The tiny black dots set against their glowing host stars above represent 1,235 potential alien planets discovered by NASA’s Kepler mission. With any luck, at least one of them has never heard of Justin Bieber.
Visualized: 1,235 potential alien planets originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
When we reported on Japan’s plans to track the re-entry process of its Kounotori 2 spacecraft with a black-box-style recorder, there were still some unanswered questions: specifically, would the REBR (Re-entry Breakup Recorder) sink or swim. Well, according to an announcement from the device’s creator, the thing not only survived the fiery plunge to Earth, but it also stayed afloat after plunking down in the South Pacific Ocean on Tuesday. During free fall, the REBR did as it was expected, automatically monitoring, recording, and eventually transmitting data about the re-entry process, and while the thing was admittedly “not designed to survive impact with the water,” it continued relaying information even after landing. The next scheduled REBR mission is planned for June — here’s hoping the new guy’s as buoyant as its buddy. Full PR after the break.
Continue reading Japanese spacecraft’s ‘black box’ recorder survives flaming fall to earth
Japanese spacecraft’s ‘black box’ recorder survives flaming fall to earth originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 02 Apr 2011 09:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
It may look like a spotty, monochromatic water melon, but we’re taking NASA’s word on this one — the image above is the very first taken from an orbiting spacecraft of our solar system’s innermost planet. Mercury has been snapped by NASA’s MESSENGER probe, which is currently preparing itself to start on its elliptical trajectory around the planet and commence collecting data about it in earnest. Hit the links below to learn more about this bold exploration project.
Visualized: Mercury originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
An unmanned cargo ship built by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is set to go up in flames tomorrow in the name of interplanetary research. Along with a load of space station junk, the Kounotori 2 spacecraft is packing something akin to a black box, also known as a Re-entry Breakup Recorder (REBR), that will collect and transmit data about the ship’s final moments. The space station’s crew will activate the REBR before Kounotori 2 begins its final assignment. As soon as it starts showing signs of re-entry, the sensor will begin to collect data including temperature, acceleration, and rotation rate, and will then break away from the craft for a final free fall to Earth, at which point the REBR will dump its findings. Scientist hope the device will help answer questions about exactly what happens when things fall apart during re-entry. If all goes according to plan, the REBR will plunk down in the ocean sometime later, but its host will never be seen again… farewell, Kounotori 2.
Japan sends Kounotori 2 spacecraft on suicide mission to study re-entry process originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Among the many great feats of his career, film director James Cameron counts the rather unorthodox achievement of being able to convince NASA to use a stereoscopic camera on its next Mars rover project. Unfortunately for him, us, and the hard working folks over at Malin Space Science Systems, technical snags have been encountered in the integration of the jumbo mastcam (pictured above) with the rover’s hardware and the resulting delays have caused NASA to nix the idea altogether. You might think that 3D visuals of Red Planet gravel will be no great loss, but the MSSS cams also had zoom lenses attached, whereas the research project will now be returning to tried and true fixed focal length imaging. Ah well, such is the bumpy road to interterrestrial enlightenment. NASA’s rover, titled Curiosity, is set to begin its voyage in November of this year, while Cameron and co remain upbeat about the future, saying they’re “certain that this technology will play an important role in future missions.”
NASA forced to abandon plans for 3D camera in next Mars rover, James Cameron not losing faith yet originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 10:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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[artist’s rendering by Robert Becker]
I bet you didn’t think you’d be drinking four cups a day of a fuel that might one day take humans to Mars. Scientists say that a water powered spacecraft could complete a mission to the red planet and back for the cost of a single Space Shuttle launch today. The secret is in solar-powered electrothermal engines, a fancy name for what is essentially a steam jet. The system uses electricity to super-heat water and vent it out of an engine to provide thrust. Meanwhile, water would also be used to shield astronauts from the harmful radiation of space. After that water has been used to protect the inhabitants of the craft, it could later be shifted to the fuel tanks.
This type of recycling makes the system extremely efficient to operate; Space.com quotes software engineer and technology entrepreneur Brian McConnell saying that a trip to Mars’s moon Phobos and back would cost $1 billion, or 30 times less than traditional chemical rockets. Plus, with that much water on board, crew members could possibly grow crops and have hot baths. Pretty luxurious for an extra-planetary trip.
When the spaceship comes back home, it could be kept in low-earth-orbit to simplify its use in future trips. McConnell sees the vessels being used for several decades before they need to be replaced, similar to the Space Shuttle’s long history of service. With fresh food, hot baths and a low price tag, the water-powered rocket is a pretty attractive vision of the future. And an interesting point of discussion over a nice cool glass of rocket-fuel.
[via Space.com]
If you know anything about the history of spaceflight, you’re probably already familiar with the historic journey of USSR cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who flew around the Earth in 1961, making him the first person to ever travel beyond our planet’s atmosphere. While audio recordings of Gagarin’s observations exist, there are no video recordings except for those recently shot at the ISS following a similar plot of his trip, directed by Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli, who currently lives on the space station. This video has now been matched up with Gagarin’s audio, and made into a film to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his flight, which is on April 12th. The movie will be made available on that date for free download on YouTube.
Film recreation of Soviet cosmonaut Gagarin’s historic spaceflight to be shown off next month originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 Mar 2011 07:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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This is Stardust, NASA’s comet hunter about 312,000,000 kilometers from Earth. Yesterday, they ordered her main engines to burn at full throttle until they consumed all the available fuel, and then turned off her radio. But why? More »
Lasers destroy missiles, missiles shoot down satellites, and soon, satellites may tell both where to aim, as the United States successfully managed to track an entire ballistic missile launch from “birth-to-death” with its prototype Space Tracking and Surveillance System. After a year and a half in orbit, two Northrop Grumman-built satellites managed the feat last week, in what the company’s calling “the Holy Grail for missile defense.” While we’re not reading about any plans to mount any lasers on the satellite’s… ahem… heads, Space News reports that the US Navy will attempt to relay the satellite tracking data to its Aegis ships with interceptor missiles on board, and hopefully obliterate incoming projectiles with the extra range and reaction time that satellite coordinates afford. The Navy has reportedly scheduled its first game of space-based Missile Command for next month.
US satellites successfully track ballistic missile from cradle to grave, don’t pay for the flowers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
No, that’s not the Apollo command module you’re looking at up there. What’s old is new again in space design, and what’s floating weightless above this text is a photo of humanity’s next great chariot into space. It’s the Orion spacecraft from Lockheed Martin, commissioned for NASA and designed to carry a crew of four not just for trips into orbit but well out into the solar system. Lockheed Martin has just taken the wraps off the thing for the first time, also showing off its new Space Operations Simulation Center (SOSC), located neither in Houston nor Cape Canaveral. It is instead dug into built atop the bedrock in Colorado, theoretically isolating it from seismic and other disturbances so that the testing crew can do their thing without any outside interference. In that bunker the ship is currently testing ahead of a planned first launch in 2013, taking a crew into orbit as soon as 2016. Mars? That might be another few years.
Update: John wrote in to point out that the facility is actually built on some bedrock, not within the bedrock. So, it’s not an underground lair after all — but it’s still a lair by golly.
Lockheed Martin shows off Orion spacecraft, new secret lair originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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