Archive for the ‘Space’ Category
NASA: Meteor slams into Moon, causes explosion visible to naked eye on Earth | Space, Military and Medicine | News.com.au
A MASSIVE explosion from a meteor which crashed into the Moon was visible to the naked eye on Earth, NASA says.
A boulder-sized meteor slammed into the moon in March, causing an explosion so bright anyone looking up at the right moment would have spotted it, NASA said.
NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office is reporting the discovery of the brightest impact seen on the Moon in the eight years the monitoring program has run, the National Geographic reports
A Peek Into the Control Room of Space Shuttles
Although many of us have fantasized about becoming an astronaut when we “grow up”, making rocket ships out of cardboard refrigerator boxes, very few people actually went through with it. But lucky for us common folk, photographer Ben Cooper gives us all a chance to relive our space fantasies. Cooper brings us an insider look at the Flight Decks of the Endeavour, Discovery, and Atlantis space shuttles. The fact that there are people who actually know how to operate all of these switches is pretty phenomenal. With this set, I see many photoshop opportunities for all of the digital artists out there. Larger versions of each picture are available for viewing or for sale on launchphotography.com. A poster size print would be the perfect addition to that refrigerator box space shuttle your nephew is building.
Apple and the Mysterious Case of the Missing Moonshot – Businessweek
When John Morrell left his post at Yale University last year and decamped to Apple (AAPL), some members of the robotics community were perplexed.
Morrell, a robotics whiz and one of the leading engineers behind the Segway, had been tapped as director for Yale’s newly opening Center for Engineering Innovation & Design. This center marked a play by Yale to reinvigorate its engineering and applied sciences efforts. (You may not have noticed, but Yale grads haven’t exactly been killing it in the technology scene.) Morrell had been overseeing research around how robots climb stairs and open doors, and how humans generally interact with machines. And then—poof—the superstar director bailed on the project.
Since Apple discloses very little about upcoming projects, it’s anyone’s guess what Morrell is actually working on. My roboticist friends think he must be working on something pretty fantastic to have quit the Yale post. My great hope is that he is indeed building a robot that transforms health care, or crafting the first mind-bending consumer 3D printer, or devising something far more spectacular.
via Apple and the Mysterious Case of the Missing Moonshot – Businessweek.
VISTA’s Look at Helix Nebula | Space.com
ESO’s Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) has captured this unusual view of the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293), a planetary nebula located 700 light-years away. The coloured picture was created from images taken through Y, J and K infrared filters. While bringing to light a rich background of stars and galaxies, the telescope’s infrared vision also reveals strands of cold nebular gas that are mostly obscured in visible images of the Helix.
100,000 Stars
This is probably one of the most awe inspiring interactive things I have seen in a while. Try it. Be awed.
BBC News – Curiosity Mars rover beams images of ancient streambed
Nasa’s Curiosity rover has only been on the surface of Mars seven weeks but it has already turned up evidence of past flowing water on the planet.
The robot has returned pictures of classic conglomerates – rocks that are made up of gravels and sand.
Scientists on the mission team say the size and rounded shape of the pebbles in the rock indicate they had been transported and eroded in water.
Researchers think the rover has found a network of ancient streams.
The rocks, which were described in a media briefing at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, were likely laid down “several billion years ago”. But the actual streams themselves may have persisted on the surface for long periods, said Curiosity science co-investigator Bill Dietrich of the University of California, Berkeley.
“We would anticipate that it could easily be thousands to millions of years,” he told reporters.
via BBC News – Curiosity Mars rover beams images of ancient streambed.
Why People May Be the Biggest Roadblock for Interstellar Travel | 100-Year Starship | Space.com
The biggest challenge in mounting a space mission to another star may not be technology, but people, experts say.
Scientists, engineers, philosophers, psychologists and leaders in many other fields gathered in Houston last week for the 100 Year Starship Symposium, a meeting to discuss launching an interstellar voyage within 100 years.
“It seems like it would be so hard, and the biggest obstacle is ourselves. Once we get out of our way, once we commit to this, then it’s a done deal,” said former “Star Trek: The Next Generation” actor LeVar Burton, who is serving on the advisory committee of the 100 Year Starship project.
via Why People May Be the Biggest Roadblock for Interstellar Travel | 100-Year Starship | Space.com.
MRO snaps perfect MSL Entry, Descent & Landing Portrait | Chime.in
After making its turbulent and equally successful Entry, Descent and Landing early on August 6, 2012 (GMT), the Curiosity Rover and its Mission Team have started to get settled with the Rover inside Gale Crater and Mission Controllers inside the Surface Operations Control Room. The day was a huge success in terms of the big picture: Curiosity made a successful Landing, returned stable data and telemetry and, as a bonus, started sending amazing images right away.
via MRO snaps perfect MSL Entry, Descent & Landing Portrait | Chime.in.
Ed Parnell's Cunning Plan 