Next Galileo Satellites Arrive in French Guiana
The Galileo program is launching two more satellites. These two satellites are what are called Fully Operational Capacity satellites. For a GNSS system you have to launch a series of satellites for testing and then when significant amounts of confirmation data have come in you can then launch full satellites. That is where Galileo is right now. There are currently four satellites in orbit. That number is the necessary amount to obtain fixes and since they have been in orbit for enough time that they are now ready to launch the FOC units.
Plus they are launching out of French Guiana. There are a lot of cool pictures in the article too so be sure to scroll all the way down.
Aerial Drones Reveal Hidden Archaeology
I got this one through Twitter via Bill. As I say, there are a lot of opportunities for archaeology to use UAVs. I have noticed a lot more articles regarding their use. Unfortunately these articles are usually about University research. Although, I have seen a few more presentations at archaeological conferences regarding them. That does make me happy.
Be careful on the comments at the end. Yes there are differences between a drone and a UAV. Yes the media tends to blend them together. But Sciencemag.org is a general media site that focuses on science so I think we can cut them some slack.