Hasta La Gadget!

NASA might have found 3 new planets in the habitable zone, but all of that would not amount to much until there really is solid, undeniable evidence of life out there. Well, here is something a little closer to home, with NASA sharing that they would want to project a webcast of the Lyrid meteor shower live. Of course, it has been calculated that the annual Lyrid meteor shower have peaked overnight on Sunday and Monday, but those who missed it will be able to check out live images of the Lyrid meteor shower tonight as well as early Tuesday (April 22nd and April 23rd if you happen to have misplaced your calendar) – being a boon to those living in areas affected by bad weather or light-polluted night skies.

The broadcast from NASA will kick off at 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 April 23) and it will run throughout the entire evening. If you are interested, you can always catch the Lyrid meteor shower webcast here, thanks to NASA’s MSFC feed.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Acer Teases “A Unique Notebook” In Star Trek Trailer Video, QuickerTek EyeBattery Upgraded, Supports MagSafe 2 Adapters Now,

The space shuttle Endeavour finally bid adieu to its fans in Southern California last weekend, not in the air, but on city streets. The L.A. Times captured this remarkable feat in a time-lapse video, and it’s quite a sight to see the orbiter sailing past suburban houses and fast food drive-thrus. Along its 12-mile crosstown trip from LAX to the California Science Center in Exposition Park, the shuttle atop a special transporter had to maneuver past trees, utility poles and of course hundreds of enthralled residents. This came weeks after it made its farewell tour over the California coast perched on a Boeing 747. Take a peek at the Endeavour’s final fascinating journey at the source.

Filed under: Transportation

Visualized: Space shuttle Endeavour goes on a crosstown journey through LA streets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 17 Oct 2012 03:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASA and the US government may have moved on from the shuttle program, but it’s clear that the American people are still in love with our nation’s cosmic cargo planes. An estimated 20,000 people showed up at the Ames Research Center/Moffet Air Force Base in Mountain View, California this morning to see Endeavour buzz the tower. With so many folks itchin’ to see Endeavour’s farewell tour firsthand, the line to get in was lengthy, but we braved the crowds to bring you some shots of the action. Enjoy.

[Thanks to Chris Williams for helping with some of the crowd shots]

Update: Canon/RED guru and LA-based DP Vincent Laforet caught the shuttle’s final approach and landing at LAX. You’ll find the slow-motion clip, shot at 5K resolution on a RED Epic at 96 frames-per-second with an 800mm Canon f/5.6 lens, just past the break.

Continue reading Vizualized: Bay Area bids adieu to Space Shuttle Endeavour (update: video)

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Vizualized: Bay Area bids adieu to Space Shuttle Endeavour (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 18:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s a story that we hoped we’d never have to report. Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on Earth’s Moon, has died at the age of 82 after complications from heart surgery three weeks earlier. His greatest accomplishment very nearly speaks for itself — along with help from fellow NASA astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, he changed the landscape of space exploration through a set of footprints. It’s still important to stress his accomplishments both before and after the historic Apollo 11 flight, though. He was instrumental to the Gemini and X-series test programs in the years before Apollo, and followed his moonshot with roles in teaching aerospace engineering as well as investigating the Apollo 13 and Space Shuttle Challenger incidents. What more can we say? Although he only spent a very small portion of his life beyond Earth’s atmosphere, he’s still widely considered the greatest space hero in the US, if not the world, and inspired a whole generation of astronauts. We’ll miss him.

[Image credit: NASA Apollo Archive]

Filed under: Transportation, Science, Alt

Pioneering astronaut Neil Armstrong dies at 82 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 15:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s a sad day for space travel. Sally Ride, the first American woman to ever travel to space, has died at the age of 61 after a bout with pancreatic cancer. She’s best known for breaking NASA’s gender barrier by flying on Space Shuttle Challenger on June 18th, 1983, but she spent much more of her time guiding our future in space while here on Earth — she founded NASA’s Office of Exploration and directed its early strategy, and she later went on to lead the California Space Institute as well as teach physics at the University of California in San Diego. Her final decade saw her establish Sally Ride Science to encourage students wanting to follow in her footsteps, especially girls. Ride blazed one of the brighter trails in technology, and she’ll be missed.

Update: Ride is survived by her same-sex partner of 27 years, Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy.

[Image credit: National Archives]

Filed under: Transportation, Science

Sally Ride, first American woman in space, dies at 61 (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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