as his pieces pick up subtle signals. Microprocessors translate sound, movement and light disturbances from visitors, replaying it back as noises and light or color changes within the piece of art. By confronting the viewer with all the data they generate, Girardoni hopes to inspire reflection on the amount of data that influences us in our daily lives. Value in Visualization Increasing data's value through visualization helps researchers, too. When bioinformatics researchers set protein folding data to a musical score, they found that reviewers quickly matched the sounds to structural conformation and molecular properties. Simply listening to the data helped pattern recognition. Combining visual analysis with listening could boost research into diseases driven by altered protein function, like Alzheimer's. Data visualization also untangles big data problems. Health information systems often rely on different data streams for proactive public health management. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Zika virus response, for example, depends on data streams from a number of sources, including disease surveillance and mosquito activity reports. Combining the streams into a meaningful and easily read display makes sense for a faster response. 

Data Visualization Brings the Numbers to Life

Carbon nanotubes, or CNTs, are cylinders of pure carbon with nearly mythical properties. Depending on the angle at which the carbon layer is rolled into cylinders, a carbon nanotube can have perfect electrical conductivity, be a semiconductor or be non-conducting. According to Nanowerk, CNTs can be 400 times stronger than steel at one-sixth the weight, and have better thermal conductivity than diamond. They are extremely resistant to corrosion, and the hollow interior can be filled with pharmaceuticals, water molecules or other nanomaterials to shield them from the surrounding environment. A Solution for Tangled Tubes Ever since Sumio Iijima discovered carbon nanotubes in 1991, researchers have been working to literally untangle their potential. CNTs can be 1,000 to 1,000,000 times longer than they are wide, which makes them prone to tangling during synthesis. The diameter of a carbon nanotube can be less than one nanometer (10-9 meters) or more than 100 nanometers, and the length can range from micrometers (10-6 meters) to millimeters (10-3). Carbon nanotubes are manufactured at a large scale, with highly tangled forms being used in composite materials for sporting goods, bullet-proof vests, boats, cars and aircraft. In order to unlock the full potential of carbon nanotubes, they need to be untangled and assembled into precise structures. A new solvent reported in Science Advances now allows high quality CNTs to be used in advanced manufacturing processes such as 3D printing. Challenges of the Nanoscale The challenge of untangling CNTs is explained by Eric Barnes, a Northrop Grumman Fellow specializing in additive manufacturing and 3D printing who was not involved in the study: "Carbon nanotubes exist in the realm that starts to be governed by nanophysics. In this realm, mass-driven properties like gravity and inertia slowly become less dominating, and elements of quantum physics begin to exert influence," he explained. "We find that things like Van der Waals attractive forces (attraction between molecules that leads to effects like surface tension) can become an asset or a liability. If you are a gecko lizard, the nanoscale structures on the pads of your feet allow you to take advantage of the Van der Waals attractive forces to walk up a sheet of glass. If you are wanting to disperse a nanomaterial into a fluid — such as a resin — the Van der Waals forces may cause your nanotubes to clump together." CNTs are often dissolved in "superacids," such as oleum or chlorosulfonic acid (CSA), which give the sidewalls of the CNT a partial positive charge without permanently changing their structure. This positive charge causes adjacent CNTs to repel each other and move into solution, which allows the carbon nanotubes to be detangled further while remaining at high enough concentrations to be extruded through a needle to produce high performance materials. Unfortunately, these superacids are incompatible with many manufacturing processes and commonly used plastics. A Gentle Touch Unlocks Possibilities Researchers found that two weaker acids, p-toluenesulfonic acid (pToS) or methanesulfonic acid (MSA), had the same effect on CNTs when mixed with a small amount of oleum, which is also known as fuming sulfuric acid. These acids can be used in die coating, screen printing and injection molding with common substrates, including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate plastics, according to Barnes. PToS is a solid that melts at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), which is particularly useful for 3D printing because the materials can be processed at moderate temperature and then solidified by cooling. The researchers found that MSA is best for fiber spinning and roll-to-roll production (for example, printing copies of an electrical device on a roll of flexible plastic). After printing, the acid solvent can easily be removed by submersing it in water. It can then be recycled, reducing the cost and environmental impact of producing CNTs. The oleum still requires special handling, but when it's diluted with the milder acids it can be used on unventilated bench tops with common plastics. According to Barnes "This novel approach allows for direct write of CNT structures by transforming the disarranged CNTs into precise, functional morphologies." These 3D printed structures "could potentially be used to carry electrical currents within a multifunctional aerospace structure. The ability to apply the CNTs to polycarbonate and polyester fabric indicates the potential for textiles containing CNT sensors for human health monitoring." In short, the possibilities are endless. Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Untangling the Possibilities for Carbon Nanotubes

Artificial intelligence (AI) is defined by the U.S. Department of Defense as "the ability of machines to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence."
But just how intelligent is AI, and how can that be measured? One tool that seems perfect for the task is the Turing test, also known as the "imitation game," proposed by British mathematician Alan Turing. His 1950 paper, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," laid out a framework for deciding if machines could pass a test of being indistinguishable from a human.
However, this might not be the best measure of intelligence in AI today. As Peter VanMaasdam, Lead AI Architect, Advanced Intelligent Systems Business Unit with Northrop Grumman, explains, the test itself focuses on only one aspect of human behavior: language.
"There are many more tasks humans do to display intelligence," he explains. "Not to mention that many non-humans (e.g., dogs, parrots and so on) don't really have language, and yet, we view them as intelligent."
What Is the Turing Test?
In essence, the Turing test measures the ability of a computer to pass itself off as a human being.
VanMaasdam describes the process as such: "The Turing test, in its classical form, refers to a thought experiment by Alan Turing in the very early days of AI development in the 1950s. He called it the 'imitation game,' whereby two people go into separate rooms and write each other questions, which the other person then answers."
An observer or judge, who is blinded to whom the responses are coming from, assesses if a machine replies in the same way as a person. In other words, is the computer behaving like Turing predicted and appearing like a person when holding a conversation?
According to VanMaasdam, the Turing test could be applied to AI. "He [Turing] claimed that if a machine replaced one of those people, that machine (an AI in our case) would be intelligent if the other person couldn't tell the difference between the AI responses and a human's responses."
Currently, with the rise of smartphones, chatbots and other tools, you'd be forgiven if you thought AI has already passed the Turing test. In 2018, Google's Duplex successfully phoned in and booked a hair appointment. The new kid on the scene, ChatGPT, is certainly ruffling feathers in the coding and writing communities with its seemingly erudite responses to the most general of prompts. There's even a tool that will write scripts for your online business meetings.
If these tools can fool your colleagues, has the imitation game been won already?
Does AI Measure Up to Human Intelligence?
Not so fast! Before declaring that AI is already on a level with human intelligence, let's consider what exactly AI is and what it isn't. As VanMaasdam points out, the Turing test is only directly applicable to measuring one facet of an AI's intelligence: namely, its language skills and ability to convincingly hold a conversation.
The Department of Defense definition is useful, as it directly ties AI solutions to defined tasks and missions. According to VanMaasdam, this is more focused than the concept of "artificial general intelligence," which is how the public often thinks of AI.
"[The Turing test] missed the concept of generalization by only focusing on the single task of language," he explains. "Most people assume that any AI can act in a general fashion; for example, an Aided Target Recognition (AiTR) system trained for object detection will somehow gain consciousness and understand language."
However, this isn't what AI is right now, and human intelligence relies on more than just a narrow band of expertise. Current AI tools are more task-focused, looking only at information in one subject area. This isn't a bad thing, though. Tying AI to only one specific task means it can function really well, often better than a person could. And by expanding on what is measured during the imitation game, the definition of intelligence could be further expanded.
"One could broaden the test to other AI tasks. For example, with an AiTR, we could call that AI intelligent if it performed as well as or better than a human at a given task of object detection and recognition," suggests VanMaasdam. "In fact, these kinds of tests have often been performed in that field, and we see that the AiTR usually performs equally well or slightly better than a human but has the advantage of not getting tired or distracted."
Even so, that's not quite on par with human intelligence.
Measuring Intelligence in AI
In the end, maybe the test only measures how well AI deceives us. Is AI not actually intelligent but merely extremely clever at impersonation, as suggested by The Washington Post?
Or maybe, as VanMaasdam explains, we're just not measuring the correct parameters to assess AI intelligence. "Once we've tied AI to a specific task, let's say AiTR, the best way to measure its intelligence is by using standard performance metrics within that domain. In that case, probability of detection, false alarm rate and other metrics have been used by the community for decades."
In other words, to correctly measure the intelligence of AI, we not only need to recognize that human intelligence is more than correct responses, but we also must apply the correct parameters to show performance. To support the latter point, VanMaasdam says we've already proved that modern AI techniques — deep neural networks, in particular — are out-performing previous methods in a rigorous engineering fashion.
For the former point, though, we need to recognize that awareness, sentience and an understanding of what it means to be human are required before AI achieves human intelligence. For this, it would need to become artificial general intelligence with a much broader scope, awareness and learning capabilities. The AI would need to be able to detect and respond to changing situations in the world around it, much as people do, collecting physical interaction and sensory data that fine-tunes a response. AI needs to read its world.
"Another way of measuring intelligence is the ability of the AI to cope with conditions outside the realm of the data used to train it," says VanMaasdam. With the AiTR example, if it was trained on imagery during the day and with grass backgrounds, measuring how well it performs on images from the night on a parking lot background could show intelligence. "A well-trained AI will show little performance difference or at least gracefully degrade when faced with these new datasets."
Awareness and ability for self-improvement also count. "AI would become even more intelligent at the AiTR task if it could measure itself when operating," continues VanMaasdam. "And if it sees that it isn't correctly categorizing objects (either through human correction or, ideally, by itself), it would continue to learn as it sees new data and new objects."
Intelligence is more similar to Skynet becoming self-aware than being able to trick a remote observer with eloquent conversation. Right now, though, AI is only as intelligent as the datasets used in training and on the algorithms used to build it.
"We are nowhere near an understanding of human intelligence in a mathematical fashion that would allow us to engineer a true artificial general intelligence," says VanMaasdam.
In short, you can sleep soundly knowing that robots aren't in charge yet — and probably won't be for at least the rest of this century.
Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Using the Turing Test to Assess AI for Human Intelligence

 According to Space.com, last Wednesday morning, April 26, 2017, for the first time, a human-built spaceship flew through the space between Saturn's atmosphere and the innermost rings and lived to tell the tale. But really there are two tales to tell about the Cassini spacecraft and its encounter. One is about the rings of Saturn. Of all the virtual tourist spots in the solar system — and there are many, only a handful of which we have yet visited — none is more beautiful or unearthly, yet more familiar. Saturn with its rings is, after all, the popular culture image of a planet. The other tale is about the long, long journey that brought Cassini to its encounters with the rings, the culmination of a voyage of exploration that began in another century.  One Ring to Rule Them All Galileo, the first observer to study the night sky through a telescope, saw that there was something odd about Saturn. To him and other early observers, it looked as though it had handles on each side. Not until decades later did astronomer Christiaan Huygens identify the "handles" as a flat ring that surrounded Saturn. Another astronomer, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, was the first to discover that Saturn had not one ring but a series of concentric rings, with what appeared to be gaps between them. The Cassini spacecraft, appropriately named after him, shot through one of those gaps on Wednesday morning. But the more we learn about the rings of Saturn, the more astonishing they become. From Earth, the rings look like solid, flat doughnuts. However, we learned from earlier space missions that there are in fact thousands of rings, each made up of innumerable pieces of ice, each orbiting Saturn, some passing so close to each other that they may form ever-changing chains and clumps that behave like rivers of ice and rock. Cassini first passed through a gap in the outer rings of Saturn on June 30, 2004. As data comes in from Cassini's close encounter with the innermost rings — the first of dozens scheduled before Cassini's final September swan dive into Saturn itself — we will learn more about the rings. We naturally don't know what we will learn, but one thing you can count on is that it will be amazing. The Long Road to a Grand Finale Swan Dive But for the Cassini spacecraft, diving between Saturn and its inner ring is only the second-to-last act in a long-running adventure. Launched in 1997, nearly 20 years ago, Cassini reached the neighborhood of Saturn in 2004 after a series of gravitational flybys gave it the energy to reach the distant outer planet, and its Scalable SIRUâ„¢ (Scalable Inertial Reference Unit) navigational system helped its insertion into Saturn's orbit through a gap in Saturn's outer rings. The SIRUâ„¢ system was especially integral to the precise positioning of the spacecraft, says Greg Levin, systems engineer at Northrop Grumman. "As an example of precision during the Cassini mission, there are often 'blackout' periods during operation of the spacecraft where it can't lock on to the sun or the stars to identify its position in space," says Levin. "During these periods, which can last up to five nail-biting hours at a time, the SIRU is critical for ensuring the spacecraft maintains its precise orientation. Over eight years, the SIRU precision during these blackouts was maintained to less than one half of one degree of rotation." Levin adds that SIRUâ„¢ remains a highly reliable sensor more than seven years past its specified life span. Shortly after reaching Saturn space, Cassini released a robotic passenger — the Huygens probe, named for the ring discoverer who also discovered Saturn's giant moon Titan. Huygens landed on Titan in early 2005, giving us close-ups of a unique world of methane lakes. (Doesn't that sound straight out of old-time science fiction?) Through the years that followed, Cassini sent back thousands of images of Saturn's enormous and varied moon system, along with other data suggesting that some of these worlds may have liquid water beneath their frozen surfaces — and, just possibly, life.One Does Not Blithley Fly Through the Rings But for nearly 13 years, Cassini carefully kept its distance from and precisely slipped through the gap between the magnificent outer rings of Saturn. As Brian Resnick recounts at Vox, meticulous flying was needed for a very good reason. Most of outer space is, well, empty space. The rings of Saturn are a dense celestial shooting gallery of ice particles, all of them orbiting Saturn at speeds many times faster than a bullet. Even the gaps in the rings are not empty; they are merely less cluttered than the brightly visible rings and even a tiny spec of ice floating in a relatively empty gap could wreck a spacecraft. Which makes shooting the gap in the rings a risky maneuver, no matter how precise the navigation. Such perilous maneuvers require precision instruments. Again, the SIRUâ„¢ system has its role in maneuvering the dangerously tight space between the rings. Says Levin: "Cassini is designed such that its instruments are fixed to the spacecraft. In order for the spacecraft to accomplish different parts of the scientific mission, the entire spacecraft needs to move to point each of the 12 instruments. Northrop Grumman's SIRUâ„¢ is critical to this process and is an enabler for the science mission of the spacecraft." In 2017, Cassini is, for the first time, exploring the space between Saturn and its innermost ring. During this final phase, the spacecraft is traversing the 3,000-kilometer gap between the outer fringe of Saturn's atmosphere and the inner edge of the main ring. As the spacecraft executes 22 orbits, it will draw closer and closer to Saturn until the planet's atmosphere slows down the spacecraft and Cassini swan dives into Saturn itself. That mission's most eagerly anticipated chapters are being written as you read this article, as Cassini reports back on its last close encounter with the rings. Stay tuned, because in all likelihood the best is yet to come.

Cassini Spacecraft: The New Lord of the Rings

A successful career rarely follows a straight path. It usually takes a winding road, with plenty of learning curves, ups and downs. One of the best things an employee can do to stay on course is to find a mentor. At Northrop Grumman, mentorships are encouraged through several programs and are seen as valuable interactions that help people broaden their experience, expose them to different career possibilities and point them to educational opportunities. Although it's smart to find a mentor in any industry, it can be particularly helpful to have one in a STEM career. In honor of National Mentoring Month, Laura Scott, a quality program manager at Northrop Grumman, explained why she thinks it's important to find a mentor. Making Connections Scott began her career at Northrop Grumman in November 2009, freshly graduated from Villanova University with a degree in mechanical engineering. She came in as part of the quality engineering group, specifically in process control and testing material properties. In the early days, Scott sought out advice informally from Northrop Grumman employees she admired. But after a couple of years, Scott felt as though she had learned as much as she could on her own and wanted to gain a deeper knowledge of the company from others. She knew it was time to find a mentor. Through a Northrop Grumman program called Women In Leadership, Scott connected with Art Lofton, who was vice president of Global Mission Excellence for the company's Aerospace Systems sector at the time. Lofton, who had started with the company in 1990 and is now retired, had held several positions over his tenure, including deputy program manager of Long Range Strikes for Integrated Systems. That gave him a good perspective on what it took to excel at the company. About once a month, Scott and Lofton would meet to talk about her career goals and get his insight. In one case, Scott was contemplating a move from her job as a Material Review Board quality engineer to Sector Material Review Board chair. Although it was a lateral move, the chairperson role had a much higher level of responsibility. Scott would need to maintain quality processes and interact with customers to ensure consistency across all programs in the sector. She went to Lofton as a sounding board. They discussed the pros and cons of the move, whether it was a good fit for her current skills and development and what would it look like as part of her career path, she said. "A mentor can motivate you to go out there and take some risks," said Scott. Ultimately, she decided to make the move, and she's glad she did. The Bigger Picture After Lofton retired, Scott was paired with Chris Hernandez, vice president of engineering for Aerospace Systems, through the company's VP mentoring program. Because Hernandez worked outside the quality and mission excellence function, he was able to connect Scott with senior people she hadn't met before, in particular women engineers in leadership roles. Scott said she appreciated the opportunity to network with women who were already forging a path in a male-dominated industry.  Enable targeting cookies to view this content.   Hernandez also offered advice that helped Scott think more strategically about her role at Northrop Grumman. In previous positions, for instance, Scott would be tasked with finding solutions to individual problems. But as she progressed through the ranks from contributor to manager, she had to consider an entire sector. Hernandez encouraged her to tweak otherwise single-problem solutions in a way that would make them apply across the board. He challenged her to think not just about putting out a single fire, but about how a solution could work universally, for the whole sector. With Hernandez's help, Scott's perspective began to shift from one of meeting day-to-day goals to one of considering long-term strategic outcomes. Those outcomes generally revolved around technical issues. But as Scott took on more responsibility, she found herself encountering managerial challenges, too. Addressing those issues wasn't something she learned as part of her STEM education; she was trained as an engineer and, like many engineers, tended to focus on the technical. "That can absorb you completely," Scott said. Those who do not look up from their work often may not get out of their niche, she said. They may not know anyone outside their group and or understand how to deal effectively with interpersonal situations when they arise. Hernandez helped introduce Scott to people outside her domain and gave her valuable advice for dealing with a variety of people. "If you want to develop in a career or go into management, mentoring really helps with those interpersonal managerial issues that aren't taught much in STEM fields," says Scott. Two-Way Street For Scott, mentoring always went both ways. As she reflected on her experience during National Mentoring Month, she said she never saw herself as merely the recipient of advice but as an active participant in a mutually respectful relationship. Because she was of a different generation than her mentors, Scott often shared the perspective of her peers with them. She briefed her mentors on the latest technology she and her friends used, for instance, or shared their philosophical perspective. That kind of information can be valuable to those in leadership roles, who are typically managing hundreds, even thousands, of people of different ages and backgrounds. Ten years into her career at Northrop Grumman, Scott is now giving back by mentoring junior-level employees. She says she's impressed with how honest recent college graduates are and how much they know about technology coming into the job. She hopes to pass on what she's gleaned from the formal and informal mentorships she formed over the last decade. And although she's on the other side of the conversation — giving advice, rather than accepting it — she continues to learn. "Even if you don't have a lot work experience, those life experiences can be just as helpful at providing a different point of view to problems," Scott said. Are you looking for a company where you can grow and find your mentor? Visit Northrop Grumman's career page for opportunities.

Why It's Important to Find a Mentor for Your Career

 The military has used electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) sensors for decades to track stationary and moving targets. Now, these sensor technologies are being combined with artificial intelligence for a variety of military and commercial applications. Using artificial intelligence to handle visual processing allows these systems to do a better and faster job of image recognition.Cutting-edge AI Here are some cutting-edge examples of how AI is being used for visual processing: At Stockholm's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, researchers have combined artificial intelligence with image processing to create technology that can determine the best radiotherapy treatment plan for an individual patient, according to DOTmed News. At Stanford, computer scientists have combined deep learning, a form of AI, and visual processing to create an algorithm that could diagnose skin cancers as accurately as board-certified dermatologists could. They hope to create an app that would provide people who can't travel with remote diagnoses. Neurala, a startup with the tagline "brains for bots," has already used AI to process images from low-end cameras to help a Mars rover explore the red planet, according to IEEE Spectrum. Now it wants to bring that same technology to home robots, toys and self-driving cars. EditEdit Military applications have expanded beyond acquiring and tracking weapons targets, according to Military & Aerospace Electronics. Naval experts, for example, are looking to EO/IR sensors to provide situational awareness. Different assets in the field can transmit what they're seeing to a central command; then, that consolidated view can be broadcast back out to the field. The U.S. Navy currently has an experimental Situational Awareness System that uses two EO/IR sensors placed at the front and back of an aircraft carrier's deck, as well as video cameras and a laptop-based controller. In the same vein, Northrop Grumman's LITENING G4 combines sensors, laser imaging and advanced image processing to provide combat ID, range recognition and situational awareness. Smarter Vision In these examples and in general, artificial intelligence is necessary to make sense of multiple inputs and/or lower-resolution images. While the optics and sensors used in these implementations are impressive, it's the software that makes sense of all the incoming data. Many multisensor systems rely on a process called sensor fusion to gain a complete view of the surroundings, and that situational awareness is crucial for military operations. As All About Circuits explains, many sensing technologies besides EO/IR can help create an accurate view of surroundings. LiDAR, radar, sonar, GPS and physical sensors such as accelerometers can fill in for each other. For example, cameras don't work well in low-light or bad-weather conditions, while LiDAR emits its own light. LiDAR, however, is expensive, so developers of autonomous vehicles use both, along with an array of other devices.Sensor Fusion Fusing all these inputs together is no simple feat. For one thing, different sensors may provide conflicting data, while occasionally a sensor may fail. So a sensor fusion system must have enough intelligence to determine which inputs to trust in a split second. Unguided equipment, such as autonomous cars or unmanned aircraft systems such as the RQ-4 Global Hawk, must be able to avoid obstacles and respond almost instantly to changing conditions. For example, the automated driving solution from Delphi and Mobileye combines cameras, real-time mapping, radars and LiDAR, according to Auto Connected Car News. However, instead of using a database of driving rules for guidance, the system employs artificial intelligence that actually can learn to drive better with experience. Computer-vision systems that combine multiple sensors with a layer of intelligence mimic the way the human body takes in information from the sensory organs and processes it in the brain. Will these systems ever be as good as the human body and brain? In 2015, software beat humans in an image classification test, according to the Computer Vision Foundation. And Tech Times says Google's self-driving cars are safer than human-piloted cars. In other words, they're already better.

Image Processing Gets a Boost with Sensor Tech and AI

The Voyager 1 and 2 probes have been on a journey through space for more than 40 years. Launched in 1977, they are now well beyond Pluto's orbit. In 2012, Voyager 1 entered interstellar space and is now the most distant human-made object from the Earth. Voyager 2 entered interstellar space in November 2018. Both spacecraft carry an identical message from Earth for any extraterrestrial beings who happen to find them, the Voyager golden record. These spacecraft are still gathering and transmitting scientific information through the Deep Space Network, allowing scientists to learn more about this unexplored region. What's Playing? Voyager 1 and 2, like Pioneer 10 and 11 before them, inspired hope for extraterrestrial communication. What if someday in the distant future, these remarkable things sent to space were found by extraterrestrial spacefarers? Visionary team members of these deep space missions felt that it was important to communicate the story of humanity. To this end, Pioneers 10 and 11 carried small metal plaques basically describing their place of origin in the Milky Way galaxy. The Voyager golden record was more ambitious, intended to encapsulate the essence of humanity as a kind of time capsule. Each record is a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk, encased in a protective aluminum cover. Each includes a phonograph cartridge and a needle, along with instructions in symbolic language on how to play the record. Each Voyager golden record contains 115 images encoded in analog form as well as a variety of sounds designed to describe the life and culture of planet Earth to extraterrestrials. Natural sounds are included, such as those made by wind, thunder and a variety of animals. Also included is a wide selection of music from different human eras and cultures and spoken greetings from people in 55 languages. Finally, the record includes printed messages from former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Kurt Waldheim, United Nations Secretary-General from 1972 to 1981. The Voyager Golden Record Pioneers The initiative to create the Voyager golden records was led by astronomer Dr. Carl Sagan of Cornell University. According to the New Yorker, in 1976, Sagan was visiting with his friends, science writers Timothy Ferris and Ann Druyan. Sagan was enthusiastic about the idea of communication with intelligent extraterrestrials and had helped design the plaques for the Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft. He asked Ferris and Druyan to help him create something better for Voyager. As Ferris recalled, "We immediately agreed. Soon, he [Sagan] and one of his colleagues at Cornell, Frank Drake, had decided on a record. By the time NASA approved the idea, we had less than six months to put it together, so we had to move fast." What Will Extraterrestrials Make of This? We simply don't know enough about our universe to determine if extraterrestrials exist. If they do, what is the probability that they will find Voyager golden records? Will they figure out how to access the content? The symbolic instructions are mostly technical in nature, and an advanced spacefaring civilization might well be able to meet this challenge. Interpretation of the content is another matter entirely. Even if they do gain access, will they have any understanding of what they have found? No matter how hard we try to put ourselves in alien shoes (do they wear shoes?), it's difficult to think beyond our own human-centric viewpoint. There are those who argue that the Voyager golden record message of human cultural diversity will be confusing rather than explanatory. Rebecca Orchard and Sheri Wells-Jensen at Bowling Green State University in Ohio studied the content and considered how intelligent extraterrestrial beings might misinterpret it. For example, the records contain images and sounds that are not correlated. If extraterrestrials tried to match the sounds with objects in the images, human culture might appear to be very strange. "What if you pair the image of an open daffodil with the roar of a chainsaw?" asked Orchard. Even if they are unable to understand the message, the fact that these records were included on these interstellar spacecraft is a message in itself: Humans are explorers, and we've done our best to tell the universe who we are. As Carl Sagan noted, "The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced spacefaring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet." Outward Bound: Tracking Things Sent to Space You can keep track of these spacecraft at JPL's Voyager Mission Status page. Voyager 1 is now about 13.5 billion miles from Earth, Voyager 2 about 11.2 billion miles. They have traveled beyond the heliopause, the theoretical boundary where the sun's solar wind is stopped by the interstellar medium, and have reached what is considered to be interstellar space. The Road Less Traveled: Where Are They Going? It will be quite a while before the Voyager spacecraft make a close approach to any other planetary system. Voyager 1 is leaving the solar system at a speed of approximately 325 million miles per year, heading toward the constellation Ophiuchus. In about 38,200 years, it will pass within 1.7 light-years of a star called AC+79 3888 in the constellation Ursa Minor. Voyager 2 is moving at a speed of about 288 million miles per year, toward the constellations of Sagittarius and Pavo. In about 40,000 years, it will pass within about 1.7 light-years of a star named Ross 248, a small star in the Andromeda constellation.  Will we eventually lose track of the Voyagers? Each spacecraft is equipped with a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), which puts out 4 fewer watts of electrical power each year as its plutonium fuel decays. The Voyager team prioritizes which instruments to keep on as the available power diminishes. Both spacecrafts are expected to continue operating with at least one science instrument until around 2025. They will remain in range of the Deep Space Network through about 2036. After that, the available power to transmit a signal back to Earth will fade away, and these magnificent lonely wanderers will disappear from observable human experience.

The Legacy of the Voyager Golden Record

 In the late 1960s, up-and-coming New Jersey painter Phil Weisgerber ventured out to southern California in his twenties and landed a job within one of the U.S. government's most sensitive and closely guarded industries. Over the next 40-plus years, he would go on to become one of the most influential and well-respected conceptual artists in Northrop Grumman's history. In October of last year, I had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Weisgerber in his studio and discuss his colorful life and career. Following is a transcript of my interview with this talented artist. Adam: Today is October 31, 2016, and I'm sitting in Phil Weisgerber's home in Redondo Beach, California. So Phil, I'm just going to start at the beginning and walk through your life and career essentially. There are no wrong answers. Phil: Good. I don't want to fail a test or anything. Adam: I read that you grew up in New Jersey. What was that like? Phil: I always thought I was going to live there. I love New Jersey. I go back there for three or four months every year. Most of my family is there and my girlfriend Maria lives there. I just like the smell of it. I grew up in a wilderness area known as the "Great Swamp." I worked for hunt clubs and as a guide out in the swamp until I was about 20 and moved to California. Adam: I imagine the surrounding beauty influenced a lot of your work. Phil: Most of the landscapes that you see around us are paintings of the swamps. I paint them for myself but I sell them as well. I tend to paint what I want and not care if anybody buys them or not. They sell eventually. Adam: You attended the National Academy School of Fine Arts and Design in New York City. Was it a difficult transition to go there from such a wide-open space? Phil: I stayed in New Jersey because I was only 25 miles from New York. I would take the train in every morning. But yes, I loved walking around in the city before or after class. I had no idea what I was going to do. I had these scholarships from high school so I figured I might as well use them to attend the National Academy. Adam: Do you have any favorite artists or people you draw inspiration from? Phil: I studied Rembrandt for so long and I always liked his style. Even though satellites and landscapes don't look like Rembrandt, I'm always thinking of Rembrandt. When I was at the National Academy, this one instructor (who looked like he could have known Rembrandt) said that he studied under Rembrandt. The Metropolitan had a huge collection of Rembrandt paintings so I would do just like he said and go down and study the Rembrandts. It was only walking distance. I had special access so I could go down to the basements and the vaults and look at things that weren't on display. Adam: What was your motivation to move to Los Angeles? Phil: It was actually an art teacher in high school who prompted me to apply to the Art Center School in Los Angeles. In the National Academy, all you really did was nudes: figure painting in the morning and figure drawing in the afternoon. The instructors were world famous. I had no idea what I wanted to do but my high school teacher said, "I want you to go to California and go to school at Art Center," and I didn't even know what for. But I did come out and was accepted.  Photo by Alex Evers, Northrop Grumman Adam: After Art Center, what led you into aerospace and defense? Phil: I think it was because it was the first place that hired me. I called major companies in Southern California that might have an art department. I was ready to go back to New Jersey but needed money to get back there. A guy at Purolator was going to hire me in Thousand Oaks but I never got a degree from Art Center, only a Certificate of Completion. I could have gotten the degree if I'd taken two more classes but the head of the department said, "You don't really need the degree. Your work will speak for itself." So, after I filled out the paperwork at Purolator, the receptionist said, "You didn't put down your degree." I said, "I don't have one." She threw my application in the trash and said, "We don't hire anyone without a degree." I called TRW [Thompson Ramo Wooldridge — the space branch of which was purchased by Northrop Grumman for $7.8 billion in 2002] and they asked me to come in, but then the art director from Purolator called me and asked why I didn't show up for my interview. I said, "I don't have a degree." And he said, "You went to Art Center, right?" And I said, "Yeah." And he said, "Well, I'd have hired you anyway. You didn't need a degree. " Well, I didn't know that at the time. I was 24 years old and didn't know how the work world worked. Adam: So describe what it was like to go from Art Center to working at a massive aerospace corporation. Phil: When I started at TRW, I was in the Presentation Art Department and did speedball lettering for four or five years, which I had never done before. Adam: Can you describe that process a bit? Phil: We would produce these 30 by 40-inch flip charts with India ink and speedball pens. They would use these for presentations. We also did pastel work. If there were illustrations on the charts, we always did them in pastels. I won an award for one of those pastels back in 1969. There were five or so established artists at TRW and they did all the color work. Anything painted was usually done by John Desatoff or Frank Warren and a few others. It wasn't until about 1980, when everybody was so busy that somebody came to me and asked if I could do a satellite painting. I did it in three days and it was very well received. That got my foot in the door and afterward I produced most of the color illustrations. And then my work won some international awards and garnered attention from TRW and customers. Adam: Can you describe the creative process of how you would work with the customer to come up with a painting? Phil: A lot of them started as conceptual drawings. Some of the products had no plans, no blueprints, and we'd draw them up; others had engineering drawings. I would do a lot of roughs and that was the fun part — the conceptual drawings and paintings. Sometimes I would do up to 10 or 15 of them with different varieties of painting to choose from. Adam: So would you establish which rough to start from and then bring it back to your studio and start painting? Phil: I never did oil at TRW. Everything was done in gouache which is an opaque watercolor. Once a rough was done and approved, I'd refine the rough a little bit or give them a transitional painting. When that was approved, I would paint the finish. The fun part was doing the roughs and solving a problem. A lot of them were a challenge to show what the customer wanted to show. Often the roughs were more dynamic because you could splash a highlight that was bigger than the subject on it and make it look really good. Adam: Do any of the paintings really jump out at you as favorites? Phil: Yes. Actually, when President Reagan was in office, I liked a lot of the Star Wars program art. There were all these Brilliant Pebbles and autonomous things flying around in space. It was fun figuring out a lot of them because often you had to go back to the engineers and find out what the orbits were and how high they were to make the pictures right. There were other ones that were fun. I ended up doing a lot of these long pieces that just evolve from one thing into another. Such as this timeline that starts with the Big Bang and ends with AXAF. Adam: And what is the size of that one, for our readers? Phil: It's about 60 inches by 8 inches. Adam: It's gorgeous. Phil: A lot of these have gone through transitions. Sometimes over a 10-year period, I would work on that same piece of art. Instead of doing a new one each time, I would take out the old one and wipe part of it off. That's one thing about gouache — you can just wipe off what's on there with a wet cloth and have a clean board to work over. It would save the company a lot of money and me a lot of time. The gouache was the worst media I had ever seen when I was going to art school. Depending on how you used it, it could dry lighter or darker and it would never dry the same color. It took so many years but after working with it for forty years at TRW, it became the easiest paint to use. You could mix your colors up and it would look like it was three values different and you'd put it down and it would dry right up to the same color. I felt really proud of that — that something I hated so much at school turned into my favorite medium. Adam: Your work has been featured at Northrop Grumman, NASA, the Pentagon and Smithsonian, among others. You've been covered in Popular Science, Global Defense Review, Aviation Weekly. Even Steven Spielberg owns some of your work. Are there any specific milestones that stand out to you as career accomplishments, or experiences that are particularly memorable? Phil: The company travel was fun. I also traveled with the Air Force to the Middle East and Europe as a member of the Air Force art program. One time in Iraq, I remember I was walking to go see the Temple of Ur and a guy telling me, "Remember to stay on the tank tracks." I asked, "Why?" And he said, "Because there's live ordnances out there." I said, "Yeah, I don't need to see the temple that bad." It was an experience just seeing a whole other part of life — the way they live in that region.  Photo by Alex Evers, Northrop Grumman Adam: Tell me about your relationship with the company's customers. What was it like for a free-spirit artist working for the military? Phil: The Air Force would fly you to AF bases all over the country and they'd treat you real nice. My part was to paint something for the Air Force that showed their impact around the world. Over the years I've painted a guy releasing a weather balloon ... another one was a moose up in Alaska. And I would paint missiles, launch facilities, satellites and space paintings. The Air Force had a lot to do with the space program. When I was in England at Lakenheath Air Force Base, I did a painting of a distant F-15 at the top with all these flowers in the foreground. The painting, which was called "End of Runway Lakenheath," went over well. Even with TRW, I'd go up to Vandenberg to do research for when they were building SLC-6 for the shuttle launches. I was out with this guy and I kept telling him to stop the car because I wanted to take pictures of the flowers. After about the third stop he said, "You seem more interested in the flowers then the buildings we're going to." And I said, "To tell you the truth, I am." So he said, "Well, let me go get the four-wheel drive." He came back with the four-wheel drive and we spent the rest of the afternoon riding all over Vandenberg taking pictures of landscapes. I said, "I really like this." He said, "If you ever want to come up again, call me." And I used to go up and see him and we'd just go out for rides all over the place and shoot the landscape. Adam: It's not just the aerospace industry that appreciated your talent. Tell me how Steven Spielberg ended up with one of your works? Phil: It was a gift from a man that I was doing some freelance for, who happened to know Steven Spielberg really well. He bought one of my prints to take to a dinner party at Norman Lear's house to give to Spielberg as a gift. I understand Spielberg actually liked my version of E.T. hugging the Earth and said it was one of his favorite versions of E.T. And that's how Spielberg ended up with my work. Adam: Well, you've accomplished so much over your amazing career, but are there any dream projects that remain to be done? Phil: I guess my dream project would be to have the incentive to do any of the ones that are already in my head. I have reference pieces that I shoot all over the country when I'm out, and I'd like to do a lot more paintings. I still like painting the swamps; it's still one of my favorite subjects. Phil Weisgerber passed away peacefully in his home on January 13, 2017, surrounded by family. His legacy includes four children, three grandchildren, and his art.

Modern warfare calls for high-tech equipment. Even a reliable, classic defense tool — radar — has room for improvement. Therefore, Northrop Grumman is replacing legacy equipment with updated radar to detect objects with greater accuracy without sacrificing mobility. Current radar technology enables machines to track multiple types of rocket, artillery and mortar rounds simultaneously. Radar systems are becoming increasingly digital, so in the future we could start to see the merging of radar, electronic warfare, communications and other functions. While older radar systems were mechanically scanned, the latest systems are defined by software. With active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar technology, a beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without physically repositioning the antenna. This has the effect of giving an operating machine excellent peripheral vision, because while the equipment faces one direction, AESA radar can also focus separate beams on other areas.  Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) The newest radar systems are also more jam-proof and harder to detect. AESA radar was developed from modern airborne radar designs, but it is now being used to equip versatile ground machines. Northrop Grumman's Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) system is a single radar that can replace a handful of other legacy radars. While ground and air defense missions previously required separate radars, G/ATOR does both. Having one radar system for multiple missions reduces operation and maintenance costs. It was developed to protect Marine expeditionary forces, but in the future, it may also be useful for the Army for ground missions and Air Force for air missions. G/ATOR detects and tracks targets such as rockets, artillery, mortars, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The antenna array rotates to provide 360-degree coverage, and the entire system can be set up in less than an hour. For maximum mobility, the antenna and its drive system are mounted on a trailer. A lightweight cooling system uses forced circulation from fans blowing ambient air through the array. The trailer is pulled by a truck which has a mounted generator to provide power to the radar system. A Humvee with a shelter provides the ability to communicate via radios. Although G/ATOR is powerful, it breaks down into lightweight components so it is more mobile than traditional radar and can be transported via helicopter or cargo aircraft. Highly Adaptable Multi-Mission Radar (HAMMR)   Highly Adaptable Multi-Mission Radar (HAMMR) is a high performance radar system that provides full capability on the move. Like G/ATOR, it takes the AESA technology from airborne fighter radars and repurposes it for ground missions. This system can track multiple targets (rockets, artillery, mortars, aircraft and small UAS) traveling in a variety of paths and trajectories. Unlike existing systems, HAMMR is designed as a secure software defined, hardware enabled, mission system so it is modular and scalable. It can rapidly be reconfigured in the field with software upgrades to address new threats. It can counter cruise missiles. The radar spins to provide 360-degree coverage, and it has a small footprint. It's mountable on a vehicle so the operators are protected even when they are on the move. Tracking targets while moving greatly improves the system's survivability.   Digital Radar   Engineers at Northrop Grumman are developing systems that use digitally beamed radar. The company's chief engineer and system architect on the radar team said, "We have just begun to scratch the surface with digital radar." The chief went onto explain, "These are just coming to market now, and we have started to explore the capabilities that we could potentially bring to the warfighter. With digital, we have so much more power and flexibility available to us [than analog radars]. There is a huge capability improvement that is available that we're going bring to fruition in the next ten to 20 years." The biggest challenge that remains is figuring out how to handle the data that digital radar collects. Research is still needed regarding signal processing, data processing and data dissemination. There is an opportunity for a single piece of hardware to serve several different functions at once. Figuring out exactly how this will be done is a multidisciplinary effort that requires electrical engineers, software engineers, systems engineers, mechanical engineers and even more. While the basic principles of radar remain the same as always, the technology at the core of radar systems has changed. Thanks to decades of research and work by electrical, mechanical and software engineers — including at Northrop Grumman, where you can actively take part — radar systems are now more versatile and modular, while still remaining accurate. 

Radar Systems Get a High-Tech Upgrade

 Humans seem to love 3-D optical illusions. They're also becoming useful in a variety of sectors. The tech world got a big boost with the launch of Microsoft's HoloLens last December, which lets you interact with digital content, providing what's known as "mixed reality" experiences. While so-called "holograms" may be in vogue, the reality is that many technologies that use that term or the prefix "holo" are not actually using real holographic techniques, but rather, 3-D visualization tech. On the Job 3-D visualizations can make teleconferencing more engaging, but that's just the beginning of their potential uses in business. Los Angeles contracting company Martin Bros. has experimented with using 3-D visualizations, produced via the HoloLens, to enable a construction worker to frame out a bathroom, according to Engineering News-Record. The idea is that, instead of having to constantly refer to plans, the worker can keep the design constantly in his or her field of vision. Prsonas, a company that provides 3-D visualizations for self-service applications, suggests that virtual assistants could replace some human staffers by offering directions to bathrooms and amenities in hotels or stadiums.Consumer Products 3-D interfaces may seem more natural to the human brain — as well as contribute the cool factor to gadgets. As cars become more automated and fully featured, manufacturers have struggled to find ways to surface all the controls without confusing drivers and making the dashboard look like the cockpit of a jetliner. BMW recently demonstrated the concept of using reflective 3-D visualizations to allow drivers to operate controls with gestures in the air. The full-color display seems to hover in front of the dashboard near the steering wheel, according to Wired.Education Tech-minded educators think that 3-D visualizations in the classroom might help students keep engaged with the course material. Teachers already deliver lectures remotely via video conferencing. Making their images 3-D would enhance the illusion of being in a classroom with the teacher, according to EdTechReview. The ability to watch the instructor in 3-D could also make demonstrations more effective. ISTE.org adds that 3-D visualization technology could allow students to tour historical sites and have questions answered by a virtual guide, as well as to perform virtual experiments that might be too dangerous or costly to do for real.Medicine 3-D visualizations can enable doctors and surgeons to examine organs and practice procedures virtually, says Smithsonian. Three-dimensional images can be created from two-dimensional scans. The resulting 3-D visualizations can then be rotated and taken apart. One promising use would be to replace invasive colonoscopies with a digital version that takes advantage of CAT-scan imagery. Another example is to allow heart surgeons to become familiar with a patient's abnormal heart structure ahead of the complex surgery to repair it.Military 3-D visualizations can provide the same kind of enhanced information to military personnel, allowing them to better understand geospacial information and intelligence, according to Defense Review. One example is Northrop Grumman's TouchTable that lets users zoom in and out, draw on it, and pan using hand gestures. The TouchTable has been seen in CNN's "The Situation Room," hosted by Wolf Blitzer.  Enhanced learning and more effective medicine are important advances. But what we really want to know is, when will we be able to use the holodeck? While Microsoft's HoloLens demonstrations look pretty much like the holodeck minus the Star Trek uniforms, physicists at the University of Australia say they've invented a 3-D visualization generator that produces Star Trek-quality images. Phys.org reports that the new material is light enough to be used in astronomical missions, while it has new optical properties that go beyond natural materials. Beam us up!

3-D Visualizations: Cool New Tools

Florid cursive writing and mastery of Latin were once core studies in the educational curriculum. Today, technology leaders are encouraging parents and schools to teach kids to code. Code is a broad term for the programming languages that tell computers what to do. Every car, airplane, medical device and social media app relies on coders to create and maintain the programs behind the scenes. Teaching kids to code will prepare the next generation to keep our tech-reliant economy humming. According to CNBC: "About half of the highest-paying American jobs now require some coding knowledge. But our tech skills are lacking; 15-year-olds in the United States ranked 38th out of 71 countries in terms of math skills" in a 2015 assessment. Coding Prepares Kids To Succeed No matter their career aspirations, all students can benefit from learning computational thinking and problem-solving strategies, Chicago Public Schools Computer Science Integration Manager Troy Williams told Mashable.  Chicago Public Schools spearheaded an initiative called Computer Science for All (CS4All), which ensures "that students across the district are afforded the opportunity to receive world-class CS instruction, regardless of the type, size, or socioeconomic status of a school's students." One of the leaders in teaching kids to code is Code.org, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by women and underrepresented minorities. Code.org hosts Hour of Code, an annual campaign that engages tens of millions of students across the world and provides the leading curriculum for K-12 computer science in the United States. Top competitions include CyberCenturion, a cybersecurity contest in the United Kingdom for 12- to 18-year-olds, sponsored by Northrop Grumman. The goal of the competition is to engage with students at an early age and encourage them to pursue careers in the cyber fields, filling the U.K. cyber skills gap. Battlecode — a long-running artificial intelligence competition from MIT — pits teams against each other to design AI that can best their opponents. Recent competitions have added virtual zombies to introduce a random element that makes it more difficult to program for every eventuality. Coding training can use commercially popular languages such as Python and Ruby, as well as systems built to teach programming for kids. MIT developed Scratch and Scratch Jr., visual programming languages for children as young as 5 years old. Another child-friendly visual programming language is Tynker, which also incorporates the hugely popular Minecraft online world into its lessons. Tynker introduces students to Python and JavaScript coding as their skills progress. The visual programming languages teach children to create sequences by snapping blocks of commands together. The result might be an animation or game. Students learn how to program repetitive actions and conditional steps — if the next space is open, then move forward; if not, turn left. Should All Kids Learn To Code? What are the benefits of programming for kids? As Marina Umaschi Bers wrote in Tufts Now, "It offers many opportunities for learning and personal growth, exploration and creativity, mastery of new skills, and ways of thinking." While only some students will go on to have careers in the field, learning how to code teaches many transferable skills. Robin Raskin, the founder of Living in Digital Times, wrote in the Huffington Post that the single best skill learned through coding is "empowerment." She adds that, "Your thoughts can be translated into actions."

Teaching Kids To Code Teaches Them How To Think

Earth scientists are using space lasers to observe a water system of 130 lakes in Antarctica. They used the latest data combined with historical observations to discover two new lakes and improve their maps of the frozen continent. The lakes periodically fill and drain into the ocean on cycles that are still not fully understood. Studying these mysterious subglacial lake systems can help scientists understand more about ocean circulation, the speed and direction of Antarctica's ice sheet flow, and Earth's water system as a whole. Let's take a closer look at this discovery and what it can teach us about the world at large. The Discovery As Space.com reports, the newly discovered lakes are called the Lower Conway Subglacial Lake and the Lower Mercer Subglacial Lake. They are part of a larger system of lakes hidden below 1.2 to 2.5 miles of ice. The lakes and others like them are dynamic. They can change the currents in the Southern Ocean and can potentially affect worldwide ocean circulation. "It's not just the ice sheet we're talking about," researcher Matthew Siegfried said in a NASA statement. "We're really talking about a water system that is connected to the whole Earth system." Siegfried and co-author Helen Amanda Fricker studied data from several Earth-observing satellites and reported their findings in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. In the paper, they explain that below the glaciers, several factors lead to small amounts of melting ice: insulation, pressure, the heat of the Earth and friction. These drops of melted ice add up to produce "large volumes of subglacial water," which is stored in lakes and aquifers hidden below the surface of the ice. Subglacial Lake Studies Naturally, these water systems have been difficult for researchers to observe and access, since they are cloaked in miles of ice. Recent technology upgrades have made satellite observation possible. According to Space.com, as the lakes drain and fill on their natural cycles, the ice above them rises and falls. By measuring changes in the height of the glaciers, scientists can see evidence of what's happening below the surface. Satellites have observed these glaciers since 2007, with a NASA satellite called ICESat and then later with the Cryo-Sat2, a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite. The data collected from NASA and ESA satellites covered a broad area and gave scientists baseline measurements that kicked off a new era of understanding Antarctica. When the first generation of satellite data became available, Fricker discovered that subglacial lakes were much more dynamic than scientists previously suspected. While scientists thought the lakes in Antarctica were fairly still, the data revealed otherwise. Instead of being static reservoirs, they fill and drain on a cycle. The volume of water that flows from Antarctica's lakes is significant. One study found that a single Antarctic lake dumped 21 billion to 26 billion cubic feet into the ocean in 2019, as Live Science reports. Technology That Enabled the Discovery Earlier data was not precise enough to allow researchers to fully understand the water systems below the surface. "Satellite measurements have been limited by how often they collect the data and their coverage," the researchers explain in the paper. "Using new data from NASA's ICESat-2 mission, we show that ICESat-2 provides unprecedented detail over lakes, both in time and space. The ICESat-2 data will lead to a steep change in our understanding of how Antarctica's hidden subglacial water system operates, which is a crucial ingredient for how an ice sheet behaves and evolves." Northrop Grumman built the ICESat-2 satellite, which uses 10,000 laser pulses per second to measure the ice sheets in unprecedented detail. The satellite is equipped with a sensing technology called Light Detection and Ranging, or LIDAR, which is similar to RADAR but uses light instead of radio waves. A laser altimeter sends laser pulses down to Earth and analyzes the reflected light, measuring how long it takes the light to return to determine the distance. "The discovery of these interconnected systems of lakes at the ice-bed interface that are moving water around, with all these impacts on glaciology, microbiology and oceanography — that was a big discovery from the ICESat mission," said Siegfried. He added, "ICESat-2 is like putting on your glasses after using ICESat. The data are such high precision that we can really start to map out the lake boundaries on the surface." What's Next The discovery of two new lakes highlights the fact that there is still a significant portion of our planet we do not understand. Earth-observing satellites can provide clues about what's happening below the surface and how those lakes and their draining cycles affect ocean circulation. This type of information can help to reveal details about what happens when glaciers melt — a topic that is becoming increasingly urgent as global temperatures rise. "There are processes that are going on under Antarctica that we wouldn't have a clue about if we didn't have satellite data," said Fricker. "We've been struggling with getting good predictions about the future of Antarctica, and instruments like ICESat-2 are helping us observe the process scale." Are you interested in science and innovation? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

What a Subglacial Lake Under Antarctica Can Teach Us

Unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, have become a ubiquitous part of our lives. Smart, microprocessor- and software-driven flying machines now regularly perform military missions tagged as "dull, dirty or dangerous," while local government agencies and private entrepreneurs enlist drones for missions such as aerial surveillance of fires, wedding photography and small-package deliveries. Against this backdrop, however, human test pilots — those daring young men and women in their flying machines of movie legend — remain a central and indispensable part of aircraft design, and the teams and processes that develop, test and field new aircraft systems, both manned and unmanned. "Developmental test pilots serve as the 'bridge' between engineers (who design the plane) and operational pilots (who fly the plane)," explains Bob Hood, a retired U.S. Air Force test pilot and one of 15 active test pilots employed today by Northrop Grumman. "The test pilot must be able to speak 'engineering' to help aircraft developers produce a plane with good flying qualities that can meet its mission requirements. He must also help developers produce a flying experience for pilots that is engaging, intuitive and easy to understand." Start With STEM Many test pilots begin their careers as military pilots with a degree in engineering or another technical degree such as physics or mathematics. "To enter test pilot school, you also have to have substantial flying experience — a minimum of 750 flight hours — in military aircraft," explains Troy Johnson, a retired Air Force test pilot and Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems' chief test pilot. The U.S. Navy and the Air Force both operate their own test pilot schools; commercial test pilot schools are also available in the U.S. and abroad. Join the Dream Team Ironically, explains Don Weiss, a retired U.S. Marine Corps test pilot and Northrop Grumman's chief B-2 stealth bomber test pilot, "a majority of the contributions of a test pilot are not made while seated in an aircraft." The role of a test pilot actually begins, he explains, "in the 'dreaming' stage of aircraft design as part of a team considering all aspects of aircraft operation and performance." The test pilot contributes to everything from aircraft design criteria; vendor selection for specific subsystems; and the layout of cockpit controls and displays; to helping develop simulators, flight test plans and training programs — and the earlier in the program, the better. "The single most important job of a test pilot," advises Wayne Staley, a retired Northrop Grumman test pilot who began his test pilot career in the Air Force, "is to collect the data that the aircraft's designers need to evaluate the operation and performance of the aircraft." Bring the Right Stuff The most important characteristic of a test pilot? "Integrity," says Weiss. "Both engineers and pilots have to trust, intimately, the real-time findings of the test pilot. If there is an issue with the plane, the test pilot has to be very transparent so that the situation is well understood by designers and operators alike." Good test pilots need to be disciplined, curious, and cool under fire. According to Hood, however, "fear is not part of a test pilot's vocabulary." If something unusual happens during a flight, he says, "You have to operate in the present. It doesn't matter how you got there, only how you're going to fix it." And this advice has paid off. In October, both Hood and Staley were recognized by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP) for their career-long ability to meet challenging flight test requirements. Both men were honored as members of SETP's 2017 Class of Fellows at the organization's annual meeting, in Anaheim, Calif. Evolve With Technology As aircraft design technology has evolved, so too has the role of the test pilot. "In the 1950s, pilots took planes out to see what they would do. Today we take aircraft out to verify the predictions of our models," says Staley. In an age of sophisticated wind tunnel testing, modeling and simulation tools, he adds, "we don't get into the cockpit until our predicted performance is good." But a new aircraft system doesn't need a cockpit to benefit from the skills of a test pilot. "Increasingly, high speed computers do most of the 'thinking' and management of flight control surfaces for autonomous systems," says Weiss. "But you still need someone who can evaluate the air vehicle's flying qualities, because humans are involved in operating it from the ground." FAA rules require operators of certain classes of unmanned systems to be flight qualified as pilots, and instrument rated. Test pilots work closely with designers of ground control stations, therefore, to ensure that aircraft controls, displays, and methods of presenting information are consistent with how our pilots are trained. Test pilots also help autonomous system designers ensure that an aircraft's avionics and flight control systems can respond appropriately to human air traffic control commands to the air vehicle operator. "The goal is to design autonomous systems so that they are fail-safe and foolproof, but every once in a while, these systems fail and you end up losing an aircraft," observes Johnson. "By including test pilots' expertise in the development of an aircraft, there's a much better chance that a pilot can bring it home safely." Manage the Risks In the end, being a test pilot centers on risk management, whether you're testing a manned or an autonomous system. "The test pilot and the test team spend a lot of time discussing and mitigating risks before a plane ever takes off," explains Staley. "These discussions involve the people who understand best how the aircraft works. Our shared goal is to identify possible problems and minimize our exposure to those problems. That way we'll always have a safe escape route if unexpected situations arise." Enjoy the Ride For all the discipline, teamwork, and mission planning, however, test pilots still go to work to do what they love most — fly high performance aircraft. "One of my most memorable experience was testing the weapons delivery capabilities of a military jet over the ocean," recalls Weiss. "On test day, there was a marine layer of clouds. We needed to have clear conditions to complete the test properly. We spotted a hole in the clouds that was just large enough to drop in, release the weapons, document it and get out. That was fun, and it felt good to accomplish the test under challenging conditions. Most importantly, we got the data. I call that a pretty good day at the office."

Aircraft Design in the Age of Autonomous Systems: Test Pilots Still Play Essential Role

If you're a Systems Thinker chances are you're fluent in Tektology. But speaking and understanding it isn't as simple as it seems.According to Isee Systems Inc., "Systems Thinking is a vantage point from which you see a whole, a web of relationships, rather than focusing only on the detail of any particular piece. Events are seen in the larger context of a pattern that is unfolding over time."Tektology is essentially systems theory for physical sciences. By considering social, biological, and physical science as a system of relationships, the underpinning organization can be studied and quantified.Thinking on that kind of macro level does not always come naturally. The ability to see and understand the interplay between the systems around us—to appreciate the connectivity and interdependencies of systems and forces—is an elusive skill, in fact it's unattainable by many.Like learning Arabic or Cantonese, it's difficult to learn systems thinking and even more challenging to put it into practice. If you're one of the lucky ones born into a Tektology world, or you have a talent for it, you're well-suited to the demands of modern leadership because systems thinking is a driving force behind modern organizational and technological advancement.Global companies such as Northrop Grumman are focused on fostering a Systems Thinking culture because it's fundamental to their future. Northrop Grumman is working toward a future in which all employees — regardless of role — consider their job within the context of the entire mission and needs of the company's customers.A great example of Systems Thinking in an organizational context is the story of JFK and the janitor. President Kennedy, while visiting NASA in the 1960s, asked a janitor at the facility, "What do you do here?" The man replied, "I'm helping to put a man on the moon." That's the essence of Systems Thinking — seeing the entire mission: knowing the linkages between a clean shop floor and 'a great leap for mankind.'Analysis vs Synthesis There are two main processes for reasoning—two key ways that we understand our world—analysis and synthesis.Analysis is the basis of reasoning in historic science, organizational management and engineering. Analysis is all about reductionism, and in reductionism we seek to know, or analyze, something by examining its parts.In analysis we divide complex entities, such as large corporations, into simple components so we can measure them and influence their behavior.Synthesis represents the Systems Thinking approach. The main tenet of synthesis is a consideration of how something is connected to its surroundings. To understand something we don't just take it apart. We examine it in relationship to its environment. We aim to understand something by appreciating its connections and by considering the part it plays within a wider world.For example, instead of understanding a cat by dissecting it—as so many of us did in Biology 101—using synthesis, or Systems Thinking, we would consider the cat in its environment to understand its place and function. If our knowledge of cats was limited to what could be gleaned through dissection or analysis alone, we could not appreciate the positive impact a cat's purring has on human blood pressure. We would miss the negative impact domestic cats have on native bird populations, and we would fail to appreciate about ninety percent of the videos on YouTube. Are you interested in using Systems Thinking in your work? Check out some careers here. Learning TektologySystems Thinking allows us to ask purposeful questions and trace the implications of potential answers across an enterprise. By practicing their Tektology skills, leaders in all fields can develop solutions better suited to their customers' needs, as well as solutions to future problems the customer cannot see coming.So you want to improve your Tektology skills? According to the Waters Foundation, systems thinkers habitually: Seek to understand the big picture; Observe how elements within systems change over time, Identify the circular nature of complex cause and effect relationships; Make meaningful connections within and between systems; Surface and test assumptions; Consider short-term, long-term and unintended consequences of actions; Pay attention to accumulations and their rates of change; and They check results and change their actions if needed

Do you speak Tektology?

Researchers have found experimental evidence for the odderon, a nuclear physics effect first predicted by the Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) theory in the 1980s, according to CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research). This is the latest piece of evidence that this abstract mathematical theory of nature may have a physical reality. The research is still very preliminary — a hint that supports the theory that the odderon exists, rather than definitive proof. We are in the early stages of understanding this phenomenon, and no one knows how this information could be applied to technology. The possibilities are so unknown and vast that they are impossible to predict. What Is the Odderon? Jerome Luine, principal scientist and quantum sensing and metrology research lead at Northrop Grumman Next Basic Research, explained that the odderon is a kind of "glueball" consisting of an odd number of "gluons," which are the carrier of the strong nuclear force that binds quarks together to form hadrons, such as protons. In the 1970s, scientists predicted that if even-numbered pairs of gluons — called pomerons — could exist, then so could odd-numbered groups of gluons, dubbed the odderon. The Electron of the Future  We can compare our current understanding of the odderon to when the electron was first discovered at the end of the 19th century, said Luine. "When electrons were discovered, no one had a clue as to what they would eventually be important for. Now, of course it's the basis for all our electronics, and much more, but no one knew that at the time. All they knew [is] it's just [a] little quirk of nature," added Luine. We're in a similar situation right now with QCD; we don't know what we'll do with this knowledge in the future, but it could be critical information for building in future technologies. At Northrop Grumman, Luine works with a team of scientists who are trying to use quantum mechanics to discover new ways of making measurements that are as precise as physically possible. In other words, they are studying the fundamentals of quantum measurement. "Modern day physics becoming more and more abstract...doesn't mean that it isn't real. It just means that it's out of our everyday experience — that we can see and touch and smell things, but there's a lot going on behind the scenes," Luine said. Thus, in order to understand quantum mechanical physics, we have to conduct physical experiments that test mathematical theories. Can We Prove the Odderon Exists?  Nearly 50 years after scientists conceptualized the odderon, an experiment provides evidence that backs up this quantum theory and suggests that they do, in fact, exist. The experiment was conducted by physicists at the "Total, elastic and diffractive cross-section measurement experiment," known as TOTEM, on the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland. There, physicists smash protons together and observe what happens, hoping to understand the physical world on a fundamental level. Usually, when protons collide in the LHC, they shatter and create new particles. Sometimes — about 25 percent of the time, according to CERN — instead of breaking apart, protons survive the encounter. The scientists at TOTEM specialize in studying an effect called elastic scattering, which occurs when protons interact with each other and change direction. In this particular case, they measured the precise angles of scattering when protons collided, and their measurements supported the idea that the odderon exists. To test the quantum theory and look for signs of the odderon, proton-proton scattering should be slightly different from proton-antiproton scattering at high impact energies — and this was what TOTEM observed. Ultimately, more research is needed to prove the existence of the odderon and understand what we could do with it.

Discovering the Odderon: From Abstract Theory to Physical Reality

If you own a smartphone, you're familiar with apps that allow you to remotely lock or unlock your home's doors, turn on a garden irrigation system or perhaps monitor your home's surveillance cameras. Underpinned by a robust wireless communications infrastructure, this network — part of the Internet of Things (IoT) — works because every device uses the same rules or Internet Protocols for how it connects to the network and how it packages, addresses and routes data. Warfighters operating in austere environments using disparate sensors and communication systems are hungry for such advanced networking. That's why the Department of Defense is focused on creating over the next five to 10 years an Internet of Warfighting Things (IoWT). Sometimes known as the Internet of Military Things, this separate and ultra-secure network would model the robustness and reliability of the IoT and allow every military asset to communicate, in theory, with every sensor, regardless of service affiliation. "The current challenge for the military is that they have to bring their current infrastructure with them," explained Colin Phan, director of strategy for Northrop Grumman's Networked Information Solutions Division (NISD). "In the past, platforms have had trouble communicating with each other due to services acquiring technology in silos. Today, the DOD is moving to an interconnected network that will make IoWT a reality for our warfighters."   Mobilizing a Well-Connected Future To make IoWT a reality, the DoD is currently undertaking a number of key initiatives with an effort called Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) sitting at the center. "JADC2 aims to connect platforms and sensors from all military services — Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, and Space Force — into a single network, accessible by all services," explained Bruce Swett, a Northrop Grumman Fellow in NISD. "The goal is to take the commercial model of the Internet — the network, the computing, the AI — and bring it to warfighters so that they can get better information more quickly and make better decisions with a more complete understanding of what's going on around them." The IoWT could also be used in conjunction with data analytics to predict the maintenance requirements of a fleet of military vehicles, which would reduce costs, increase the availability of these platforms and keep troops safe, he added. "The major services are contributing to JADC2 by developing their own complementary advanced networking initiatives to link sensors and weapon systems across the tactical battlefield," explained Colin Phan, director of strategy for Northrop Grumman's Networked Information Solutions Division (NISD). Phan noted. These efforts include the U.S. Air Force's Advanced Battle Management System, the U.S. Army's Project Convergence and the U.S. Navy's Project Overmatch. "If the services can connect their assets together — satellites, ships, planes, ground vehicles, etc. — and make them work together, that's a force multiplier and helps the DoD maintain a strategic advantage in an age of data-driven conflict," he suggested. "The goal is to overmatch adversaries' capabilities by connecting all sensors, shooters and nodes together, doing things more intelligently to create a force that's collectively more effective than individual platforms." Integrating Military AI According to Swett, military AI will be a ubiquitous part of the IoWT. "I think of the IoWT as comprising two main sides: an intelligence side and a decision-making or battle management side," he explained. "If the warfighter wants to know what's happening across a lot of manned and unmanned platforms equipped with sensors, we'll want them to be talking to each other, and we'll also want to put military AI at the edge so that those platforms can aggregate and process information locally, then send appropriate alerts to the warfighter." Swett believes that these military AI algorithms will be analogous to algorithms used by top commercial AI providers to suggest additional content based on a consumer's purchasing or viewing habits. However, these IoWT algorithms will be geared toward making "recommendations" to help warfighters understand and make better decisions in complex battlefield environments. Bridging Reality With Gateways According to Phan, one of the key challenges of developing the IoWT will be integrating dissimilar platforms and sensors into a transparent, interconnected network architecture. "In the same way that smart homes are now using wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and smart hubs to allow these technologies to communicate with each other, the military has systems called gateways that translate tactical data from disparate systems and share it securely among warfighters operating in different domains." "A gateway can either be a separate platform or it can be incorporated on an existing platform to make it interoperable with systems it was not originally designed to communicate with," he said. "It can provide a very effective interface between older and newer systems." Phan points to the Northrop Grumman-developed Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) as an example of a separate gateway platform that supports the DoD's move to JADC2. BACN has been in service with the Air Force since 2008; it's a high-altitude, long-endurance airborne communications gateway that delivers interoperable voice communications and data translation between pilots and ground units—regardless of military branch. Shifting to Advanced Networking Phan also expects the IoWT to reflect a DoD shift away from relying on conventional, standalone systems in favor of interconnecting platforms, nodes, sensors and other battle assets. "In the past, the DoD might have opted to use a front-line fighter jet equipped with exquisite sensors to perform a mission," he observed. "Under the evolving vision for IoWT, however, they're now asking 'What if we network this fighter with another fighter or even an unmanned platform? Can we achieve the same or better level of performance with a networked approach instead of that standalone asset?'" The DoD's priority in the near future, he believes, will be to connect those sensors that will enable U.S. and allied forces to maintain a strategic advantage in future conflicts. Repurposing Proven Constructs Swett expects the IoWT to take advantage of many proven constructs from the commercial IoT, even though it will be operating with far more stringent security standards. He points to the IoT's now-common crowdsourced ride-sharing models, for example, as a way to pair up commanders with nearby battlefield assets. "Let's say I'm a commander who needs to create a video or still image of a local area to see what's going on," he said. "Wouldn't it be cool if I could call up my local airborne asset dispatcher and identify platforms that plan to pass over my target location in the near future and that could shoot and send me the desired imagery?" This crowdsourcing example illustrates another vital aspect of the IoWT that should not be overlooked: human-machine interactions. "If we're using military AI algorithms to do predictive maintenance on a bunch of military vehicles, we're going to need some sort of web page to display the output of those algorithms for humans," Swett proposed. "That's where we'll have to move from machine-to-machine communication to machine-to-human communication and start asking ourselves: Who should get the information? Is it timely? Is it correct? And is it easily understandable?" Making the IoWT A Reality Northrop Grumman is investing today in the future of the connected battlespace. We are pushing the boundaries of what's possible to bring forward new and emerging capabilities, and expanding the functionality of existing technologies to enhance mission effectiveness to help bring the IoWT to life across the battlespace. Northrop Grumman is pioneering innovation as we seek to solve the world's most challenging problems. To ensure our warfighters have the confidence to make real-time decisions in complex environments, we are enhancing our capabilities with human-centered machine intelligence to take advantage of emerging digital system capabilities. Many of the company's innovative technologies integrate leading-edge solutions into distributed, dynamic mission systems that are essential to our national security. Northrop Grumman's advanced networking offerings provide the foundation needed to implement the use of the advanced IoWT applications such as secure and ethical artificial intelligence, real-time situational awareness, machine learning, cloud computing and connected battlefield applications, among others. View Northrop Grumman's Advanced Networking Technologies and Artificial Intelligence webpages to learn more." Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Advanced Networking is Creating an Internet of Warfighting Things

As Sun Tzu states in Art of War, "The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent." The less your enemy knows about your movements — and the more you know about theirs — the better your chance of victory. For centuries, commanders have looked to gain the upper hand by discovering what opponents are up to before the battle begins. But what happens when this isn't possible? Often described as the "first modern naval engagement in history," the Battle of the Coral Sea during World War II found American and Japanese carrier fleets facing off near Tulagi in the southern Solomon Islands, despite the fact that none of the ships ever saw each other. Here's a look at how the battle unfolded, why it matters and what it meant for the development of new military technology. Cracking the Code At the end of April 1942, Japanese forces looked to expand their influence in the Coral Sea by capturing two strategic ports: Port Moresby and Tulagi. Meanwhile, the Allies had succeeded in breaking Japanese communication codes and sent out all sea and air units available under the command of Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher. Although they arrived at Tulagi just after the Japanese landed, the Allied forces managed to sink a destroyer along with some landing barges and minesweepers. But the bulk of the Japanese carrier fleet remained at large and en route to Port Moresby. Unsure of their exact location, U.S. forces leveraged tools such as CXAM radar to find the Japanese ships and launch aerial attacks. And so the battle began. Four days later, 66 American warplanes had been destroyed along with the USS Lexington, an Essex-class aircraft carrier. The Allies downed 70 Japanese planes, and the damage to carriers such as the ShÅkaku was so extensive that the Japanese forces abandoned their invasion of Moresby. Changing the Game While destroyed carriers and downed warplanes were familiar losses in World War II, most engagements were fought traditionally; ships on both sides could see each other and used onboard artillery along with aircraft to engage the enemy. However, in the Battle of the Coral Sea, not a single shot was fired from aircraft carriers. Instead, the fighting was carried out entirely by warplanes and underpinned by radar. Instead of rushing into battle, the carriers kept their distance and relied on electronic intelligence to make strategic decisions. Leveraging both signals intelligence (SIGINT) and CXAM radar, the fleet kept tabs on their opponents and sent out aerial strikes to take down carriers and cripple operations, while the Japanese did the same. Some of the first fighters into the fray were Northrop Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats, which now have a place in the Smithsonian Museum. And while the battle was the first of its kind, it wasn't the last. Fighting in the Pacific theater for the remainder of World War II relied largely on this kind of electronic intelligence. C'ing Is Receiving Today, Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) is commonplace in military engagements. The use of new military technology — such as autonomous drones, 3D imaging and AI-driven battle simulators — helps commanders see what's coming before they commit to strategic initiatives. The Battle of the Coral Sea helped to set the stage for this kind of reliable intelligence reconnaissance. By using the technology of their day, commanders in the Coral Sea proved that it was possible to build an understanding of enemy movements even without direct observation. While the equipment and personnel costs were high for both sides, the use of at-a-distance discovery also helped limit to the number of vessels sunk in ship-to-ship combat and instead made it possible to rely on more agile warfighters to deliver on strategic objectives. Today, new C4ISR solutions are helping to further refine reconnaissance. For example, self-directed AI drones can now make on-the-fly decisions to discover enemy movements, while advanced imaging technologies can help to pinpoint threats no matter how they try to hide. Put simply: Sight is no longer the standard for effective military engagements. Armed with new and evolving technologies, military forces can find strategic advantage — even when they can't see it.

Sight Unseen: How the Battle of the Coral Sea Paved the Path for C4ISR

According to a report from the World Health Organization, fraudulent medicine is a $30 billion global industry, and up to 10 percent of all drugs in developing countries could be counterfeit. Luckily, new medical technology is being developed to increase transparency and thwart the spread of fake medicine. <h2 class="" dir="lDangers of Counterfeit Medicine There are many methods for creating fraudulent medicine. For example, counterfeit medicine could contain the wrong active ingredient, harmful chemicals or an incorrect amount of the correct active ingredient. According to National Public Radio, counterfeiters have sold "antimalarial pills" that were made of just potato and cornstarch. The WHO report states counterfeit drugs can cause sickness and even lead to death. An individual taking fraudulent medicine may not realize the potentially life-saving medicine is not treating their illness or pain, resulting in needless suffering. <h2 class="" dir="lTracking Counterfeit Medicine Fraudulent medicine is incredibly difficult to track down, and the internet makes selling it to unsuspecting consumers easier than ever. Malaria medicines, anesthetics, painkillers and antibiotics were among the most-reported fraudulent products to the WHO between 2013 and 2017. Approximately 1,500 fraudulent products were reported as part of this investigation, according to the WHO. The WHO has created a database that lets individuals report potentially falsified medicine or questionable cases to track them on a global scale. This database helped save lives in South America after experts discovered patients were using a contaminated product that had caused deaths in Asia. The availability of cheap manufacturing technology, and the internet as a global marketplace, make it nearly impossible to prevent the sale of these pills, reports the WHO. Globalization has made it easier to transport goods around the world, but that creates a massive supply chain criminals can exploit. Medicine can be manufactured in one country and shipped to another thousands of miles away. However, these same technological advances are providing new tools to combat the global spread of fraudulent medicine. Fighting Fakes Individuals and local authorities alone can't stop the spread of fake drugs because the problem is global. But technology transcends borders, and databases like the one the WHO created can help authorities access information quickly to assess a situation.  QR codes are another tool in the fight against fake drugs. With the prevalence of smartphones, all it would take for an individual to determine if their medicine is real would be a scan of the QR code on the box. A Ghanaian company developed a scratch-off code and mobile app that can confirm if a drug is real in under 20 seconds, according to Deutsche Welle. The code automates a response that tells customers whether their drugs are real or counterfeit.  Mass serialization is another way manufacturers try to prevent the spread of counterfeit drugs, reports Infosys. Each package contains a unique barcode or radio-frequency identification tag that is scanned and entered into an online database. Later, handheld scanners can quickly match a serial code with authenticated entries. Blockchain technology can be used to bolster security because every action must be verified, thus ensuring the authenticity of each scanned item, according to Forbes. Technology has helped enable the global counterfeit drug industry; now it will help prevent its expansion. New medical technology and data-driven solutions must be developed to better address the global threat of counterfeit medicine.  Find out how smarter health solutions can benefit administrators and the greater public here.

Fighting Counterfeit Medicine Requires New Medical Technology

In everyday life, advanced technologies — such as machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) — are so common that they fade into the background. Even though these advancements are fairly recent, they became ubiquitous so quickly that it's easy to take them for granted. In the battlespace, it's an entirely different world. Much of today's cutting-edge technology started as military research and development projects, and then evolved to become the gadgets and services we all know too well. But those consumer conveniences aren't built for the battlefield. If your smart speaker misunderstands your command, it might play a song you didn't want to hear. If that type of flaw occurred on a fighter jet or a tank, the consequences could be deadly. This isn't overstating the challenge. In the defense industry, security and reliability are a matter of life and death. At the same time, if adversaries are adopting the latest technology, militaries must keep up, or suffer a disadvantage on the battlefield. Built on a Foundation of AI Machine learning is a type of AI involving algorithms that improve on their own based on data and experience. The more practice they get, the smarter they become. These algorithms are the foundation for many of our favorite modern conveniences: personalized suggestions for your next favorite TV show, ride-service apps, self-driving vehicles and much more. In the defense industry, AI could give troops more situational awareness and the ability to make faster decisions. The more the military can outsource to machines, the easier it will be for warfighters to focus on the big picture and the details that matter most for surviving and protecting their nation. In some ways, AI is already in the defense toolkit (e.g., automated target recognition). Now, the next generation of AI for defense will upgrade even more tools, so machines can perform tasks that previously required human intervention. Advanced Sensors and Connectivity As the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) moves toward making more advanced battle tools, sensors and connectivity will be two big pieces of the puzzle. The DOD is looking to connect and integrate sensors with shooters and platforms across all domains, commands and services. The initiative, called JADC2 (Joint All-Doman Command and Control), is about adding sensors and connectivity to the battlefield and connecting those new capabilities with different branches of the U.S. military. A big challenge here is adding sensors to legacy systems that are often intended to last decades. While consumers are used to buying a new phone every two or three years, militaries often operates multimillion dollar vehicles for several decades. And the sensors aren't your everyday electronic components, either — they must have built-in security measures. In this case, rather than implement a sweeping update, sensors are gradually introduced to existing systems. Plus, these sensors are only useful if troops can access the information they hold. A truly connected battlefield needs reliable, fast data transfer. You won't find many 5G connections or Wi-Fi hot spots in the contested and remote areas where militaries often needs them. An even greater challenge is security, because the more connected devices you have, the broader the attack surface you must deal with. More devices available to manipulate means more opportunities for hackers or bad actors to break into the systems. That said, there are solutions to some of these challenges, and more are being developed today. For example, Northrop Grumman's gateway systems are like "Wi-Fi in the sky." They provide secure connections via airborne and tanker platforms, which can help mitigate risk. Seeing Through the Weeds As sensors and connectivity provide unprecedented amounts of information, machine learning helps bring it all together. In stressful situations, too much information is the opposite of helpful. Machine learning algorithms can help weed out the extraneous data to avoid information overload. As more technology is rolled out to the military, there is a delicate balance between connectivity, efficiency and security. New solutions, such as Northrop Grumman's DA/RC software, could provide decision-making for manned and unmanned fleets. For example, a leading prototype JADC2 system can connect and control a range of systems across domains and services. This type of machine-learning capability, layered on top of trusted legacy systems, is shaping tomorrow's tech-driven warfare. Machines could, for instance, observe the surroundings and decide on the optimal weapon for a scenario. A Secure and Ethical Approach To build these new systems and support, Northrop Grumman is using a DevSecOps approach in which development, security and operations are included every step of the way. The company is also collaborating with universities, such as Carnegie Mellon, for research and development, as well as startups, such as Credo AI, for cutting-edge technologies. Underlying these various technologies, the government and industry partners are aiming for a secure and ethical rollout of artificial intelligence and high-tech tools. That means thinking deeply and strategically about letting machines take the wheel for tedious tasks while always keeping a human in the loop for critical decisions. Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

How Machine Learning and AI Are Enhancing Joint Force Operations

As rising global temperatures melt polar ice and open new sea routes, the Arctic is more physically accessible than ever before. But delivering a reliable communications capability to the High North, as the Northern polar region is called, has remained elusive — until now.
On Aug. 11, 2024, the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) — a combined effort between Space Norway, the U.S. Space Force and Northrop Grumman — launched. Its payloads, hosted on Northrop Grumman's GEOStar-3 satellite bus, will establish full broadband coverage above 65°N for commercial and military end users.
But this first-of-its-kind achievement required scientists and engineers to look outside their orbit, literally.
Tapping In
As the name implies, GEOStar-3 satellites — like most communications satellites — have traditionally flown in geostationary orbit (GEO), explained Carlos Niederstrasser, mission architect, Northrop Grumman. Spacecraft in GEO fly 36,786 kilometers in altitude above the equator and move at the same speed as the Earth rotates, completing a full orbit every 24 hours.
However, due to Earth's curvature, GEO satellites cannot provide coverage to the poles from their vantage point. It's the satellite equivalent of something being just outside your line of sight.
To address this challenge, the Northrop Grumman and Space Norway teams turned to a rarely-used type of highly elliptical orbit (HEO) called a Three Apogee (TAP) orbit. Instead of a circular path around the equator — like GEO — a TAP orbit is elongated into an ellipse and tilted relative to the globe, giving satellites in TAP orbit visibility to the High North during a large percentage of the orbit.
"What results is that one side of the orbit is pretty close to the Earth, and the other side is pretty far away," said Carlos.
Seeing Double
Due to Earth's gravitational pull, a spacecraft in a TAP orbit travels slowly along its path when it is furthest away from the Earth (known as apogee), then moves more quickly through the portion of its orbit that's closest to the Earth (known as perigee). For ASBM, the orbit's apogee is at a high northern latitude, which means that the satellite moves slowly over the Arctic for 10 hours of its 16-hour orbit and, and during that time, can provide coverage to the High North.
"The satellite appears to hang right in the same place in the sky," said Carlos. "It gives you something that almost behaves like a GEO but has the benefit of being very well-visible from all of the Arctic region."
But to achieve continuous communications coverage, one satellite wouldn't cut it, according to Richard Macheske, chief engineer, ASBM, Northrop Grumman.
The solution? A two-satellite constellation.
The ASBM satellites are twins — each GEOStar-3 satellite hosts Northrop Grumman-built payloads for the Norwegian Armed Forces, Viasat and the U.S. Space Force — and travel on opposite sides of the TAP orbit. This mirrored approach ensures that one of the two satellites is always on deck to deliver assured communications in the High North.

From GEO to HEO
Flying the GEOStar-3 in HEO may seem counterintuitive. But, according to Richard, the GEOStar-3 is more than up to the task of flying in different orbits.
"Overall, GEOStar-3 is perfectly suited for this and many other orbits, even though it's called a GEOStar," said Richard. "It should operate more or less like a GEO, which was the whole intent: doing the minimum amount of changes to work in this different orbit."
The ASBM satellites leveraged Northrop Grumman-produced solar arrays, propellant tanks, heat pipe panels and satellite bus structures with very few modifications. Tweaks for operating in HEO included structural changes to account for different radiation levels, changes to the attitude control system, solar array system and star tracker as well as adaptations for surface charging. The satellite's command and control system is also operated differently, explained Carlos, because — unlike in GEO — ground stations do not have constant contact with HEO satellites.
In addition to its communication mission, ASBM offers a unique opportunity to study the nuances of HEO. The mission includes a radiation monitor, owned by the European Commission, and designed and built by a Norwegian company called IDEAS. This monitor which will collect radiation data providing engineers and scientists with insights into this little-flown orbit, charting the course for future missions in the Northern polar region.
Learn more about Northrop Grumman connecting the Arctic with Cutting-Edge Satellite Communications. 

To Reach the Arctic, Scientists Look Outside Their Orbit

The power semiconductor is undergoing a subtle revolution. Gallium nitride (GaN), a hard crystalline compound, is being heralded as a solution to meet the demands of high-performance power transistors. This material is faster and more efficient than other high-power semiconductor materials but, until recently, was more not as technically mature.GaN is as versatile as it is efficient. Technology companies like Northrop Grumman are at the forefront in developing and commercializing the compound for many applications. "[GaN] technology will enable the next generation of wideband communications, radar, electronic warfare, and navigation," says Mike Wojtowicz, Northrop Grumman Fellow. "It has no equal when it comes to superior transmission and conversion of electromagnetic energy."Say Hello to Gallium NitrideAlthough GaN may have only just stepped into the mainstream spotlight, the material has long been a favorite for high-energy electronics. It is efficient and durable, making it perfect to power radar and communications satellites. For Northrop Grumman radar, that means better tracking and better threat detection.According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, gallium nitride has many advantages over other semiconductors: less resistance, higher efficiency and faster switching capability.Those advantages are ideal for use in power amplifiers and equipment that needs to survive in the harshest of elements. Point-to-multipoint radio systems, satellite communications terminals and aerospace components all benefit from GaN.GaN technology also uses less power. The widespread adoption of GaN could help reduce energy consumption, which is an important consideration as the world becomes increasingly digital. The only disadvantage of GaN has been its price, but that has changed recently as new production processes have made GaN usage in consumer products more feasible.GaN You See the Future?If you look around your home, chances are you have replaced the standard incandescent light bulb with an energy-efficient LED bulb. Unlike traditional bulbs, LEDs are a semiconductor material that light up when an electrical current passes through them. The white light is actually the combination of multiple colors and a phosphor material that converts amber, red, blue and green into that bright, white light that illuminates our homes.LED is still an expensive option to light one's home, but new LED using GaN grown on silicon wafers, instead of more costly sapphire wafers, with another buffer material to compensate for thermal expansion can make LED bulbs cheaper and more efficient. The impact of GaN is even more powerful if you consider all the fluorescent bulbs used in large retail stores or offices that could be replaced by LED bulbs.Data centers demand a massive amount of energy. The tech giants of the world require huge data centers, but the adoption of GaN will make these costly necessities more energy efficient, according to MIT.Even the cumbersome laptop adapter could be a thing of the past with GaN transistors. Instead of a brick attached to the power cord, adapters could be built within the laptop itself.We're still far away from flying cars, but electric cars and autonomous car development would benefit greatly from GaN. While the electric minivan may not be as exciting as the electric hot rod, there are only a few select models of the former currently available due to the current limitations in powering these larger vehicles. The introduction of GaN can create more efficient power cells to fuel electric car growth, according to VentureBeat. GaN can also improve the electronics in autonomous cars, such as laser-tracking systems, to increase accuracy and safety.In a world where technology is increasingly demanding more energy and better efficiency, it's good to have GaN around.

Say Hello to Gallium Nitride, the Future of High Energy

 Preventing fraud in a world of data breaches requires more than a handful of observant humans verifying each transaction. Machine learning is a powerful tool for fraud prevention and detection. Considering fraud's impact on finance, e-commerce and insurance, advanced algorithms capable of scaling large pools of data are an increasing necessity for industries and consumers looking to thwart scammers.The Power of Machines Who Can Learn As the name implies, machine learning is a way for computers to learn without the need to regularly input new programs or updates. It's a type of artificial intelligence using algorithms to sift through massive amounts of data. We take for granted email spam filters, but that's a type of AI that prevents bad emails, from unverified accounts or untrustworthy actors, from ever reaching your inbox. These filters look for links that may lead to unsafe websites, email addresses that differ from known accounts of a company and language from the message itself to determine if it's spam. Similar algorithms can also be used as part of conversational AI systems. Northrop Grumman's Synthetic Adaptable Intelligent Entity, or SAdIE, processes data on different topics to provide answers to any inquiry naturally. Applying that same principle, algorithms are developed to detect potential fraud. You may have had a purchase flagged because it was for an amount, or from a location, that does not match your pattern of spending or history. That's machine learning applied on a personal level and represents what's happening across various industries on a much larger scale.Preventing Fraud Credit fraud alone cost consumers $16 billion in 2016. That impact is even greater for industries who lose on goods lost or sold, associated fees and loss of consumer trust. The Target credit-card breach of 2013, for example, affected 40 million customers. Target estimates the breach cost the company $252 million, although that number drops to $105 million after insurance reimbursements and tax deductions. After the breach, Target also paid $19 million to those affected by the hack. As hacking and fraud becomes more sophisticated, so too must the systems in place to detect and prevent such attacks. Financial institutions, instead of just focusing on an individual's history and behavior, can use a vast history of transactions to flag something as fraudulent. That same pattern recognition can be used for insurance claims. Supervised machine learning requires training using different models. A linear-regression classification approach includes a set of data used to reach a "true" or "false" decision. Banks could flag any purchase over a certain value, the number of times a card was used outside of its country of origin or any other value to determine the probability of a fraudulent transaction. Companies have to train this model by using previous examples of fraud so the computer can learn how to detect these types of transactions in the future. While a linear approach will work for the majority of fraud detection, neural networks can be applied when there are billions of transactions across hundreds of countries and millions of customers. Neural networks, or deep learning, closely mimic how the human brain makes decisions. PayPal uses multiple machine-learning methods, including neural networks, to weigh thousands of features and create models along with potential outcomes to determine the trustworthiness of a customer. All of this is happening within seconds, which helps create a seamless transaction for a consumer while generating enough obstacles to flag a would-be fraudster. As data breaches become seemingly more commonplace, AI can help even the playing field in the ever-evolving world of fraud.

Machine Learning at the Cutting Edge of Fraud Prevention

  In the world of science fiction, it is an old, cautionary story. An autonomous, intelligent robotic defense system goes insane — or simply misinterprets its instructions — and attacks everyone, including the civilization it was designed to defend. For defense planners today, this scenario is no longer pure science fiction. No, the Pentagon is not planning giant orbital robot battle stations that might erroneously attack Earth — but artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and especially "deep learning," are increasingly being applied to real-world defense tasks such as analyzing reconnaissance images. In order to rely on information detected by such sophisticated technology, defense planners and commanders need to understand how deep learning works. And precisely because it is such a powerful technology, fully understanding it turns out to be a very challenging task. Deep Learning and Image Recognition The technology of deep learning, as Will Knight reports at MIT Technology Review, is inspired by the complex architecture of the human brain. The AI software simulates the multiple layers of neurons and synapses, and also simulates the learning process of the human mind. A classic example of the deep-learning process is teaching the system to recognize a cat. The system is provided with a large library of imagery, some of which includes images of cats. In a "tuning" or training process, the system attempts to identify whether or not there is a cat in an image, and records a positive score whenever its human trainers confirm that there is in fact a cat in the image. Because the system can swiftly crunch through vast numbers of training images, it can soon learn to identify cats with high reliability. Identifying cats is rarely a vital security issue. But the same technology can be used for other image recognition tasks — for example, to scan thousands or millions of satellite images for evidence of tanks or missile launchers. Hence, the interest of defense planners in deep-learning technology. How Do You Recognize a Cat? But this is where things get challenging. While deep-learning technology can be taught to recognize a cat — or a missile launcher — it cannot tell us how it performs this accomplishment. Says Knight, "it isn't clear whether the system may be focusing on the whiskers, the ears, or even the cat's blanket in an image." Sometimes this is not a problem. Perhaps the AI system can pass its results on to human intelligence analysts, who can double check to make sure the AI is correct in its identification of, say, missile launchers. But in an urgent crisis situation, there might be no time to wait for direct human confirmation — the launchers need to be identified and engaged now. In that situation, planners and commanders need to know exactly how much confidence they can place in an AI system. Which means learning how the AI learns, and understanding its (simulated) "thought" processes.  Understanding how deep learning works is so challenging that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has no fewer than 13 different research projects underway, using a range of different techniques to improve our understanding of the deep-learning process. Which also explains why Northrop Grumman — a traditional leader in drones, autonomous systems and defense robotics — is at the forefront of research into understanding deep learning.

Deep Learning, and the Art of Understanding Robots

 How will artificial intelligence influence the future of space travel? If HAL 9000, the AI from "2001: A Space Odyssey," were a space explorer, where would it go and what would it look for?  For decades, we Earthlings have sent probes out into the vast unknown of space to study, explore and document some of the great mysteries of the cosmos. These spacefaring robots have featured varying degrees of autonomy, though most have been teleoperated by people on their home planet. Recent probes, however, have shown that self-directed robots can do amazing things. The Cassini probe, for instance, was launched in 1997 to explore Saturn. It has been studying the ringed planet since 2004, but this year it has been executing its Grand Finale sequence of dives between Saturn and its innermost ring before it burns up in the Saturn atmosphere.  AI and the Future of Space Travel  Robotic space travel will evolve even further with AI technologies, such as machine learning and deep learning. In a recent paper published in Science Robotics, researchers argue that robotic spacecrafts will make more and more of their own decisions in deep space, improving mission efficiency and even accomplishing "otherwise impossible observations, such as responding to a short-lived plume at a comet millions of miles from Earth."  Steve Chien and Kiri Wagstaff of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology provide an overview of how space probes have developed over the years. In the future, they could be exploring remote parts of our solar system, such as Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter.  "With rapid innovation in space robotics, the possibility of exploring neighboring systems far, far away (such as Alpha Centauri, a voyage of approximately 60 years by robot), is on its way to becoming a reality," the authors wrote in the paper.  "The goal is for AI to be more like a smart assistant collaborating with the scientist and less like programming assembly code," Chien, a senior research scientist on autonomous space systems, was quoted as saying. "It allows scientists to focus on the 'thinking' things -- analyzing and interpreting data -- while robotic explorers search out features of interest." Evolving the Exploration Game  Aside from Cassini, there are a number of examples of how AI has helped drive robotic space travel and exploration. NASA's Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment on the Earth Observing-1 satellite features machine learning and pattern recognition functions to perform tasks such as analyzing images to detect phenomena that were not present in prior observations. The Opportunity and Curiosity rovers have used AI systems to autonomously identify Martian dust devils as well as targets (and fine-tuning those targets) for chemistry analysis using a laser; NASA's Mars 2020 rover will also feature an AI system. The Mars 2022 Orbiter, a next-generation communications satellite that Northrop Grumman is working on, may also feature autonomous systems.  AI-driven space travel and exploration missions will require the ability to use the probe's own observations to create models of what is "normal" for a given environment, such as a remote moon. When sensor data record something extraordinary, the spacecraft will have to detect that phenomenon, evaluate its significance and perhaps decide to devote more resources to it to learn more.  While artificial intelligence can save time as well as energy and storage resources for probes that are far from Earth, researchers don't envision human operators being out of a job anytime soon.  "For the foreseeable future, there's a strong role for high-level human direction," says Wagstaff, a principal data scientist with JPL's machine learning group. "But AI is an observational tool that allows us to study science that we couldn't get otherwise."

AI in the Space Travel Drivers' Seat

 3-D printed objects are no longer mere curiosities. As the technology continues to improve and fall in price, more consumers use them to create everything from soap holders to piggy banks to customized hooks. That's just the beginning. It's been half a decade since Wired's Chris Anderson predicted that 3-D printing would usher in a new industrial revolution. Since then, technologies like wearables and artificial intelligence have overshadowed 3-D printing, at least in the press. However, the industry has been quietly building. The 3-D printing industry surpassed $5 billion in 2015 as consumers purchased 278,000 desktop printers worldwide. The industry as a whole grew 25.9 percent. Gartner predicts that by 2019, additive manufacturing, as it's also known, will be a $14.6 billion business. The growth has been impressive on the business side as well. Manufacturers like GE, Ford and Nissan are now using additive manufacturing. A 2016 survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers found 71 percent of manufacturers were using 3-D printing for prototyping and final products.Prototyping and Replacing, Not Mass Production Those firms are mostly using additive manufacturing to create prototypes. The idea of 3-D printing cars or even car parts on an assembly line is years off. How many years, though? That PricewaterhouseCoopers survey showed that 52 percent of manufacturers said that they thought 3-D printing would be used for high-volume production within three to five years. At this point, printers are far too slow to produce at volume. The 3-D printed objects that most manufacturers are producing are prototypes. Making a prototype in a traditional factory is an arduous process that requires remaking molds and then flowing in liquid plastics or metals. 3-D printing is a much easier way to create such prototypes. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and entrepreneur Jim McKelvey created the first prototype for Square, the credit-card swiper, with a 3-D printer. Another use for 3-D printing is to create replacement parts. A far-flung satellite office, for instance, could use its own 3-D printer to produce a broken machine part rather than waiting for headquarters to recreate and send the part. Daimler AG, the world's largest truck manufacturer, is using additive manufacturing to create replacement parts.Medical Miracles? Another segment that's creating 3-D printed objects is medicine and health care. 3-D printers can already create prosthetic devices, like a mechanical hand for a Sudanese refugee. They have also been used to create splints to be used in operations on newborns. Doctors have used 3-D printers to replace skull parts. A Massachusetts company called Conformis prints hundreds of knee implants every year.Makers These use cases are occurring as small companies using 3-D printers appear ready to give traditional manufacturers some new competition. The Brooklyn-based Voodoo Manufacturing, for instance, uses 160 printers that cost $2,000 each to print up to 160 items at the same time. The company says it can undercut traditional factories producing runs of 10,000 pieces. The company hopes to cut its costs by 90 percent during the next few years as printers get cheaper and more efficient. While such upstarts have an opportunity to disrupt manufacturing, most business leaders are aware of the threat. They've also lived through the past few years in which "digital disruption" has become a fact of daily life. Most likely, manufacturers will use 3-D printing to create disruption themselves and bring down costs for everyone.

3-D Printed Objects Usher in a New Industrial Revolution

The word "warfare" summons images of bombs bursting in air, tanks rolling across scarred battlefields and the rat-a-tat of gunfire. But technological advances in warfare are making war invisible as tools like infrared lasers, fire control radars and cyberweapons are increasingly being deployed. As technological warfare evolves, many conventional weapons are losing some of their punch. Rather than replacing such weapons, the evolving arsenal of invisible weapons enhances them and introduces new levels of complexity to warfare. Futuristic Weapons In the movies, lasers shoot colorful streams of light that can set distant objects aflame. Only the latter part is accurate. The infrared lasers used for military purposes are invisible but can actually heat up distant targets. A powerful laser can heat the explosive in an artillery shell to trigger an explosion or shoot down drones. This isn't some sci-fi vision, either. The U.S. Navy is currently fielding a laser weapons system in the Persian Gulf on the U.S.S. Ponce amphibious transport system. It's considered to be the world's first active laser weapon, according to CNN. Unlike bullets or missiles, precisely targeted laser beams travel at the speed of light. That laser is designed to destroy small boats and aircraft. However, a new generation of Navy laser systems might be able to shoot down missiles. Laser weapons of varying power levels are being developed for different missions and target sets in the air, on land or at sea. These devices can be installed on range of armored vehicles, naval vessels and even aircraft. Fighting in the Electromagnetic Spectrum While there's nothing futuristic about radar — it has been used since World War II — the technology keeps improving. State-of-the-art modular radars enabled by gallium nitride semiconductor chips have far greater detection range compared to traditional systems and provide fire control for targeting enemy aircraft and missiles with interceptors. These radars precisely determine the target's trajectory and its future position. For fighter aircraft, the United States and its allies have begun employing fifth-generation active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar technology in combat. Two examples are Northrop Grumman's APG-81 AESA for the F-35 and the TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar for the Marine Corps. For ground surveillance aircraft and other platforms, Northrop Grumman engineers have developed the Vanguard Radar, which can scale up in size and power by adding radar panels like building blocks. Similarly, electronic warfare is a battle that takes place in the electromagnetic spectrum. Electronic weapons can be used to thwart and detect IED attacks, jam enemy communications — including radar — and take control of enemy drones. The Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device (RCIED) Electronic Warfare (JCREW) is one example of using electronic warfare to prevent IEDs from setting off. Soldiers have operated this software-programmable jammer, also developed by Northrop Grumman, in the field for many years, and it has saved countless lives. Electronic warfare systems carried by the EA-18G Growler emit powerful but invisible radio frequency energy to suppress enemy radar and communications sites, denying them the ability to target and shoot down friendly forces. The ALQ-131 pod can protect aircraft from radar-guided weapons. At a smaller scale, microwave energy weapons that operate a lot like radar have been developed to fry electronic equipment using pulses of power. These high-powered microwave devices have been successfully tested against rows of computers and even flying drones. Finally, because of advances in technological warfare, today's battles are increasingly fought in cyberspace. Cyberwarfare encompasses everything from the widely reported Stuxnet attack against an Iranian uranium enrichment site to Russia's takedown of Ukraine's power grid. Often, the damage from such attacks degrades an opponent's ability to operate and can also disrupt the economy. According to The Guardian, Lloyd's of London estimated that a successful hack against cloud computing services could cost as much as the cleanup for Hurricane Katrina. A cyberattack could lay the groundwork for a conventional invasion in some cases, as could an electromagnetic pulse attack. National Interest explained that in the U.S., a low-yield nuclear missile detonated at high altitude could take out 75 percent of the nation's power. Such invisible futuristic weapons can be just as scary as conventional ones and ultimately wreak more damage. Fighting them requires a new breed of soldiers who are just as comfortable in front of a computer terminal as behind a gun. That may not fit with the standard view of war heroics, but these days, taking down a cyberattack is becoming just as critical to victory as shooting down an enemy plane.

Futuristic Weapons: Technological Advances in Warfare Make Fighting Invisible

There are an estimated 110 million landmines in the ground. Originally planted as weapons and concentrated in many of the world's most war-torn nations, landmines more often cause injuries or death among civilians, especially women and children, than to soldiers. About 26,000 people a year, or 70 per day, are killed by landmines. Engineers and designers have been developing unmanned systems to efficiently neutralize landmines to prevent life-threatening injuries.Slow and Dangerous WorkIn the past, people looking to clear landmines have relied on metal detectors or animals like dogs or rats to detect landmines. But physically clearing them usually involves trying to disarm them or, more often, safely detonating them. It's slow and dangerous work — an average of two people are injured, and one killed, for every 5,000 landmines cleared, according to the United Nations.Since the 1990s, militaries seeking to move across minefields have relied upon heavy, tank-like devices to clear landmines. These are among the most popular techniques even for humanitarian purposes because they are hardy, can work quickly, and can withstand the blast. But these devices have a big limitation: they require a driver.Unmanned SystemsMore recently, some companies have moved towards unmanned systems operated by remote control. Many of them are equipped with metal detectors or other techniques to identify mines, and various attachments at the front (flail arm, tiller) to detonate the mines once they're found.The D-3, created by the Swiss nonprofit Digger Foundation, has the rototiller front and armored body of other vehicles and can be remotely operated from more than 1,000 feet away. Previous iterations of the D-3 have cleared mines in North and South Sudan. Another, the Prime Tech PT-300 D:Mine is slightly smaller but can be remotely operated from nearly two miles away. It has been used in 10 countries, including Colombia, where a brutal civil war left more than 11,000 people killed or injured by landmines. The tractor-like LOCOSTRA is small and agile, making it less expensive than similar models. It can be operated from a maximum of 650 feet away. It's been tested in Jordan, where most landmines had been planted during Arab—Israeli conflicts in 1948 and 1967. The Bozena looks more like a lawnmower than a demining machine. It moves on wheels (unlike other models that use tracks, as tanks do) and can be operated from three miles away. More than 80 units are being used in two dozen countries all over the world, by military and humanitarian efforts alike.In October 2016, Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated the unmanned AQS-24B mine hunting system in Scotland, furthering its role in unmanned minesweeping technologies in the air, on the surface, and underground.Future TechniquesIn the future, landmines may be removed by completely autonomous devices. Afghan-born designer Massoud Hassani has come up with a drone-based mine-clearing device. It contains GPS to map the mines at a distance, keeping the device itself intact. The project isn't yet in the field (although it received more than double its goal funding on Kickstarter) but it would presumably be used in Hassani's native Afghanistan and beyond.Some engineers are looking at radar that can penetrate into the ground and deactivate mines so that they can safely be dug up and destroyed. Others are turning their attention to autonomously neutralizing water-based mines, which can explode due to the vibrations of a nearby ship, regardless of it being a military or civilian vehicle. The U.S. and Israeli militaries have been working on autonomous or remote-controlled boats for several years.New, innovative techniques to autonomously clear mines could mean a safer future for thousands of operators and civilians alike. For residents of the world's most war-torn nations, peace may finally be peaceful after all.Want to innovate new ways to detect and clear landmines? Consider a career with Northrop Grumman.

Lifesaver: Unmanned Systems Removal of Land Mines

December 25th, 2021, marked a scientific milestone with the successful launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (Webb). On January 24th, 2022, it arrived at its orbital home: Lagrange point 2, better known as L2. Now, the Webb telescope's first science images have made their way back to Earth. To say scientists are stoked is an understatement. While everything has (thankfully) gone to plan, this was no easy undertaking. Here's what the Webb telescope has been up to over the past few months. December to January: 29 Days on the Edge After more than 20 years, the James Webb Space Telescope blasted off into orbit on an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Agency (ESA) facility at Kourou, French Guiana. But this was just the beginning. Once it slipped the surly bonds of Earth, the Webb had a tension-filled 29-day journey ahead to its L2 home. Many of the parts had to work in sequence and unison to ensure the craft arrived safely and was prepared for the next step of its mission. For example, 27 minutes after launch, the telescope was released from the Ariane 5 rocket. Within two minutes after separation, its solar array was released and deployed. And 12.5 hours after launch, the telescope executed the first of three mid-course correction (MCC) burns designed to nudge it into L2 orbit without overshooting the Lagrange point, since doing so would require it to turn around and expose critical mission equipment to the full force of the sun. On the third day, the craft deployed its forward and aft sunshield pallets. After six days, the James Webb Telescope sunshield began opening, and by day 10, sunshield deployment was complete. On January 8th, 2022, the telescope was fully deployed, and on January 24th, it completed its insertion burn for L2 orbit. January to February: Setting Up Shop Once at L2, it was time for the Webb to set up shop. This started with cooldown and calibration — making sure instruments cooled down to stable operating temperatures, ensuring that mirrors and other optics were correctly calibrated, and assessing the James Webb Telescope sunshield for any damage or distortion. Day 31 post-launch saw the start of the mirror alignment process, which is broken down into seven stages: segment image identification, segment alignment, image stacking, coarse phasing, fine phasing, telescope alignment over instrument fields of view, and iterative alignment for final correction. Worth noting: This Lagrange location isn't entirely stable. Along with cooling and calibration, the telescope must make regular course and attitude corrections to remain at L2. To break it down: L2's position "behind" the Earth offers the telescope an unfettered look into the darkness of space while allowing it to soak up solar rays for power. It leverages the balanced gravity of the Earth, sun and moon to stay in orbit with minimal effort. However, L2 is an unstable Lagrange point. This means that unlike its counterparts at L4 and L5, course corrections are required every 28 days to keep the telescope in orbit. February to April: The Webb Telescope's First Images Six weeks after the launch of Webb, scientists saw the first photons captured by the telescope and detected with the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam). Two months post-launch, the segment alignment kicked off, followed by image stacking, phasing, and telescope alignment. Now, the James Webb Telescope is in its final cooling phase before step seven, iterative alignment, which should occur within the next month. But the Webb also took some time out to snap a few pictures and send them back to Earth. Specifically, the telescope pointed its main mirror at HD 84406 — which, according to a Space.com article, scientists describe as a "boring star" in our galaxy, and one that's 100 times fainter than what can be seen with the naked eye. However, both its location deep within the Milky Way and its lack of luminesce were ideal to see if Webb could live up to the hype. Spoiler alert: It did. The first engineering images from the Webb Telescope showed a bright, amber-colored star surrounded by fainter flecks and dots — each one representing a previously unseen galaxy. Also on the list for their moment in the spotlight in the first year of science are Trappist-1E, the Trojan Asteroids and the icy moons Enceladus, Europa and Titan. Scientists hope to see distant galaxies and newborn stars as well. Put simply? The James Webb Space Telescope has been keeping itself busy over the past few months — and it's just getting started. Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

NASA's James Webb Telescope: First Images and Initial Operations

  To encrypt a message is to convert it into a form that only authorized recipients can understand, even if it falls into unauthorized hands. (Converting a message back to readable form is called decryption.) As Margaret Rouse reports at Techtarget, the idea of encryption goes back to ancient times, but until recently it was of practical concern almost exclusively to the military and national intelligence agencies. But the growth of the internet, and the enormous role it now plays in business and our daily lives, has changed all that. Encryption of internet traffic has now become a major concern for practically everyone. In the process it has also raised complex new issues, such as how to balance the needs of individual online security and privacy with those of national security. Codes and Ciphers In everyday language it is common to say that any encrypted message is "in code," but in fact there are two quite different basic ways to encrypt a message: codes and ciphers. A code substitutes harmless words for the critical words in a message. So, for example, "send flowers" might mean launch airstrikes. Codes can be very hard to break, because there is no formula that will reveal the true message. But they are limited because you cannot encode a message that is not already provided in the code book. A cipher, in contrast, applies a formula, called an encryption key, to each individual character — letter, punctuation mark and so forth — in a message in order to encrypt it. A reverse formula, or decryption key, is used to decrypt the message. The formula can potentially be "broken" — allowing unauthorized people to read the message. But the advantage of a cipher over a code is that any message can be encrypted. Sender and recipient don't need to agree in advance on specific code words, but only the encryption and decryption keys. Computer encryption systems are based on ciphers, and a whole branch of mathematics has developed around the techniques for creating ciphers that are difficult to break. Modern encryption systems typically have a "public key," available to anyone, that can be used to encrypt a message, along with a "private key" — provided only to authorized persons — which is used to decrypt a message. Thus, anyone can send you an encrypted message by using your public key, but only people you entrust with your private key can read those messages. But why has this type of encryption technology become important to everyone, not just military commanders or secret agents? A World Without Envelopes Before the rise of the internet, most messages were fairly difficult to intercept. Most letters were sent by mail, sealed in envelopes. Simply getting hold of a letter not meant for you was fairly difficult, and opening the envelope in a way that it could be resealed (to hide the fact that someone unauthorized had read it) was also difficult. Phone calls aren't concealed by envelopes, but tapping an old-fashioned phone call was also a difficult process. In contrast, the same technology that makes the internet fast and reliable also makes internet messages easy for almost anyone to read. Internet messages are sent as "packets" of data that are electronically passed from one internet computer (a "server") to the next, until they reach their destination. A variety of tools can allow hackers — such as cybercriminals or hostile intelligence agencies — to intercept data packets en route. Anyone who intercepts it can examine the data, bit by bit. This applies to your personal email and credit card number. Indeed, it applies to anything and everything sent through the internet. Which means that the only way to keep hackers from reading your email or financial data is to encrypt it. Thus, as Robert A. Grimes notes at Infoworld, the call for universal "end to end" encryption on the internet. Northrop Grumman has worked with secure communications for decades, going back before anyone ever heard of the internet. The need to encrypt messages is not new to Northrop Grumman, but it remains on the forefront of encryption technology.

Encrypt Before Sending, and Why Encryption Matters

Even a quick glance into the night sky should inspire wonder about how humans found a foothold to the universe by stepping on the moon for the first time.  While space exploration has proceeded in fits and starts since then, the discoveries of Apollo 11 continue to present a greater understanding of the moon and Earth. As the 50th anniversary of the first moon exploration nears, scientists continue unlocking clues about our place in the universe by further studying the lunar samples collected by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and the astronauts of five subsequent moon missions.  "I think people in general think, 'We've had the Apollo samples for a long time, so why are we still studying them?'" Ryan Zeigler, Apollo sample curator and manager of NASA's Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office, recently told Space.com. "There's real, new work that's being done on them that's not just repeating what was done decades ago."  Moon Discoveries Keep Providing Clues  It is lunar legend that on an otherwise by-the-book walk around the moon, the commander of Apollo 11 went a bit off script. After placing about 20 moon rocks into a collection box, Armstrong couldn't miss his ride; the lunar module that taxied him and Aldrin between the main spacecraft and the moon would soon leave. But believing his box didn't have enough samples, he decided to gather more soil, 5.9 kilos (13 pounds) worth.  Armstrong and the astronauts of other Apollo missions didn't realize it at the time, but some moon rocks wouldn't be studied until 2019. That's because NASA knew that the technology didn't exist during the Apollo program to properly study samples in a way that future scientific tools could. So, despite some remarkable research on lunar materials over the past 50 years, some of the 842 pounds of rock collected from the six moon missions have remained sealed, awaiting analysis.  Technology has indeed taken a giant leap since Armstrong jumped around on the moon. For one, NASA has a new X-ray CT scanner that identifies structures within objects, allowing scientists to see precisely where they should cut rocks to avoid destroying them. That should help scientists when they soon examine three samples for the first time: two vacuum-sealed cores and a long-frozen rock. Those studies can be performed just once — at the moment the samples are opened — so the scanner should provide guidance that wasn't available until now.  The results from the next experiment might prove as surprising as those from a 2014 study of lunar basaltic glasses brought back by the Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 missions. That research showed that traces of water in the recovered moon rocks might share a common source with water on Earth.  Apollo Findings Provided Answers  Despite relative technological limitations, NASA nonetheless studied many of the lunar samples in earnest as soon as the Apollo missions returned home. In fact, just six months after the moon exploration by Apollo 11, so many observations had already been made about the soil of Earth's satellite that Science published a special issue four times the size of a regular edition to cover all of the findings.  The importance of what the moon's materials have revealed can't be overstated. Prior to Apollo 11, no one could speak with certainty about the moon's provenance. Was it hot or cold? Could it support life?  Now we know it is a terrestrial planet with interior zoning similar to Earth and that it was formed from rocky material that took shape through meteorite crashes, volcanic eruptions and widescale melting. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum neatly encapsulates those findings and many others, including that the moon has no life forms, that it has a radiation history that helps understand climate change on Earth, and that lunar samples offer time scales for the evolution of Mars, Mercury and Venus.  A New Perspective and New Aims  Although Apollo 11 captured hearts and headlines, the other missions earned acclaim for either setting the stage for the first moon walk or by following the lead of Armstrong and Aldrin and making more moon discoveries.  Yet, it is argued that it was a single color photograph — not a scientific sample — that changed humans' perceptions of their place in space. Taken by Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, "Earthrise" shows our blue and white globe climbing above the moon's horizon. For the first time, Earthlings had an understanding of what our world looked like from space, giving many an appreciation of life, science and, for some, the need to better care for our only place to live.  Now, as NASA and other public and private space agencies aim to return to our lunar cousin — and potentially use it as a springboard to Mars and beyond — Apollo's many discoveries are a reminder that the human quest to learn more about the universe should never cease for the simple reason that we'll never know what we'll find. 

Apollo 11 Showed That Moon Exploration Is Just the Beginning

Instead of having the world wait for one miracle drug, the governments of the world partnered with several pharmaceutical companies to create several vaccines to combat COVID-19. This critical decision illustrated that when organizations work with many partners, they benefit from a wellspring of collaboration and ingenuity. Breaking the chains of vendor lock-in not only expands choice through competition, but it also better serves an open framework for design, computing and many other applications driven by technology. As products and services development continues to advance by leaps and bounds thanks to rapid gains in technology, it no longer makes sense for organizations to limit themselves to one vendor and essentially one option. Imagine if the world waited for one company to devise a COVID-19 vaccine, only to see hiccups in testing or manufacturing, or for the drug to not work at all. Even though the efficacy of the three COVID-19 vaccines on the U.S. market vary, they each reduce the chance of major illness and death nonetheless — a significant step toward a return to normalcy for society. The power of many is helping public health. Wide-scale collaborations happen in many other industries, including defense, where militaries work with several partners at once to create aircraft, weaponry and defense systems more flexibly and faster than before. As the old saying goes, there's safety in numbers — but there's also an opportunity to create bold and exciting things that might not be possible with one vendor. Lock-in With More Than One Vendor The feeling of vendor lock-in doesn't sink in overnight. Organizations sign a long-term services contract with a vendor because of favorable costs, familiarity with its employees, satisfaction with the work or lack of favorable competition. When a vendor remains flexible, delivers valued products and services and understands exactly what an organization needs, then it's a relationship worth keeping. These contracts seem constricting only when delivery goes awry, costs stay higher than those of competitors, or other vendors are suddenly offering better products and services. Lock-in draws scrutiny in technology, particularly the long-term contracts that organizations sign with cloud vendors. When businesses began moving data and applications to the cloud, they did so incrementally and usually to a public cloud service. There wasn't a need to consider more than one cloud vendor. But with organizations breaking free from monolithic infrastructure — shifting more data to the cloud, using scores of cloud-based applications and databases and creating their own cloud applications to develop products — suddenly, no one wants to get pinned to just one cloud service. For example, it's advantageous to run software development workloads with a cloud service provider that's responsive to that kind of deployment, while another provider may better manage data analytics workloads. Companies also want to seamlessly move workloads between cloud service providers. Of course, vendor lock-in doesn't apply only to digital technology. An automobile manufacturer, for one, ideally wants to avoid a long-term deal with a parts supplier because of the possibility that the vendor could face a shortage or an inability to keep up with changes in manufacturing. (Although, technology is at the heart of the computer chip shortage that's slowing the production of cars, as the New York Times reports.) And while farmers undoubtedly have long measured the value of staying with one vendor for tractors and other traditional farming equipment, they — as with many other industries — are now trying to avoid lock-in with technology suppliers. Many farmers are embracing technology to gauge weather and agricultural conditions to increase yield, but the vendors of these services are creating closed systems to keep customers locked-in, much as tractor manufacturers and parts suppliers have long done, according to Venture Beat. Collaborating to Connect the Military's Joint Forces By expanding the web of development and creation to more than one vendor, organizations consider different ideas and strategies. New ways of working, solving problems and reaching goals take hold. For more than a decade, the Defense Department has attempted to break free of the longstanding practice of typically sticking with one contractor for specific projects. That's why it's not surprising to see more than 100 different companies working on various components of Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2), a sweeping initiative to digitally connect the U.S. military's weapons systems and similarly connect technologies used by the servicemen and servicewomen of the military branches. The military couldn't undertake such a massive reconstruction of its technology with just one contractor. Northrop Grumman's work on JADC2 is less an agency-contractor relationship than it is a partnership to ensure the DOD stays ahead of the capabilities of other militaries that have long relied on commercial technology. The company is reviewing the existing digital and hardware systems of the joint forces and devising how to upgrade and integrate them with technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and predictive analytics. That work includes creating an Internet of Military Things. According to Wired, wearables and smartphones will automatically communicate with vehicles, weapons and satellites, giving women and men across each service branch — and in allied nations — a clearer understanding of their missions in the field. "The Department of Defense realized that our adversaries were using commercial software to get ahead," Scott Stapp, a retired Air Force brigadier general who is now the chief technology officer at Northrop Grumman, told Wired. "So the military decided to get ahead of it by working with commercial partners that have been developing these types of technologies for years. Now we're at a tipping point, working together to bypass our adversaries at an exponential rate." It Takes Partners to Fight a Pandemic Proof of the power of collaboration could be found this year on the shoulders of more than 161 million Americans: a bandage covering the mark of a needle delivering a COVID-19 vaccination. When the pandemic all but halted life and many sections of global commerce in 2020, few would have bet on a quick turnaround. But with the governments of the world working closely with several pharmaceutical companies to develop, manufacture and ship more than 3.7 billion doses of a vaccine as of July 2021, a return to normalcy has begun, even if slowly. As the New York Times notes, a joint effort to develop COVID-19 vaccines shouldn't be surprising; government research and the funding of private initiatives has created transistors, silicon chips, radar, jet airplanes, satellites, artificial limbs, cortisone, flat-screen TVs and monitors. Work to combat the latest coronavirus started before its global spread. Moderna and Pfizer for several years leaned on government-funded research of viral genetics and proteins. As Kaiser Health News outlined, all that research set the stage for the fast development of COVID-19 vaccines. The U.S. government worked closely with the pharmaceutical companies as they raced against the clock, funding Moderna's efforts and helping Pfizer acquire manufacturing supplies, according to The Atlantic. The government-corporate focus on ending COVID-19 has carried over borders. Pfizer will start helping a company partially owned by the South African government to manufacture vaccines in Africa, as the Associated Press reports, while the U.S. and E.U. will provide funding for vaccine distribution in the continent. The advance against COVID-19 demonstrates, again, that expanding relationships with many vendors can benefit companies, governments and society. Are you interested in science and innovation? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Overcoming Vendor Lock-In Leads to Better Outcomes

Engineers launch specialized aircraft into the skies and pitch payloads into space. Did you also know that, as an engineer, you can give people wings too? Engineering accessibility helps people with disabilities fly in a space that most of us take for granted.Without direct experience, it's difficult to know exactly what obstacles people with disabilities face in everyday life, but pause for a moment and imagine how you would use your computer without hands? How about riding a bike when your balance isn't good or your legs are too short? ... and how would you surf the internet to read this blog post?Engineering for Assistive TechThis is where assistive technology (AT) comes in — devices that help people with disabilities manage daily life. Probably the most famous and globally recognized is Stephen Hawking's voice — a computer interface that powers his communication, allowing him to communicate with the world around him. Other examples of AT that you may see every day include customized grips for holding a toothbrush or spoon securely, walkers, wheelchairs and ramps for mobility and electronic solutions for computer access. All of these solutions require engineering input to bring them to life. Many of them also need volunteers and organizations bringing experts together with patients and their families.Community Partner V-LINCCollaboration often starts in the workplace. Companies offer skills, workforce and sometimes production capacity to give back to the community. This is true for Northrop Grumman which has a long history with assistive technology, starting with prosthetic limb research after World War II. V-LINC, an organization that designs and builds customized AT solutions, recently recognized NG Baltimore aerospace engineers as Partner of the Year for their volunteer work.Based in Maryland, V-LINC is the merger of two groups, one of which started in 1982 with a former Westinghouse (and now Northrop Grumman) employee. The company influence continues, with employees forming one of the largest volunteer teams. Over the decades, they have worked on various V-LINC projects including bike modification clinics that get kids in the saddle, a mobility chariot to help a family exercise together and a seizure alarm for nighttime monitoring — all small engineering projects that make a huge impact on the families involved.Workplace Buzz at FabLabWithin the workplace itself, the NG FabLab (Fabrication Laboratory) initiative at the Space Park campus in Redondo Beach, California, also connects company volunteers with AT. In January 2016, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems employees engineered a custom motorized easel for an artist. The engineers spent time with Raul Pizarro, whose muscular dystrophy limits mobility so he can work only in a small area. Volunteers took measurements and 3D scans to design a solution that would allow Pizarro to work once again on larger canvases. When completed, the system helped move the canvas so that Pizarro could execute the full scope of his dreams.Engineering Accessibility With the Next GenerationNorthrop Grumman is also inspiring the next generation of engineers. A recent V-LINC project matched a Northrop Grumman volunteer with a college student team to learn about sensory processing disorders among autistic children and youth.Another FabLab event in October, 2016 exposed middle-school students to engineering design for AT. Held in collaboration with the National Science Teachers Association, the students used 3D-printing technology to build components for prosthetic hands designed for the specialized needs of growing children. With all the exciting tech and equipment available at FabLab, not only did the students learn about AT but they also saw how cool it is to work as an engineer.Low Tech Works TooAT doesn't always mean high tech; limited resources often require creative solutions and improvisation, something that engineers are good at. Last August, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems engineers brainstormed ideas for improving toilet access. Inspired by challenges faced by a Ugandan amputee and landmine survivor, they used their engineering know-how for solutions that make pit latrines more accessible. Prototypes included an ingenious portable seat that balances between crutches.High tech or low tech — the common feature is that engineering solutions help people with disabilities to face daily life. Maybe next time you see your work soaring across the skies, imagine the excitement of using those same mad skillz to give someone else wings.

Disabilities Take Flight When Accessibility Is Engineered

Establishing partnerships between startups and large companies can be awkward and complicated. Bureaucracy at large companies often results in slow discovery processes, complicated vetting and legal requirements that can drag on for months. Startups don't have the time or the personnel to deal with these lengthy processes that distract from the core mission of the company. Yet both sides are incentivized to work together. Startups need market reach, customer relationships and the scale large businesses offer. Large businesses need access to leading edge innovation, intellectual property and agility that startups thrive on. Moving Fast Northrop Grumman has been experimenting with new techniques aimed at expediting the establishment of partnerships. Quickly bringing the latest technology to the warfighter is becoming extremely critical. With the enormous and widening gap between commercial R&D and defense R&D, it is incumbent upon the defense prime contractors like Northrop Grumman to tap into adjacent technologies. In recent years, the company has teamed up with smaller ventures; for example, the company worked with Not Impossible Labs to create and distribute vaccines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2019, the large aerospace firm teamed up with smaller manufacturer Rocket Lab to launch a satellite from a remote spot in New Zealand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiyPDYlYpGk&feature=youtu.be <strong>A Hackathon and a Sprint More recently, Northrop Grumman held a hackathon with Deepwave Digital, the creator of a software-defined radio optimized to execute deep learning algorithms for signal processing and signal identification applications. Last summer, forty Northrop Grumman engineers sat in rapt attention as John Ferguson, CEO of Deepwave Digital, delivered a lecture about radio frequency (RF) machine learning. Twelve hours later, the engineers demonstrated their neural networks tackling a real world problem while running on Deepwave hardware in their own labs. The time from initial meeting to hackathon was only about 30 days. That's light speed in the world of defense technology. In the following months, a productive relationship was solidified. Exposing Northrop Grumman engineers to the Deepwave Digital development environment, by actually using it, translated to immediate benefits to the startup. Putting together the demos and curriculum for the hackathon forced Deepwave to put together a user experience that they now can share at other venues and accelerate adoption. Ferguson says, "Training and deploying RF machine learning as algorithms is complex, and the Northrop Grumman engineers had a wide variety of expertise. This forced us to put together a streamlined experience where we can enable newcomers to get relevant, first-hand experience with our product." Everyone Benefits The larger company benefited as well. Now, Northrop Grumman and its Applied Autonomy group have a new tool with which to develop solutions to some of its customers' hard problems. "We're really looking forward to some collaborative work with them in the coming year," says Dr. Mark Milam, Northrop Grumman Fellow. Relationships like these enable Northrop Grumman engineers to gain access to discriminating, cutting-edge technology fast and apply it to national defense problems. This will soon become second nature. Northrop Grumman has job openings working on exciting partnerships like this one.

Tech Giants and Startups: Combining Resource with Speed

Imagine the battlespace of the future. Autonomous airplanes soar overhead, ever watching, sending vital intelligence back to ground stations on the other side of the world. Sailors and airmen offshore and in the air jam enemy signals to protect allied forces from land-based missiles. Further inland, soldiers use satellite communications to receive the latest orders as they muster into position while cyber units look for opportunities to exploit enemy networks. In this scenario, all services and coalition forces are working together across a common digital network to deter aggression or ensure the US and its allies prevail in a conflict should hostilities begin. This is closer to the reality of today than you might realize. But what separates today's high tech battlespace from the truly joint future of science fiction is how difficult it is for today's cutting edge technologies to interact. As warfare leans more heavily on digital signals, often coming from multiple branches of the military operating in every military domain at once, it's becoming increasingly important to find better ways to integrate these technologies into a seamless battlefield management system. Integrated Strengths Speaking at the annual gathering of the Air Force Association in September 2019, then-Chief of Staff of the Air Force General David Goldfein illustrated the imperative of developing a system of Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2). "Victory in future combat will depend less on individual capabilities and more on the integrated strengths of a connected network available for coalition leaders to employ," said Goldfein. "What I'm talking about is a fully networked force where each platform's sensors and operators are connected." The Toaster In El Segundo, California, Northrop Grumman's Distributed Autonomy/Responsive Control (DA/RC) team has been charged with engineering a solution that controls a wide range of the connected sensors and operators. Under the bright red lights of a command and control room known as The Toaster, the El Segundo team — along with their colleagues in San Diego — are showing just how to control a wide range of systems as part of an integrated battle management network. The DA/RC team's working prototype can control systems, platforms and software across military services and domains (land, air, sea, space and cyber), and is part of the company-wide effort to provide JADC2 solutions to the US and its allies. "We are working toward connecting the battlespace because we know our technology will help save lives," said Bryan Lima, business lead for Northrop Grumman's company-wide JADC2 efforts. "The women and men who work on Northrop Grumman's enabling JADC2 technologies know how important this effort is and how challenging and important this work is. We've developed a mix of platforms and applications that enable us to uniquely address the threat called out in the National Defense Strategy. Connecting the battlespace and enabling battle management in the contested battlespace in ways nobody has thought of is what we are working to achieve." 24/7 Coverage Enabling all existing and future systems to work together is critical. That powerful joint force will act as a deterrent against future conflicts with other powerful nationsâ€•often referred to as peer-to-peer conflictâ€• and it will also help ensure victory if military action does eventuate. The question for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) right now is how it can leverage existing and emerging technology to connect dozens, or even hundreds, of autonomous and manned platforms across huge swaths of terrain and domains. And, how can those platforms be controlled to ensure 24/7 coverage of a highly contested battlespace? Goldfein went on to say in his Air Force Association speech that, "The goal is to combine to produce multiple dilemmas for our adversaries in a way that will overwhelm them. An even better outcome is to refine to the point where it produces so many dilemmas for our adversaries that they choose not to take us on in the first place." Northrop Grumman's DA/RC prototype demonstrates JADC2 in a range of battlefield environments and does so utilizing multi-domain systems to enable 24/7 battlespace control. By controlling a large number of manned and unmanned assets with an integrated battle management approach for prolonged periods of time, companies like Northrop Grumman are helping DoD realize their fully networked future. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery in science, technology, and engineering.

The Future of Defense

The United Network for Organ Sharing reported that as of Sept. 24, 2018, nearly 4,000 people in the U.S. were waiting to receive a heart transplant. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data, however, indicates that a typical year produces fewer than 3,000 human hearts from deceased donors, a trend driven largely by medical advances, increased life expectancy and safer automobiles. As a result, you can expect to wait up to two years to get a real, slightly used donor heart. For patients who can't wait that long, artificial hearts offer a bridge — typically a year or less — to a more permanent heart transplant. A Longer Life Option Dr. Peter DeSilva, a board-certified physician in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, and Steve Smith, a biomechanical engineer specializing in pump technology, have a better idea. As co-founders of California Cardiac Solutions, Inc., they are developing an artificial heart that they believe will offer patients a more reliable, more permanent alternative to a heart transplant. "Early artificial hearts relied on a flexible diaphragm or valves — materials that move back and forth — to simulate the pumping action of the human heart and create what we experience as a pulse," explained Smith. "Unfortunately these materials are precisely what wears out. Imagine bending a sheet of cardboard back and forth 10,000 times per day, and you'll see why those early hearts had a limited lifetime." By contrast, Smith's and DeSilva's new Freedom Heartâ„¢ has almost no moving parts. Made from titanium and other biocompatible materials, it is a four-chamber, fully implantable, form-fit-function replacement for the human heart. And it's designed to last 15 years or more. Technology Fly Over The heart pump technology was inspired by work that Smith did earlier in his career as a subcontractor to Northrop Grumman, the developer of the U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber. The contractor asked Smith's company, Fluidic Systems, to develop a pump that could process radar absorption material sprayed on the B-2. "We needed a pump that could process liquids containing a high concentration of abrasive metal solids without clogging," said Smith. "We had to eliminate all of the valves and moving components that would normally make the pump work." Serendipity A minor fender bender in his wife's Jeep in February 2012 put Smith on a collision course with his future. While visiting the body shop, he noticed the latest copy of Popular Science sitting on a table. The cover featured a photo of an artificial heart and the blurb "Human Engine — the 10,000 RPM, Pulseless Heart." Smith, who had been fascinated with the human heart his whole life, was smitten. He theorized that his B-2 pump design could be modified to work like an artificial heart. Both applications required a minimum number of moving parts and low shear forces, i.e. minimal friction between the pump surfaces and the fluid to avoid damaging the fluid. Smith's personal doctor, DeSilva, confirmed his hunch. The two friends have been collaborating on designs for the Freedom Heart — six generations so far — ever since. Unlike previous artificial hearts, the Freedom Heart is big on redundancy. It features four tiny, independently controlled impeller pumps and dual redundant electronics throughout. The impellers create the flow and pressure required to push blood through the body. "If any component of the heart fails," explained DeSilva, "a bluetooth-enabled chip on the controller boards will place a phone call to the patient and the patient's doctor," providing adequate time to repair the heart. The Road to Clinical Trials DeSilva and Smith have validated the basic design of their heart pump technology with a "bench test" prototype that has been pumping a blood substitute continuously and flawlessly for more than 16 months. They expect to complete assembly of their first implantable prototype this year. Following bench testing, they will move the device to the University of Southern California, where they will test it on animals in collaboration with Dr. Mark Cunningham, a USC heart transplant surgeon, and North American Science Association, a medical research organization. The team hopes to complete the animal studies by late 2019. DeSilva and Smith do not intend, however, to conduct clinical studies on humans. Instead, they hope California Cardiac Solutions will be acquired by a larger medical devices company with the resources to exploit their medical advances, conduct human trials and bring the device to market. Freedom for Heart Patients "Our initial goal was to produce a product that could serve as a bridge to a transplant," said DeSilva. "We believe, however, that the simple, reliable design of the Freedom Heart may allow patients to use it as a permanent heart replacement, avoid the trauma of future heart surgeries, and live a full and productive life. How's that for a great outcome?"

New Artificial Heart Lifts Off With B-2-Inspired Technology

Marsha Lee Mikulen will never forget her career as a law enforcement specialist in the U.S. Air Force. It broadened her perspective of the world and sharpened her critical thinking skills. She now makes the most of those skills as a project manager at Northrop Grumman. Although the Air Force veteran wishes she had a longer military career, Mikulen appreciates how Northrop Grumman provides opportunities for her to honor and help active military service members and veterans. "I feel fortunate to be a part of an organization that supports our warfighters — active, reserve, veterans, civilians —their families and their missions," she said. An Impressive Background Mikulen couldn't wait to join the Air Force after witnessing how it had defined her father, Lee Mikulen. "I felt driven to follow in his footsteps," she said. Although she didn't see combat, Mikulen's four-year stint in the Air Force introduced the Michigan native to an eye-opening side of human behavior. Mikulen worked in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations on several bases in the U.S., as well as Torrejé³n Air Base in Madrid, Spain. Her various roles included: desk sergeant; working inside a jail; handling customs on military aircraft returning from Europe; and going undercover on narcotics investigations. Thirty-two years later, she regrets not reenlisting and instead reentering civilian life in 1986. But she won't let the regret haunt her, mainly because she believes Northrop Grumman's mission and its commitment to the military allow her to keep serving her country. Military Service Shaped a Career A Northrop Grumman employee for 17 years now, Mikulen is a project manager in technical development at the company's Space Park facility in Redondo Beach, Calif. The Air Force strengthened Marsha's critical thinking and organizational skills, she said. "It taught me how to deal with people day-to-day â€¦ It was an opportunity to broaden my perspective on a lot of things and show me diversity of thought. I traveled to different countries and saw different cultures. The Air Force allowed me to do that." She coordinates and prepares technical skill programs for Northrop Grumman engineers. The certificate programs, which are aligned with several universities, help engineers have "the latest and greatest skills" in aerospace technology, she said. Air Force Veteran Supports Other Vets Veterans comprise 20 percent of Northrop Grumman's workforce, so it's no surprise that the company offers several programs that recognize not only the military service of employees but also of those in the community. For instance, the Navigator program pairs recently hired veterans with employees who are also veterans. The longstanding employees help the new hires transition from military life to the corporate world. "Think of this program as transferring to another station and having a sponsor to depend on to answer your questions," Mikulen said. Similarly, Operation IMPACT provides career transition support to military service members who have been severely injured. Mikulen serves as co-chair of Space Park's chapter of the VERITAS (Veterans, Employees, Reservists, Inspired to Act and Serve) employee resource group at Northrop Grumman. VERITAS holds clothing drives, organizes a charitable 5K run and performs other services for military families and veterans. "I would like to establish a culture where all vets know that they have comrades here to help support them," she said. She added: "I feel happy when I am able to help someone or to be a part of an event that has been successful. Although, I do have to say, I'm happy to be a part of those events that are not always what others might deem as successful. Often, the true success has to be measured by watching someone different in the organization get excited and step up to volunteer or to help lead an event or share a story. I feel having the opportunities to meet new people and learning and caring about what is important to them, whether I'm helping them or doing an event, is the success or reward." No One Is Forgotten on Veterans Day  During the week of Veterans Day, VERITAS will recognize those who have fallen with a wall of heroes commemoration and the distribution of holiday cards to Blue Star mothers. It will also hold a 22-pushup challenge over 22 days to recognize the efforts of 22Kill, an organization that raises awareness of veterans who commit suicide. Veterans Day is always a special time for Mikulen. The day reminds her of how ketchup packets were the most requested item from U.S. military members serving in the Vietnam War. "I remember as a child going to restaurants with my mom to ask for ketchup packets to send in care packages," she recalled. One time, they "hit the jackpot" at a restaurant and received a box of packets to donate. Years later, when Mikulen was in basic training for the Air Force, she realized the importance of care packages to their recipients. This Veterans Day, Mikulen will email fellow veterans, reminisce on days past and reflect on VERTIAS' work leading into the holiday, as she attempts to figure out how to help at least one more veteran in the future. "I love the military, and I love my vets," she said.

Air Force Veteran Recognizes Fellow Vets With Charitable Work

Astronomers recently reported witnessing galaxy death for the first time. They used the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescopes in the Chilean desert to observe galaxy ID2299. They noticed that the galaxy is losing so much gas that it will soon go dark when it runs out of fuel for stars. In other words, the galaxy's light appears to be dying. "Galaxies are kind of living, evolving things, and as their physical processes take place, and as new chemical species emerge into the mix and planets form, the physics change," says Northrop Grumman astrophysicist Jon Arenberg. He explains that galaxy death is a misnomer, and it would be more accurate to say that ID2299 is transitioning to a new stage of life. Even when the galaxy goes black, it will still have mass — we just won't be able to see it easily. Death of ID2299 "When a galaxy stops making stars and the existing stars transition to the next stage of life, the galaxy gets dimmer and appears to die," Arenberg says. CBS News reports on the study, which was published in January 2020 in the journal Nature Astronomy. The galaxy is so far away that it took approximately nine billion years for its light to travel to Earth. The astronomers calculated that the galaxy is losing the equivalent of 10,000 suns worth of gas each year, as CBS reports. Meanwhile, it appears to be making new stars that will quickly (in terms of the history of the universe) burn up the withering gas supply. Therefore, ID2299 appears to be using its gas supply relatively quickly, and it is expected to die in a few tens of thousands of years — which is very soon in terms of the history of the universe. "This is the first time we have observed a typical massive star-forming galaxy in the distant universe about to 'die' because of a massive cold gas ejection," said lead author Annagrazia Puglisi in a statement released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). When the gas associated with the luminous part of ID2299 or another galaxy disappears, astronomers will need to use a different instrument to observe the galaxy. "Light is a continuum from gamma rays to radio waves," Arenberg explained. "And since there will be matter in this galaxy, looking at it in the radio spectrum as it cools off hundreds of millions of years from now will still allow us to collect data. It's a matter of using the right tool for the right question." What Happens When a Galaxy Dies? Like many areas of astronomy research and science in general, galaxy death is not black and white. We don't know much about what happens when galaxies go dark, but new scientific instruments are providing insight. Astronomers are using images from telescopes on land (such as ALMA) and space (such as the Hubble telescope and its forthcoming successor, NASA's Webb Space Telescope) to peer into the universe to match observations with theories. "ALMA is a relatively new instrument with tremendous capability," says Arenberg. "It's a groundbreaker, like Webb will be." One of the main scientific pillars of NASA's Webb Telescope is understanding the assembly and evolution of galaxies. Soon, we will have answers to what happens when a galaxy dies. For now, we have theories. "When a star dies and becomes a nova or supernova, it ejects the outer envelope that contains a lot of the evolved heavy elements that we'll need for life and planets. Some of that gas is going fast enough to escape the galaxy," Arenberg says. "Some of that gas is injected into the intergalactic medium and doesn't come back to the original galaxy. So, there's a very complicated set of dynamics that we're now starting to be able to have instruments to understand." The astronomers who studied ID2299 were tipped off about the gas ejection when they noticed a stream of stars and gas called a tidal tail. They observed that this tail of gas ejection appears to be caused by two galaxies colliding and merging together. "Our study suggests that gas ejections can be produced by mergers and that winds and tidal tails can appear very similar," study co-author Emanuele Daddi explains in the ESO statement. Don't Quit Your Day Job Scientists are working on collecting more data to better understand how galaxies transition from one phase to another. "Objects that are close to our galaxy's age are beautiful, elegant spirals or beautiful balls," Arenberg says. "When we go back into the early universe, even as under-resolved as the images are, they're kind of ugly and lumpy. They haven't evolved these elegant structures through all of their complicated processes." So, now that we have observed a galaxy withering away, is there reason to panic about life on Earth? "Don't stop paying your mortgage," Arenberg jokes. "The Sun will eventually 'die' and burn out, or move to a different stage of life, but that won't be for billions of years." Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

Life in the Dark: Understanding Galaxy Death

Key Takeaways VR headsets create the illusion of 3D by giving each eye a slightly different view of the same image. VR and AR are used to train first responders and healthcare staff, enhance issue detection for engineers and create immersive experiences for consumers. Spatial computing, connected flooring and haptic sensors may inform the future of VR.Once a staple of science fiction, augmented reality and virtual reality have become part of mainstream culture. From digital first-down lines during professional football games to AR mobile apps that let users see how furniture would fit in their home or how clothing might look on their body to immersive VR experiences that make it possible for players to live out their dreams of being a wizard or warrior, these mixed-reality options are everywhere.How do VR headsets work? How are AR and VR being applied across different industries, and what comes next for these technologies?VR Headsets: The BasicsWhen you look at something in real life, your eyes view the object at slightly different angles. Your brain processes and combines this visual data to generate a 3D image. This Socratica video shows that virtual reality headsets work in much the same way.A VR headset creates the illusion of 3D by presenting each eye with a slightly different view of the same scene. This is a good starting point, but what really sets VR apart from a good movie theater experience or a typical video game is that the user controls the point of view. When the user turns their head, the image they see changes accordingly.Most commercial VR headsets now offer three degrees of movement freedom: Devices can detect when users turn their heads left or right, look up or down or tilt their heads from side to side. More advanced solutions offer six degrees of freedom, which can help track the movement of your body side to side, back and forward, and up and down. That said, these systems require room-mounted cameras along with headsets and are significantly more expensive.Current Use Cases for VR and ARThe appeal of virtual and augmented reality has become clear, with obvious applications in gaming, tourism and situations where people want to try before they buy. These technologies are also used to safely but realistically train pilots, firefighters, astronauts, police officers, medical students and surgeons.For pilots, for example, virtual reality is paired with a hydraulically operated cockpit, allowing them to operate realistic controls and feel every tilt and turn. Engineers also use virtual and augmented reality to locate design errors and address customer concerns. Teams can convert 3D renderings into VR files and view scale models in extraordinary detail, right down to the treads on bolts, the twists in wires and the labels on components.In addition, VR offers a way to showcase the capabilities of new technologies, such as Northrop Grumman's uncrewed underwater vehicle, the Manta Ray. Using a VR headset, users can see what the Manta Ray sees as it plunges into the seas. For ocean researchers, a real-time VR connection with solutions such as the Manta Ray could let them explore new frontiers without risking life and limb.Welcome to Reality 2.0So, what are the latest developments in AR and VR? One area is spatial computing solutions, such as in the Apple Vision Pro. This headset's 3D camera can enable spatial experiences — apps can be opened by users with their eyes, hands or voice, while video calls appear at life-size scale. Users can also immersively experience previously taken photos or videos as if they were standing where the image was taken.Also exciting are solutions to improve the immersive nature of VR when it comes to movement. One of the biggest limitations of virtual reality environments is that users quickly run out of physical space. While VR devices can track forward or backward movement, users inevitably run into digital barriers or physical walls that prevent them from moving farther.Systems such as Disney's HoloTile may help solve this issue. According to CNET, the HoloTile uses hundreds of round tiles that work as mini, multi-direction treadmills that can also rotate and tilt. A combination of sensors and motors relays the user's position in a VR world to the HoloTile, which adjusts the tiles to mimic desired movements.Consider a user walking down a VR corridor. In the virtual world, it looks like they're moving forward, and as they walk, it also feels like they're moving forward because the HoloTiles are spinning under their feet with each step while keeping them in the center of the floor in real life.Then there are lements to improve overall immersion. As noted by TechCrunch, work by startup Ultraleap is focused on adding haptic feedback to virtual environments. Using ultrasound waves, Ultraleap sensors could track hand movements in VR and provide tactile feedback to the user. The result? VR objects that seemingly have weight and presence in the real world.Both augmented reality and virtual reality are undergoing rapid evolution. Already used for consumer entertainment, product development and staff training, new developments — such as spatial systems, intelligent tiles and haptic sensors — could take this tech to the next level.Curious about AR and VR? See how Northrop Grumman is leading the charge.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality: How Do VR Headsets Work?

More than fifty years ago, the dreams of stargazers and the grand ambitions of a nation were realized when NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong crunched his left foot on lunar soil and became the first human to walk on the moon. But before Armstrong could utter his famed phrase, "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," and before the five subsequent missions to explore the moon would be possible, aerospace engineering had to move forward at a furious and daring pace in order to make the Apollo 11 mission possible. NASA had to make good on President John F. Kennedy's promise in 1961 to transport people to the moon, a challenge that intensified when the Soviet Union bested the U.S. in the race to put the first man, woman and dog in space. The Soviets couldn't win the moon, too. Battling the clock, NASA and its contractors had to create and improvise machinery and technology to withstand the harsh conditions of space and the unique challenge of landing on and relaunching from the moon. Images of Armstrong and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin hopping around the lunar surface are just as remarkable now as they were on July 20, 1969. But for years, engineers back on Earth worked without fanfare to piece together the many components that would make the moon landing less of a miracle and more an achievement of science. Here are a few of their accomplishments. A Powerful Thrust Was Needed to Reach the Moon It can be argued that every mechanical component of Apollo 11 was an essential piece of the first mission to the moon. But without the thrust to push the spacecraft some 240,000 miles to the moon, and at least another 240,000 miles back home (distance depends on the moon's orbit around Earth), a lunar mission would have remained a distant dream. Thanks to a heavy lift vehicle rocket called Saturn V, Apollo 11 had the power to travel 953,054 round-trip miles in eight days. At 363 feet, Saturn V stood 60 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. At 6.2 million pounds, including a big belly of fuel, the rocket weighed as much as 400 elephants before liftoff. The thrust it generated at launch — 7.6 million pounds — created 85 times more power than the Hoover Dam. But three is the number that best illustrates the worth of Saturn V. Because most of the mission's fuel would be needed for Apollo's push out of Earth's orbit, the spacecraft didn't have to be heavy for the rest of the mission. NASA designed Saturn V to separate into three sections, each breaking off the main section as it expended its fuel. The first two stages fell into the ocean, but NASA isn't sure where the third one went: either it stayed in space or hit the moon. The remainder of Apollo was relatively nimble, consisting of the command and service module (CSM) where astronauts would pilot the craft, as well as sleep and eat, and the lunar module (LM) that touched down on the moon. With Saturn V serving as an ideal taxi to the moon, the five subsequent Apollo missions also relied on the three-stage propulsion system. It was used once more in 1973, carrying the Skylab space station into orbit. Apollo Had Small but Strong Computing Power Landing on the moon called for precision. Yet, NASA recognized it would be difficult from the mission control center to navigate Apollo onto the moving moon, so it got creative and designed two computerized guidance and navigation systems instead of one. According to a history of the space agency's computing systems, NASA installed separate computing systems on the CSM and LM. This had a twofold effect. If the command module system failed, Apollo astronauts could still find their way home because the on-board computer and its guidance system accepted data from the ground to aid with manual flight. If contact with mission control was lost, the system had autonomous return capability. Also, by having a separate computing system on the Apollo 11 lunar module, navigating a moon landing from the craft itself was more manageable than doing so from the CSM. It's long been noted that a single iPhone has more computing power than all that NASA had for each Apollo mission. But NASA's computers had a feature that no modern consumer electronic product can claim. The computing system couldn't — and didn't — crash. A Perfect Landing Set the Stage for More Exploration With the three-section Saturn V shedding weight, and with separate computing systems making navigation easier, the stage was set for an eagle to take flight. Named "Eagle" for the Apollo 11 mission, the LM was designed, developed and built by Grumman Corporation, as were those for the next five missions. The Apollo 11 lunar module featured an environmental control system that maintained the module interior temperature between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It also had a landing radar and computer system that measured the delay between the microwaves from the moon's surface so that it could calculate the distance for landing. As the U.S. and other countries once again aim to explore the moon, some of the technological feats of the Apollo missions can be applied decades later. At a recent Universities Space Research Association conference, one expert suggested building a rocket like Saturn V. More tellingly, National Space Council Executive Director Scott Pace intimated that the successful aerospace engineering of the Apollo race proved that the current five-year timeline for the next mission to the moon could provide a "clarifying nature" to the hard work involved. There is a lot to learn from what transpired on July 20, 1969. As millions watched on Earth, the Eagle landed four miles away from its predicted touchdown point but on a spot befitting the safe journey, the Sea of Tranquility. Years in the making, the U.S. had won the biggest prize of the space race, but Armstrong's reflection about a giant leap was a reminder that this accomplishment was for everyone. Interested in all things in outer space and exploration? We are, too. Take a look at open positions at Northrop Grumman and consider joining our team.

Apollo 11 Demonstrated the Daring of Aerospace Engineering

 Howard Aiken conceptualized and developed the world's first large-scale computer. While he was working on his doctoral thesis at Harvard, Aiken had to solve nonlinear differential equations, which were tedious and too complex for calculators to handle. This dilemma gave him the idea to create a calculator that was powerful enough to handle advanced mathematics.Mark I Together with a small team of engineers, including pioneering computer programmer Grace Hopper, Aiken spent five years designing and building a massive electromechanical computer. It cost $250,000 to build, equivalent to $3.4 million today. The Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, nicknamed the Mark I, was unveiled and put to work in 1944.  It was a cumbersome, noisy machine made of nearly 760,000 parts. Hardly resembling today's sleek touchscreen computers, the Mark I filled an entire room with clicking metal parts. It used prepunched paper tape for input and typewriters for output. Mark I was slow but steady, and stayed in use for a decade. It took between three and six seconds just to add two numbers and it could run continuously for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It was clunky, mechanical, and and slow, but Howard Aiken's innovative early computer paved the way for today's advanced digital technology. Today a computer of that size would be capable of computing, storing, analyzing and communicating enormous amounts of data much more quickly. For example, Northrop Grumman is developing an Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) system of satellites with a payload that delivers the new XDR (Extreme Data Rate) communications services with data rates as fast as 8.192 Mbps per user.A Remarkable Career Creating the Mark I was just the first highlight of Howard Aiken's rich career. He was an electrical engineer, a mathematician, a physicist, a naval officer and ultimately a computer scientist. At Harvard, he taught applied mathematics and directed the Harvard Computation Laboratory. He also developed the country's first master's and doctoral programs in computer science. He mentored many of the world's first computer scientists and directed a team that published fundamental research in switching theory, data processing, and computing components and circuits. During World War II, Aiken and his team used the Mark I for strategic wartime work. They solved top-secret calculations such as computing rocket trajectories, gunnery, ballistics and naval design. His team also designed later versions of the computer that were used for scientific research and military calculations.Howard Aiken's Legacy Continues Today When Aiken passed away in 1973, the New York Times published his obituary with the heading, "Howard H. Aiken, Built Computer." He was quoted as saying, "The only advantage of computers is greatly increased speed. But they can act only on information fed into them. And such information depends on the judgment of executives. Executive decisions may be speeded by its results." He was speaking during the early age of computers, but his words are more relevant today than ever, with automation in just about every workplace. The Mark I and Aiken's complete body of work are the foundation for modern day computing. He gave computer scientists the tools that evolved into today's vibrant information technology field. Now, with the proliferation of IoT, social media and electronic gadgets, sensors and systems are everywhere so an overwhelming amount of data is available. Aiken's work — building the machine and painstakingly documenting mathematical tables — gives us the ability to make sense of big data. Aiken couldn't possibly have imagined the rich and varied ways that his calculating machine and its successors would be used today.

Howard Aiken: The Original Computer Scientist

The existence of dark matter was first proposed in 1933 to explain anomalies in the movement of galaxies. As described in Nature, the observed movements couldn't be fully explained by the gravitational pull of visible objects. Rather, objects seemed to be reacting to gravity from some invisible unknown source, which scientists named "dark matter." Dark matter is now thought to make up about 80% of the matter in the universe, Space.com notes — but what it is remains a mystery. The search for dark matter recently received a boost from quantum technology. The two leading candidates are currently weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) and axions. Both these subatomic particles were proposed in the 1970s, but neither one has been proven to exist. But a new quantum breakthrough may provide an opening to unpack the mystery. Axion Detectors Recently, the search for axions gained speed by incorporating technology that was developed for quantum computers. This new approach was adopted for the HAYSTAC experiment, which stands for the Haloscope At Yale Sensitive to Axion CDM (cold dark matter). HAYSTAC was launched in 2010 to advance the search for axions and is a collaboration between Yale, the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Colorado Boulder. The first results from HAYSTAC were published in 2017. The dark matter detector was then rebuilt in 2018 to take advantage of new quantum-enhanced detection technologies, which led to a Nature publication in 2021. Axions are predicted to have no charge, no spin and a minuscule amount of mass, with a single axion perhaps billions to trillions of times smaller than an electron. Therefore, for axions to account for the perceived dark matter in the universe, there must be 10 trillion to 100 trillion axions per cubic centimeter. However, axions almost never interact with ordinary matter, so extremely sensitive techniques are required to detect them. The process is analogous to looking for a needle in a haystack. As explained in Berkeley News, if axions in a microwave cavity pass through a strong magnetic field, a small number of them should theoretically transform into microwave-frequency photons, which can be detected as particles of light. The photon frequency is determined by axion mass, which is unknown. The predicted frequency is anywhere between 300 hertz and 300 billion hertz, so the goal of HAYSTAC and similar projects is to carefully and systematically scan through that range, to eliminate possibilities until axions are either found or disproved. The Quantum Limit Unless new technologies are adopted and developed, it could take thousands of years to scan through all the possible axion frequencies, as a HAYSTAC collaborator discusses in The Conversation. When the first HAYSTAC paper was published in 2017, the existing technology had essentially reached the limits imposed by a fundamental law of quantum mechanics. The Heisenberg uncertainty principle indicates that it's impossible to know the exact value of two different properties of a quantum system — such as a photon — at the same time. In axion searches, the quantum limit introduces excessive noise into the measurement process. Even at temperatures near absolute zero, photons are ubiquitous and produce random electromagnetic fluctuations. The more noise there is, the longer a dark matter detector must sit at each frequency to listen for an extremely faint axion signal. The HAYSTAC experiment started by exploring the lower end of the possible axion frequency range and was able to rule out a subset of predicted axion models. The noise would only increase as higher frequencies were explored. Researchers had essentially exhausted options to amplify the signal and sort it from noise, so the HAYSTAC team decided to develop a new axion detector that could circumvent the quantum limit. Quantum Squeezing Axion detectors measure two quadratures (two properties of incoming light waves). The Heisenberg uncertainty principle stipulates that measuring both quadratures at the same time would result in some uncertainty in both measurements. The HAYSTAC team reasoned that it would be better to measure one quadrature at a time, if they could increase the accuracy of that measurement while decreasing accuracy for the other quadrature. A noise manipulation technique called quantum squeezing was applied, which was originally developed for quantum computing. While ordinary computer chips hold bits of data in an "on" or "off" position, quantum computer chips ("qubits") can hold data in an intermediate position, which will make them ideal for situations involving uncertainty. Quantum computers are still in the early stages of development, but tools designed to handle the challenges of quantum computing are finding applications elsewhere. One such tool is the Josephson Parametric Amplifier (JPA), which was developed to improve the fast readout fidelity of quantum computers. The HAYSTAC team used the JPA to "squeeze" the light they were getting from their axion detection experiment, to reduce uncertainty in one dimension while increasing it in another. Reduced Noise, Increased Bandwidth The new HAYSTAC detector uses a microwave cavity held at a temperature near absolute zero (to decrease noise) and placed in a strong magnetic field. The detector takes advantage of the uncertainty principle by reducing the uncertainty of the X component of the cavity electromagnetic (EM) field by squeezing with a JPA. The squeezed X component is then amplified with a second JPA. If an axion field is present, it should displace the amplified squeezed state in a random direction. "The detection process is based on detecting the weakly coupled oscillating axion field, rather than individual particles, since the axion is assumed to be many orders of magnitude lighter than the known standard-model particles and would be unlikely to be directly detectable as a particle," explains Dr. Mike Fitelson, a consulting engineer for Northrop Grumman Mission Systems who was not involved in the study. By decreasing background noise and increasing bandwidth, this new dark matter detector was able to scan two times faster than the old detector. While no axions were detected in the 100-day trial run, doubling the speed of the dark matter detector is a major step in the right direction. The HAYSTAC team believes that additional improvements to the quantum squeezing system could allow scanning to occur 10 times faster, and advances in other areas could add even more speed. Additional Implications of Quantum Technology Verifying the existence of axions would also solve the "strong charge-parity (CP) problem" in particle physics. If a neutron's positive and negative charges are inverted, it exhibits mirror-image behavior in terms of electrical charge and other properties. The strong force — which explains why atomic nuclei don't fly apart from the repulsive force between positively charged protons — obeys CP symmetry. This is problematic because symmetry isn't required by the Standard Model of particle physics. The axion was first proposed to explain this symmetry. Dr. Jonathan Green, director of Disruptive Concepts & Technologies for Northrop Grumman Mission Systems who was not involved in the HAYSTAC study, describes the work of the HAYSTAC team as "fundamental research focused on establishing our basic understanding of the mechanisms of nature." "This can be contrasted with applied research where our understanding of nature is applied to creating a useful technology," he continues. "The main benefit from this work could be the design of new detectors that are more sensitive," adds Dr. Fitelson. "For example, instead of exotic particles, this technology might be adaptable to single radio-frequency (RF) photon detection and the detection of very weak electric fields." Dr. Greene also points out that the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is also using quantum squeezing to detect gravitational waves, as MIT News describes. "We currently live in exciting times for scientific discovery," he enthuses. "In the past decade, we've observed the Higgs boson, detected gravitational waves and directly imaged a black hole. There still remain many fundamental questions about the nature of matter and the universe that our technology may allow us to answer in the near future." Are you interested in all things related to technology? We are, too. Check out Northrop Grumman career opportunities to see how you can participate in this fascinating time of discovery.

Quantum Technology Accelerates the Search for Dark Matter

From space travel to the World Wide Web, email to nanoscale robots, humanity's constant drive for improvement and innovation has changed the course of history. So hop aboard and get comfortable — the time machine is all fired up and ready to relive the top scientific discoveries of decades past. Let's go!  Today we're heading to the last decade of the 20th century for science that's hiding in plain sight: stealth technology. '90s Kids Remember... Technology in the '90s wasn't subtle. While advancements in '60s microchips, '70s PCs and '80s cellular solutions made it possible to reduce overall size and boost processing power, the 1990s harnessed this unparalleled power to create cultural novelties like virtual pet, keychain-sized Tamagotchi, hand-held voice recorders like the TalkBoy and instantly recognizable computer solutions like the gummy-colored 1998 iMacs. But scientists were also at work behind the scenes streamlining a breakthrough in stealth technology. Let's break down what it does, why it matters and what comes next for stealth. Now You See It In 1887, Heinrich Hertz discovered that when a radio wave encounters an object, some of the wave is reflected back to its source. The nature of the object impacts how much of the wave is reflected and at what strength. For example, radio waves encountering precipitation will create an "echo" that provides general location data, while radio reflections from aircraft or other large objects will provide more precise positioning. Combined with the Doppler effect — which makes it possible to calculate speed based on frequency shifts in waves — radio reflectivity vastly improved human potential for perception. The military applications were obvious: Radar (radio detection and ranging) became the de facto standard to detect gunfire, locate ships and find potentially hostile aircraft. It also fueled a new branch of scientific theory: stealth technology. Now You Don't With radar stations broadcasting radio waves around the globe, military minds faced a challenge: How could they make planes disappear? Broadly speaking there are two stealth solutions: absorption and deflection. Absorption requires planes to be coated in radio-converting materials that translate electromagnetic energy to heat, or by using pyramid-like structures that capture waves and dissipate their energy by causing successive contained reflections. Deflection is — in theory — less complicated and more effective. Here, plane shapes are altered so radar pulses are deflected away from the receiver station, making it appear that there's nothing in the sky when in fact a stealth bomber or fighter jet is sailing overhead. Tacitly Tactical In 1975, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) began tapping private companies for new ways to improve stealth technology. Why? Because despite the name, no aircraft is truly "invisible" — with the right radar setup and the right operators, even well-engineered craft can be detected. The goal is to achieve "low observability" by reducing the number of aligned aircraft edges and creating shapes that allow radar to effectively slide off airplane surfaces instead of being reflected. Northrop Grumman's Tacit Blue craft leveraged new advancements in computing and processing to create smoothly flowing, complex curvature surfaces that were elegant, aerodynamic and more effective at deflecting radar than their predecessors. While Tacit Blue never engaged in active military service, its research advancements paved the way for the rapid development of stealth technology in the '90s including the F-117A Nighthawk and the B-2 bomber. As noted by Business Insider, even 30 years later the B-2 remains one of the world's most formidable military achievements. The Future of Sight Unseen So what's next for stealth technology? As noted by The Drive, "morphing wings" offer the potential to change airplane shape on-demand by seamlessly integrating flaps and joints into wings and virtually eliminating any visible control surfaces. Also in development? "Quantum radar" technologies designed to unmask stealth planes by leveraging the concept of quantum entanglement. Radar-absorbing nanomaterials may provide the scientific counterargument to quantum detection, but aren't yet viable at scale. Simply put? Commercial technology in the '90s focused on the frivolous but just out of sight. Great strides were being made in stealth solutions. As detection and reflection tools continue to evolve, it's a safe bet that this under-the-radar research still has decades of development to deliver. Up next? We crash Y2K and march into the new millennium. Join us as we take on the 21st century.  

Technology in the '90s: Hiding in Plain Sight

  The world of travel may be on the verge of getting faster — a lot faster. Researchers and industry are putting a new emphasis on hypersonics, the technology of atmospheric flight at more than five times the speed of sound, or about a mile per second. While the challenges of hypersonic flight are great, the potential is enormous, ranging from intercontinental passenger flights taking less than two hours, to achieving the dream of an aircraft that can fly into orbit and return to do it again.Breaking the Speed Barrier ... Again Only one human-piloted airplane has ever achieved hypersonic flight. As Douglas Messier writes at Space.com, this was the legendary X-15 research plane, which made its last hypersonic flight 50 years ago in 1967.  All orbital spacecraft briefly enter the hypersonic regime during their climb into space, and again when returning to Earth's atmosphere. The Space Shuttle operated as a hypersonic aircraft during re-entry, before slowing down to merely supersonic speeds. But otherwise, since 1967, hypersonic flight has been limited to a handful of unpiloted research vehicles. This limited role has been due to the technology challenges of hypersonics, which center largely around heat. Any object passing through the air at Mach 5 and above produces intense frictional heating as it pushes the air out of its path. Keeping this sheer heat from melting the airframe is the first great challenge of sustained hypersonic flight. The second heat-related challenge is keeping the heat from melting critical parts of a jet engine. This is not a problem for rocket planes such as the X-15, but the intakes of conventional jet engines and even ramjets are limited to about Mach 6 — toward the "slow" (relatively speaking!) end of the hypersonic range. So-called scramjets (for supersonic combusting ramjet, a technology that limits heat buildup) have shown promise in sustaining higher speeds without burning up.Hypersonics — Military and Civilian Potential After half a century on the back burner, what has put hypersonics back in the technology spotlight? The most immediate concerns relate to national defense, as Patrick Tucker outlines at Defense One. Like spacecraft, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) reach hypersonic speeds in the upper atmosphere. But they cannot be steered, or change course beyond very narrow limits, rendering them inflexible. In contrast, a hypersonic aircraft could change course to evade enemy attack or in response to a changing mission requirement. This is what makes hypersonic performance attractive to defense planners. What makes it critical for them is the growing capability of air defense systems that can target and shoot down merely supersonic aircraft, potentially even stealthy ones. The only way for U.S. aircraft to avoid these systems is to outrun them by reaching and sustaining hypersonic speeds. But while the first operational hypersonic planes will be military, a new generation of hypersonic airliners could follow them through the speed barrier. Supersonic transports such as the now-retired Concorde did not sufficiently reduce intercontinental travel times enough to transform commercial flying. A hypersonic transport would be another matter — making a transcontinental flight take no longer than a regional hop does today. And beyond the hypersonic transport lies the possibility of a true spaceplane, an aircraft that could take off and land like an ordinary jet, but capable of carrying payloads — and astronauts — into orbit. A hypersonic orbital spaceplane would make space travel as affordable as air travel is today. The technology of hypersonics calls for flying outside the box. This is something that Northrop Grumman has been doing since its pioneering Flying Wing took to the air in the 1940s. And as Darren Orf reports at Gizmodo, it continues to fly outside the box with proposals for hypersonic test aircraft such as the XS-1.

Hypersonics — The Far, Far Side of the Sound Barrier

Electricity and water normally don't mix. But an invention by two Northrop Grumman engineers eliminates that incompatibility and the obvious danger of exposing electrical currents to water by — believe it or not — creating a new kind of electrical connector that operates while exposed directly to water. While the manufacturers of most electrical connectors take great pains to protect the electrical contacts in their connectors from water, the new invention embraces wetness — philosophically and practically. The contacts of this underwater electrical connector "grow" their own nanometers-thick insulation layer as a result of a chemical reaction with the water. This thin layer self-heals when scraped away locally during the mating process, re-insulating itself. The NiobiCon technology provides a connector that is so safe, you can touch the contacts while electrified underwater, and not receive a shock. It also provides a very high reliability connection that can be mated thousands of times underwater. "Other connectors try to fight the sea; ours works in harmony with it," said Northrop Grumman Fellow Harvey Hack and Senior Staff Engineer Jim Windgassen, who merged their different backgrounds to create the new NiobiCon underwater technology. Their invention initially aimed to improve the battery charging and data exchange process of unmanned underwater systems. The technology also has the potential to revolutionize other elements of both underwater technology, including submerged sensor networks, and above-water equipment that can be exposed to corrosive materials, such as agricultural machinery. An Invention That Begs to Get Wet Windgassen was pursuing a related but different approach to solving the unreliability of underwater connectors when he discovered that Hack was attempting to improve underwater corrosion resistance of connector contacts by experimenting with niobium, a metal with a corrosion resistance similar to titanium. Windgassen's thoughts turned to tantalum, which is a similar metal often used in a capacitors where the thin film is used as the dielectric, or insulator. Knowing how thin the film was in tantalum capacitors, he had a theory that such a film should be relatively easy to disrupt and achieve metal to metal contact. He asked Hack for some leftover niobium, and the two went to work making a crude prototype connector. Upon testing the first prototype, Hack and Windgassen found that the concept worked surprisingly well. During testing, they found that the thin film that formed provided an extremely good insulation film that blocked current flow into the water, but also allowed very reliable connections between the contacts when mated.  "Although that film is only a couple of molecules thick, the film prevents any current from leaving the contact and going into the water," Hack said. "Even with applied voltages that would destroy traditional contact materials." When the other half of a connector mates with the niobium-covered half, the contacts scrape against each other, locally disrupting the insulating film. With the film removed, direct metal-to-metal contact allows electrical current to flow unimpeded. When two ends of the connector are pulled apart, the niobium film reforms on the exposed areas in milliseconds. NiobiCon eliminates the need for seals, oil or moving parts. It's not susceptible to corrosion, does not allow shorting of attached electronics, and it isn't limited by water depth. NiobiCon can also mate and de-mate with the power on without any electricity entering the surrounding water, vastly improving the safety of this type of technology. Even with relatively high applied voltages, the film prevents a shock hazard from developing; the contacts can even be touched with wet fingers underwater without shock. Protecting Underwater Vehicles and Beer Many unmanned underwater systems run on batteries which have limited energy storage capacity, ultimately limiting the reach of their missions. An underwater vehicle that relies on NiobiCon technology extends the possibilities by allowing batteries to easily be recharged, or even replaced, while underwater. An automated underwater vehicle with improved battery life could conceivably explore deeper stretches of ocean, opening the door to new discoveries of organisms and allowing scientists to further study the deep sea for the effects of climate change. NiobiCon could also improve the reliability of underwater observation sensors that have long experienced trouble because of shorting and corrosion of their electrical connectors. But the technology's promise doesn't end underwater. Many technologies on land are also vulnerable to water. Agricultural chemical spray equipment, irrigation systems and other equipment exposed to water on a daily basis are obvious candidates. Historic flooding in the Midwest also highlights the need for corrosion-proof machinery, as a Successful Farming Magazine article notes. Equipping machines to run reliably when exposed to wet conditions, will certainly benefit farmers. And as Windgassen noted, breweries could use a dry hand, too. The electrical components of water-filtration systems, storage tanks and other brewing equipment get wet, inviting the need for corrosion-proof and long-lasting underwater electrical connectors. Sometimes, it pays to be all wet. Thanks to the ingenuity of Hack and Windgassen, electrical connections that operate in the wet could experience a paradigm shift that benefits science and businesses alike.

An Innovative Mixture of Water and Electricity

 Today's technology companies offer many nontraditional incentives to attract, develop and retain the most talented employees. Flexible floor plans and fun company outings are becoming more common in the workplace, especially in startup environments. But large, well-established companies can offer a more dramatic job perk by providing opportunities for employees to work overseas.Why Employees Want to Work Overseas College students want to study abroad for many reasons: to see the world, experience a new culture, learn a new language and get a fresh start. Many adults have these same desires, but a foreign work assignment has the added benefits of a salary and invaluable professional development. When a local position feels too traditional but a job transfer seems too drastic, a rotational stay can be just right. By taking a foreign assignment, employees face exciting challenges that keep their jobs interesting and fulfilling. Or, to put it simply, they get paid to travel to exotic places. Living abroad can give employees a fresh perspective that is vital to personal growth and professional development. It is a chance to explore the world while learning new skills and gaining international business experience that will continue to be useful when they continue their careers upon returning to the United States. Northrop Grumman offers a two-year Global Engineer Rotation Program to select members of the aerospace division. One participant in this program, Kathryn Williams, says that working as the Australia aerospace program's technical lead for Aerospace Systems helped her think more broadly about both her personal life and her career. She is spending two years working with Australian government representatives toward a future acquisition of the MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial system. "As an engineer who mainly supported programs in the execution phase, working on a program that isn't yet on contract is a great growth experience," she says. "The whole perspective is different. Although the concept of promoting customer confidence through technical excellence — combined with strong relationship building — is the same."How Employers Benefit A change of scenery helps boost creativity and productivity, which helps individuals and organizations alike. Clearly, there are many reasons for employees to consider working overseas. Therefore, foreign exchange programs can help large technology companies recruit and retain top talent. Today's job seekers are looking for a dynamic workplace, and what could be more exciting than moving to a new country? The best employees can also be recruited by competitors or look for new opportunities if they don't feel challenged. An overseas assignment can help keep things interesting and avoid boredom. Tyler Tamashiro is a Northrop Grumman engineer working to expand the company's presence in Tokyo. The engineering rotation has given him the opportunity to be the primary technical contact to customers and industry partners in Japan. "As a conduit between Northrop Grumman and the customer, I work to gain a mutual understanding and resolution on a range of subjects," he explains. "Face-to-face interaction is particularly important in a country such as Japan, where there is a greater chance of details and subtleties being lost in translation." Overseas exchange programs like Northrop Grumman's engineering rotation can help a company expand in target markets and participate in a global economy. Sending employees to live abroad can help increase business opportunities overseas and unite global teams. While international business travel is good enough for many transactions, it doesn't allow company representatives to go deep enough to make big changes. By living abroad, employees can uncover a country's uniqueness and discover subtle cultural differences that could make or break a deal.

Work Overseas: Give Your Career that International Intrigue

Tsunamis, Hurricanes, Eruptions: Predicting a Natural Disaster

 Mars has always captured the human imagination, and people have long dreamed of ways of getting there. The first technically plausible Mars exploration mission concept was Wernher von Braun's Das Marsprojekt, or The Mars Project, developed in the early 1950s. Many mission architectures have been studied and proposed since then. In 2016, SpaceX's Elon Musk unveiled a grand vision for Mars colonization, using the company's Interplanetary Transport System (ITS) concept.     Enable targeting cookies to view this content.    It's All About Propulsion    A critical factor in getting people to Mars is speed. Humans need to get there as fast as possible to streamline mission logistics and minimize exposure to hazards along the way. In the near term, conventional chemical rocket propulsion can reasonably get the job done. NASA is planning to get us to Mars in the 2030s using an architecture based on the Space Launch System and Orion crewed spacecraft, both currently in development. But some consider chemical propulsion too slow and inefficient, advocating instead the use of more exotic rocket propulsion methods such as nuclear thermal rockets and various types of ion thrusters (which powered the fictional Hermes spacecraft in Andy Weir's novel, "The Martian"). These and many other propulsion concepts are being studied but will require further development before they are mature propulsion-technology options for human spaceflight.    To achieve the goal of colonization, unlike with previous lunar missions, it is essential to think in terms of building a sustainable transportation architecture. The Apollo program was much like an X-plane project, designed to achieve the lunar landing goal, but not to establish a reliable and enduring transportation infrastructure.    We can't afford to do that with Mars. Realistic Mars exploration and colonization plans must go beyond the transportation problem, and they have evolved to keep pace with technological developments. Early plans assumed everything needed would be carried to Mars from Earth, which doesn't make practical or economic sense. Mission plans such as Mars Direct, an influential plan developed by Dr. Robert Zubrin in the 1990s, pioneered the idea of in-situ resource utilization or living off the land. This idea has matured with evolving Mars exploration plans, incorporating recent technological advances such as 3-D printing, which could be used to meet needs such as base/habitat construction and spare-part fabrication.    Radiation, Gravity and Human Survival     Despite the human experience in space to date, the long-term biological effects of radiation and reduced gravity exposure are largely unknown. Astronaut Scott Kelly recently spent a year on the ISS, and by running tests comparing him to his twin brother on returning to Earth, he provided invaluable data on human health in a microgravity environment.  [skyword_iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OL9cpxuN7NY" height="315" width="560" ]   But humans have never spent a significant amount of time in a reduced-gravity field. The surface gravity on Mars is only about 38 percent of Earth's gravity, and the long-term effects of living in such an environment are unknown. The ISS is largely protected from cosmic radiation by the Earth's magnetosphere, a luxury that will not be afforded to Mars-bound travelers and colonists. Various radiation-shielding techniques are being explored and will require considerable development to provide adequate protection for long-duration human spaceflight.    Given the difficulty, expense and long duration of travel between Earth and Mars, the successful human colonization of Mars will require the creation of an independent self-sustaining biosphere. This is something that has yet to be demonstrated even on Earth. The Biosphere 2 project attempted to do this in the 1990s and failed. NASA conducts a variety of analog missions on Earth to address these challenges facing future Mars colonists.    The Human—Robotic Partnership    The ultimate success of human Mars exploration and colonization still depends on learning more about the red planet through robotic precursor missions. NASA's robotic Mars program has been spectacularly successful, but the existing Mars fleet is aging. New missions such as the Mars 2020 Rover are in the pipeline to replace them. A number of companies — including Northrop Grumman, the prime contractor for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope — are conducting concept studies for a potential future Mars orbiter mission. When humans are finally on their way to Mars, the human—robotic partnership will continue to play an important role. In addition to the direct support of human exploration, robot systems will be essential to the future Martian technological infrastructure, such as planetary communications and a GPS-like navigation network.  

Mars Exploration: Getting There and Staying There

The world around us is full of colors — like green grass, yellow corn and blue water — but human vision falls short in providing the whole picture. Color cameras record images in a limited color range, leaving much of our world invisible to us. There's so much more color around us than what the human eye can see, which is where hyperspectral applications come in.  Hyperspectral imaging combines the power of digital imaging with spectroscopy, which is the study of how light interacts with matter. This developing science is changing the way we see practically anything — from plant seeds to the surface of the Earth. How Hyperspectral Imaging Works Instead of recording just three wavelengths of light, hyperspectral technology uses specialized sensors that capture the full spectrum of light for each pixel in the image. The sensors divide the light spectrum into a range of contiguous bands — most of which are beyond human visual perception. For example, using hyperspectral applications, doctors can better understand cells, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Each band is recorded, and hyperspectral applications combine the bands to produce multicolored images in the shape of a cube that contains three dimensions of information about the subject. The image captures a spectral signature for every pixel, which is compared to a database of known image signatures to identify materials, according to researchers at Stanford University. Think of an aerial scan of a forest. It may be difficult to distinguish between different plant and tree species with similar colors. Northrop Grumman helped resolve this problem with the invention of the Hyperspectral Airborne Terrestrial Imager, which can see more than 700 spectral bands and can accurately depict the solar spectrum ranges of any environment. A hyperspectral imager can "discriminate a maple from an oak, wheat from alfalfa, and is sensitive enough to separate healthy from unhealthy growth." Hyperspectral Imaging Captures the Micro and the Macro From microscopes to satellites and the International Space Station, hyperspectral applications can be deployed just about anywhere. With the systems onboard the ISS, NASA is monitoring cotton crops in California's San Joaquin Valley and working with the U.S. Forest Service to measure the health and size of forests. With satellite and aerial images, researchers can spot vegetation and crops under stress due to subtle variations in leaf colors. As the NCBI states, "Diseases can result in changes of transpiration rate, morphology, leaf color and crop density, which in turn affect the optical properties of the plants." In the food industry, hyperspectral applications track food quality; they can detect contamination and help identify the source. Pharmaceutical manufacturers have adopted the technique to analyze production quality, detect counterfeit and foreign material, and ensure packaging integrity. Seeds can also be examined to determine whether or not they will successfully sprout, Grind GIS reports. When someone says, "There's more to this than meets the eye," they are telling the truth. By giving us a more powerful way of seeing, hyperspectral imaging can change the game for climate research, population studies, manufacturing, ecosystems monitoring and natural disaster response. 

Hyperspectral Applications Reshape How We See the World

In the annals of Northrop Grumman history, the all-star list of employees consists of scientists, engineers and other innovators. Also on that list is a more unlikely name: Norma Jean Dougherty (born Norma Jeane Mortenson), better known as Marilyn Monroe. Who Was Marilyn Monroe Before She Was "Marilyn"? In 1944, at 18 years old, Norma Jean Dougherty was the wife of a merchant marine living in Burbank, California. While her husband was overseas fighting in World War II, her mother-in-law arranged a job for Dougherty at Radioplane, a target drone manufacturer. Founded by actor, aviator and UAV enthusiast Reginald Denny, Radioplane was acquired by Northrop, later part of Northrop Grumman, in 1952. Before his acting career, Denny served as a gunner during World War I in the Royal Flying Corps. His love of aviation led him to create the drone-making operation, according to HistoryNet. Working 10-hour days for $20 a week, Dougherty's main job was to inspect and spray parachutes with fire retardant, as reported by The New York Times. At the same time, she assembled some of the 15,000 OQ-2 Radioplanes that were built during WWII and used in training exercises for American soldiers to practice shooting at moving targets. According to The New York Times, despite warnings from her family that the fumes from the fire retardant would ruin her health and damage her hair, Dougherty kept the job at Radioplane. The natural beauty and glamour that would one day make her famous benefited her during these early years: she won a $50 war bond at a picnic and was crowned the "queen" of the company, laying the groundwork for her career as Marilyn Monroe.  A Star Discovered in an Unlikely Place Norma Jean's transformation into Marilyn started with a series of photos by U.S. Army photographer David Conover. On assignment to take photos of women working on the war production assembly lines, Conover met Dougherty. While none of her photos were used for the effort, she quit her job in 1945 and began modeling for Conover, according to Illinois University. She quickly rose to stardom, going on to appear in classic hits like "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" and "Some Like it Hot." Where the discovery of Norma Jean was the precursor to the one-and-only Marilyn Monroe, the OQ-2 radioplane was the predecessor to modern drone warfare. Reginald Denny's company ceased operation after its acquisition by Northrop Aircraft, but the legacy of the OQ-2 lives on. Its inception led to drones that have been used for reconnaissance, search and rescue, and research. So, next time you ask yourself, "who was Marilyn Monroe?", remember Norma Jean Dougherty. The idea that a non-published photo of a fresh-faced brunette assembling one of the very first unmanned aerial vehicles would lead to the discovery of a future celebrity is almost unimaginable. Add on to the fact that her story is forever tied with that of the OQ-2 radioplane and Northrop Grumman history, and you've got yourself a quintessential Hollywood ending.

Marilyn Monroe Has a Place in Northrop Grumman History

Today, the drone industry is one of the most sophisticated in the world. But what exactly is a drone? It can be anything from a cheap remote-controlled toy to the U.S. Navy's strike fighter-sized unmanned aircraft X-47B UCAS-D—which was designed and built by Northrop Grumman and uses a software-controlled smart "brain" to autonomously conduct aerial missions.Definitions vary on what can be considered a drone, but broadly speaking, it is a device that can take an action without human intervention. This differs from simple remote control, although the importance of remote operations particularly in the early days, cannot be overlooked. It should be noted that although "drone" is a popular moniker, it's an oversimplification; it doesn't adequately capture the fact that we are also dealing with autonomous aircraft with smart software brains.Taking the above into account, what was the first "drone" and how did it evolve? Let's take a deeper look.The First DronesLet's take a look back to 1898, when Nikola Tesla used a radio-controlled motor to wow patrons at the Electrical Exhibition in Madison Square Garden by piloting a toy boat with "verbal commands," while really manipulating a controller at the same time as his shouts.This early application of radio controlled technology led to a small set of hobbyists interested in radio controlled devices. Just as those hobbyists do in their garages today, some early work led to very useful commercial devices.In 1935 one hobbyist, renowned actor Reginald Denny, managed to show the U.S. Army that his hobby could be a useful target for antiaircraft gunnery crews. By the end of decade Denny had formalized the Radioplane company and was selling the first vehicle, the OQ-1, to the Army.Since they were used primarily as targets to be shot down, thousands of the Radioplane vehicles were made in the 1940s. Some of the unassuming devices were even assembled by Marilyn Monroe, who was discovered by an army photographer sent to take pictures of the Radioplane in production.By 1952, Northrop Aircraft purchased Denny's company, which then became the Radioplane Division. This was to be the launch of Northrop Grumman's development of autonomous systems. In the decades since, the systems and technologies have expanded vehicles to be used for much more than just target practice.DevelopmentA desire to keep people away from dangerous conditions has long driven inventors to devise mechanisms that can go places and do things that people cannot. But the earliest drones — those that fit the definition of fully unmanned and automated — were unreliable by today's standards.The MGM-57 Falconer, designed in 1955, was the U.S. Army's first unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, used for short-range battlefield surveillance. There was no way to transmit images in real time, so the onboard camera film had to be recovered and processed before use. Furthermore, the Falconer could only remain airborne for half an hour.During the Vietnam War, the Ryan AQM-91 Firefly and Model 147B Lightning Bug were developed for long-range reconnaissance missions into China. Launched from other aircraft, these drones were self-guided and powered.By the late 1970s, the Aquila, the most promising drone of the time, crashed every 20 flight hours and needed 30 people to launch it.In 1977, Israel-based aerospace engineer Abraham Karem arrived in the United States. Working from his home in Los Angeles, using cheap materials, Karem set out to build a drone based on "inspired design and highly optimized and integrated subsystems." In 1980, his drone, code-named the Albatross, stayed aloft for 56 hours. Karem thought of drones as reliable long-term vehicles that should have as long of a service life as their human-piloted counterparts.Even up to the 1990s, operating crews needed be located near the vehicle to ensure radio signals made the connection. It was not until the turn of the new century that there were reports of vehicles being controlled from 7,000 miles away.These advancements occurred in part because of unmanned systems with operating times measurable in years rather than minutes, and the development of satellite monitoring technology.The Tech Stack of Modern UAVsA flying object that can be remotely piloted from anywhere in the world requires a deep technology stack, the lack of which limited the evolution of drone systems until the 1980s.With the advent of the first microprocessor in 1970, devices once the size of control systems shrunk drastically and powered the development of enabling technology for remote operations. Meanwhile, the global positioning system (GPS), a global navigation satellite system conceived in the 1960s, became fully operational in 1995 and allowed for operations around the globe.You can now view the first armed UAV in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, although the current U.S. fleet of more than 10,000 drones is employed primarily for intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance.21st-Century DronesThe technology in the drone industry have come a long way from Tesla's toy boat. Even the term "drone" has evolved to describe an array of autonomous aerial systems. Though a drone itself refers to the complete vehicle, each one employs sensors, controls and power systems in various stages of development. For instance, today's Gray Eagle uses STARLite Tactical Radar, integrated to optimize operations while also providing target signatures that aid in intelligence gathering.But radar and other systems present on nearly all unmanned systems have their limitations. Several factors including advances in airframes, power sources, and both electronic warfare and air defenses are constantly driving the need to innovate and upgrade systems. The trend towards open modular architectures allowing for better integration of manned and unmanned systems will further push technology's future. Even Moore's law is coming to an end and has helped drive advances in competing computational platforms.Neural networks and AI are becoming more capable of analyzing radar, optical and environmental data to provide onboard identification and classification of observed threats. This enables many more actions to be taken without the need for human intervention.Drone Technology Beyond DefenseBeyond threat removal, drone technology can also allow for aid to remote locations or perform routine tasks. As defense needs continue to drive technology advancements, existing technologies can be pushed to consumer markets.Already the use of auto-pilot and GPS-guided "return to home" features have opened the market. Everything from real estate listings to the opening scenes of blockbuster films are now aided by unmanned devices that can be used in everyday society (though FAA regulations still limit who can commercially pilot a device).Today, the development of self-driving cars and delivery drones are hot topics for logistics companies and retailers alike. Advances now happening in drone technology are so rapid that we'll see more innovation within the next decade than in all those years since Tesla's boat.

A Toy Plane led to Our Current Autonomous Systems

Not only is top secret art a thing, it impacts our world more than you may think. Every day, security-cleared artists spanning the globe sort through the technical details of our nation's most closely guarded secrets. Through writing, illustration, coding and CGI, they translate complicated engineering specs into comprehensible stories to aid our government's decision-makers in understanding and implementing these cutting-edge technologies. I had the opportunity to sit down with one of Northrop Grumman's classified artists and reflect on his work, where he finds inspiration and the challenges and advantages of this chosen career path in top secret art. 
 
Adam: So, where did you grow up?
Artist: Kind of the South Bay area — Harbor City and then Palos Verdes. I went to a local high school here, and then I went to college and got a degree in art.
Adam: What are your hobbies and interests outside of work?
Artist: I'm active in my church. I'm also a mentor on a robotics team. I'm in charge of strategy and teaching systems engineering, despite my background. I used to play a bunch of sports but I'm old now.
Adam: When did you realize that you had artistic talent?
Artist: I can't remember a time that I couldn't draw well. When I was young, I was into tracing coloring books. Not the silly ones, but I remember there was a series of books that were illustrations of horror movies â€¦ 'Wolfman,' 'Frankenstein,' all that kind of stuff. I would color it in, trace it and then I'd color it again a different way. I just loved drawing. Later on, I enjoyed Maxfield Parrish. I was interested in photorealistic rendering — painting with gouache and watercolor and airbrushes. So when I was in college, I went down the path of illustration. I thought I was going to do children's books.
Adam: How did that lead you to a career in aerospace and defense?
Artist: When I was in college, my parents used to have breakfast with an engineer and his wife who lived down the street from them. My mom was always trying to find an angle to get her kids a job somewhere, so she asked if they ever hire artists for summer hire positions. He asked the guy who was in charge of the tech illustration area, and the guy said, "As a matter of fact, normally some vice president's kid gets this, but the kid that was doing it last year has decided that he doesn't want to do it ... " That's how I got in the door. My dad was a Marine, so I had an inclination toward military stuff. So when I got here and I started drawing satellites and airplanes, it was a good fit.
Adam: I bet your dad was psyched too.
Artist: Yes. My mother thought I was going to starve as an artist. She was sure of it. Turns out there are a lot of engineers who are good at math and science but can't communicate worth beans, so they paid me to paint pictures of what they wanted to communicate.
Adam: Can you describe some of your current responsibilities?
Artist: My title is oxymoronic — I'm lead Public Relations for Restricted Systems. I produce and direct classified presentations, briefings, artwork, movies â€¦ I write a lot of scripts â€¦ I work with executives to pull out storylines to communicate Northrop Grumman's differentiators. We do this for everyone â€¦ the president, agencies, the military, congresspeople â€¦ My job is translating engineering into human.
Adam: Can you describe the positions of some of the people on your team?
Artist: Being in a classified area, you have to do a wide range of things with the limited set of people who are cleared and are talented, so everyone has to wear a lot of hats. This is good in the sense that everyone gets to try a lot of different things, unlike the entertainment industry, where you can get stuck being the person who creates urban background plates for early 20th century "period" shows. Sometimes, though, we have to do things ourselves, which we'd prefer not to. For example, my senior animator is also a genius in computer systems. He designed and set up our network and render farm. It's comparable to high-end networks that are out there. But it puts a burden on him. He'd rather be animating than doing networks. But he has to wear multiple hats. And that's OK. Benjamin Franklin said, "Variety is the spice of life." So in our area, you always have variety.
That said, we do have specialists. One our folks is particularly good at 3-D modeling, another two are movie editors. Some do narrations; some create unbelievable graphics. The scope of the software packages that we use is tremendous. There's just nothing that we don't do.
Adam: Can you talk to the value that you bring through pen and paper and how that translates into the software packages that you're describing?
Artist: Many years ago, I had to transition from 2-dimensional art, where I was painting a still image, to dynamic art, where things are moving in 3-D space. I can remember that being a crisis point in my life, where I knew I had to transition spatially into the 3-dimensional world. But as soon as I did â€¦ I could see what it was we were going to do animations of. It flows for me — I can visualize what I want to see, and I have the ability to take what's in my head and draw it. A lot of guys can say what they see in their head, but if you don't have the skills to draw it, you're kind of stuck waving your arms, and that's when you need someone like me.
Adam: Can you describe the ways that your art has played a role in the development of any spacecraft?
Artist: To a lot of people, the things we do are magic. We have the technical expertise to do them, but explaining how they're done can sometimes prevent us from getting the contract because our guys and gals are too technical. They are so technical that when they're talking to customers, the customers are like, "I don't understand what he said." And we had that happen. There was a technology that was years in the brewing. We had done a video about it, and the acquisition guy was impressed, but he said, "I technically don't understand how the thing works. Can you go back and animate it so that I can understand x, y and z?" It took us a while, but it was very understandable, and we took it back to him and he said, "Oh â€¦ I get it." And he signed a contract based on his understanding of the animation.
The CGI stuff conveys a level of maturity. I can draw things, but you see that they're rough — that they're sketches. CG these days — we can make things look real. Whether people realize they're being affected by it or not, I think that they're moved to think that we have a mature concept.
Adam: I'm going to transition a little into the impact of working on the classified side. Can you describe what it feels like to be investigated?
Artist: I was in college. I was working summers, like I said, and they knew they were going to put me in for clearances, so they sent the investigators to my fraternity house.
Adam: *Erupts into laughter*.
Artist: I know. You think, "Recipe for disaster," right? My fraternity was a Christian fraternity, but still â€¦ it's a bunch of guys living together. They sat down in the kitchen and talked to anybody who walked through.
It all went well, but still to this day, I have friends from college that are like, "Hey â€¦ you still doing that secret stuff?" It exposes people to the fact that you're doing stuff that a lot of people don't. And that's a little uncomfortable at times. But if you're living a clean life, it's really not that big a deal. If you don't have anything to worry about, you don't have anything to worry about.
Adam: What did it feel like when you got your clearance and you were first briefed to work a classified project?
Artist: When I got here, I saw a lot of paintings of spacecraft being done in the open area. There were five or six people — all older gentlemen — Phil Weisgerber was one of them, ahead of me. Try as I might, I didn't get many opportunities to paint much. But there was an expansion going on in the classified area. My management approached me and said, "We want to have you work in the closed area part time." So I said to them, "I'm willing to go full time if you give me a 10 percent raise." I was 24 years old, and my boss in the open area went berserk that I did that. But I saw the opportunity and I took it.

Adam: No reservations?
Artist: None at all. I thought, "I'm all-in for the nation. This is our country, and I want it to be a safe place for my family and the future." So I had no reservations.
Adam: Can you describe some of the benefits and challenges of working in a classified facility as classified artists?
Artist: One of them is, you can't have electronic devices. Most people look at that as a negative, but watching people live with electronic tethers — half the people are checking their phones â€¦ Sometimes they're mid-sentence and they start typing. I don't have to do that. So we actually have conversations where we look at each other and discuss people's needs, assign action items and get stuff done.
The flip side of it is, I don't know how to operate a smart phone. Even though I'm in this super-high-tech job, I can't operate one of them. When we go somewhere, my wife has to do all that for me.
Adam: You're married with kids... Have there been ways in which your clearance has been difficult or challenging as a father or a husband?
Artist: I think it's actually been helpful in the sense that my wife has always known that I can't talk about what I do. My buffer time of driving home is spent working things out in my brain, and when I get home, we talk about life. We have our relationship, we have our kids, and I don't talk about work. I think that has been really beneficial. I'd call her a patriot in that she gives me my time. She lets me do what I have to do to meet deadlines, she knows it's important and she just doesn't ask about it.
My kids, on the other hand — I have a son who's working at a Northrop Grumman subsidiary this summer, as an intern, and he's working on unclassified aspects of closed-area programs. Obviously, I can't tell him what it is he's working on. But it's hilarious to hear him talk about what he's doing when I know the reality of what it is that he's working on.
Adam: Can you talk a bit about what motivates you and what inspires you?
Artist: I firmly believe in this country. If you do a cursory read of our Constitution, it's impossible to deny that something amazing happened. That nexus in time yielded tremendous freedoms that are linked to responsibilities. Freedom doesn't come free. I think that we forget sometimes how much it costs. All of us have family members, maybe a generation back, that were in this war or that war. Mothers and fathers gave up sons and daughters so that we could be free. We have really hard-to-express depth of liberty in this land — to think what we want, believe what we want, try things, fail, get back up again to do more — it's an amazing experiment. There has been nothing like it in the history of mankind, and I'd like to protect that.
Knowing what we do and its impact on world events — that we did this and therefore that happened. That's very inspiring.
Adam: So you're seeing things in the news that you know you've impacted.
Artist: All the time. And that's probably one of the hardest things — to know what's really going on and then hear what's being reported.
Adam: What advice would you give to other artists who may not consider the aerospace industry as an opportunity?
Artist: Unless you're a fine artist and you plan to never tell anybody what the reason is for your art — you have to convey stories. So learn to be a storyteller. I also think it's critical for all artists to be able to draw. If you can't draw, you'll sit there and wave your arms around and that's your differentiator — you can get what's in your head out onto the paper.
One advantage to being an artist in an engineering company â€¦ for engineers, it's always about being the smartest person in the room. But if you're the artist, like me or you, they assume we're not the smartest because we have degrees in art, right? So they tend to open the kimono and tell you the secret sauce. And they realize they have to talk down to us a little bit because we don't understand, so they end up telling us the key elements of the story. So I think there's huge advantages to being an artist in a technical field because somebody's got to visually convey those stories.
Another advantage is I get invited to so many different things that I'm probably one of the few people who have a really big picture of what goes on here. It's a unique advantage — I bring people together. I'll tell this guy, "Hey, I was working over here with that guy and we were doing something similar. I can't tell you what it is, but I can at least get you two together." And things happen that way. That kind of connective tissue is an important part of what I get to do.
Adam: Is there anything you'd like to add before I turn the recorder off?
Artist: What we're doing here is really important. I just can't emphasize that enough.
At a conference one year, I attended a class called "Managing Creatives." And I do a lot of that, right? I thought it was going to be a panel thing where you had all of the studios there and their mid-level managers would talk to us about what they do â€¦ But we got there and they turned all of the chairs in a circle and I thought, "Oh no... We're going to be the panel." And they're like, "You're the panel!"
So there's about 50 people and we're going around the room and people are talking about, "I'm working on Godzilla, I'm working on this or that â€¦" When they got to me, they're like, "What are you working on?" And I told them, "Well â€¦ I'm working on the James Webb Space Telescope. Imagine if you will â€¦ the sun ... the Earth... now, draw a line from the sun, through the Earth â€¦ go out another million miles and there's a place where there's just enough gravity that you can orbit around it without drifting away. And now think of this: We're building a 25-foot-diameter deployable mirror that's going to orbit there to look into the infrared part of the spectrum to see the origins of our galaxy, the universe and try to find terrestrial life â€¦ and that's really going to happen." Multiple people responded with astonishment, saying, "What? That's for real?! I want to go work there!"
So, I can't tell you what we do in the closed area but â€¦ it's even better than that.

Top Secret Art: Yes, It's A Thing

 Enable targeting cookies to view this content.  Brandon Balasbas wanted to be a tattoo artist. But in an interview with Adam Ugolink, Balasbas noted his hands were "too shaky" for that line of work — so he spent most of his childhood sketching, developing his skills as a graffiti artist and trying to give his lettering a tattoo-inspired edge. Now he's found new passions: designing corporate street art and shooting professional aerospace photography for Northrop Grumman. "The Brandon Film" traces his evolution from Los Angeles street artist to corporate innovator. It also showcases the growing drive of cutting-edge companies to empower new creative mediums. Paying His Dues Balasbas grew up in LA, and low-riders, motorcycles, surfing and tattoos were cultural touchstones. Graffiti was a way to express his artistic side and stay true to his roots; artists like the 1913 Crew, RIS and Rawtoons helped Balasbas develop his own style. Photography was a natural extension, and, inspired by the work of Estevan Oriol, Balasbas began capturing shots of his family surfing. But the need for steady income pushed Balasbas out of the graffiti artist lifestyle and into Northrop Grumman's corporate mail room. Building Bridges His plan was to stay for six months, but when the mail room got slow, Balasbas started helping out in the print shop and taught himself Photoshop and Illustrator. Combined with his photography experience, his new skills opened doors into photo shoots for product tests and build documentation. His aerospace photography is now used to record project development and identify potential cases of oversight or error.  But Northrop Grumman also recognized the potential in his street-art roots. The company gave Balasbas complete freedom to create a graffiti-inspired mural that spoke to the company's mandate for innovation and technological evolution. For Balasbas, it's confirmation that "there's room for creative stuff in any company." Reaction to his first piece was overwhelmingly positive; he's already been asked to create another. Simply put? Art innovates life. Discover how in this short film.

Art Innovates Life: The Brandon Balasbas Story

Many artists face challenges when it comes time to deliver their work—the paint isn't dry, the circuits are fried, the sculpture is falling apart! What if, upon delivery, you suddenly realized that your work of art was about to explode? Artist, pilot, and Northrop Grumman risk manager, Alan Harkins, sat down with me to reflect on the worst and best day of his career.

Adam: Before we get into your art piece, can you please paint a picture for our readers of who you are outside of work?
Alan: Born and raised here, in Redondo Beach. I'm actually second-generation—my dad was also born here. Outside of work, I'm a flight instructor. So that's what I do... I fly.
Adam: How did you get into flying?
Alan: I started when I was sixteen—ended up getting all my certificates... flight instructor, airline transport pilot... Technically per the FAA, I can be a pilot on an airliner. But what I mostly do is just instruct and teach people to fly.
Adam: Was it this enthusiasm for flying that brought you to look for work in the aerospace industry?
Alan: What happened was I was sitting in class as a senior in high-school and the teacher said to us, "Hey, everyone, Northrop Grumman¦" (which was TRW at the time,) "Northrop Grumman is hiring and they're going to pay you $7.10 an hour." This was 1979 mind you and to a high school student, that was a ton of money. Then he said, "And you're going to be a janitor." The shift was 5:30 to 9:30 five days a week. So I started at Northrop Grumman as a part-time janitor.
Adam: And the rest is history, huh?
Alan: It's worked out very well for me.
Adam: So what is your current role and what are some of your responsibilities?
Alan: The technical title is Facilities Risk Manager. There's a finite amount of money in Facilities—what we do is help decide where to put the money to get the best bang for our buck from a risk perspective.
Adam: So how does a giant rock sculpture gig end up on your desk?
Alan: I used to be a Facilities Project Engineer who built things—like landscaping for example. Now I do risk but we were just slammed with all this work. I saw this job come up that was listed as "landscaping," so I raised my hand and said, "Hey I can do that if you want me to help." They said, "Yes!" So I inherited it.
Adam: So where did it all begin? Were you handed a bunch of drawings or concepts or...
Alan: So the whole story with the sculpture... I was driving through Idaho and I saw all these rocks standing up and it gave me the idea. I knew the principles of 3s and 5s for balance, so I thought of doing three of these pillars rising up out of the ground... you know... Thompson, Ramo, and Wooldridge—the original pillars of this particular Northrop Grumman site.
The quarry was in Washington. The idea was to get the basalt structures (rocks) and have graduating pieces of rock going bigger to smaller as if busting out of the ground. The quarry sent pictures of samples and I just picked three of them. They shipped my choices to a quarry in Palos Verdes where we could go check them out and approve them.
Adam: And how did that visit go?
Alan: Well, let me start by pointing out that the rocks come from a sheet face. They drill a bunch of holes, they put dynamite in the holes, and then they blow up the dynamite and they get their rocks. So now the rocks are lying on the ground and we're walking around them and I see a hole drilled in one of the rocks. I knew what it was. So I look in there and there's a string coming out of it. 
Adam:  And I bet you knew what that was too.
Alan: I said, "Guys, I like the rock but you need to figure out what's going on there and make sure that's safe." They said, "Oh okay, okay, okay." 
Two weeks later, they started the install on a Friday. They were scheduled to work the whole weekend. I checked in on them a couple times and when it was all done, I walked over on Monday afternoon, walked around, and there's my hole. I look inside and
Adam: There's your string.
Alan:  I just thought, "Oh man."
Adam: What do you do?
Alan: I got away. I made sure nobody else came close. I called up Environmental Health and Safety and I said "Hey, I got this problem." I called Security and they called the cops. Redondo Police Department came and they called the Fire Department.
Adam: So it's already in the ground at this point?
Alan: Oh, it's mounted.
Adam: Permanently there?
Alan: Permanently there. Yeah, there is a full blown rebar concrete foundation that it's sitting on. It's not going anywhere.
So the cops and the fire department come over. We cordon off everything at the plaza level. The cops figure, "Well, this is a bomb." So they call in the bomb squad. So they show up and put on their gear and full suits. Meanwhile, I'm evacuating all of the surrounding buildings... So there's like... I'm guessing five or six hundred people just standing around in the fire drill areas.
The bomb squad walks over with this device that looks just like a shotgun, but it has a water cartridge. What they do is shove the gun into the hole and then back off and trigger it remotely. The water mimics a shotgun blast and displodes whatever devices are in there.
So we're all standing there and then they trigger it and we hear this little "pffff."
Adam: Nothing?
Alan: They called it a "squib." It's basically dead. There was never any threat.
Adam: So is the hole still there? Can people go look at this thing?
Alan: No, the explosion blew off the side. That's how we were able to take the photo. I made them replace that whole rock. I kept a small chunk of it though.
Adam: Are you happy with how it turned out?
Alan: For the most part. My pet-peeve is the lighting. They had proposed a huge amount of lighting - up-lights under the trees and all kinds of stuff. I immediately cut it in half, it was just over the top. I think I could've cut even more.
Adam: Have you gotten any feedback on it since it went in?
Alan: One funny thing that someone said to me a couple months later... I was in the cafeteria and the landscaping job came up and I said, "Oh yeah, I was a part of that." This lady said, "Oh, I love the troll army!" I said "Uh... excuse me?" I don't remember the name of the bush but there's a brownish beige bush I put in over there and it looks like little troll guys. She calls it her troll army. She said she loves sitting out there and having her lunch with her trolls.

When Art Blows Up - Literally

Our Legacy "Here Men From the Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind" — Apollo 11 Plaque On the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's "giant leap," we celebrate the work dedicated to achieving the impossible. NASA required craft capable of conquering Earth's orbit for liftoff. Northrop Grumman heritage companies created Pioneer, the first commercially built spacecraft. Once in orbit around our nearest neighbor, astronauts needed a ride to the surface. The Grumman Corporation designed, assembled, integrated and tested the Lunar Module (LM). Heritage companies TRW and Westinghouse developed the lunar excursion model descent engine (LEMDE) and the lightweight, low-power camera used to capture humanity's first steps on the moon, respectively. Your Future "Across the sea of space, the stars are other suns." — Carl Sagan Apollo 11 marked a new era in exploration. Today, Northrop Grumman is developing the future of space exploration technologies. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has already discovered new exoplanets and supernovae, while the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope will study every phase in the history of our universe — from the Big Bang to the formation of life-supporting solar systems. From the Sea of Tranquility to the origins of the universe, we're pushing the boundaries of space exploration. Discover your future with Northrop Grumman.

The Future of Space Exploration: 50 Years of Innovation, Inspiration and Achievement

The James Webb Space Telescope hasn't even launched yet, but it is already providing valuable scientific and economic benefits here on Earth. With its mission of offering unprecedented perspectives of our solar system and distant galaxies, the telescope is changing this world before it even leaves the ground. That's due in part to several inventions that were specifically developed for Webb and that have become valuable spin-off technologies in their own right. From wavefront sensing technology that could improve human eyesight to near-infrared sensors that enhance ground-based astronomical observations, these advancements illustrate how an atypical invention can have a purpose greater than initially believed.  The Challenges of Exploration Create Useful Technologies The James Webb Space Telescope — also known as the Webb telescope — could possibly explore alongside its predecessor, Hubble Space Telescope, into the next decade. NASA hopes Webb will discover the universe's first galaxies and potentially unveil a connection between the Big Bang and our galaxy. Scientists also hope the telescope can study gases about 39.6 light-years away from our sun to determine if other life forms exist beyond our world. Because of the inherent challenges and demands of space travel, as well as the complexities of observing distant stars and planetary systems primarily through dusty clouds, Webb is an intricate piece of machinery. The telescope will observe elements mostly in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, using sensitivity cameras and a mirror measuring 21.3 feet in diameter. Webb will "look back in time" by using infrared light to sort through dust clouds in order to show us the first starts and planetary systems that formed just after the Big Bang. It will also include a sunshield the size of a full-length tennis court. Together, the mirrors and spacecraft element are so large that they will have to fold in order to fit inside the nose of an Ariane 5 rocket during launch and deploy once in space. For Webb to perform its observations and thrive in the vastness of space, NASA and its contractors developed several advanced technologies that have further impacts to tasks, even outside of space exploration. With information provided by NASA, here are five of those multifaceted inventions:  Human Sight Benefits From Space Invention Improvements in wavefront technology let NASA accurately measure Webb's mirrors during manufacturing. Those advancements have since transferred to medicine, where the technology is measuring human eyes, diagnosing ocular diseases and potentially improving eye surgery. For example, doctors can now see more detailed information about the shape of an eye in seconds, rather than in hours. Webb Technology Helped Hubble Camera Repair Developed for Webb, a technology known as application-specific integrated units (ASICs) ended up helping Hubble. ASICs are integrated circuits that enable an entire circuit board's worth of electronics to be condensed into a tiny package. ASICs are programmable, which allowed NASA to fix Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, technology that has produced remarkable views of the universe. Sensors Are Guiding the Work of Other Missions Infrared sensors developed for Webb's instruments are now also the select technology for astronomical observations in space and on Earth. These sensors record the weak light from galaxies, stars and planets. Several NASA missions have relied on an early version of Webb's HAWAII-2RG 4 Megapixel array. Hubble, Deep and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, for example, have all benefited from these sensors. Meanwhile, the HAWAII-2RG is in use at dozens of ground-based observatories around the world. A "Cold" Invention Is a "Hot" Technology Rocket science is famously known as being exactingly difficult, but sometimes it's even harder than that. Webb engineers had a tough time finding a way to test the telescope's mirrors and composite structures at the cold temperatures found in space. It's not easy to generate -450 degrees Fahrenheit. But a technology company in Arizona found a way by designing several types of high-speed test devices that use pulsed lasers to "freeze out" the effects of vibration. That invention led to the creation of other applications for astronomy, aerospace and medicine. Steadying the Telescope in the Coldness of Space The backplane of Webb supports the mirrors of the telescope. It will carry not only the primary mirror and telescope optics but also the entire module of scientific instruments, more than two tons of hardware. Northrop Grumman designed advanced graphite composite materials that are connected to titanium and invar fittings and interfaces, which will steady the backplane at 1/10,000 the diameter of a human hair while in temperatures colder than -400 degrees Fahrenheit. Northrop Grumman's contribution will not only help the Webb telescope study the stars and galaxies but, like the other spin-off technologies designed for the mission, its product can also have real value on other space missions and endeavors on Earth.

Spin-Off Technologies From Webb Telescope Are Helping Other Ventures

On Jan. 4, 2004, NASA's Spirit rover touched down on Mars. As noted by Business Insider, it wasn't long before Spirit was joined by its twin, Opportunity.    Both rovers were expected to last just 90 days in the punishing and dusty Martian landscape. Remarkably, Spirit continued operations until 2010, and the Opportunity rover remained online and active until June 2018, when a massive dust storm swept the craft into darkness. While NASA teams still hold out hope for the rover's rebirth, its epic 15-year mission may finally be over.   Back in action or down for the count, it's worth examining some of the most significant findings from Opportunity's extraordinary years of Mars exploration.    Team Effort   From their first moments on Mars, both rovers were busy. According to a Space Flight Insider editorial, one key discovery by Opportunity (and its twin) was the presence of Earth-like clouds; the rovers took photographs and sent them back home as proof. Opportunity also discovered the first meteorite on another planet, a basketball-sized piece of iron and nickel, and helped create a detailed temperature profile of Mars that showed evidence of rising warm air "thermals."   And just a few months after landing, the Opportunity rover discovered "blueberries" — tiny, round, iron-rich spheres scattered across the ground. While no perfect analogues for these objects exist on Earth, according to planetary scientist Briony Horgan of Purdue University (as quoted in a recent Space.com piece), "The fact that they're there tells us a lot of liquid water moved through these rocks over time."   Water, Water Everywhere   Opportunity's biggest contribution to Martian science — and human imagination — was evidence for the existence of neutral-pH water that could have supported ancient microbial life. As noted by NASA, Opportunity discovered water-friendly mineral hematite along with evidence that the ancient water was highly acidic.    In 2011, NASA reported that they found gypsum-veined rocks. The likely cause? Flowing water that ran through rock fractures to deposit the mineral. And in 2013, Opportunity discovered the most compelling signs of Mars' watery past: clay minerals formed in neutral-pH water. As noted by NASA, "This environment at Endeavor Crater once had the friendliest conditions for ancient microbial life." Not bad for a spacecraft that wasn't supposed to last more than three months.   Silence and the Storm   On June 10, 2018, Opportunity went silent as a massive dust storm swept over Mars' Perseverance Valley. Despite six months of silence, "Oppy's" team still holds out some hope as the dust dies down and winds pick up on the Red Planet, potentially clearing Opportunity's solar panels and bringing it back to life. According to Opportunity Deputy Principal Investigator Ray Arvidson in a recent Space.com article, the team "will continue to actively try and communicate with Opportunity at least through January," and is preparing a proposal that will refocus the rover's efforts if it does come back online.   Even if this is the end for Opportunity, Mars exploration continues. NASA reported that Curiosity is still operating after five years of service, and the Space Agency landed the newest Mars craft, InSight, on Nov. 26, 2018.   Unique Opportunity   The next step for space exploration? Sending astronauts to establish off-world settlements. Both the moon and Mars are potential candidates — the moon offers compelling arguments for distance, "good science" and commercialization. It's the safer, simpler choice, but somehow lacks the allure of Mars — Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity and now InSight have sparked the twin flames of human imagination and ingenuity.    Perhaps Mars won't offer the first glimpse of extraterrestrial life; perhaps its secrets don't run so deep. But it's a mystery that can't be ignored, a frontier that drives innovation and speaks to boundless opportunity. 

The Extraordinary Life of NASA's Opportunity Rover

Seeking a complete perspective on biodiversity in tropical forests that are under threat from deforestation and other forces, some conservationists want to combine sound and sight to learn what's really going on under the trees. Heralding the value of bioacoustics — the study of the sounds living organisms make — the conservationists believe on-the-ground recordings of the life in forests, coupled with the sights from imaging technology, will finally give scientists and conservationists the complete toolbox they need to protect nature. Satellite imagery on its own has limitations. Combining it with sound monitoring enables more accurate capture of events and trends, enhancing conservation efforts and academic research. A Call to Closely Monitor Rain Forests Contrary to popular belief that logging and other human activities are decreasing the number of trees on Earth, several research organizations last year contended that new forests are actually increasing global tree cover, as Phys.org reported. Still, deforestation poses risks to biodiversity by drastically changing environments and decreasing forests' ability to capture carbon dioxide, which leads to global warming. Last year, the independent monitoring group Global Forest Watch said 113,000 square miles of tree cover, equal to the size of Italy, were lost in 2017 as part of clearing efforts for farming, as Reuters reported. That's why a trio of conservationists are excited about the power of the microphone, according an article they published in the journal Science earlier this year. Scientists are already recording in areas like the rain forest of Papua New Guinea's Adelbert Mountain, but the conservationists hope that the scientific community and private landowners can place recorders throughout almost every tropical forest to record entire landscapes. The sounds and data the recordings produce could enable researchers to accurately assess how birds and bugs react to deforestation, and how environmental protection efforts are faring. In their article, the conservationists point to the difficulty of evaluating conservation efforts without knowing what happens at ground level. Satellite images can verify whether deforestation has occurred on conservation land, but even when seen from above with quality imaging technology, scientists can't fully detect the degradation of biodiversity from fires, invasions by exotic species or hunting, the conservationists wrote. Human observation on the ground also has limits: It's time-consuming and expensive, and some experts might have biases. Bioacoustics add levels of detail that other technologies can't capture, one of the Science authors, conservationist Rhett Butler, told Reuters. Using inexpensive audio equipment, scientists can listen for small changes to a landscape, or hear unauthorized vehicles and chainsaws or even gunshots, he said. By having "ears" on the ground, companies that promise to not cause deforestation can get help with this difficult undertaking — and be held accountable if they fail to provide proper stewardship of the land, according to Butler and his fellow authors. The analyzed data from the recordings can set an accurate baseline on how well wildlife and their environments are being preserved or harmed. Technology Built for Sight and Sound Bioacoustics date as far back as the early 20th century, when scientists started studying insect sounds. Scientists have studied the sound-detecting capacities of whales, dolphins and porpoises to better understand how acoustics work underwater, according to Mongabay. Sound also teaches lessons about space. The Chandra X-ray Observatory — which recently made news for its role in the first-ever image capture of a black hole — measured massive sound waves that were formed by the pressure of gas from a black hole. But as the conservationists who espoused bioacoustics in the Science article contend, sound is only one measurement of biodiversity. To that end, ecologists have also benefited from advancements in imaging technology. For example, to help distinguish colors and plant species, Northrop Grumman invented the Hyperspectral Airborne Terrestrial Imager. It can see more than 700 spectral bands and accurately show the solar spectrum ranges of any environment. Seeing is believing, until hearing is required. By combining the sights of image technology with the sounds of bioacoustics equipment, scientists should have their most intimate understanding of how wildlife adapts to the ever-changing world around them.

Bioacoustics Can Reveal the Unknowns of Rain Forests

Key Takeaways  The U.S. Government's unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPS) report does not confirm (or deny) the existence of aliens. Current reports of unidentified objects by military aviators are considered to be credible, per the report. UFO sightings tend to congregate around military installations, such as Area 51.In a word, no.Let's get that out of the way up front: Aliens are not coming to conquer Earth or capture the population despite what some alien enthusiasts may claim. Still, the recent unexplained aerial phenomena (UAPS) report raises some interesting questions about our place in the universe and the possibility that we are not alone.Our Alien ObsessionHuman history is replete with alien interest. As noted by Scientific American, one of the first mentions of extraterrestrial life came from a novel written in 200 AD by Lucian of Samosata called Vera Historia. In it, he describes a journey to the moon that includes strange creatures such as three-headed vultures, birds made of grass and humans who sweat milk instead of water. Comedy is also a popular alien interpretation, with works like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy imagining what would happen if our planet was destroyed — not out of malice, but by aliens building an interstellar bypass.According to Politico, this fictional fascination with aliens also made its way into the realm of reality. In 1995, real estate magnate Robert Bigelow created the National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS) — his first meetings in Las Vegas included a few scientists and engineers, a CIA spy, a former army colonel and two Apollo astronauts. Their common characteristic? They all felt government officials weren't giving enough consideration to potential alien efforts on Earth.The UAPS ReportTo some degree, the modern-day efforts of alien hunters have been successful: On June 25, 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released its preliminary assessment of unidentified aerial phenomena. The report is intended to provide "an overview for policymakers of the challenges associated with characterizing the potential threat posed by UAP while also providing a means to develop relevant processes, policies, technologies, and training for the U.S. military and other U.S. Government (USG) personnel if and when they encounter UAP, so as to enhance the Intelligence Community's (IC) ability to understand the threat."But what does this mean in practice? Put simply, the government cannot confirm or deny the existence of aliens. Still, there are nuggets of fascinating information contained in the report. Here are a few key takeaways.Not Everything Has an Easy AnswerAs a recent CNN piece examining the report noted, the UAP data breaks down sightings into five broad categories: airborne clutter, natural atmospheric phenomena, USG or U.S. developmental programs, foreign systems and "other." It's the "other" that's interesting, as it effectively acknowledges that there are unexplainable observations. While it may eventually be determined that these cases are tied to more familiar operations, they open the door to creative analysis in the meantime.Current Reports Are CredibleThe report also notes that many of the incidents reported were observed "firsthand by military aviators and were collected from systems we considered to be reliable." In other words, these aren't simply eyes-on observations made by individual citizens; they're sightings reported by trained military staff and backed by trusted technologies. While this doesn't necessarily imply that aliens are causing these phenomena, it does suggest a need for further investigation.Interesting Actions Were ObservedIn most cases, sightings could be explained by considering relevant variables, but the report states that "In 18 incidents, described in 21 reports, observers reported unusual UAP movement patterns or flight characteristics. Some UAP appeared to remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly, or move at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion. In a small number of cases, military aircraft systems processed radio frequency (RF) energy associated with UAP sightings."This means there were instances in which personnel saw objects behaving in ways that weren't consistent with current aerospace engineering limitations.Social Stigmas May Have Reduced Total SightingsThere's also a section of the report that addresses the impact of social stigma around observing, reporting and discussing UAP sightings, which may have kept total sighting numbers artificially low. While more experts are now willing to engage with the subject seriously, the report notes that "reputational risk may keep observers silent, complicating scientific pursuit of the topic."Data Clustering Is CommonSites such as Area 51 have long been suggested as secret alien investigation facilities, but as a recent Nextgov article notes, the report data makes it clear that UFO sightings tend to cluster around military installations. This makes sense, as these bases are often equipped with advanced defensive and sensor technology that makes them far more likely to detect potential visitors.It's also worth noting that the declassified report is only part of a larger whole. According to the Nextgov piece, "It's important to note that the unclassified version of the task force's report is only a few preliminary pages. The videos, photos and data which I and my colleagues in the Pentagon were privy to were not included."Making Sense of UFO SightingsThe fact that the report didn't provide definitive answers regarding certain UFO sightings hasn't stopped rampant speculation, which has mostly involved reading between the lines or making incredibly broad assumptions.For some, the revelation that U.S. defense programs didn't have standardized detection capabilities until 2019 suggests a deliberate suppression of data designed to keep the public in the dark. Others, such as controversial academic Avi Loeb, have claimed that the report's findings support the notion that aliens have visited Earth. Loeb argues that the report lends credence to his theory that Oumuamua, the cigar-shaped asteroid that passed through our solar system in 2018, was actually an alien craft, despite the fact that no evidence was found to support this conclusion.The release of the report and serious consideration of possible extraterrestrial interaction are significant steps forward for the government, which has historically been silent on the topic. From the establishment of standardized sensor networks to the acknowledgment that there are some things people have seen that simply can't be explained, the report sets the stage for a scientific, rather than speculative, framework to help humankind discover if humans really are alone out here — or if cosmic neighbors are closer than most people realize.As the UAPS report puts it, "Explaining UAP will require analytic, collection and resource investment."Discover how the Sharshade program may help us pinpoint planets with potential alien life. 

Exploring the UAPS Report: Is Alien Invasion Imminent?

 Basic biometric securities are now commonplace — smartphone users expect the protection offered by fingerprint scans when they unlock their device, while higher-security access points have begun reliably using iris scanning to authenticate users and reduce the risk of compromise. But this is just the beginning; the human body has a host of unique biological identifiers that could both enhance security and reduce personal access inconvenience. Here's a look at the new frontiers of personal cybersecurity utilizing biometrics.  Facial Recognition  This type of biometric solution is gaining ground thanks in part to reports that Apple's next iPhone will use 3-D cameras to capture user facial features, allowing both device access and purchasing permissions. As noted by The Independent, trials of facial recognition software are currently underway in the Brisbane airport — travelers simply "enroll" their passport, boarding card and an image of their face during the check-in process and need only look into a specialized camera to pass through security. Facial recognition is built on a simple premise: by combining the unique profile of an individual face with highly accurate cameras, both security and convenience are enhanced.  Walk Tall  Another area of biometric development is walking pattern or "gait" identification, which uses cameras to capture the unique movements of different people. It makes sense; everyone has their own particular way of getting from place to place, and with the right camera technology, it's entirely possible to identify these patterns. According to New Scientist, in fact, researchers from the Technical University in Germany have already developed a more advanced version of the technique that can use additional information — such as the shadows on clothing — to produce more accurate results.  Talk the Talk  No surprise that Google biometrics make this list. Engadget reports that the tech giant's Alphabet spinoff is working on a project called "Abacus," which would allow devices to be unlocked with a continually updated "trust score" based on user location, speech patterns, vocal recognition and typing habits. It's a catch-all cybersecurity defense mechanism, but already questions have been raised about how data will be collected and used and how trust scores could be impacted if, for example, users are injured or experience some kind of major life event that changes usual habits.  Can't Beat 'Em  Then there's work by MasterCard and Canadian biometrics company Nymi, which is developing a wristband that authenticates users by referencing data related to their heartbeat. Using near-field communication technology, the wristband allows users to make MasterCard purchases at any Tap and Go enabled terminal by first authenticating their heartbeat data — according to VentureBeat, they've already completed a successful test in the wild.  To The Future!  And there's more where that came from. Companies have already developed military-grade biometric systems capable of capturing fingerprint and IRIS data on the move and checking this data against U.S Immigration and Customs databases and the U.K.'s law enforcement biometric protocol, IDENT1. Next steps include the commercialization of DNA-based techniques, which offer maximum reliability and security. As noted by CIO, these techniques are the "holy grail" of biometric security but since they require organic samples such as hair, nails, bodily fluids or cheek swabs, there's work to be done in accelerating and streamlining these processes before they become widely available.  Critical Concerns?  No discussion of biometric techniques is complete without mentioning long-term security. As noted by BetaNews, hackers have already managed to crack fingerprint scanners; Jan Krissler circumvented Touch ID the day after it was released. There's also the problem of ongoing compromise. While losing a password is inconvenient, users can reclaim accounts and change login details after this kind of breach. But what happens if hackers manage to duplicate unique data such as user gait, facial features or heartbeat signatures? How can hacked users reclaim their identity when security protocols say they're not who they claim to be?  Despite valid concerns, biometrics remains a red-hot development field as companies look for ways to increase security, improve convenience and fundamentally alter the way human beings interact with technology.

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