Hasta La Gadget!

Human bases built on other planets is a routine happening – at least as far as the realm of science fiction is concerned. But so far, there hasn’t been a real base put out there in a heavenly body by our race. That is about to change, though.

NASA has unveiled its ambition of building a base on the moon. This is not the first time someone has come up with such an ambitious plan. Space agencies of both Japan and Russia have articulated similar plans in the past. So far, none of these plans have materialized. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Thor Hammer inspires NASA project for satellite deployment, NASA’s Z-1 prototype spacesuit is completely versatile,

In the early days of space exploration, NASA basically made up procedure on the fly. With little knowledge of the world outside our atmosphere, agency physicians worried what humans might encounter out there. Maybe John Glenn would go Space Blind. Maybe the Apollo 11 crew would track an Andromeda Strain through the Lunar Command Module, unleashing a deadly moon virus on a defenseless earth. More »

Last week, we talked about the space shuttle Endeavour making its farewell flight around California as it headed to LAX for landing. This space shuttle was flown around several highly visited areas in the Los Angeles basin perched atop a modified Boeing 747 aircraft. The Endeavour will ultimately end up living the remainder of its days in Los Angeles at the California Science Center.

The last 12 miles of Endeavour’s journey will be the slowest of them all. The space shuttle will be transferred across surface streets in the city of Los Angeles at speeds of around two mph or under. Previously, we talked about a number of old trees that had to be cut down to make room for the space shuttle to drive down Los Angeles streets.

The space shuttle remains at the airport until its final journey begins on October 12. For now, the space shuttle resides in a hangar at the airport and will be rolled out in mid-October by four computer-controlled transport vehicles. The massive size of the space shuttle measuring 78-feet wide and 58-feet tall means special concessions had to be made by the city to remove obstacles all along the path.

Other than having to remove trees, streetlights and power lines also had to be moved. Trees and other removed obstacles will be replaced once the space shuttle reaches its final destination. Endeavour will arrive at the California Science Center on October 13. At that time, the museum will spend about two weeks touching up the orbiter and the shuttle will go on display on October 30. The final exhibit will feature the space shuttle in a vertical position accompanied by its massive fuel tank and rocket boosters. The final exhibit isn’t expected to be completed for about five years.

[via MSNBC]

Endeavour successfully completes its Los Angeles-area flyovers is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Famed cinematographer and Gizmodo friend Vincent Laforet went to Los Angeles International Airport to capture the last flight of space shuttle Endeavour using a RED Epic camera at 5K resolution with Canon 800mm 5.6 lens in slow motion—-96 frames per second. More »

Curiosity is rolling around the surface of Mars looking for interesting rocks to study. The rover has come across a rock laying on the surface of Mars with very interesting pyramid shape. The rock was discovered as Curiosity was cruising to an area known as Glenelg.

NASA researchers expect to find a combination of three different types of geological terrain in the Glenelg area. The pyramid-shaped rock is 2.5 m in front of the rover in the photograph above and measures 25 cm tall and 40 cm wide. Curiosity will take some time to test the rock before it moves on to its target area.

Researchers believe that the rock is a lump of Martian basalt, and researchers have given it a curious name. The rock is called “Jake Matijevic” and is named after the surface operations systems chief engineer for Mars Science Laboratory. Matijevic died just after Curiosity touched down on Mars on August 6.

According to scientist John Grotzinger, the pyramid-shaped rock isn’t uncommon and is believed to be a product of wind erosion. He also noted that the consensus is the rock was ejected by an impact somewhere else, possibly outside of the Gail Crater. The researcher noted that the pyramid-shaped rock is weathering slower than the material around it indicating that it’s a harder rock.

[via News.com.au]

Curiosity discovers pyramid-shaped rock on Mars is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.