Hasta La Gadget!

The scientists and engineers of NASA were able to bring the NASA James Webb Space Telescope to SXSW despite terrible weather conditions. The telescope, which is set to be officially released in 2018, will be able to peer farther into the universe to discover all of the crazy and interesting mysteries that Space has to offer. The telescope is available for viewing to over 30,000 attendees of the SXSW festival.

The telescope is a giant step forward for space discovery. It is said to be able to view far into the universe to discover distant galaxies. It will be able to scan “alien planet atmospheres for signs of the ingredients of life.” The scientists hope to be able to find the first light that came out after the Big Bang. The telescope itself is extremely huge. It is able to fit up to Seven Hubble Space Telescope mirrors into just one of its mirrors. It’s currently placed on the lawn at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas.

The attendees will be able to view the materials the James Webb telescope is composed of inside of the space telescope’s tent. All of the components are extremely light. 5 super-thin sheets compose the heat shield on the telescope that helps reduce its temperature by up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit. The telescope is also built to withstand all of the terrible weather conditions Mother Nature has to offer.

The scientists and engineers brought the NASA James Webb Space Telescope to SXSW in order to entice young attendees to pursue a career in science and engineering. The hands-on demonstrations and the descriptions of the telescope are ways to “pique their curiosity.” And apparently the rainy weather that they’re having at SXSW is actually working in favor of the scientists. People are finding refuge from the rain inside of the space telescope’s tent.

[via Los Angeles Times]

NASA James Webb Space Telescope arrives at SXSW is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

One does not simply build an International Space Station. It takes years of planning and, for the astronauts charged with its assembly, months of training and Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) practice in a simulated micro-gravity environment—that also happens to be the world’s largest indoor body of water. More »

Following close on the heels of NASA‘s Curiosity rover being moved from safe mode back into active status following an issue with one of its on-board computers, the space agency has now put it into sleep mode due to the threat of a giant solar flare. The solar flare is expected to hit Mars later this week, and the Curiosity rover is in the hot zone.

The solar flare, which is called a coronal mass ejection (CME), was spotted by NASA a couple days ago. Because the CME is heading towards Mars – specifically an area of Mars where the Curiosity is – the agency pushed out the decision to put Curiosity into sleep mode to help protect against possible damage from radiation. Fortunately, the radiation from these events isn’t typically harmful to rovers and such.

This isn’t the first time the Curiosity rover has been faced with a solar flare, having been blasted with a class M1 ejection back in 2012 during its trip to the Red Planet. Still, the possibility exists that the rover could be damaged, but there’s little that can be done except wait-and-see. While Curiosity is being put into sleep mode, the agency’s Opportunity rover will still be active.

This setback follows one that was recently settled involving the rover’s on-board computer, which became corrupted, forcing it to use the backup secondary computer instead. NASA put the rover in Safe Mode temporarily while it worked on the issue, and has been working on recovering the corrupted computer to work as a backup. This was the robot’s first big issue.

[via The Space Reporter]

NASA prepares Curiosity rover for huge solar flare is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

NASA’s Hubble Telescope peered deep into a cluster of galaxies called Abell 68 recently, and found a wicked space invader that looks like it’s headed right for us. Brace for impact! More »

On March 1, we reported that NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover had experienced its first big problem, an issue with a corrupted on-board computer that prevented the robot from going into sleep mode. Fortunately, the machine has a secondary backup computer, but the malfunction prompted Curiosity to be put into Safe Mode as a precaution. NASA announced earlier today that it has been transitioned back into its active status.

The process happened over the period of about a week, which the space agency had initially stated would be the estimated transition period during which operations were switched to the secondary computer. The cause of the corruption is still being determined, but word has it that space radiation could be to blame.

The corruption issue was limited to the computer’s memory, and so NASA is in the process of getting it back up and running to use as the backup computer for the secondary side, which is now in use. The secondary computer is known as the “B-side,” while the first computer is known as the “A-side.” This is the worst problem the rover has encountered over the last seven months.

Said NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Project Manager Richard Cook, “We are making good progress in the recovery. One path of progress is evaluating the A-side with intent to recover it as a backup. Also, we need to go through a series of steps with the B-side, such as informing the computer about the state of the rover — the position of the arm, the position of the mast, that kind of information.”

[via NASA]

Mars Curiosity rover is no longer in safe mode, says NASA is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.