May 14

Spacecraft to Conduct Massive Experiment–With Lasers

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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NASA and ESA are planning to launch three spacecraft into orbit around the sun some three million miles apart, and then have them shoot lasers at each other, Popular Science reports.
You may want to stop for a moment and just bask in the coolness of that idea. Back yet? The purpose of this project will be to prove one last part of Einstein’s theory of relativity: the existence of gravitational waves, or “huge ripples in time and space that flow outwards from the collision of huge celestial bodies like black holes,” as the report said.
To do this, NASA and ESA will deploy LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna; it consists of three spacecraft that will fire lasers at each other and measure the relative positions of floating cubes of gold and platinum alloy–with a precision of 40 millionths of a millionth of a meter.
The project is set for launch in 2020.
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May 14

Student moves quadriplegics with Wiimote wheelchair control (video)

Posted in: diy, hack, Hacks, hands-on, mod, mods, nintendo, nintendo wii, NintendoWii, science, Today's Chili, video

There were certainly a couple whiz kids at Intel’s International Science and Engineering Fair this year, but high school senior John Hinckel’s a regular MacGyver: he built a wheelchair remote control out of a couple sheets of transparent plastic, four sliding furniture rails and some string. A Nintendo Wiimote goes in your hat and tells the whole system what to do — simply tilt your head in any direction, and accelerometer readings are sent over Bluetooth. The receiving laptop activates microcontrollers, directing servo motors to pull the strings, and acrylic gates push the joystick accordingly to steer your vehicle. We tried on the headset for ourselves and came away fairly impressed — it’s no mind control, but for $534 in parts, it just might do. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones who thought so, as patents are pending, and a manufacturer of wheelchair control systems has already expressed interest in commercializing the idea. See the young inventor show it off after the break.

Continue reading Student moves quadriplegics with Wiimote wheelchair control (video)

Student moves quadriplegics with Wiimote wheelchair control (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 May 2010 08:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 13

Space Adventures undercuts Virgin Galactic — announces $100,000 space tourism flight

Posted in: science, space, Today's Chili
Space tourism is something we here at Engadget have always been pretty fond of in theory — it is the final frontier, after all — but the prohibitive (exorbitant, extravagant, ridiculous) $200,000 price tag on a Virgin Galactic flight pretty much ended any small hopes we ever harbored of getting on one. So, would a reduction of about 50 percent be enough to get us to sign up? That’s the question that Virginia-based Space Adventures is asking. The company’s just announced it’s going to offer flights into suborbital space through an exclusive agreement with Armadillo Aerospace, which is currently developing the rockets for the journeys. A trip with Space Adventures is set to cost just $102,000. We still can’t afford it, but we’re certainly glad to see the prices fall from insane to outrageous. So, what about you? Are you in?

Space Adventures undercuts Virgin Galactic — announces $100,000 space tourism flight originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 May 2010 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 13

Jupiter Suddenly Looks Different

Posted in: science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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Anyone check out Jupiter in their telescope recently? The solar system’s largest planet seems to have lost its Southern Equatorial Belt (SEB), after a several month period where the planet remained hidden behind the sun, Popular Science reports.
This actually isn’t unprecedented; Jupiter’s bands are actually very complex cloud systems made up of ammonia ice, sulfur, and phosphorous, and are constantly changing and shifting appearance. Usually it’s not to this extent, though; the last two times this happened were 1973 and in the early 1990s, the report said.
The difference here is that it happened much more quickly this time, as the comparison photo indicates (pictured). The article said that soon–sometime within the next few weeks to a few months–a bright white spot will appear and begin “seeding the former belt with dark blobs.” Eventually, the SEB will return to its former appearance–or at least we think it will.
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May 11

Europe Chooses Cosmonauts for Mars Simulation

Posted in: science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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An 18-month simulated mission to Mars has two new members, a Frenchman and a Columbian-Italian, BBC News reports.
Both will join two Russians and a Chinese national in entering a set of steel containers on June 3rd. The Mars500 “spaceship,” located in Russia’s Institute of Biomedical Problems, has no windows; the goal is to test the physical and mental requirements of super-long spaceflight, the report said.
The containers will house all the necessary food and water, and will even feature a time delay in communications with “Earth” after the first two months of the “trip.”
After about 250 days aboard the four-container Mars500, half of the crew will enter a “landing craft” and “descend” to the planet (a fifth container) where they’ll walk around wearing modified spacesuits. More crew members will be chosen in the coming days, according to the report.
I don’t know about you, but I’m off to re-read some good Mars fiction.
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May 10

NASA Troubleshooting Voyager 2 Issue

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Today's Chili
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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab announced that it is working on a data transmission problem with Voyager 2. JPL said that the issue appears to be related to the flight data system, which formats data before sending it back to Earth. Signals currently take about 13 hours to travel each way between the spacecraft and our planet.
“Voyager 2’s initial mission was a four-year journey to Saturn, but it is still returning data 33 years later,” said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, in a statement. “It has already given us remarkable views of Uranus and Neptune, planets we had never seen close-up before. We will know soon what it will take for it to continue its epic journey of discovery.”
Voyager 2 launched on August 20, 1977, about two weeks before its twin Voyager 1 spacecraft. The two craft are currently the most distant human-made objects, and are out at the edge of the solar system. Mission managers expect Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 to exit our system and enter interstellar space in about five years.
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May 07

NASA Shoots Orion Capsule into the Desert Sky

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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NASA engineers have a hit a new level with testing for the Orion crew capsule, and have successfully catapulted it about a mile into the air Thursday at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the Associated Press reports.
The idea was to test a launch-abort system, in development for four years, that could return astronauts and the capsule itself to safety in the event of a launch pad fire or other problem during the craft’s launch sequence.
The report said the test “marked the first time a launch-abort system of this type has been used for a U.S. space travel system since the Apollo rockets of the 1960s and 1970s.” NASA originally planned the Orion capsule as a way to take astronauts back to the moon, but the Obama administration has redirected resources toward building more advanced rockets.
In this capacity, one possibility is that the Orion capsule could function as an emergency escape vehicle for the International Space Station, and prevent the need to rely on Russia’s Soyuz capsule for that purpose.
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May 07

Researchers Examine Robot-Inflicted Injuries

Posted in: robot, robotics, Robots Robotics, science, Today's Chili

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I suggest you keep your hands in your pockets for this one. German researchers at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics have recently studied injuries caused by robots using sharp tools working alongside humans, BBC News reports.
To conduct the tests, the researchers employed a 31-pound robot arm holding a variety of bladed tools “programmed to strike test substances that mimic soft tissue.” (Ouch!)
Some of the test cases led to what would be considered lethal injuries, the report said. The idea behind the study was to gather data in order to learn how to develop safer robots that could aid humans in domestic settings–and probably on a much more significant level than what we’re used to today.

For more on robot rampages, check out Lance Ulanoff’s column at PCMag.com: “When It Comes to Robots, We’re Brainless.”

(Image credit: The Jetsons/Cartoon Network)

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May 06

NASA to Use Ocean Floor as Underwater Lab

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili

NASA_NEEMO_Undersea.jpg

We’ve already heard of expeditions in Antarctica to simulate conditions on other planets, but this idea reaches new depths.
NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston announced Wednesday that it will again participate in the NASA Extreme Environment Missions Operation (NEEMO) mission.
The mission will use the ocean’s floor as a way to simulate the low-gravity conditions astronauts would experience on another planet’s surface. The idea is to learn how a future crew might interact with the lander, rover, robotic arms, and other gear.
The 14-day undersea expedition will take place aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Aquarius Underwater Laboratory near Key Largo. In addition, teachers and students in the Middle School Aerospace Scholars program on May 11th will participate in an event to navigate a rover along a predetermined course on the ocean floor.
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May 05

Upcoming NASA Telescope Passes Critical Milestone

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
NASA_James_Webb_Telescope_ESA.jpg
NASA scientists announced that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an infrared telescope that can look further back in the universe’s history than ever before, has officially met all science and engineering requirements ahead of its upcoming mission, Space.com reports.
The $5 billion JWST is a sort-of-successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, but its focus on the infrared spectrum means we’ll likely see less of the gorgeous astrophotography we’ve become used to from Hubble, at least from this spacecraft.
That said, the JWST can observe older light, see deeper into the universe, and provide important clues about the Big Bang and the evolution of our own solar system, the report said–not to mention the formation of star systems capable of supporting extraterrestrial life.
The JWST is scheduled to enter hardware production in 2012 ahead of its planned launch in 2014.
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