AUGUST 22, 2019 - No. 067 In This Issue Germany unveils plan for climate-friendly aviation Europe's first waste to jet fuel plant submits planning application. Air Force certifies first 3-D printed nonstructural aircraft parts EHang Achieves one of the World's First Certificate of Unmanned Aircraft System Safety for AAVs Aquila Aviation to establish aircraft factory in Turkey VoloCity to become first commercial Volocopter aircraft Lexington Teen Awarded $25,000 for Developing Technology to Improve Airplane Safety and Reduce Emissions AFRL Successfully Flies New Robotically Piloted Air Platform Slow Digitalization Adoption Expected in MRO Embraer To Double Engineering Space for Boeing Split NASA Conducts Spacewalk to Install Adapters on ISS for Boeing, SpaceX Capsules Germany unveils plan for climate-friendly aviation At the National Aviation Conference, a gathering of politicians and aviation professionals held in Germany's eastern city of Leipzig on Wednesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany should become a global leader in producing climate-friendly aviation technology. The global aviation industry is under pressure to reform, as green mobility is an integral part of international efforts to reverse climate change. Merkel emphasized that promoting a competitive and climate-friendly aviation industry in Germany depends on becoming an innovator in climate-friendly energy sources. "It is important that the aviation industry can demonstrate how growth is not always connected to emissions that are harmful to the climate," said Merkel. On Wednesday, the German government introduced the "Leipzig Statement for the Future of Aviation," a document signed by industry and government officials outlining the future of climate-friendly German aviation. "The federal government supports the development of new propulsion methods, along with climate-friendly aircraft technology as part of the aviation research program," said part of the statement. More money needed However, to implement this innovation plan, more money will have to be redirected into research and development of non-fossil fuel energy sources. German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer said Wednesday in Leipzig that the government was "committed to ensuring that the revenue of the aviation tax is used for research, innovation and climate goals." This would require tax reform, specifically earmarking an aviation tax for research into alternative energy sources. Scheuer also mentioned increasing the aviation tax with input from the German aviation industry on how to best "adapt" tax revenues towards innovation. Hydrogen power to the rescue? During her speech in Leipzig, Merkel also announced a strategy for developing hydrogen energy in Germany set to be introduced by the end of 2019. "The potential of hydrogen for aviation has not yet been realized," said Merkel. Ideally, synthetic fuel could soon be used in place of kerosene-based jet fuel, produced with green electricity through hydrogen dialysis. Additives to fossil-based kerosene have long been tested and approved. But the problem is that only very small quantities of climate-neutral fuel are available at very high prices. Merkel admitted this, but added: "It has been the case with every technology that it was very expensive in the beginning." Flying dirty Despite good intentions, until alternatives are made affordable, the European aviation industry will continue to be a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. "In the long term, we cannot do without hydrocarbons on long-haul routes," the president of the Federal Association of the German Aerospace Industry, Klaus Richter, told Germany's dpa news agency. Although Merkel said the aviation industry needed to become more climate-friendly, the chancellor added that Germany "does not want forced restrictions on our mobility." Earlier in August, the association of the German aviation industry released a six-point program outlining a strategy to sink CO2 emissions from aircraft. Merkel praised the sector's voluntary goal of stopping aircraft emissions from rising starting in 2020 and then reducing emissions by 2050 to half the level measured in 2005. https://www.dw.com/en/germany-unveils-plan-for-climate-friendly-aviation/a-50119049 Back to Top Europe's first waste to jet fuel plant submits planning application Velocys subsidiary Altalto Immingham, a collaboration with British Airways and Shell, has submitted a planning application to develop the first commercial scale household and commercial solid waste to sustainable fuels plant in Europe. The site, which is located near Immingham in North East Lincolnshire, UK, will be home to a plant able to convert half a million tonnes per year of non-recyclable waste otherwise destined for landfill or incineration into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and road fuel. The facility will deploy technology known as Fischer-Tropsch that enables a net 70% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per tonne of SAF, compared with conventional jet fuel. Reductions achieved in GHG emissions from the plant's annual output are equivalent to around 40,000 standard petrol cars. The development at the Immingham site is expected to bring hundreds of millions of pounds of investment, as well as create hundreds of jobs during the construction phase and around 130 permanent jobs once the facility begins operations. The domestic production of fuel will also improve the UK's fuel supply; the country currently imports more than 70% of its jet fuel from abroad. Net zero carbon goal "Velocys has a solution to decarbonise aviation fuel by converting an unwanted feedstock - household and commercial solid waste - to create a highly valuable product: sustainable transport fuels," commented Henrik Wareborn, CEO of Velocys. "This will cut greenhouse gas emission from aviation, as well as improving air quality and helping to tackle our waste problem. This is a vital step towards the ultimate goal of living in a net zero carbon world by the middle of the century." Altalto is being supported in the project development by partners and co-investors British Airways and Shell. British Airways will purchase jet fuel produced at the plant for use in its aircraft, which is a key step in the reduction of the airline's carbon emissions. Shell will purchase both jet fuel and road fuel from the project, which may then be blended and sold to its customers, helping to reduce their carbon footprint. The energy major will also offer technical expertise, based on its experience of gasification and Fischer-Tropsch conversion technology. 'Game changer for aviation' Commenting on the news, Alex Cruz, chairman and CEO of British Airways, said: "The submission of the planning application marks a major milestone in this project and we are delighted with the progress being made. Sustainable fuels can be a game changer for aviation which will help power our aircraft for years to come. "This development is an important step in the reduction of our carbon emissions and meeting the industry targets of carbon neutral growth from 2020, and a 50% [reduction in carbon dioxide emissions] by 2050 from 2005 levels. It brings the UK another step closer to becoming a global leader in sustainable aviation fuels." Jonathon Counsell, head of sustainability at British Airways parent company International Airlines Group, also welcomed the news and called on the UK Government to continue to support the deployment of SAF in the UK's aviation industry. "This is a fantastic step forward for the project," Counsell said. "We strongly welcomed the inclusion of sustainable aviation fuels into the renewable transport fuels policy framework and call on government to continue to provide support given the significant near-term opportunities offered by these fuels. "Specifically, we strongly believe a dedicated Office for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (OSAF) will provide the essential cross-government coordination necessary to progress the development and commercial deployment of sustainable aviation fuel and would welcome government support in setting this up at the earliest opportunity." Fischer-Tropsch technology Velocys, which is leading the development of the Altalto Immingham project, will supply the central processing unit to the facility: microchannel Fischer-Tropsch reactors with the proprietary Velocys Actocat catalyst. This technology converts a gas mixture of carbon and hydrogen into the liquid hydrocarbons required to produce sustainable fuels. Subject to planning and funding decisions, construction at the Immingham site is slated for 2021, with commercial production of SAF to begin in 2024. https://biofuels-news.com/news/europes-first-waste-to-jet-fuel-plant-submits-planning-application/ Back to Top Air Force certifies first 3-D printed nonstructural aircraft parts The 60th Maintenance Squadron is the first field unit in the U.S. Air Force to be certified with an industrial-sized, 3-D printer that is authorized to produce nonstructural aircraft parts. The Stratasys F900 3-D printer is capable of printing plastic parts up to 36 x 24 x 36 inches, uses a material called Ultem 9085 that is more flexible, dense and stronger than typical plastic. The printer, which is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force Advanced Technology and Training Center, offers new opportunities to create needed parts while saving time and money. "It brings us a capability that we've never had before," said Master Sgt. John Higgs, 60th MXS aircraft metals technology section chief. "There's so many possibilities available to us right now. We're just scratching the surface." Technicians are able to download blueprints from an online database that the University of Dayton Research Institute has approved. "The Joint Engineering Data Management Information Control System is where we go to download already approved blueprints," Higgs said. "Now, the University of Dayton Research Institute is working with the engineers to get those parts they developed into JEDMICS." The first approved project was printed on the Stratasys F900 Aug. 12 and will replace latrine covers on the C-5M Super Galaxy. Typically, parts that don't keep the aircraft from performing their mission don't have as high as a priority for replacement. "The latrine covers we just printed usually take about a year from the time they've been ordered to the time they've been delivered," Higgs said. "We printed two of the covers in 73 hours." Getting the printer operational was no easy task. It took eight months from the day the item was delivered to going fully operational. "There were facility requirements that had to be met, and then installation and certification processes to complete," Higgs said. "After, we needed to decide who could operate the printer, then have a UDRI instructor certify them." Three members from the 60th MXS were chosen to be the first technicians trained in the Air Force for the initial certification. One of them, Tech. Sgt. Rogelio Lopez, 60th MXS assistant aircraft metals technology section chief, has been with the project since its inception. "UDRI has not trained or certified anyone else at the field level except the three of us here at Travis AFB," Lopez said. "Now that we're signed off on our training records to do so, we're the only ones who can operate, maintain and print on the Stratasys F900." Now with parts in production, all the hard work is paying off, and there's a new sense of urgency within the organization. "It's exciting because the Air Force is implementing new technology at the field level," Lopez said. "The Air Force continues to encourage Airmen to be innovative by finding new ways to streamline processes and save resources." And since Travis AFB is the only field unit that is operational at this time, requests from outside the organization are already coming in. "We already have a list from the Air Force level to help them print and to backfill some supplies," Higgs said. "This will ensure other bases can replace items sooner than expected with our help." Ultimately, the maintenance shop wants to use the printer for more than just aircraft parts. "We have the capability to print parts on a production scale for a lot more customers," Higgs said. "The overall goal is to generate products for every organization to support whatever needs they may have." https://techxplore.com/news/2019-08-air-certifies-d-nonstructural-aircraft.html Back to Top EHang Achieves one of the World's First Certificate of Unmanned Aircraft System Safety for AAVs GUANGZHOU, China, Aug. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- EHang, an autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) technology platform company, announced that it has become one of the world's first company to achieve certificate of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) safety level II for AAVs through tests of the UAS fence. The certificate was issued by the China Academy of Civil Aviation Science and Technology (CAST) and was internationally recognized among member organizations of the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS). The tests demonstrated that both the passenger-grade EHang 216 and the non-passenger-grade EHang Falcon can automatically and precisely sense the UAS fence by alerting and avoid it by hovering, landing off or returning before entering the restricted area. The tests also proved that the EHang AAVs could not be started within the fenced areas to ensure safety. "Passing these tests further establishes EHang as the leader in the UAS fence technology and marks a breakthrough in urban air mobility space," said Zhang Zhengjuan, a senior engineer at the Civil UAS Inspection Center of CAST. "Significantly, EHang's command-and-control system is more intelligent in managing the AAVs' flight routes, and with real-time remote communication via 4G and 5G telecom networks, their operation is simpler and safer than conventional drones manual-controlled by radio frequency within limited distances." https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ehang-achieves-one-of-the-worlds-first-certificate-of-unmanned-aircraft-system-safety-for-aavs-300904346.html Back to Top Aquila Aviation to establish aircraft factory in Turkey Germany-based Turkish company Aquila Aviation is planning to establish an aircraft manufacturing plant in Turkey, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank said yesterday during his visit to the company's facility in Schönhagen. "Our aim is to increase value-added production and value-added goods in Turkey. The aviation sector is important in this respect. We will move a part of Aquila Aviation's production in Germany to Turkey. We will have produced an aircraft with our own brand," Varank said. The minister emphasized that they have already started looking for a location for the plane factory investment. "There is a need for a runway for this kind of investment. We want them to establish the production facility as soon as possible by finding them the most suitable location," he added. Aquila Aviation CEO Celal Gökçen also noted that they acquired the company in 2016 and have been manufacturing planes since 2017. As the Turkish entrepreneurs operating the company, they have manufactured 50 aircraft so far, Gökçen added. "We are trying to manufacture two aircraft per month. Our next goal is to begin production in Turkey," he said. Minister Varank carried out a trial flight on the single-engine A211 GX model training aircraft manufactured by Aquila Aviation. The AQUILA A211 is a single-engine airplane in composite construction and designed for cruising and training. It is equipped with two side-by-side seats, low wings and a cruciform tail. The spacious, enclosed cockpit provides sufficient room even for tall pilots. Complete glazing of the canopy allows for excellent all around vision. Varank also stopped at Siemens Technopark yesterday during his visit to Berlin, where he participated in the Germany-Turkey Artificial Intelligence Conference. https://www.dailysabah.com/business/2019/08/22/aquila-aviation-to-establish-aircraft-factory-in-turkey Back to Top VoloCity to become first commercial Volocopter aircraft Bruchsal, 21 August 2019 -Today, Volocopter, the pioneer in Urban Air Mobility, presented the design for its newest air taxi model: VoloCity. This will be the fourth-generation electrical take-off and landing aircraft (eVTOL) by the German Urban Air Mobility developer. The VoloCity has been designed to meet the safety standards specified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (SC-VTOL category enhanced) and incorporates user feedback as well as test data from all previous Volocopter generations. With a calculated range of 35 km and airspeed of 110 km/h, the VoloCity is designed to serve as an on-demand inner-city air taxi. The learnings of over 1,000 test flights on previous Volocopter generations and market research with several hundred potential customers have informed the design and technical specifications of the VoloCity. The result is an aircraft with visible improvements that still stays true to the well-known Volocopter technical and safety features: 18 rotors, redundancy in all critical systems, a low noise signature and a rigid commitment to the inner-city mission. Features include: Payload to accommodate 2 people including hand luggage Increased flight efficiency through aerodynamically shaped rotor beams, a newly introduced stabilizer to create increased stability in flight and additional lift Iconic design with fluid lines is a seamless continuation of architectural language of the future VoloPort all the while combining unprecedented technological achievements and user comfort "The VoloCity is our most powerful Volocopter yet. It is rigorously designed to meet the demands of Urban Air Mobility and incorporates all requirements of the SC-VTOL certification standard established by EASA in July 2019. It is a result of all insights we have gathered from our extensive testing programmes over the past years." says Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter. "With the VoloCity we will open the first commercial routes and bring Urban Air Mobility to life." Volocopter wrote aviation history with the first manned flight of an electrically powered vertical take-off and landing aircraft in 2011. Since then, the German company has developed three generations of aircraft and performed public flights most notably in Dubai in 2017 and during CES in Las Vegas in 2018. The company is now focusing on establishing the necessary ecosystem around the aircraft to bring on-demand Urban Air Mobility services to life. This entails building up the operational environment such as the physical take-off and landing infrastructure and integrating into air traffic management systems of interested cities. Volocopter is working with global players like Fraport, the operator of Frankfurt International Airport (FRA) to optimize passenger and ground procedures and align regulations with the relevant authorities. Until the commissioning of VoloCity, Volocopter will continue to test, improve, and demonstrate their Urban Air Mobility vision with the current 2X pre-series model. A public test flight is scheduled for Q4 this year in Singapore, where Volocopter will also display the first VoloPort Urban Air Mobility infrastructure prototype together with its partner Skyports. About Volocopter GmbH The pioneer in the development of electrical air taxis that take off and land vertically (eVTOLs), Volocopter builds aircrafts that are based on drone technology and carry up to two people. The company will establish Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in addition to current transportation options in megacities globally. Their aim is to offer affordable on-demand air taxi services and save people time by flying them safely to their destination. Volocopter cooperates with leading partners in infrastructure, operations and air traffic management to build the ecosystem necessary to bring Urban Air Mobility to life. In 2011 Volocopter performed the first ever manned flight of a purely electrical multicopter and has since showcased numerous public flights of its full-scale two-seater aircrafts, most notably the autonomous flight in Dubai in cooperation with the local Road and Transport Administration (RTA) in 2017. Founded by Stephan Wolf and Alexander Zosel, Volocopter has more than 150 employees in offices in Bruchsal, Munich and Singapore and is managed by CEO Florian Reuter, CTO Jan-Hendrik Boelens, and CFO Rene Griemens. The company has raised a total of €35 million, Daimler and Intel are among the investors. 1 From market research conducted over the course of one year together with Fraunhofer institute and Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart with over 500 potential customers. 2 This has recently been explained in CTO Jan-Hendrik Boelens: https://press.volocopter.com/index.php/volocopter-publishes-white-paper-on-urban-air-mobility https://www.suasnews.com/2019/08/volocity-to-become-first-commercial-volocopter-aircraft/ Back to Top Lexington Teen Awarded $25,000 for Developing Technology to Improve Airplane Safety and Reduce Emissions The Davidson Institute for Talent Development has announced the 2019 Davidson Fellows Scholarship winners. Among the honorees is 18-year-old Rachel Seevers of Lexington. Seevers won a $25,000 scholarship for her project, The Virtual Winglet: A Novel Approach to Boundary Layer Manipulation and Wingtip Vortex Suppression. She is one of only 20 students across the country to be recognized as a scholarship winner. "I am extremely honored to have been chosen as a Davidson Fellow," said Seevers. "By being able to share my research and more importantly my story with such a large audience, I hope to inspire even one young female to dream big, just as I did." Seevers's project targets two major aerodynamic issues of air travel in a singular invention created not only to diminish costs and reduce emissions, but for the lives it can save. Consisting of interior tubing releasing high-speed air on the underside of the front-edge of the wingtip, the Virtual Winglet is targeted and energy-efficient. The novel ejection site location addresses two of the most dangerous aspects of flow when it comes to flying a plane. Seevers was co-founder of her school's girls in STEM club and developed a program called STEMfems which offers STEM workshops at local underprivileged elementary schools. Seevers was also a member of her school's Chamber Choir, French Club, and National Beta Club, as well as a participant of the Girl Scouts of America since kindergarten. Outside of science she enjoys hiking with family and friends. Seevers will attend Harvard University in the fall where she will be studying mechanical engineering and economics, with a plan to pursue policy in the future. Her dream is to become the Secretary of Defense or Education. "We are proud to announce the 2019 Davidson Fellows Scholarship recipients and applaud them for their hard work and achievement in their fields of study," said Bob Davidson, founder of the Davidson Institute. "By being awarded this recognition, these students have shown immense skill and work ethic, and they should be commended as they continue their educational and research journeys while continuing to work to solve some of the world's most vexing problems." The 2019 Davidson Fellows will be honored at a reception in Washington, D.C., on Friday, September 27, 2019. The Davidson Fellows Scholarship program offers $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 college scholarships to students 18 or younger, who have completed significant projects that have the potential to benefit society in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, literature and music. The Davidson Fellows Scholarship has provided more than $7.5 million in scholarship funds to more than 300 students since its inception in 2001, and has been named one of the most prestigious undergraduate scholarships by U.S. News & World Report. It is a program of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Reno, Nev. that supports profoundly gifted youth. https://www.aviationpros.com/engines-components/aircraft-engines/electric-green-engine-technology/press-release/21093397/lexington-teen-awarded-25000-for-developing-technology-to-improve-airplane-safety-and-reduce-emissions Back to Top AFRL Successfully Flies New Robotically Piloted Air Platform The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has announced the successful flight demonstration of a new robotically manned air platform whose technology could pave the way for more optionally manned aircraft in the future. The laboratory and DZYNE Technologies Inc. successfully completed a two-hour initial flight of the Robotic Pilot Unmanned Conversion Program (ROBOpilot) Aug. 9 at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, per an Aug. 15 release. "This flight test is a testament to AFRL's ability to rapidly innovate technology from concept to application in a safe build-up approach while still maintaining low cost and short timelines," said Maj. Gen. William Cooley, AFRL Commander, in the release. Eventually, the technology could be used to rapidly and affordably convert a general aviation aircraft into an unmanned aerial vehicle and return it back to its original manned configuration after autonomously performing a mission, said Alok Das, senior scientist with AFRL's Center for Rapid Innovation. "All of this is achieved without making permanent modifications to the aircraft," he said. The program is meant to interact with an air system the same way as a human pilot, pushing on the rudders and brakes, flipping switches and reading dashboard gauges. It also uses sensors for situational awareness and information gathering, to be analyzed by a computer that decides how to control the flight. It is installed by replacing the pilot's seat with a frame containing commercially produced actuators, cameras and power systems, providing an affordable way to turn a manned aircraft temporarily unmanned for combat situations. "ROBOpilot offers the benefits of unmanned operations without the complexity and upfront cost associated with the development of new unmanned vehicles," Das said. AFRL and DZYNE designed, built and tested ROBOpilot over the past year under a Direct to Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract. https://www.aviationtoday.com/2019/08/20/afrl-successfully-flies-new-robotically-piloted-air-platform/ Back to Top Slow Digitalization Adoption Expected in MRO With around half of the world's aircraft fleet operated on a leased basis, greater adoption of digitalization to better document aircraft records is becoming ever-more important but could yet be some way off, according to an ICF vice-president. Due to the number of leased transactions, with aircraft routinely changing hands between operators and owners, maintaining records is vital, says Allan Bachan, a U.S.-based vice president at the consultancy. He estimates that roughly 40% of an aircraft's value lies in its comprehensive records. Citing logbooks and task cards as examples of an aircraft's paper trail, Bachan explains these will typically be reviewed by the outgoing operator together with whoever is taking over operation of the aircraft, while also factoring in the relevant regulatory authorities. "It's a quasi-digital environment because the reviews still occur in a purely pedestrian fashion--meaning all parties have to walk through these records," he says. Bachan says emerging platforms such as blockchain technology could enter the equation, having been discussed at greater length in the industry over the past few years, yet he feels it could still be some time before adoption speeds up because not every country will be ready to implement it. "Blockchain promotes transparency, security and traceability but not every country has the same infrastructure or standards, so there is no one global standard adopted by everyone," Bachan says. "There are little quirks and differences between each regulator, if you compare Asia and Latin American authorities to those in Europe and North America, you will see these little differences." Bachan believes MROs were slower than airlines to adopt new digital technologies and he believes to an extent, the industry's demand-driven dynamic has played a part in this. "There was an attitude that whatever costs or efficiencies a company had would be passed onto the consumer--having a low productivity and a weak supply chain would be passed onto the airline paying for the services, meaning there wasn't a necessity to adopt modern technology as quickly as they should have," he says. Ultimately, he believes for a technology like blockchain, MROs would be most interested in how they receive task cards pre-work at their facilities because the faster these come in, the quicker they can start working on the aircraft. "Unfortunately, blockchain is not going to facilitate the induction of those task cards, but instead, rather in the handover of them post-maintenance." https://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/slow-digitalization-adoption-expected-mro Back to Top Embraer To Double Engineering Space for Boeing Split With Embraer's regional jet division slated to become Boeing Commercial Brasil by year-end, Embraer has announced the construction of $30 million in new facilities in the São José dos Campos suburb of Eugênio de Melo. That area already houses much of Embraer's engineering staff and is where the ground-test "iron birds" are constructed for new aircraft, but those physical buildings will eventually also be occupied by Boeing Brasil. Separating what facilities Boeing gets from what Embraer keeps in the Boeing Brasil deal is complicated, though the two companies can buy and sell parts both companies need where capacity isn't duplicated. Eugenio de Melo will house engineers for both firms. The expansion will raise the site's capacity from 1,500 employees to more than 4,000, and its size from 754,000 sq ft/70,000 sq m to 1.2 million sq ft/110,000 sq m. Additionally, it will include four new buildings and upgrades to existing facilities. Slated to move to the new facility, freeing up space for Boeing in its complex adjoining the SJC runway, are Embraer's customer service and training, including flight simulators, administrative areas, and the company's history center. The new facility will also include "Embraer's defense and security, air mobility, aerospace, and other technology-based businesses"-in other words, areas that aren't being sold to Boeing. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2019-08-20/embraer-double-engineering-space-boeing-split Back to Top NASA Conducts Spacewalk to Install Adapters on ISS for Boeing, SpaceX Capsules NASA astronauts conducted a six and a half-hour long spacewalk yesterday to install adapters to the docking ports of the International Space Station that are designed to fit both Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX Dragon capsules, a major step towards commercializing the orbital research station. Installation of new docking adapters NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan conducted a major spacewalk yesterday afternoon to install a new International Docking Adapter (IDA) to one of the docking ports of the International Space Station (ISS), CBS News reports. The Adapter is designed to enable automated docking for both SpaceX Dragon Crew and Boeing CST-100 Starliner capsules. It is also meant to be the standard for other future capsules from other companies that may want to dock with the ISS. Six and a half hour spacewalk The spacewalk, which was the 218th for the ISS since construction began in 1998, started a few minutes after its scheduled 8:20 AM EST start time, with astronauts Hague and Morgan switching over to battery power at 8:27 AM EST. WATCH NOW: NASA Spacewalk @8:20 am EDT The IDA was brought to the ISS onboard SpaceX's CRS-18 resupply mission in July, and the IDA was lifted out of a housing on SpaceX's Dragon last week by the ISS's robot arm. It then positioned the IDA above a pressurized mating adapter (PMA) on the part of the ISS known as Harmony in preparation for yesterday's spacewalk. Climbing out to the IDA, the astronauts used electrical cables that had been installed during earlier spacewalks three years ago to connect the IDA to the ISS's power supply, whereupon NASA astronaut Christina Koch, at the docking controls inside Harmony, was able to test and confirm the connection to the IDA's systems. After the IDA was secured to the PMA on Harmony, the two astronauts performed additional maintenance while they were outside the ISS, including installing new wiring to expand the ISS's external wireless network and add a connection to provide back-up power to the ISS's robot arm. The spacewalk, the 5th of the year so far, which was Hague's third spacewalk and Morgan's first, finished up after 6 hours and 32 minutes at 1:59 PM EST. https://interestingengineering.com/nasa-conducts-spacewalk-to-install-adapters-on-iss-for-boeing-spacex-capsules Curt Lewis