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Everyone knows that Dundee is home to the Royal Research Ship Discovery, the ship used by Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton during their adventures in the Antarctic.
So it should come as no surprise the city has received praise for continuing to push the boundaries of exploration.
But this time it’s not to icebergs but distant planets.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has flagged up for special attention technology being developed at the University of Dundee that will help the landing of spacecraft.
The University’s Space Technology Centre has developed a system called PANGU.
Not to be mistaken with Pingu, the penguin whose great-great-grandparents Scott and Shackleton got to know so well, this stands for Planet and Asteroid Natural Scene Generation Utility.
Physical mock-ups of the surfaces of planets have always been too basic to be relied upon by landing craft or rovers.
PANGU, however, can offer high-fidelity, real-time simulations of the surfaces of planetary bodies – such as the Moon, Mars and asteroids – using both real and synthesised data.
And this is why the innovative technology is now being used by spacecraft engineers all around the world.
This includes the team of scientists currently working on ExoMars rover, which is well on its way to touching down on the mysterious red plant in 2020.
Of course, Scotland has long been in the captain’s chair when it comes to warp-speed driving the power of engineering to explore new frontiers.
In fact, the future of astronautical engineering – and all of its associated specialisms, such as mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering – has never been more vibrant or aspirational.
This is reflected (pardon the pun!) in our homegrown satellite construction sector, which is a world leader in the commercial space sector.
Against this background, there are plenty of opportunities for engineers to look at expanding their horizons.
When innovation is driving engineering forward so quickly, whether you’re a planning engineer who wants to build Smart Cities on the Moon or an electrical engineer with plans to build passenger rockets for NASA, the career possibilities are as numberless as the stars in the sky.
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