Hasta La Gadget!

This morning you’ll first want to see the… plentiful bounty… that Rockstar has unleashed in preparation for Grand Theft Auto V – two screenshots! Next in a slightly more impressive display, analysts have predicted that a whopping 6.5 million Galaxy S III units have been sold in the second quarter of 2012. Today also marks a total of 50 years since the first live television satellite broadcast.

Over at Facebook you may have already noticed – calendar view is now live, ready to bring you all of your events in a much easier to read format than ever before. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 is ready for action soon – very possible with a lovely new set of lockscreen notifications onboard. Toshiba has brought forth a beast: the AL13SE 2.5″ HDD complete with 900GB at 10,500RPM.

A team-up has been announced between Planetary Resources and Virgin Galactic for the rushing of payloads to government-run operations (in space). A brand new watch that’s stranger than all the rest has been revealed: Tokyoflash Kisai Online: Tilt for time and you’ll find what you need.

Don’t forget to check out our Acer Predator AG3620G-UR21P gaming desktop Review for ultimate black and orange action.

Yahoo has had something like 453,000 accounts hacked this week – so watch out for that one. Get your hands on a brand new pair of 3D printed running shoes. The Nintendo Wii U has all but been promised at under $400 USD for later this year – or perhaps early next year. The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted something brand new in our own galaxy – a fifth moon orbiting Pluto. But it’s still not a planet.

SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: July 12, 2012 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Virgin Galactic’s has a new spaceship: LauncherOne. It’s a new air-launched rocket designed to put small satellites into orbit. LauncherOne is a cheap way for universities and private companies to get their own devices orbiting Earth: More »

Virgin Galactic has revealed the next step of its plans to commercialize space flight, unveiling LauncherOne, a new launch vehicle that promises to significantly cut the cost of space exploration. The satellite launch platform will cut the cost of putting a satellite into space to potentially just a quarter of current expeditions, down to under $10m and opening up the possibility to universities and research groups.

“This new vehicle will change the whole satellite industry and space-based science research” Virgin Group founder Richard Branson said of the LauncherOne reveal. “Even before this official launch we have the largest order book of any new launch vehicle ever. The cost of putting a satellite into space before Virgin Galactic was around $30-40 million. We’ll be able to do it for under $10 million, opening up space to thousands of new groups, universities and research programs.”

LauncherOne will use the same WhiteKnightTwo ”mothership” as Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo will rely on, currently on its 100th test flight, and which will provide a moving launch point for the company’s missions. When approximately 50,000 feet above sea level, LauncherOne will be released from its berth underneath WhiteKnightTwo, free-fall for around four seconds, and then trigger its first stage rocket. After that, the second stage will fire one or more times, until the satellite payload is delivered to low-earth orbit.

“LauncherOne will go around the world at 80,000mph in 80 minutes” Branson said today. “It’s actually 90 minutes, but I thought around the world in 80 minutes sounded better!”

In LauncherOne’s favor is WhiteKnightTwo’s flexibility: Virgin Galactic will be able to fly the platform to customers’ centers of operation, rather than them have to transport satellites to fixed launch positions. “LauncherOne in its most typical configuration will be capable of delivering on the order of 500 lb (225 kg) to low inclination Low Earth Orbit,” Virgin Galactic says, “and 225 lb (100 kg) to a higher altitude, Sun-Synchronous Low Earth Orbit. Other configurations may offer significantly greater performance.”

Virgin Galactic reveals LauncherOne to quarter cost of satellite launches is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.