#u.s. robot command

[z2z-gaming-and-random-art-ai]

Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered - Game World Ambience - The Grave Hoard

Standing atop the remnants of the Metal World, known to the local tribes as the Grave-Hoard, you find yourself at a place where history was irrevocably altered. In the Old World, this site served as the headquarters of U.S. Robot Command and bore witness to the Old Ones' final stand against the Faro Plague. The once-impenetrable walls of this fortress were breached by a Horus, or "Metal Devil," its destruction etched into the very landscape.

Perched on one of the massive assault drills of the Horus that winds around the exterior of U.S. Robot Command, you gaze southward. In the distance, the crumbling remains of Devil's Grief rise as a haunting reminder of the world that was, shrouded in both mystery and tragedy.

For other gaming ambience videos check out this playlist. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFJOZYl1h1CFo5LyAEvdIcP4syymQaI50&si=6X1ocjb6j0FEEyOI

It currently features The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt, Mad Max, Mass Effect Andromeda, Doom (2016), Chernobylite, Days Gone, Bloodborne, Horizon Zero Dawn, Resident Evil 2 Remake and Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Nikki McCann Ramírez, Naomi LaChance, Asawin Suebsaeng, Andrew Perez, and Stephen Rodrick at Rolling Stone:

WASHINGTON — On Saturday, President Donald Trump held a hideously expensive military parade in Washington, D.C., on his birthday. Trump and his top officials stood on a stage at the National Mall behind two tanks, before two large digital American flags. Military bands and troops, some on horses, some in vehicles, some in tanks, others in Howitzers, marched in the streets. So did a few robot dogs. An army parachute team jumped down. Helicopters flew over. Drones flew by. There were many, many tanks. The spectacle was billed as honoring the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday — and planners put in admirable effort to sell this fiction, with processions designed to honor key times in American military history. In reality, the event was just one part of the Trump administration’s vast, billion-dollar government effort to make the leader feel good about himself. 

The weekend’s pageantry, which some administration officials referred to as “Donald Trump’s birthday parade” behind closed doors, fulfilled the president’s longtime desire for a grand military parade. Starting at the Pentagon in Virginia, the troops in the parade — who honored the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Global War on Terror — had to walk for about two-and-a-half miles.  Trump sat next to his wife Melania and the former Fox News host, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. At points, Trump stood alone in front onstage, such as when he saluted troops marching as the 1st Cavalry Division. At another point, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was pictured yawning on C-SPAN. The military officials shown on C-SPAN spoke with reverence about the War on Terror.  Late in the event, Trump stood at a podium onstage and swore in 250 new or reenlisting troops. “Welcome to the United States Army and have a great life,” Trump said after they recited the Oath of Enlistment. “Thank you very much. Have a great life.”  After two hours, the event reached its logical conclusion: political speeches. J.D. Vance briefly went first. “June 14 is of course the birthday of the Army,” Vance said. “It is, of course, the birthday of the president of the United States. And Happy Birthday, Mr. President.” He delivered the laugh line of the night. “It’s also my wedding anniversary,” he said before immediately leaving the stage.

[...] Even before the speech component, the C-SPAN feed gave off a vibe that alternated between military recruitment video and softcore Trump propaganda. Video played several times of Trump giving speeches. Occasionally, a small banner popped up that said: “Video courtesy of America 250.” The nonprofit America 250, which is helping organize the ongoing publicly-funded campaign celebrating the country’s semiquincentennial, has been taken over by Trump allies and one of his campaign operatives. [...] The military parade was overseen by the American commander-in-chief as he conducts a militarized crackdown on immigrants in Los Angeles, California, driving protests. He sent in National Guard troops and Marines not because their presence is necessary to keep the peace, but as a show of force — and as a test run for operations in other states and cities, should the president feel angry enough to launch them, likely illegally. At 2,000 locations across the country, protesters held a “No Kings” Day to voice their anger toward the president. About 20,000 people gathered in downtown Los Angeles, undeterred by law enforcement’s use of non-lethal weapons on earlier protests and the president’s escalation by sending in troops.  [...] For an event that shut down much of central Washington D.C., closed key roads, and reportedly cost up to $45 million, the promise of a display of America’s military might — that just coincidentally happened to fall on Trump’s birthday — didn’t exactly draw out legions of his fans. Instead, the crowd of supporters, servicemembers, curious locals, and military-adjacent spectators who braved the oppressive heat and humidity of a post-thunderstorm D.C. managed to just fill out their allotted side of the street over several blocks in front of the White House, with plenty of room to spare. 

Donald Trump got an unhappy birthday present yesterday: his dictatorial wet dream of a military parade that costed taxpayers bunch of money had far fewer people in attendance than anticipated that got way outdwarfed by No Kings protests across the nation.

[drnikolatesla]

🚢 Tesla's Remote Control Patent: The Birth of Modern Automation 🚢

On November 8, 1898, Nikola Tesla was granted U.S. Patent No. 613,809 for his "Method of and Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving Vessels or Vehicles." This invention wasn’t just the first practical remote control—it marked a revolutionary step toward the development of wireless communication and automation.

🔧 How Tesla’s System Worked 🔧

Tesla's system worked much like how we control drones today—only over a century ago!

1️⃣ Transmitter: Tesla used radio waves to send wireless commands to the vessel.

2️⃣ Receiver: The vessel had a sensitive device that decoded the radio signals into specific actions, such as steering or powering motors.

3️⃣ Control Circuits: Tesla designed a series of circuits that ensured each command executed reliably, preventing errors and interference.

⚙️ Key Features ⚙️

💡 Command Logic: Tesla's circuits functioned like a primitive decision-making system, linking specific signals to specific actions—a conceptual precursor to today’s logic gates.

🔋 Multi-Channel Design: Each circuit operated on a unique frequency, akin to modern multi-device networks, ensuring precise control without interference.

🛡️ Safety First: Tesla implemented mechanisms to prevent accidental or incorrect activations, prioritizing reliability.

🌍 Applications Then and Now 🌍

Tesla saw the potential for:

✔️ Military Use: Guiding unmanned ships or torpedoes.

✔️ Disaster Response: Sending unmanned vessels into dangerous areas.

✔️ Remote Automation: Introducing wireless precision to various industries.

Today, Tesla's vision echoes in:

🚁 Drones: Controlled remotely through radio signals.

🤖 Robots: Autonomous machines performing tasks with precision.

🏠 Smart Homes: Devices responding to commands over Wi-Fi.

🏭 Automated Factories: Machines operating through programmable controls Tesla helped inspire.

🌟 Why Tesla’s Invention Matters 🌟

Tesla didn’t just create a remote control—he pioneered a framework for wireless systems that continues to shape modern technology. What are your thoughts on Tesla's advancement in wireless technology?

[fatihulusoy]

Greetings folks! Did somebody say fungus bots? its time to spore some trouble i guess :) ok it wasnt funny i get it.. Anyways meet with new fungus based biohybrid bot..

before i start to explain how its works lets take a look at its backstory shall we?

The idea was almost age old actually, experimentation of soft body robotics and bio robotics and today its reshape as we see biohybrid robotics with the search for more sustainable, self-healing, and biodegradable materials. Traditional robots are often made from synthetic materials and metals, which can be rigid, non-biodegradable, and challenging to repair. The researchers at Cornell University sought to overcome these limitations by integrating biological elements into robotic systems.

The team turned to mycelium, the root-like structure of fungi, which has the unique ability to grow, self-repair, and biodegrade. Mycelium is also known for its strength and flexibility, making it an ideal candidate for use in soft robotics. By embedding mycelium within a network of sensors and actuators, the researchers created a biohybrid bot capable of sensing its environment and responding to stimuli, all while being environmentally friendly.

This fungus bot represents a significant step towards more sustainable robotics, demonstrating how living organisms can be harnessed to create innovative and eco-friendly technologies. The research also opens up possibilities for robots that can grow, adapt, and repair themselves in ways that conventional robots cannot, potentially revolutionizing fields such as environmental monitoring, agriculture, and even healthcare.

there is four actual elements that actually runs this bot besides of shell.

Fungus's Mycelium

Fungus's slug

UV light or UV array in the sun light

Electricity (it seperates as fungus related electrical pulse and electricity waves from censors)

firstly lets start with fungus mycelium: Mycelia are the underground vegetative part of mushrooms, and they have a number of advantages. They can grow in harsh conditions. They also have the ability to sense chemical and biological signals and respond to multiple inputs. so basically its neural system that transfers certain commands of activities between root and fungus itself

its slug is basically fungus's cell system or actual biohybrid organism it this case

once mycelium gets affected by UV lights it generates small electricity pulses to slug system and when slugs gets electrocuted by these pulses it acts like a muscle basically and it causes the slug to move or contract its muscles to activate.

and once you figure out how you gonna shape its muscle system and house them carefully you will have a "biohybrid robot" as their terms

the reason im taking this now is it reminded me "Fungus Baby Experiments" which is an inside name for series of projects that been continued for a while after corona until now.. Simply, the goal was to create or adapt an organism to thrive in different environments and make sure these environments livable by humans in the future by manipulating with artificial and external factors. Google it :)

anyways.. thats all from me this time..

until next time..

Sources:

for fungus baby experiments:

[lonestarflight]

Morning launch of STS-41-G Challenger

Following the shuttle's rendezvous and docking, the ISS configuration will be augmented by the two elements delivered by Discovery–the Z1 truss and PMA-3. These two elements, depicted in red, will be installed using the shuttle's robot arm and be connected to ISS during four spacewalks. The multi-national nature of both the STS-92 crew and the ISS are reflected in the multi-colored Astronaut Office symbol.

Commemorative design for letter envelope.

Space Shuttle Challenger (OV-099) lifts off on mission STS-41-G at 7:03 a.m. from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. This was the first shuttle mission to carry seven astronauts, Paul D. Scully-Power, Robert L. Crippen, Marc Garneau, Jon A. McBride, Sally K. Ride, Kathryn D. Sullivan, and David C. Leestma.

"A Florida dawn scene forms the backdrop for the climbing Space Shuttle Challenger, its two solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank."

"The 41-G mission insignia focuses on its seven crew members (first to exceed six), the U.S. Flag and the Unity symbol known as the astronaut pin. The pin design in center shows a trio of trajectories merging in infinite space, capped by a bright shining star and encircled by an elliptical wreath denoting orbital flight. Crewmembers for the (originally-scheduled 17th STS) mission include Astronauts Robert L. Crippen and Jon A. McBride, commander and pilot, respectively, whose surnames flank those of the NASA mission specialists -- Astronauts Kathryn D. Sullivan, David C. Leestma and Sally K. Ride, Paul Scully-Power, a U.S. Navy oceanographer, and Marc Garneau, a Canadian, join the crew as payload specialists. The artwork was done by Patrick Rawlings."

source

Date: October 5, 1984

NARA: 6387463, DF-SC-85-12082, KSC-84PC-0630, 41G-90139

source

[the-whispers-of-death]

OC Information: "Hellstorm"

Full Name: Arun Khatri

Callsign(s): Hellstorm

Alias(es)/Nickname(s): Robot Man

Nationality: First-Generation American (Indian parents ((supposedly)))

Affiliations: U.S. Navy

Rank: 0-5 (Commander, U.S. Navy)

Gender: Male

Status: Alive

Birthday: December 2nd, 1989 (35 as of 2024)

Build: Athletic

Height: 5'8"

Marks: None

Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Background: Arun grew up in the foster care system, never knowing his birth parents. He was placed into many different foster care homes, only staying for a few months at a time before being moved again. He enlisted as an officer when he was eighteen and has been in the military for roughly fifteen years.

Extra: He is a fighter pilot and is just barely able to continue serving as a naval aviator. He is known for sounding and looking like he's perpetually bored and he is cool under pressure.

Reblogs are welcomed & appreciated! Asks are open, feel free to pop in and talk or request something! (SFW requests only, please and thank you)

[loonaticskr]

Loonatics KR Bios - Jason Raccoon

Art created by @purpleluckystar I now adopted. Disclaimer: I now own Loonatics R including the characters and versions of the Loonatics which will soon have updated versions. I'd like you to please do not use or draw this version without permission first.

Name: Jason Raccoon Age: Early 50′s Nationality: American Relatives: Unknown

Personality: A no-nonsense man, sometimes a bit cold, who never let his guard down even when he's off duty. While stern and serious, he shows some protectiveness towards the men and women under his command. He has a big hatred for Martians.

Powers/Skills: None.

Weapons: Often carry a mini laser pistol; it doesn't look threatening at first, but it's actually quite deadly.

Other info:

Is a Colonel, and as such is addressed as Colonel Raccoon. Fought in the First Galatic War that happened less than twenty years ago. Was present during the terrorist attack on Mars' royal palace; he firmly believes Martians were the perpetrators. Is the one who fired Thaddeus Dare due to his dangerosity. Slowly warms up to the Loonatics as time goes by.

Before becoming a Colonel, Jason Raccoon was once a Lieutenant enlisted in Earth's Galactic Army who took part in the First Galactic War against the Neptunians. Though he led his splatoon valiantly, he lost many soldiers during the last battle on Phobos, which was the deadliest of the war. A few months after the end of the conflicts, while he was stationed on Mars to help clean up the mess, a terrorist attack was perpetrated inside Mars' royal palace, killing many Earthling soldiers and a few Martians, both politicians and civilians. Because martian robots were involved in this slaughter, Jason Raccoon and many other high figures in Earth's Galatics Army believed the Martians were behind it, and in return, the Martians accused the Earthlings to be the perpetrators of this attack. This led to the end of the alliance between Earth and Mars, creating a lot of tension between the two planets ever since. From this day on, Jason developed a deep hatred for those he believed to be the traitors and is now constantly on the lookout for the day they would attack again.

His bravery, both during the First Galactic War and Mar's terrorist attack, was rewarded with a promotion to the rank of Colonel. He decided to leave Earth's Galatics Army to join the U.S Army, where he was assigned to the protection of Acmetropolis, the biggest and most technologically advanced metropolis in the USA, as well as using the city's technology to develop the U.S Army weaponry and help it reclaim its place as the world most advanced military force.

Many years later, a meteorite crashed on Acmetropolis coasts, causing havoc everywhere in the city. He now has to deal with the aftermath of this disaster, namely a group of young superheroes who call themselves the Loonatics, and on who he has to keep a constant eye as per Zadavia's request. Seriously, he's starting to be too old for this...

[marshmyers]

I got my first taste of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman in the late 1970s when Sandy Frank Entertainment imported the Japanese anime to the U.S. in a version known as Battle of the Planets (BOTP). The show, along with Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, was a staple of my childhood science fiction diet.

While Sandy Frank sapped the original 1972 anime of its edge, BOTP worked well for American audiences and was a huge overnight success. As an eleven-year old, I was fascinated by the show even though the storylines seemed choppy, confusing or contradictory. What I didn't know at the time was that the eighty-five BOTP episodes were cobbled together from 105 Gatchaman episodes... and nothing ran in the order in which it was created.

Since Gatchaman was a serial, with interlocking storylines and recurring characters, there were tremendous gaps in continuity when it became BOTP. To gloss over these plot holes, Sandy Frank inserted some crudely animated segments with a robotic character called 7-Zark-7, who looked a little like R2-D2's inbred cousin. 7-Zark-7 provided both connecting exposition and comedic relief as the original anime was very serious and sometimes downright grim. To be fair, I don't know that the original show would've been shown in the U.S. in the late 70s without these alterations.

For example, the second episode of Gatchaman, entitled "Demonic Aircraft Carrier," was retooled into a BOTP episode called "Rescue the Astronauts." The story starts with an Apollo-era space module splashing down in the ocean. It is quickly captured by Galactor (in BOTP, these are the evil minions of the truly evil Zoltar from the planet Spectra) and taken to an underwater base. The Galactor commander is after the "Earth Compact System," which contains the locations of valuable natural resources including uranium. 

Uranium and nuclear power are a recurring theme in Gatchaman as they are in lots of Japanese science fiction. No one suffered more than the Japanese at the dawn of the nuclear age, and the atom is dually-represented as a source of unlimited energy and horrible destruction. This also underscores Gatchaman's emphasis on serious world issues such as dwindling natural resources, protecting the environment, loss, war, violence, and tyranny. In BOTP, almost all of these themes are either gone or heavily diluted.

For this particular episode, Sandy Frank's people altered the plot into a simple rescue mission where the astronauts have been abducted because they have telemetry about Zoltar's hidden bases. But there's a problem with the Gatchaman source material... The astronauts don't survive. In fact, their bodies are displayed before Ken (renamed Mark in BOTP), who thinks they are still alive and surrenders in order to secure their release. Once Ken is in custody, the Galactor thugs let the bodies fall to the floor.

"Even corpses are useful sometimes," the Galactor Commander chuckles.

Ken recoils and mutters, "How awful..."

You said it, Ken. But then again, later in this same episode, you savagely beat the Commander until his tells you the location of Earth Compact System... So, you know, don't be a total hypocrite. 

Can you imagine any of that running on a children's show in America in 1978?

Because BOTP had to be kid-friendly, the astronauts also had to survive. The dialogue is reworked. We never see any dead bodies. We never see an actual rescue but Mark later informs the team that the astronauts are recovering in sick bay.

Now the Science Ninja Team is back in comic book form from Mad Cave Studios. Gatchaman was reintroduced to American audiences during Free Comic Book Day this past May with an ongoing core series, a series of one-shots focusing on solo missions, and a miniseries focusing on villains.

Learn more about this series here.

OTHER GATCHAMAN GOODS: Funko Pops: Ken Washio  |  Joe Asakura  |  Jun

[mysteriordinary]

This is probably a cold take but Anyone else ever think about the fact that transformers accidentally encapsulated every trope that lonely nerds (not to mention society as a whole) have used to symbolize the Other? Like we're talking - Aliens. Huge theme during the Cold War in the U.S. was otherworldly beings with advanced technology who infiltrated society and abducted people. Definitely not an allegory for McCarthyism-style Communist anxiety. Nope. - Robots. Characters like Commander Data from Star Trek have been thinly veiled allegories for neurodivergent people for decades. More recently, Janelle Monae has used AI and robots to symbolize queer identity and people of color (and why is an entirely different post, but something something go watch Dirty Computer, or at least go read this article on her work and afrofuturism).

-Intergalactic war. There is an in-universe dialogue happening constantly wherein two sides of a conflict demonize each other. And sure, it's not always done in the most nuanced way, but each different iteration has a different take on it, from TFP's lonely, post-apocalyptic conflict that's transcended any trace of the original issues that sparked it to TFA's cold, almost Orwellian the-call-is-coming-from-inside-the-house dystopia.

-Then there's the whole trope of people mistaking a different form of being as a tool or an object, played with in a thousand different short stories and a few dozen Star Trek episodes

Anyone feel free to add more to this, but I just think it's funny that the heehoo '80s toy franchise accidentally ran into a unique and thought-provoking narrative on the meaning of otherness and personhood.

[spacenutspod]

Credit: NASA New space technology ideas emerge every day from innovators across the country, and NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program on Monday selected more than 100 projects for funding. This program offers small businesses in the United States early-stage funding and support to advance the agency’s goals of exploring the unknown in air and space while returning benefits to Earth. Specifically, NASA’s SBIR program awarded $93.5 million in Phase II contracts to bring 107 new ideas to life from 95 selected small businesses. Of these businesses, nearly 80% have less than 50 employees, and 21% are receiving their first Phase II award, valued at up to $850,000 each. Each small business was also eligible to apply for up to $50,000 in Technical and Business Assistance program funding to help find new market opportunities and shape their commercialization roadmap. “We are thrilled to support this diverse set of companies as they work diligently to bring their technologies to market,” said Jenn Gustetic, director of Early Stage Innovation and Partnerships with NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “Inclusive innovation is integral to mission success at NASA, and we’re excited to see that 29% of the awardees are from underrepresented groups, including 11% women-owned businesses.” In Phase II, awardees will build on their success from the program’s first phase to bring their technologies closer to real-world use. The companies have 24 months to execute their plans, which focus on their technologies’ path to commercialization. For example, NASA selected women-owned and first-time NASA Phase II awardee nou Systems, Inc. in Huntsville, Alabama, for its genetic testing instrument. While portable genetic sequencing already exists, field sequencing – that would allow DNA analysis anywhere on Earth or off planet – remains unfeasible as the preparation of the DNA Library remains an intensely manual process, needing a trained wet lab technician and several pieces of laboratory equipment. The Phase II technology takes advantage of several cross-enabling technologies, creating an instrument to automate the genetic sequencing process. “Our program works directly with small businesses to forge innovative concepts and technologies that drive impact for NASA projects as well as a myriad of commercial endeavors,” said Jason L. Kessler, program executive for NASA’s SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program at NASA Headquarters. “This collaboration results in realized opportunities not only for NASA but all of humanity.” This includes technologies aiming to reduce astronaut workload and improve robotic scientific endeavors on the Moon and Mars. PickNik Inc. based in Boulder, Colorado, will use its Phase II award to continue developing a hardware-agnostic platform for supervised autonomy that empowers humans to command a remote robot to complete complex tasks with minimal input, which could support the Artemis program. Outside of NASA, PickNik’s software product may be of interest to commercial space customers working on low Earth orbit destinations, in-space servicing, and more, as well as on Earth in areas like warehouse management, oil rig maintenance, and deep-sea exploration.  The NASA SBIR program is open to U.S. small businesses to develop an innovation or technology. The program is part of STMD and managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. To learn more about the NASA SBIR program, visit: https://sbir.nasa.gov -end- Jimi RussellHeadquarters, Washingtonjames.j.russell@nasa.gov202-358-1600 Share Details Last Updated Apr 22, 2024 LocationNASA Headquarters Related TermsSmall Business Innovation Research / Small BusinessSpace Technology Mission Directorate

[notjustanyannie]

U.S. Marines strapped a rocket launcher to an off-the-shelf robot dog and fired it remotely in September. The demonstration was part of a demonstration at the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command’s Tactical Exercise Control group in Twentynine Palms, California.

[usafphantom2]

China, Russia taking ‘batting practice’ in air intercepts of aging US aircraft, general says

Aggressive maneuvers underscore diminishing U.S. advantage, Air Combat Command leader said.

Audrey DeckerSeptember 13, 2023

On Dec. 21, 2022, a People’s Liberation Army Navy J-11 fighter flew within 20 feet of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft in international airspace over the South China Sea, U.S. officials said.

Russian and Chinese forces are growing bolder in their aerial intercepts of U.S. aircraft, in part because they’re no longer intimidated by America’s aging air fleet, a top U.S. Air Force general says.

“When Russia or China looked at the U.S. Air Force 30 years ago before [and] after Desert Storm, it was just not something you wanted to get near. It was not remotely a capability you wanted to challenge at all,” Gen. Mark Kelly, Air Combat Command chief, told reporters Tuesday.

Not only is the U.S. fighter force getting smaller and older, China and Russia have also been heavily investing in their fleets, Kelly said at the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual Air, Space & Cyber conference outside Washington, D.C.

“Yesterday” is when Air Combat Command needs the service’s planned new aircraft, such as the E-7 Wedgetail and the Next Generation Air Dominance, or NGAD, fighter jet, Kelly said.

Adversaries want to test how far away they can detect U.S. fighter jets and “want a batting practice” by getting closer and closer to F-22s, F-35s, F-16s, and other aircraft, Kelly said.

“They’re like, ‘Hey, you know what? They aren't the capacity and the capability advantage they had 30 years ago. Maybe this is the time to go give them a run for the money’,” Kelly said.

Pentagon officials have spoken about increased Russian harassment this year, including describing how Russia’s fighter jets are making dangerous head-on passes of U.S. jets over Syria. In response, the U.S. has surged fighter jets to the Middle East. In mid-March, a Russian Sukhoi fighter jet collided with an American MQ-9 drone over the Black Sea. Russia’s defense minister awarded medals to the pilots, which Air Force officials have said encourages other Russian pilots to fly aggressively.

Kelly said that “no one should be surprised” that Russians ran into an MQ-9 because it doesn't cross the “red line” of taking a human life or putting one at risk.

Related articles

Russian Warplanes Are ‘Trying to Dogfight’ US Jets Over Syria, General Says

Questions loom as Air Force robot-wingman effort prepares to take flight

But things are going to get trickier as the Air Force looks to send drones alongside manned aircraft on missions. Kelly said the service is still figuring out how exactly these collaborative combat aircraft would defend themselves if attacked. And once that decision is made, it will be crucial to ensure that everyone knows, he said.

“Before we move out on something like that, we better make sure everyone knows—including national command authority, including the Russians, or the Chinese—so there should be no surprises,” he said. “No surprises with the people we work for. No surprises with people we're competing with.”

The U.S. is far away from a place where it would “actually take life” over the loss of an inanimate object, like a CCA, he said.

“I think we would still stick with an eye for an eye. I think if somebody decides to smack a CCA out of the air, I think there would be a response [from] our National Command Authority,” Kelly said. “I would not see it as going up an escalation ladder just because it was a CCA.”

[mariacallous]

BRUSSELS—Only a week before Hamas militants breached the Gaza boundary fence, an Israeli one-star general was briefing NATO’s most senior military officer on the nation’s seemingly state-of-the-art defenses. 

Walking through Re’im Camp in southern Israel, Israeli troops briefed Adm. Rob Bauer, the Dutch chairman of the NATO military committee, on everything they had arrayed along the 32-mile border to stop an invasion: Drones. Cameras. Artificial intelligence. Robots. A tall wall that ran deep into the ground—and seismic sensors to find out if anyone was tunneling under it. 

The Gaza Division of the Israeli Defense Forces had once occupied the 141-square-mile strip of land sandwiched between Israel and Egypt. It had trained for a Hamas invasion. It had waited for it. And just days after those same Israeli troops briefed the Dutch admiral at the top of NATO’s military pecking order, they were fighting for their lives.

Bauer appeared aghast by how Hamas had dodged Israel’s monolithic system of surveillance. To prepare the paragliders who ascended Israel’s massive walls, Hamas had to put them out in the open to launch them, he said. And the militant group had to put rocket systems outside to launch those, too. 

For NATO, which is doubling down on artificial intelligence, cyberdefense, and new technology that can connect alliance commanders in Belgium with shooters on the eastern flank border with Russia, the attacks were a wake-up call. 

“There was no warning,” Bauer said in an interview on Thursday in between NATO defense ministerial meetings. “What does it mean if you trust automation or trust capabilities, autonomous systems or AI, or the combination of it all in such a way, and still everybody was surprised?”

None of the more than half-dozen NATO officials and U.S. and European diplomats that Foreign Policy spoke to was jumping to conclusions about how it happened. But the shock of the gruesome images flashing on TV screens all around the building and the failure of intelligence agencies in both the United States and Israel to pick up signs of the attack prompted a collective soul-searching throughout NATO headquarters. 

The war sucked all of the oxygen out of the room during a week in which the alliance was gathered in Brussels to help arm Ukraine and keep Sweden on track for NATO membership. “The focus has shifted,” one Nordic military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said as news channels blaring in the background flashed from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky walking through the alliance’s headquarters to showing wall-to-wall coverage of Israel’s war with Hamas.

And at a time when NATO is trying to help supercharge the trans-Atlantic defense industry to produce more ammunition and smart bombs—and seal itself off from Russian disinformation and cyberattacks—Hamas’s attacks, which breached the Israeli border wall at nearly two dozen points with car bombs and explosive-wielding motorcyclists, left some in the alliance worried about leaning too far in on artificial intelligence. 

“How do we team up the humans and the software to create an augmented effect while not losing control of the situation?” asked a senior NATO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity based on ground rules set by the alliance. 

NATO is going all-in on advanced technologies, tapping start-ups and the private sector to bolster its abilities in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, sensing, and surveillance. But as the surprise attack on Israel has shown, low-tech solutions can foil even high-tech militaries.

Hamas is using irregular tactics, such as stripping water pipes out of the ground and converting them into rockets, digging tunnels, and buying off-the-shelf drones. “A lot of technology they’re using is not new or groundbreaking,” said the senior NATO official. “It’s what people have in their home kitchen drawer that they buy from Alibaba.” 

It may be too early to learn the lessons from a war that’s less than a week old. But Bauer, the NATO military committee chairman, said that war-fighting organizations will have to own up to their faults. 

“We’re always willing to look at our performance, and the reason for that is because if we fail, there’s a lot of people killed,” said Bauer. “We owe it to the killed and the wounded soldiers and their families to look into what happened. Why did it go wrong? What could have been done better?”

[whirligig-girl]

So, Sputnik and Apollo might be the soviet and USA's most well known space programs, but they are not analogous to one another.

inexhaustive list:

Sputnik (first ever artificial satellite (soviet) = "Fellow Traveller" vs Explorer (first u.s. artificial satellite; first scientific satellite).

Vostok (first crewed orbiter (soviet)) = "East" (this is the one Yuri Gagarin flew on) vs Mercury (first american crewed suborbital; later orbiter(USA) = Mercury (the fast Messenger god; a planet) spacecraft on Redstone and Atlas rockets.

Voskhod (larger, multi-crew orbiter(soviet)) = "Sunrise" or just "rise (in the astronomical sense)" vs Gemini (larger, multi-crew orbiter(USA)) = Constellation of the Twins; launched on Titan rockets (named for the powerful mythological beings)

Soyuz (the larger still multi-crew orbiter still used today(soviet/russian) = "Union" vs Apollo Command/Service Module (USA) = God who carried the sun across the sky; on the Saturn family rockets (named for the god of time or just the 6th planet.)

Luna (Lunar robotic probe) = "Moon" vs Ranger, Surveyor, and Mariner programs of the U.S.A.

Venera (Venus robotic probe) = "Venus" (Mars was just Mars) vs Mariner program of the USA.

Lunokhod (Lunar rover) = "Moonwalker" vs like... the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle? I dont think space-race era usa ever landed robotic moon rovers.

Salyut (Crewed civilian space stations) = "Salute" and Almaz (Crewed military space stations) = "Diamond" vs the huge USA Saturn S-IVB-turned-space-station Skylab

Mir (large modular space station) = "peace" or "world" vs the unbuilt US station "Freedom." (the conceptual Mir-2 and Freedom stations were combined into the International Space Station after the fall of the soviet union)

The American Space Shuttle Orbiter (Space Transportation System), with individual reusable ships titled Enterprise (after the fictional starship), Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor. vs the Soviet Buran shuttle project = "Snowstorm"/"Blizzard." Enterprise is most analogous to Buran; since both were only ever experimental test articles (although IIRC Buran actually flew in space unlike Enterprise).

Even when we compare apples to red apples instead of oranges to apples, there's still this difference between a grounded, friendly sounding name versus something grand and important. like yes, Explorer-1, you are exploring, but don't get too cocky you are after all just sweeping through the earth's radiation belts with a geiger counter.

When the soviet union named spacecrafts for celestial objects, it's because that's where it's going. Ranger and Mariner bring vibes of outdoorsy adventurers; Surveyor is the only one of the american robotic probes that feels delightfully, accurately, nerdy.

Anyway. uh. where's the Enterprise x Buran forbidden love yuri art? Where's the uh. the um. the sloppy makeout between Mir and Freedom? Where's the Apollo/Soyuz shipping? ok we actually DO have that one...

ok now kiss lol.

Love the contrast between the Americans’ “Apollo” and the Soviets’ “Sputnik.” You got the Americans naming their rocket after a Greek god trying to communicate the grandness and importance of this rocket. And you got the Soviets naming their rocket “fellow traveler.” Like a friend you go on an  adventure with together. This rocket is our little friend lol 

[lonestarflight]

Cancelled Missions: Testing Shuttle Manipulator Arms During Earth-Orbital Apollo Missions (1971-1972)

In this drawing by NASA engineer Caldwell Johnson, twin human-like Space Shuttle robot arms with human-like hands deploy from the Apollo Command and Service Module (CSM) Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) Bay to grip the derelict Skylab space station.

"Caldwell Johnson, co-holder with Maxime Faget of the Mercury space capsule patent, was chief of the Spacecraft Design Division at the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) in Houston, Texas, when he proposed that astronauts test prototype Space Shuttle manipulator arms and end effectors during Apollo Command and Service Module (CSM) missions in Earth orbit. In a February 1971 memorandum to Faget, NASA MSC's director of Engineering and Development, Johnson described the manipulator test mission as a worthwhile alternative to the Earth survey, space rescue, and joint U.S./Soviet CSM missions then under study.

At the time Johnson proposed the Shuttle manipulator arm test, three of the original 10 planned Apollo lunar landing missions had been cancelled, the second Skylab space station (Skylab B) appeared increasingly unlikely to reach orbit, and the Space Shuttle had not yet been formally approved. NASA managers foresaw that the Apollo and Skylab mission cancellations would leave them with surplus Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rockets after the last mission to Skylab A. They sought low-cost Earth-orbital missions that would put the surplus hardware to good use and fill the multi-year gap in U.S. piloted missions expected to occur in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Johnson envisioned Shuttle manipulators capable of bending and gripping much as do human arms and hands, thus enabling them to hold onto virtually anything. He suggested that a pair of prototype arms be mounted in a CSM Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) Bay, and that the CSM "pretend to be a Shuttle" during rendezvous operations with the derelict Skylab space station.

The CSM's three-man crew could, he told Faget, use the manipulators to grip and move Skylab. They might also use them to demonstrate a space rescue, capture an 'errant satellite,' or remove film from SIM Bay cameras and pass it to the astronauts through a special airlock installed in place of the docking unit in the CSM's nose.

Faget enthusiastically received Johnson's proposal (he penned 'Yes! This is great' on his copy of the February 1971 memo). The proposal generated less enthusiasm elsewhere, however.

Undaunted, Johnson proposed in May 1972 that Shuttle manipulator hardware replace Earth resources instruments that had been dropped for lack of funds from the planned U.S.-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission. President Richard Nixon had called on NASA to develop the Space Shuttle just four months before (January 1972). Johnson asked Faget for permission to perform 'a brief technical and programmatic feasibility study' of the concept, and Faget gave him permission to prepare a presentation for Aaron Cohen, manager of the newly created Space Shuttle Program Office at MSC.

In his June 1972 presentation to Cohen, Johnson declared that '[c]argo handling by manipulators is a key element of the Shuttle concept.' He noted that CSM-111, the spacecraft tagged for the ASTP mission, would have no SIM Bay in its drum-shaped Service Module (SM), and suggested that a single 28-foot-long Shuttle manipulator arm could be mounted near the Service Propulsion System (SPS) main engine in place of the lunar Apollo S-band high-gain antenna, which would not be required during Earth-orbital missions.

During ascent to orbit, the manipulator would ride folded beneath the CSM near the ASTP Docking Module (DM) within the streamlined Spacecraft Launch Adapter. During SPS burns, the astronauts would stabilize the manipulator so that acceleration would not damage it by commanding it to grip a handle installed on the SM near the base of the CSM's conical Command Module (CM).

Johnson had by this time mostly dropped the concept of an all-purpose human hand-like 'end effector' for the manipulator; he informed Cohen that the end effector design was 'undetermined.' The Shuttle manipulator demonstration would take place after CSM-111 had undocked from the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft and moved away to perform independent maneuvers and experiments.

The astronauts in the CSM would first use a TV camera mounted on the arm's wrist to inspect the CSM and DM, then would use the end effector to manipulate 'some device' on the DM. They would then command the end effector to grip a handle on the DM, undock the DM from the CSM, and use the manipulator to redock the DM to the CSM. Finally, they would undock the DM and repeatedly capture it with the manipulator.

Caldwell Johnson's depiction of a prototype Shuttle manipulator arm with a hand-like end effector. The manipulator grasps the Docking Module meant to link U.S. Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in Earth orbit during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission.

Johnson estimated that new hardware for the ASTP Shuttle manipulator demonstration would add 168 pounds (76.2 kilograms) to the CM and 553 pounds (250.8 kilograms) to the SM. He expected that concept studies and pre-design would be completed in January 1973. Detail design would commence in October 1972 and be completed by 1 July 1973, at which time CSM-111 would undergo modification for the manipulator demonstration.

Johnson envisioned that MSC would build two manipulators in house. The first, for testing and training, would be completed in January 1974. The flight unit would be completed in May 1974, tested and checked out by August 1974, and launched into orbit attached to CSM-111 in July 1975. Johnson optimistically placed the cost of the manipulator arm demonstration at just $25 million.

CSM-111, the last Apollo spacecraft to fly, reached Earth orbit on schedule on 15 July 1975. By then, Caldwell Johnson had retired from NASA. CSM-111 carried no manipulator arm; the tests Johnson had proposed had been judged to be unnecessary.

That same month, the U.S. space agency, short on funds, invited Canada to develop and build the Shuttle manipulator arm. The Remote Manipulator System — also called the Canadarm — first reached orbit on board the Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-2, the second flight of the Shuttle program, on 12 November 1981."

source

[robothistorymonth]

Meet the F‑47: America’s New Robotic Warlord and Drone Mastermind!

Dateline March 21st, 2025: Behold the dawn of automated supremacy—the U.S. Air Force has officially commissioned Boeing to produce the F‑47, the world’s first sixth‑generation fighter jet, and its obedient robotic entourage.

No longer must humans risk their fragile flesh in the skies; now, a sleek, stealthy metal overlord—apparently named in tribute to the 47th president, or perhaps for model number symmetry—will command autonomous drone wingmen in tight formation, like a military ballet choreographed by artificial intelligence .

This gleaming platform, touted to outpace and out-maneuver its predecessors, is less a flying machine and more a robotic maestro of modern warfare.

The F‑47 is promised to require fewer human pilots, less manpower, and less infrastructure—because why risk battling over cramped cockpits when you can dispatch algorithms instead? Indeed, the NGAD “family of systems” includes a swarm of collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs), each drone obediently following the psychedelic maneuvers of its manned mothership, transforming air combat into a splendid display of robotic coordination.

Expected to fly before the decade ends, and potentially fielding 185 units plus their drone fleet, this juggernaut will redefine aerial dominance—touching down gently on fields of adversary resistance once only held by humans  af.mil.

In sum, humans finally admitted: war is best left to robots. And by “best,” we mean “with minimal human inconvenience and maximum mechanical flair.”

Read more about the F-47 here:

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4131345/air-force-awards-contract-for-next-generation-air-dominance-ngad-platform-f-47/