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What Happens to a Tesla in Space? (Or, Why Spacecraft Aren’t Built Like Sports Cars)

What Happens to a Tesla in Space? (Or, Why Spacecraft Aren’t Built Like Sports Cars)

It is probably unlikely the car was launched with its full suite of electronics on board, but just for fun, let’s take a look at what would happen if a fully outfitted, typical Tesla Roadster were sent into space.


News Feb 12, 2018 by Chantelle Dubois
Engineer Spotlight: Kristof Richmond, GNC Engineer at Stone Aerospace and Frontier Astronautics

Engineer Spotlight: Kristof Richmond, GNC Engineer at Stone Aerospace and Frontier Astronautics

Kristof Richmond is a guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) engineer for Stone Aerospace. Learn more about Richmond’s fascinating career, and how he ended up building robotic explorers meant for Europa in this AAC Engineer Spotlight.


News Feb 02, 2018 by Chantelle Dubois
3D Metal Printing: The Next Phase of Aircraft Manufacturing

3D Metal Printing: The Next Phase of Aircraft Manufacturing

The improvement in 3D printing technology, access to more diverse materials, and precision manufacturing have made it an ideal tool for 3D printing in the aerospace industry.


News Dec 23, 2017 by Chantelle Dubois
Drones on Mars? NASA Projects May Soon Use Drones for Space Exploration

Drones on Mars? NASA Projects May Soon Use Drones for Space Exploration

Drone technology has found its way into a variety of applications ranging from recreational use, photography, security, climate monitoring, and even humanitarian aid. Another domain that we may soon see drones being used in: space exploration.


News Nov 29, 2017 by Chantelle Dubois
Get Out of My Space! PCB Keepout Areas in the Z-Axis

Get Out of My Space! PCB Keepout Areas in the Z-Axis

In this article, we'll discuss the importance of PCB enclosure design by considering enclosure design.


News Oct 12, 2017 by Nick Davis
A Look at SpaceX’s Systems for Launching and Landing Falcon 9 Rockets

A Look at SpaceX’s Systems for Launching and Landing Falcon 9 Rockets

SpaceX’s goal of making reusable rockets to drastically cut down the costs of space flight is coming to fruition.


News Aug 28, 2017 by Tim Youngblood
Voyager Anniversary Celebration: 40 Years in Space

Voyager Anniversary Celebration: 40 Years in Space

Join us as we celebrate 40 years of the Voyager missions in space!


News Aug 20, 2017 by Mark Hughes
The Voyager Mission: Insight into Our Solar System

The Voyager Mission: Insight into Our Solar System

Here is a look into both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2’s mission objectives, the experiments onboard, and the data it collected that has complimented and expanded our knowledge of our solar system.


News Aug 13, 2017 by Chantelle Dubois
How the Voyager Missions’ Plasma Science Investigations Teach Us About Solar Winds

How the Voyager Missions’ Plasma Science Investigations Teach Us About Solar Winds

AAC continues to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Voyager spacecraft by looking at the Plasma experiments. In this article, we take a look at the Voyager missions' plasma experiments.


News Jul 30, 2017 by Mark Hughes
The Infrared Interferometer, Spectrometer, and Radio Astronomy of the Voyager Spacecraft

The Infrared Interferometer, Spectrometer, and Radio Astronomy of the Voyager Spacecraft

This article in our Voyager series looks at infrared, ultraviolet, and radio science experiments on the Voyager spacecraft.


News Jul 23, 2017 by Mark Hughes
Exploring the Solar System with the Voyager Spacecraft’s Cameras, Polarimeters, and Magnetometers

Exploring the Solar System with the Voyager Spacecraft’s Cameras, Polarimeters, and Magnetometers

Let's take a look at some of the instruments the Voyager spacecraft use to gather data for imaging and atmosphere analysis.


News Jul 16, 2017 by Mark Hughes
The Brains of the Voyager Spacecraft: Command, Data, and Attitude Control Computers

The Brains of the Voyager Spacecraft: Command, Data, and Attitude Control Computers

Learn about the computers at the heart of the Voyager spacecraft operations.


News Jul 09, 2017 by Chantelle Dubois
Communicating Over Billions of Miles: Long Distance Communications in the Voyager Spacecraft

Communicating Over Billions of Miles: Long Distance Communications in the Voyager Spacecraft

The Voyager Spacecraft have been providing scientific data for the last 40 years. This article is an introduction to the very long distance communication systems on the spacecraft.


News Jul 02, 2017 by Mark Hughes
Powering the Voyager Spacecraft with Radiation: The RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator)

Powering the Voyager Spacecraft with Radiation: The RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator)

In this article, we will look at the power source for the Voyager probes, the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator.


News Jun 25, 2017 by Robin Mitchell
Voyager Mission Anniversary Celebration Series: Introduction

Voyager Mission Anniversary Celebration Series: Introduction

In the Summer of 2017, the Voyager spacecraft will celebrate 40 years in space. All About Circuits looks at the engineering accomplishments that made this trip possible.


News Jun 18, 2017 by Mark Hughes
Track Overhead Flights with a Raspberry Pi Zero Wireless, a Software Defined Radio, and FlightAware

Track Overhead Flights with a Raspberry Pi Zero Wireless, a Software Defined Radio, and FlightAware

This article shows you two ways to use a Raspberry Pi Zero Wireless to track flights in your area. It also demonstrates how it can control a 64×64 RGB matrix.


Projects Apr 03, 2017 by Mark Hughes
Don’t Get Lost in Deep Space: Understanding Quaternions

Don’t Get Lost in Deep Space: Understanding Quaternions

Quaternions are mathematical operators that are used to rotate and stretch vectors. This article provides an overview to aid in understanding the need for quaternions.


How NASA’s Raven Module Is Developing Machine Learning Algorithms for Autonomous Spacecraft Docking

How NASA’s Raven Module Is Developing Machine Learning Algorithms for Autonomous Spacecraft Docking

Raven may soon allow NASA to build an autonomous system capable of servicing its spacecraft and refueling them in-flight.


News Mar 03, 2017 by Dr. Steve Arar
Engineer Spotlight: Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya on NASA and Designing Private Sector Satellites

Engineer Spotlight: Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya on NASA and Designing Private Sector Satellites

AAC sat down with Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya, a former rocket scientist for NASA who recently started an incubator in Singapore for the "NewSpace" economy.


News Feb 14, 2017 by Tim Youngblood
Smaller, Self-Healing Transistors Being Developed for Chip-Sized Spacecraft

Smaller, Self-Healing Transistors Being Developed for Chip-Sized Spacecraft

Chip-sized spacecraft might be what gets us to the farthest reaches of space, starting with Alpha Centauri.


News Dec 19, 2016 by Chantelle Dubois