Category: Americas

Source: NASA

As associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate Ken Bowersox puts it, “nothing happens without communications.”  
And effective communications require the use of radio waves.  
None of NASA’s exciting science and engineering endeavors would be possible without the use of radio waves to send data, communications, and commands between researchers or flight controllers and their flight platforms or instruments.  
Reflecting on his time as a pilot, commander, and mission specialist during the Space Shuttle Program, Bowersox says, “If you’re not there physically, you can’t be a part of the team. But if you’re getting the data, whether it’s video, telemetry data with states of switches, or individual parameters on temperatures or pressures, then you can act on it and provide information to the spacecraft team so they can do the right thing in their operation.”  
These vital data and communications functions, as well as the gathering of valuable scientific data through remote sensing applications, all use radio frequencies (RF) within the electromagnetic spectrum. NASA centers and facilities also use the RF spectrum to support their everyday operations, including the walkie-talkies used by security guards, air traffic control systems around airfields, and even office Wi-Fi routers and wireless keyboards.  

Ken Bowersox
NASA Astronaut & Associate Administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate

All of NASA’s uses of the RF spectrum are shared, with different radio services supporting other kinds of uses. Service allocation is a fundamental concept in spectrum regulation and defines how the spectrum is shared between different types of applications. A service allocation defines ranges, or bands, of radio frequencies that can be used by a particular type of radio service. For example, a television broadcasting satellite operates in frequency bands allocated to the broadcasting satellite service, terrestrial cellular services operate in bands allocated for the mobile service, and the communications antennas on the International Space Station (ISS) operate in bands allocated to space operations service.   
However, an allocation is not a license to operate — it does not authorize a specific system or operator to use particular frequencies. Such authority is granted through domestic and international regulatory processes.  
Most frequency bands of the RF spectrum are shared, and each frequency band typically has two or more radio services allocated to it. Careful spectrum regulation, planning, and management aim to identify mutually compatible services to share frequency bands while limiting its negative impacts. 

Many of NASA’s most notable uses of spectrum rely on the following service allocations: 

Earth exploration-satellite service   

Space research service     

Space operations service 

Inter-satellite service 

Note that allocations in the Earth exploration-satellite service and the space research service are designated either for communications links in the Earth-to-space, space-to-Earth, or space-to-space directions or designated for active or passive sensing of Earth or celestial objects (respectively) to differentiate the types of uses within the service and afford the requisite protections.

MIL OSI USA News –

Source: US State of Connecticut

Breast cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the U.S., but a UConn Senior Design team’s breakthrough in virtual reality technology could improve access to early detection and, ultimately, save lives.

“Timely detection is critical in successful treatment of the disease, but common diagnostic tests such as mammograms and MRIs can be expensive and difficult for many populations to access,” explains UConn student Carrie Nguyen ’25. “Medical professionals recommend that women perform breast self-exams to check for common breast cancer symptoms such as lumps or skin changes, but some women may lack the knowledge regarding proper technique and symptoms to look for.”

Shame, embarrassment, and discomfort related to the topic also contribute to these challenges, she says.

Motivated to address these barriers, Nguyen and her teammates—Erin Blaszak ’25, Grace Bonacci ’25, Gabriella Bosh ’25, and Abhishree Kaushik ’25, are developing a cutting-edge VR simulator designed to empower women with the skills and confidence needed to conduct effective self-exams. The team will present their prototype at UConn’s 2025 Senior Design Demonstration Day, held May 2 at Gampel Pavilion.

Krystyna Gielo-Perczak, associate professor in residence of biomedical engineering, serves as the team’s faculty advisor.

“The future of biomedical engineering depends on engineers’ ability to contend with challenging biomedical problems and health care needs,” Gielo-Perczak explains. “The challenges ahead are more than any single branch of science can address. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach is needed to help prepare undergraduate students. Since industrial partners typically do not have time to perform their own first prototype, senior design projects offer a potential solution.”

A Hands-On Training Experience

The team’s self-exam simulator integrates three core components: a virtual reality headset featuring a customized interface, a mechanical glove with haptic feedback, and a microprocessor that detects and calibrates force in a 3D space.

When donning the headset and glove, users enter a virtual environment where they can visualize their hand movements in real-time. A digital breast model appears in the VR interface, allowing users to simulate the process of palpating breast tissue.

“Depending on where you are palpating on the virtual breast, the glove will exert a different level of force onto your fingertips, simulating the feeling of a breast exam with different levels of tissue density,” Nguyen says. “Using this simulator should give you a better idea of what motions to use when performing a breast exam, how much force to apply, and what to look out for.”

To enhance accessibility, the team also developed a step-by-step guide within the simulation, complete with visuals and examples of common breast cancer symptoms. “Contributing to a Senior Design project centered on women’s health has been a meaningful and rewarding experience,” Blaszak says. “I am excited to be making a positive impact in a space that empowers and supports women.”

I attached the smallest EMG sensing head of Trigno Mini EMG sensor to hand. In the back, there is visible a Trigno base station with wireless charging sensors . Yes, it is instrumented/placed on a user before the glove.

Concept to Creation

In 2025, a projected 316,950 women in the U.S. could be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, and of those, more than 42,000 could die from the disease. Early detection significantly raises the

While all five students are biomedical engineering majors, each brings unique skills to the table.

“We all have different experiences with electrical, mechanical, and materials engineering, which complement each other well,” says Nguyen, who’s focusing on imaging and bioinstrumentation.

Bonacci, who’s concentrating on biomechanics and mechanobiology, admittedly has “taken a lot of mechanical engineering classes,” however she only had introductory-level knowledge of coding with C+ and image processing. Creating the virtual reality interface, in particular, helped broaden her background in new areas of engineering.

“This [Senior Design] project is exciting because it allows a chance to contribute to improving access to breast health education, an area that is often underrepresented in the broader medical community.” — Grace Bonacci ’25

“The Senior Design experience will help me become a more well-rounded engineer,” she says. “This project is exciting because it allows a chance to contribute to improving access to breast health education, an area that is often underrepresented in the broader medical community.”

Similarly, Blaszak, who also is concentrating in biomechanics and mechanobiology, discovered that designing the circuit board and troubleshooting the programmable board integration provided an extra challenge.

“Through this project, I’ve learned to manage my time effectively in a team setting and adapt quickly when things do not go according to the plan,” Blaszak says. “This experience has not only given me valuable hands-on skills but has also prepared me for my future career in engineering with greater confidence, organization, and teamwork skills.”

Looking Ahead

As the team nears the end of the academic year, they’re working with the UConn Engineering Electronics Shop to finalize their working prototype in anticipation of Senior Design Demo Day.

“Future iterations of this design will improve upon the initial working prototype to increase the accuracy and sensitivity of the device,” Nguyen explains.

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