UAH doctoral candidate designs rotating detonation engine aimed to boost lunar and Mars missions

Michaela Hemming, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), is using a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) fellowship to make advances in propulsion under the guidance of NASA engineers.Hemming has designed a small-scale rotating detonation engine (RDE) manufactured by NASA as part of a joint research effort.

The swimming habits of gelatinous animals are inspiring underwater vehicle design

Two different swimming styles of a marine animal related to jellyfish let the animal prioritize speed or energy efficiency, depending on its current needs, a team of University of Oregon researchers found. The UO team, led by marine biologist Kelly Sutherland and postdoctoral researcher Kevin Du Clos, report their findings in a paper published Nov. 28 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Nuclear rocket engine heat transfer research wins best student paper at NETS conference

A research paper about heat transfer inside the reactor of a conceptual liquid-fueled nuclear rocket engine by a University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) graduate student won best student paper at the American Nuclear Society’s recent Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS) conference

Protruding Eyes, Mouth Make Stingrays More Hydrodynamically Efficient

In Physics of Fluids, researchers detail how the protruding eyes and mouths on simulated stingrays affect a range of forces involved in propulsion, such as pressure and vorticity. They created a computer model of a self-propelled flexible plate that mimicked a stingray’s up-and-down harmonic oscillations and used it to illustrate the complex interplay between hydrodynamic forces. The group found that the eyes and mouth help streamline stingrays even further.