Sep 06
This is what a Virgin Galactic supersonic flight with the SpaceShipTwo looks like, up close and personal. It’s not quite space, but it’s still damn gorgeous to watch.
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Sep 06
One of the most interesting companies participating in the private space field is Virgin Galactic. The company will take those rich enough to afford a ticket on a trip into orbit around the Earth. Before the spacecraft, dubbed SpaceShip Two, can take off and hit orbit, it has to pass some flight tests. Virgin Galactic […]
Sep 05
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo might not have the flashiest name, but a lack of nominal originality didn’t stop it from completing its second test flight today at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Back in April, SpaceShipTwo’s first flight hit an altitude of 55,000 feet (traveling at Mach 1.2) before descending, but this time around, the little rocket plane that could one-upped itself. After being ferried to a height of approximately 40,000 feet by carrier-craft WhiteKnightTwo, the ship soared to an impressive 69,000 feet at Mach 1.4 while the engine roared for a total of 20 seconds. The outing, led by pilots Mark Stucky and Clint Nichols, also marked the first test of the craft’s wing-tilting re-entry system. According to Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson, SpaceShipTwo’s progress means that the company is still on track to launch its commercial service in 2014. To see the test flight for yourself, check out the video after the break.
Filed under: Transportation
Via: NBC News
Source: MARS Scientific, Virgin Galactic (Twitter)
Sep 05
Kirobo, the mini-robot / Japanese Space Agency marketer, has spoken his first words in space after being launched last month. The University of Tokyo and Toyota research project wished Earth “good morning” and mouthed other space platitudes from his perch at the International Space Station. The bot can also recognize voices and will converse with astronauts as part of his mission goals. Then, after he’s lulled them into a false sense of security…
Filed under: Robots, Transportation, Alt
Sep 05
This is a picture of NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) observatory, which is due to launch tomorrow—but it’s spinning fast enough to make you feel really quite sick.
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Sep 04
Are you ready for Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity? Alternatively, are you ready for a panic attack to melt your brain into grey ooze? This latest trailer basically takes you on a roller coaster of fear through the gigantic emptiness of space. You’ll see Sandra Bullock twist and turn and spin and basically lose all control and kill any dream to become an astronaut. Nuts.
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Sep 04
A group of scientists from Canada have discovered evidence that an extraplanetary body came down over Canada about 12,900 years ago. The evidence suggests that the comet might have triggered the death of giant animals roaming North America and triggered a cooling spell in the Earth’s climate. Scientists say that during the Younger Dryas climatic […]
Sep 03
One of the key chemical ingredients scientists believe to be required for life is phosphate. Phosphate is plentiful here on Earth, but scientists now believe that phosphate could’ve been more abundant on ancient Mars that it is on earth today. Phosphate is believed to be a required component for life because it is the backbone […]
Sep 02
There are, as best we can estimate, hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. (There may be more.) Average galaxies carry the weight of hundreds of billions of stars. If a habitable planet whirls around just one star in every million, the number of worlds which could harbor life would number in the quadrillions. (Roughly 10 to the 16, i.e. unfathomably many.)
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Sep 02
This image shows a great white expanse on the surface of Earth, but it’s not snow or super-fine sand: in fact, it’s a dried up salt lake in Turkey called Lake Tersakan—and satellites even use it as a calibration tool.
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