'Armed with Science' pilot episode features defense breakthroughs

By U.S. Army Research Laboratory Public AffairsMarch 27, 2014

Armed with Science pilot episode features defense breakthroughs
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Armed with Science pilot episode features defense breakthroughs
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Armed with Science pilot episode features defense breakthroughs
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ADELPHI, Md. (March 10, 2014) -- The Pentagon Channel's pilot episode of Armed with Science is airing at 9 a.m., 1 p.m., and 5 p.m. (ET), today, and will delve into Army Research Laboratory and Naval Research Laboratory science that shapes the future of defense.

The show takes viewers inside the minds of military scientists who improve national defense with infrared imaging, robotic satellite repair and novel weapons design during its debut.

Defense producers from the Defense Media Activity conceptualized the program to shed light on the "seed corn of science and technology," or basic and applied science.

"'Armed with Science' tells the military's story about scientific discovery and innovation that begins decades before an application reaches the military market," said Thomas Moyer, U.S. Army Research Laboratory public affairs director. "The pilot will be successful if it gets people thinking about technological advances for our nation's warfighters."

The best kept secret in innovation is the scientists and engineers behind the military's scientific breakthroughs, Moyer said. "The American public often has no idea of the research and development that military scientists tirelessly put into a single application to protect men and women in uniform."

The pilot episode explores the Army's super materials that operate across a spectrum of extreme environments to protect Soldiers against threats they haven't seen yet. The materials that scientists and engineers design at an atomic scale will make up game-changing electronics, munitions and armor for the military of the future.

In the show's second segment, host George Zaidan visits the NRL Space Robotics Laboratory where scientists are developing robotic technology that can help repair, reposition, or update satellites that are beyond human reach, about 20,000 miles higher than the Hubble Space Telescope. These satellites are critical for Navy and Marine Corps operations, but cannot be repaired in orbit currently.

The show wraps up with "super vision," or enemy detection made easier and faster with infrared radiated light that gives Soldiers the capability to see when there is zero visibility. It took countless hours and the aid of the Army's super computers to make thermal image detection good enough to detect very cold objects and fast-moving targets. The Army scientists behind the technology talk about how the discovery was made.

The Pentagon Channel will show encore airings of the pilot episode March 13, at 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 10:30 p.m. at http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/LiveStream.aspx

ABOUT THE U.S. ARMY RESEARCH LABORATORY:

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory of the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command is the Army's corporate laboratory, consisting of more than 1,900 federal employees (nearly 1,300 classified as scientific and engineering) and is headquartered in Adelphi, Md. The laboratory's in-house experts work with academia and industry providing the largest source of world-class integrated research and analysis in the Army. For more information, visit the ARL homepage or join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. AMC is the Army's premier provider of materiel readiness - technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection, and sustainment - to the total force, across the spectrum of joint military operations. If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, eats it or communicates with it, AMC delivers it.

ABOUT THE U.S. NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY:

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory is the Navy's full-spectrum corporate laboratory, conducting a broadly based multidisciplinary program of scientific research and advanced technological development. The Laboratory, with a total complement of nearly 2,800 personnel, is located in southwest Washington, D.C., with other major sites at the Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Monterey, Calif. NRL has served the Navy and the nation for more than 90 years and continues to meet the complex technological challenges of today's world. For more information, visit the NRL homepage or join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

ABOUT THE PENTAGON CHANNEL:

The Pentagon Channel is the Department of Defense's satellite television channel, and broadcasts military news and information programs to about 2.6 million members of the U.S. armed forces - active duty, National Guard and Reserve. It airs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Pentagon Channel is available to more than 1.3 million service members on more than 370 military bases, camps and installations in the U.S. The channel is also available to the 800,000 service members and their families serving overseas in 177 countries via the American Forces Radio and Television Service.

The Pentagon Channel reaches more than 30 million households through commercial distribution on satellite and cable systems nationwide. DISH Network, Verizon FiOS and divisions of Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter, Mediacom, RCN, Armstrong, Midcontinent, Knology, GCI, and a number of smaller cable companies and local access channels in communities around the country carry the Pentagon Channel. In addition, Pentagon Channel programming is streamed live 24/7 at http://www.pentagonchannel.mil, and its programming is available on video-on-demand, and podcast from this website.

Related Links:

VIDEO: Armed with Science

Army Research Laboratory

U.S. Army Materiel Command

Army.mil: Science and Technology News

U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command

STAND-TO!: U.S. Army Research Laboratory

Naval Research Laboratory

The Pentagon Channel