Hasta La Gadget!

NASA has announced that it is set to send the OPALS – or Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science – device to the ISS. What that means is that NASA is sending a laser up to the ISS that can be used to send messages including HD video back to the Earth with more bandwidth and speed than conventional methods. This is a big deal since the amount of data being sent back to Earth is growing constantly.

The OPALS device will be able to send data, including video, to Earth in the form of laser transmissions and is likened to upgrading from dial-up to cable at your home. The conventional method used to send data back from the ISS has about 200 to 400 Kbps of bandwidth. The lasercom device will be able to provide up to 50 Mbps of speed.

NASA says that in the future a similar deep space laser device will be able to support transmissions from Mars at up to 1 Gbps. The laser will head to the ISS this week aboard the SpaceX Dragon resupply cargo ship – assuming that the rocket overcomes its current launch delay.

Elon Musk is brilliant but also a pretty nuts. He has his eye on a piece of real estate on Mars for a colony that would accomodate around 80,000 people. Considering NASA just landed the Curiosity Rover, we might be putting the cart before the horse here. More »

Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.

All good things come to an end, they say. Thankfully, most bad things do, too. So while the rest of the world of tech is dealing with the fallout, and possible implications of patent law, over here in the wild party that is Alt, we’re fist pumping at all the awesome weekly sci-tech fodder. For example, we’ve got a robo-nose that can sniff out nasties in the air, a 110-million-year-old footprint found in NASA’s back yard, and not one, but two space stories to reflect on. There’s a hidden joke in there too, come back once you’ve read through to find it. This is alt-week.

Continue reading Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again

Filed under: Science, Internet, Alt

Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 18:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SpaceX has added another string to its now weighty bow by successfully test firing the Merlin 1D engine, which will propel future craft into the thermosphere. The 1D is the sequel to the Merlin engines used to convey the DragonX to the International Space Station, with an improved thrust-to-weight ratio that reportedly makes it the most efficient booster engine ever built. It’s hoped that the gear will be ready to make the jump to full use in time for the sixth flight of the Falcon 9, currently pencilled in for 2013. If you’re the sort who enjoys watching a big pile of fire being pushed into a concrete chamber, you’re really gonna love the video after the break.

Continue reading Space X successfully test-fires Merlin 1D engine, forgets to buy marshmallows

Space X successfully test-fires Merlin 1D engine, forgets to buy marshmallows originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 09:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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