FlightLines

See the Holy City from space

A NASA astronaut snagged a stellar image of the Holy City from space and shared it on Twitter. 

Greetings @CityCharleston from @Space_Station. #SouthCarolina #CitiesFromSpace pic.twitter.com/2M9W9ClRFC

— Tim Kopra (@astro_tim) May 14, 2016

Cmdr. Tim Kopra of Houston is working aboard the International Space Station for the next 6 months as part of Expeditions 46 and 47. He shares images of cities, countries, famous landmarks and natural sights around the world on his Twitter account.

Thanks for the view and Charleston shout-out @astro_tim. Very cool.

Boeing studies lightning, body motion, robots

Boeing S.C. employee Sriya Ngo shows how a lighted suit will help the ergonomics team study motion and recommend workflow changes to prevent injuries to assembly and production workers. (Photo/Liz Segrist)

During the official opening of Boeing's new Research & Technology-South Carolina Center last week in Ladson, executives talked about how the center will attract qualified engineers and scientists to the region.

They said the research coming out of the center could be applied to its commercial, defense or space programs. New technologies the teams develop could be applied to existing aircraft programs or be used to spark new products in the future.

“The 787 itself is a product of innovation from many ideas gathered from R&T centers around the world," said Beverly Wyse, vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina.

That all sounds good in theory — but we wanted to know what the employees actually work on all day inside the 104,000-square-foot facility in Palmetto Commerce Park.

One research team wants to prevent injuries to workers building jets. Many assemblers have to hold their hands above their heads to drill holes or paint plane exteriors, which can cause neck, shoulder or back pain.

By using a motion capture tracking system like those often used in video games or movies, researchers are able to study human motion and evaluate ergonomics.

Workers don a black jumpsuit covered in little lights, and researchers study their movements on a screen. Using the data, they then recommend changes to workflow to prevent future injury.

The center's electromagnetic team uses a high-voltage, high-current system that simulates a lightning strike to test equipment and plane parts. (Photo/Liz Segrist)

Another research team at the center tests airplanes’ electrical systems, such as flight deck operations and in-flight entertainment systems. They ensure existing systems work before Dreamliners roll out of the factory, and they create new technologies to improve future electrical systems on the 787s.

One group is studying how to replace some assembly drilling work with robots. This process will likely be integrated into Dreamliner production lines in 2017.

And other researchers work with a high-voltage, high-current system that simulates a lightning strike to determine how the voltage would impact a jet midair. They then develop new technologies to protect aircraft from strikes.

“We’re all here to focus on business opportunities like ‘How do we automate something like paint?’ so we can get the dangerous work and the dirty work out of the system,” Lane Ballard, leader of the Boeing Research and Technology-South Carolina center, said of the robotics and automation research.

That time a UFO was spotted in Charleston

This image from Charleston Armed Services YMCA isn't a "real" UFO, but a promotional tour put on by the USO during the late 1950s. An archivist at the University of Minnesota Libraries found it several years ago and slipped it to futurism website io9.com.

Remember that time in 1958 when a UFO was sighted in Charleston? No? Well what about last week?

You might be surprised at the number of UFO sightings reported in South Carolina and in the Charleston area. You probably won't be surprised that more than a few of them seem to appear near the coastline and in proximity to airports and Air Force bases.

So while you might file this under our chance to talk about UFOs or odd stuff we found on the Internet while looking for something else, we prefer to call it "The Other Aerospace."

According to the National UFO Reporting Center, there have been exactly 150 unidentified flying objects reported in South Carolina this year. Thirty-nine of those were in the first three months of the year, which means 74% of the sightings occurred in the past four months, and this month isn't even over.

In the Charleston area so far this year, there have been 18 reported sightings. Compare that to the Myrtle Beach area, which had 51 reported sightings in June alone, and maybe you have your explanation.

A lot of those sightings could be dismissed as folks who might have stayed out too late on a Saturday night or didn't realize it was July 4 when they saw orange-red spheres light up and then fade (six sightings on July 4 and four of those near coastal towns). It's also not surprising that anyone can report something anonymously, but not every sighting comes from an anonymous or possibly less-than-credible source. Some even have photos.

In 1980, William J. Herrmann snapped several photos of something flying over Charleston Air Force Base, and the moment landed the photographer in perpetual UFO folklore.

Okay, so you're thinking what we're thinking: Air Force Base, UFO ... hmmm seems obvious. But when you see the photos, it seems less obvious. Could it be a fast-moving military jet caught by a slow-moving camera? Yes. Could it be a hubcap? Sure. Herrmann was an auto mechanic working near the Air Force Base.

We dug through The Wayback Machine (not to be confused with a time machine) to find Herrmann's photos. Herrmann also said he was abducted by aliens.

So you tell us: Aerospace Phenomenon or Other Aerospace Phenomenon? If we can find a hubcap, we're going to try to make our own flying saucer, and we don't mind if you report us.

This won't make us dislike hurricanes less ...

Hurricane #Arthur has grown an eye since we last met. pic.twitter.com/HBJoDrcNxQ

— Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid) July 3, 2014

Even if we can't be thankful that it's hurricane season, we can be thankful that astronauts like to use twitter to show us what nature looks like from above.

U.S. Navy Commander and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman is orbiting Earth on the International Space Station.

Wiseman clicked a few photos of Hurricane Arthur last week. The first hurricane of the Atlantic Hurricane Season eventually reached Category 2 before hitting North Carolina's coast and giving South Carolina surfers a short spate of waves.

So it's that time of year. Enjoy the beauty of nature, and we'll hope we'll avoid the wrath until the end of November.

You can follow Commander Wiseman on twitter, and it's worth the follow because he likes posting photos.