Very similar to the famous Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, the six-wheeled bot created by a team at Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute is capable of cruising around the Moon at a reported 100 meters per hour, all the while snapping photos and collecting bits of moon rock for analysis and possible sale on eBay.

ENGADGET: Chinese engineers reveal nuclear-powered lunar rover

Dr Sweeney's team, working in collaboration with Astrium, a satellite-and-space company that is part of EADS, a European aerospace group, will test the system in a large aircraft hangar in Germany.

ECONOMIST: Solar power from space

In Pakistan, for example, the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM), created under the auspices of UNESCO, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) designed the Integrated Flood Analysis System (IFAS), a risk-prevention system using data obtained via satellite.

UNESCO: Published in Mainichi Newspaper on 21 May 2012.

At the Farnborough International Air Show outside London last week, Lufthansa Technik AG and Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. announced coming tests of one environmentally friendly taxi system.

WSJ: Honeywell Tests Autopilots for the Tarmac

Failing to appreciate how greatly the ebb and flow of commerce depends upon an efficient and safe aviation system, and possibly insensitive to the aggressive competition from foreign aerospace manufacturers seeking advances in ATC modernization, they argue there are more pressing problems that demand attention and dollars.

FORBES: The Agony and Ecstasy Of NextGen: The Air Traffic Control System Of The Future

Avio is the prime contractor for Vega, the new European rocket system designed to launch the small satellites that are expected to be the main driver of the aerospace industry.

CNN: Avio head: Europe risks becoming a 'half-baked cake'