On July 20, 1969, the bulkily space-suited figure of astronaut Neil Armstrong descended the ladder of Apollo 11’s lunar lander, planted his boot in the Moon's gray dust, and declared: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." This first visit to Earth's natural satellite—the culmination of NASA's Apollo 11 mission—was a seminal moment in the history of human space exploration (Fig. 1). See also: Moon; Space flight

Renowned as adept fliers and as some of the first insects to have ever developed wings, with a fossil record going back more than 300 million years, dragonflies (class Odonata) have long interested scientists across interdisciplinary lines. A recent study has now explained a remarkable feature of dragonfly flight whereby dragonflies manage to quickly right themselves in mid-air. The findings offer insights applicable to numerous fields, including flight mechanics in animals more broadly, general aerodynamical control with applications in robotic flight, and flight's evolutionary origins. See also: Aerodynamics; Animal flight; Animal testing; Evolution; Flight controls; Odonata

When volcanoes erupt explosively, they can hurl huge ash plumes of fine (<2 mm)="" glassy="" and="" jagged="" rock="" and="" mineral="" fragments="" into="" the="" atmosphere.="" the="" smallest="" of="" these="" ash="" particles,="" less="" than="" 200="" micrometers="" across,="" can="" travel="" hundreds="" of="" kilometers="" through="" the="" sky="" and="" endanger="" jet="" aircraft="" that="" fly="" into="" them.="" how="" much="" of="" an="" aviation="" hazard="" a="" specific="" volcanic="" plume="" presents="" depends="" not="" just="" on="" the="" concentration="" and="" particle="" size="" of="" the="" ash="" but="" also="" its="" chemical="" composition,="" according="" to="" a="" report="" in="">Acta Materialia (May 1, 2016). See also: Risk assessment and management; Volcano; Volcanology

New research from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) predicts that the next decade will be a favorable period for human exploration due to lower risks of inclement "space weather"—a term that refers to radiation conditions in Earth's vicinity, determined mostly by solar activity. Similar to terrestrial weather, space weather is variable, thanks to the Sun's inconstant state. Our star naturally goes through a roughly 11-year cycle of waxing and waning activity, marked by observable numbers of sunspots. These dark blots on the Sun's surface serve as indicators of localized magnetic field strength. Sunspots are associated with bursts of energy known as solar flares, as well as eruptions of solar plasma into space called coronal mass ejections. Such outbursts hurl radiation toward our planet that, on the one hand, can benignly trigger brilliant auroral displays in the atmosphere. On the other hand, extreme space weather can wreak havoc by damaging satellites and posing health hazards to astronauts by increasing their lifetime risk of cancer. Thus, the new research results bode well for NASA’s ongoing effort to return humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972. See also: Astronautics; Astronomy; Aurora; Cancer; Electromagnetic radiation; Plasma (physics); Radiation; Radiation damage to materials; Radiation injury to plants and animals; Satellite (spacecraft); Solar corona; Space flight

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued new rules, effective August 2016, for safely operating small unmanned/uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS or drones) for work or business, including scientific research. Because the use of drones is expected to expand rapidly in years to come, the FAA was moved to respond to concerns about where and how the vehicles should be flown. Under the new regulations, examples of acceptable commercial applications include crop monitoring, bridge inspection, and aerial photography. The use of drones to deliver packages is not formally forbidden but it may generally be discouraged because operators must keep their UAS within sight at all times. See also: Remote sensing with small unmanned aircraft systems; Uninhabited aerial vehicle (UAV); Use of UAV drones to protect elephants

As the demand for carbon fiber has grown, so has the waste stream of scrap and end-of-life composite materials. For a material to be considered sustainable, its environmental impact needs to be considered through its entire life cycle, including reuse or recycling. As a result, companies in Germany, Japan, and the United States are recycling carbon fiber using a process called pyrolysis. In the pyrolysis process, carbon-fiber composites are heated at high temperature (400 to 500 degrees Celsius) in the absence of oxygen to produce a combustible gas (syngas) that can be used as fuel, oil that can be used as a fuel or chemical feedstock, and carbon fibers. See also: Composite materials; Green engineering; Pyrolysis