This episode of Engineering Newswire looks at 3D printed tattoos, rescuing a 36-year-old satellite and flying an experimental electric aircraft.
This episode features:
3D Printed Flesh Art: As 3D printing is taking over the world, it seems to be weaseling its way into several new and uncharted industries. Thanks to a group of French design students, they're emerging in the tattoo business. After a careful redesign to keep the client's skin as taught as possible, the team managed to create a small circle design on a brave volunteer's flesh.
Satellite Reboot Project: A recent crowdfunding project launched by the hackers behind the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, is attempting to recover the International Sun-Earth Explorer, or ISEE-3 probe, which was launched in 1978 to study the interaction between the Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind. If successful ISEE-3 will spend its retirement as a platform for citizen science, with smartphone apps—and a twitter feed—giving students direct access to the instruments onboard the ageing spacecraft.
Experimental, Electric E-Fan Exemplifies E-Aircraft Day: The electric E-Fan experimental aircraft performed its first successful public flight last week and served as the highlight of Airbus Group's - that's the old EADS - E-Aircraft Day in France. An electrical energy management system, or e-FADEC, is integrated into the aircraft, and automatically handles all electrical features, simplifying system monitoring and control.