72 The PCB Design Magazine • June 2016
the Green Aviation Technical Interchange Meet-
ing (TIM), held recently at NASA Langley Research
Center in Hampton, Va.
NASA, Virginia Tech Test Management
Platform for Unmanned Aircraft Traffic
Efforts to protect air travelers are becoming essen-
tial as business leaders ramp up efforts to use un-
manned aircraft for agriculture, real estate, inspec-
tions, and commercial purposes, officials from the
Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership said.
Raytheon to Start Production of First
Multi-spectral Targeting System
The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon Company
a $90 million first-lot production contract for the
next-generation Multi-Spectral Targeting System.
The AN/DAS-4, the latest variant of the MTS fam-
ily of sensors, incorporates greater fire control and
Target Location Accuracy technology for precise
coordinates.
NASA Space Launch System's First Flight
to Send Small Sci-Tech Satellites
into Space
The first flight of NASA's new rocket, the Space
Launch System (SLS), will carry 13 CubeSats to
test innovative ideas along with an un-crewed Ori-
on spacecraft in 2018.
Station Readies for BEAM Expansion
The Expedition 47 crew is getting a new module
recently attached to the Tranquility module ready
for expansion later this week. The International
Space Station residents are also running experi-
ments today exploring a wide variety of phenom-
ena and checking station gear.
Beyond FR-4: High-Performance Materials
for Advanced Designs, Part 1
In the past 40-plus years of PCB manufacturing,
the primary material of choice has overwhelmingly
been e-glass supported FR-4 resin laminates. This is
due to the excellent dimensional stability and rea-
sonably acceptable thermal performance (based
on glass transition temperature and decomposition
temperature).
IMPACT Washington, D.C. 2016:
Industry Leaders Advocate for a
Pro-Manufacturing Policy Agenda
IPC places a high priority on educating govern-
ment officials about key policy issues of importance
to the electronics industry. That's why top execu-
tives from leading electronics companies gathered
in Washington, D.C. recently for "IMPACT Wash-
ington, D.C. 2016."
NASA Investigates 3D Printing for Building
Densely Populated Electronic Assemblies
As detector assemblies get smaller and denser—
packed with electronic components that all must
be electrically connected to sense and read out
signals—it's becoming increasingly more challeng-
ing to design and manufacture these all-important
instrument devices.
Dragon Finalizing Departure Preps
The SpaceX Dragon is being packed with critical
science today and tomorrow before its release and
splashdown on Wednesday. The crew is also review-
ing Dragon departure procedures and training for its
release from the grip of the Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Beyond FR-4: High Performance Materials
for Advanced Designs, Part 2
In Part 1, we covered basic FR-4 and variants that
have been used in the commercial and military
market for the past few decades, but in this column
we will delve into the newer materials that target a
specific application and/or market segment.
Industry Weighs in on Green Aviation Tech
Aviation's future is bright…green. That was the en-
vironmentally promising message delivered during
MilAero007
Highlights
