Stand aside Michael Jordan, because ex-Washington Redskins linebacker Ken Harvey has been pitching NASA scientists and venture capitalists alike on a high concept sport: Float Ball. Planned for venues including space shuttles, the Moon and even Mars, needless to say, it's a crazy idea. Actually, scratch that. It's only a half-crazy idea. Float Ball is a combination of football and basketball in a zero gravity environment. Players bounce their way through the court, ricocheting off the floor, ceiling, obstacles and other players. The goal is to throw the ball through the hoop. The bigger goal is to throw your player with the ball through the hoop—a maneuver we're coining right this second as the space jam. Despite Harvey's popularity space entertainment circles, he has no plans on how to fund the space sport. But he doesn't expect the vision to actualize over night. Astronaut fitness programs coupled with VR simulators would naturally progress into high stakes competitive sportutainment. And while he may be right, Harvey forgets about one thing: Geeks hate jocks. So go build your own spaceship, a'hole. [NYT]
[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
At Last, Space Football Is Coming! [Sports]
Debunk: Xbox 360 streams HD Netflix over component just fine
There's some hysterical outrage out there right now over the New Xbox Experience's HD Netflix HDCP restrictions -- apparently it only works with HDCP-compliant digital displays, which is prompting a lot of hand-wringing about copyright restrictions and whether older 360s will get "locked out." Well, we're here to make it all better -- that's our NXE-equipped 360 connected over component, happily playing back HD Netflix at 1080i. See? Works fine. The problem is that some older LCD monitors don't support HDCP over DVI, so if you're in the minority of people using an HDMI to DVI adapter to drive an older display that doesn't do HDCP, HD Netflix won't work, since it can't authenticate. That's not the best situation, but DVI isn't a default supported 360 output, so we wouldn't expect 100 percent compatibility -- and besides, you can always run VGA. We're waiting on official confirmation from Microsoft of all this -- we want to get things absolutely right -- but in the meantime you can console yourself with another shot of HD Heroes over component after the break.Update: Yes, it works with movies too -- we just tried it with The Orphanage (above), and it looked great.
[ Via: Engadget ]
Google, NASA Team Up to Bring Internet to Space [Space]
Google and NASA are partnering up to let space beings (and astronauts) wander the web from up in orbit. Google VP Vint Cerf and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have started working together to create a standardized internet for space, which can finally replace the one-time-use radio equipment system we've been shooting up there since the 1970s. Communicating in space presents a bunch of problems—the Earth's rotation causes senders and receivers to be constantly changing positions, and the long distance causes equally long delays. Our current radio-based network is tailored to almost every new mission, meaning that older equipment can't be repurposed for newer shuttles. Cerf, who more or less co-created the internet, is now figuring out new protocols that'll work in the final frontier. The project, called Interplanetary Internet, will be tested aboard the International Space Station in 2009. If it works out, space missions in the future will be able to use the same systems, ultimately making communicating from above much, much cheaper and easier. I wonder what their ping rates will be. [Technology Review]
[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
EA-18G Fighter Jet Growls Enemy Networks Away [Airplanes]
When I first came across this photo I thought it was a new classified starfighter being tested by the Navy and Boeing Phantom Works in a secret underground anechoic chamber in the Moon. Then I realized it had the shape of something closer to Earth: It looked like an F-18 but it is not. It's an EA-18G Growler, a variant of the F/A-18F Super Hornet Block II that is not designed to kill kill faster faster, but for airborne electronic attacks. Now finishing its testing phase as it gets ready to enter action next action, the EA-18G will replace the current and aging EA-6B Prowler. With its two F414-GE-400 engines, totalling 44,000-pound of trust, it's a much more powerful beast than the 4-seater Prowler. The EA-18G's mission is to jam the enemy networks from the air, using a variety of systems installed on a pallet in the gun bay and in two wingtip pods. The remaining nine weapons stations are available for other pods containing the electronics necessary for standoff jamming, escort jamming, time critical strike, and communications countermeasures. In the cockpit, it has an active electronically scanned array radar, which is capable of pinpointing the targets that need to be jammed (or destroyed using specialized radio-bound missiles) with greater accuracy than ever before. In other words, to give mess with the Wi-Fi network of all those terrorist living in their desert caves.
[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
NASA demos 2020's 12-wheeled, pressurized lunar rover concept car
We've all seen black and white footage of astronauts on the moon hot doggin' it over craters and dunes in a trick electric buggy, but that was over thirty years ago. In 2020, when a new generation of astronauts head there, they'll need a new generation of whip too, and that's just what NASA recently demonstrated to the public. Called the Small Pressurized Rover Concept, it looks to be an evolution of the 12-wheeled Chariot prototype we saw earlier this year, pimped out with an air-tight cabin that sleeps two and some bitchin' gold dubs. Inside a pair of explorers can go lunar RVing for up to two weeks at a time, covering 625 miles on one charge at a leisurely 6 mph, hopping out through rear-mounted (non-next-gen) spacesuits when something interesting catches their eye. You know, like aliens or something. Could happen.
[Thanks, Peter D.]
[ Via: Engadget ]
[ Tag: lunar rover, lunar vehicle, LunarRover, LunarVehicle, moon, nasa, small pressurized rover concept, SmallPressurizedRoverConcept ]
Hubble's 486 Computer Blue Screens (i.e. Fails), Repair Efforts Remain in Limbo [Hubble Space Telescope]
Hold the phone, people, the Hubble is still broken. There was word early Thursday morning that a Monkey Island-era 486 backup computer was going to take the reigns and begin mission critical operations, but a day later NASA scientists revealed the dusty old thing was better suited for minesweeper than capturing awe-inspiring deep field images of the observable universe. The 486 was activated Thursday, and that went well, NASA scientists said. It was everything else on board the aging space telescope that pooped the bed, unfortunately. When the 486 fired up, a low-voltage power supply issue sidelined one of Hubble's cameras, and prevented it from rebooting properly. Not good. After that, further unidentified "computer trouble" hit Hubble hard, and ended all recovery efforts instantly. Now NASA is tasked with going through piles of data beamed back from Hubble since the malfunction on Friday to find a cure. Today the best case scenario for Hubble is that engineers get it up and running late next week, said Art Whipple, a Hubble manager. The worst case scenario is Hubble has to wait for human hands to arrive next year as part of a shuttle mission. And fixing the telescope with astronauts is no joke. As we noted in September when this mess first started, fixing Hubble by hand is more risky that you could possibly imagine. Unless you're an astronaut, of course. [MSNBC]
NASA Returns to the Moon as Indian Spacecraft Stowaway [Space]
The Chandrayaan-1, literally "Lunar Craft", launched today from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, on the southeastern coast of India. The spacecraft will orbit the Moon for two years, charting its mineral composition, searching for ice, and helium-3, all three fundamental for the establishment of a lunar outpost. Or a call center. It can go either way. Chandrayaan-1 is India's first mission to our satellite, and it's also NASA's return to the moon after the Apollo missions:
Two NASA instruments to map the lunar surface will launch on India's maiden moon voyage. The Moon Mineralogy Mapper will assess mineral resources, and the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar, or Mini-SAR, will map the polar regions and look for ice deposits.Apart from these two NASA instruments and three European Space Agency instruments, the Chandrayaan-1 is carrying the C1XS, an X-ray Spectrometer to get high-quality, X-ray spectroscopic mapping of the Moon, a near infrared spectrometer called SIR-2 to study the chemical composition of the Moons crust and mantle, and SARA, the Sub-keV Atom Reflecting Analyser which will study plasma-surface interactions in space for the first time. [ISRO and NASA]
[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
[ Tag: ]
NASA Preparing to Service Hubble for the Last Time, In Glorious Pictures [Nasa]
The Boston Globe's Big Picture blog continues its incredible coverage of all things wonderful to look at today with a spread relating to the space shuttle Atlantis and the Hubble Space Telescope. Atlantis is scheduled to launch on October 8, equipped with all manner of instruments, batteries and gyroscopes for Hubble. Pictured above is one of the massive Atlantis engines being moved to the main bay for installation. That's just one engine, though—there's plenty of space-related tech porn to be found in the rest of the spread, too.
[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
How the Weird Mars Science Laboratory Floating Sky Crane Works [Awesome]
When I read that the UFO-looking Mars Science Laboratory's aeroshell would use a floating crane—called Sky Crane by NASA—to softly land the rover on Mars, I couldn't believe it. Now, watching this hyperrealistic NASA simulation showing how the mechanism actually floats, lowers the rover, and then flies away, I still can't believe it. This is the kind of stuff that makes the kid in me wake up and pay attention with my eyes and mouth wide open. The rockets of the aeroshell—a protective armor that will protect the MSL and guide it through its descent—will fire to steer the capsule towards the desired angle. When this is achieved, a long parachute will open to slow down the Mars Science Laboratory as it enters zooms down the Martian atmosphere. As soon as the capsule slows down, the heat shield will eject leaving the rover exposed inside the aeroshell, attached to the floating crane mechanism. That's when the whole landing process gets weird: The floating crane's rockets will fire up to further slow the descent. The top part of the aeroshell will then detach completely, leaving the sky crane alone holding the MSL rover, slowly descending towards the planet's surface. A few hundred meters above the terrain, the floating sky crane will start lowering the rover down using "a trio of bridles and one umbilical cord" until it touches down. At that time, the sky crane will detach from the rover and fly away, probably to fall over the home of some poor old Martian grandma. I don't know about you, but the whole operation mesmerizes me to no end.
[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
[ Tag: ]
Google's Very Own Fighter Jet Taking To The California Skies [Google Army]
The Mountain View Voice has sleuthed something interesting in Google Land (which the Times's Bits blog also picked up on)—H211 LLC, the company controlled by the G's execs that operates Larry, Sergey and the rest of the Googlers' private jets, has recently acquired a fighter jet. A Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet, to be exact—a light attack and trainer jet used by air forces around the world. So, aside from performing high-speed low-altitude fly-bys of Jerry Yang's crib, what else does Google have planned for a military aircraft? Science, of course! H211 LLC uses many of its jets for NASA-sponsored experiments, since they operate primarily out of Moffett field, a NASA-controlled airstrip that's conveniently located right next to Google's Mountain View HQ. The jet was acquired to carry scientific instruments that could not be rigged up to Boeing 757/767 and Gulfstream jets the company already operates, some of which were used to monitor the re-entry of the ESA's Jules Verne satellite. So other tech companies probably don't need to worry about an escalating proliferation of military hardware in preparation for a Silicon Vallery air superiority battle just yet. Détente! [">Mountain View Voice, NYTimes]
[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
[ Tag: ]
SpaceX slated to transport cargo and crew on Falcon 9
If that homebrew rocket you've been building in your backyard isn't working out, maybe SpaceX will have some room for you on one of its many upcoming Falcon 9 missions. Now that the F1 has successfully achieved orbit, the F9 is slated for launch in Q1 2009. As you may recall, the aptly named Falcon 9 has nine engines rather than one, as with the F1. These redundancies were inspired by the the Apollo's Saturn V and Saturn I rockets, noted for their flawless flight records despite engine failures. If all goes well, the launch will be followed by three more, including one with a crew and an F9 "Heavy" -- handy if you've got 25,300 lbs of marbles or whatever to haul up to the International Space Station. If you plan on hitching a ride, get your job applications in now -- only valued employees are scheduled to be passengers at this time. Got a more exotic destination in mind? Next up Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, has his sights set on building a "Mars lander of some kind."
[ Via: Wired ]
[ Tag: cargo dragon, CargoDragon, crew dragon, CrewDragon, elon musk, ElonMusk, f1, f9, f9 heavy, F9Heavy, falcon 9, Falcon9, mars, mars lander, MarsLander, spacex ]
NASA Chamber Tortures Hubble, Makes Spanish Inquisition Good [Space]
After its latest problems, the space telescope Hubble is back online, getting back into the whole UFO catching business while waiting for the life-extending risky repair mission that will give it a new computer and updated components. Like the 486-based back-up computer, these components will have to work flawlessly for a long time, which is why NASA is putting them through the chamber of horrors you can see in the video. NASA's chamber of horrors contains all the necessary equipment to make the components going up in Hubble suffer. The centrifuge machine, for example, makes them go through G-forces that can't be stand by any human, including Mr. T: 30 Gs. After the centrifuge test, the components go through vibration testing on special tables that simulate the rigors of the launch on board the shuttle. It's the same case as with the sound vibration test, because even while there's no sound in space, there's sound—and lots of it— during the lift-off. There's even a test operated by dozens of engineers pushing hydraulic actuators—why they have to be engineers instead of machines we don't know—which test the resistance of the new composite payload carrier that will hold the Hubble components by pushing and pulling it. Then you have the electronic interference test, which is pretty easy when you compare it to the Space Environment Chamber, a place that puts components from 300F above zero to minus 310 degrees in a matter of minutes, to simulate going from the sunlit part of Earth to the dark one. All this is great, my only questions is: Are the tested components copies of the actual ones going into space or the real thing? Because if it's the real thing, wouldn't all this excessive stress make it more prone to break later? Ah questions, questions. But at last it's Friday, so we can forget about looking for answers as we go down the usual path of numbness, cocktails, and partying. You know, the one that started last Monday.
[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
[ Tag: ]
BALLS 17 Experimental Rocket Competition, In Photographs [Rockets]
"BALLS 17 is a venue for projects that should NOT be flown publicly due to safety and legal restrictions. This may include, but is not limited to, LARGE rockets, complex staging or clustering, metal rockets, self designed and/or fabricated rocket motors and new technologies being developed or proven." That's the disclaimer on the BALLS Experimental Rocket Launch website. Their 17th annual meeting just concluded in Nevada's Black Rock Desert where at least one rocket cracked 70,000 feet. Many others had successful flights. And some just blew up. Photography by Erik Charlton. See more of his fantastic shots from the event here.
[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
[ Tag: ]
A Look at Steve Fossett's Super Secret Flying, Diving, Space Bound Submersible [Submersibles]
Unbeknownst to most of the world, the late super rich adventurer Steve Fossett had started work on an amazing flying submersible that would one day theoretically touch the stars. More importantly, however, was that the design would have allowed adventurers and scientists alike (and most importantly Fossett himself, of course) to venture into the deadly depths of the Mariana Trench, some 36,000 feet below the ocean's surface. Sadly, the design was put on hold immediately after Fossett went missing about one year ago, but that hasn't stopped San Anselmo inventor Graham Hawkes from detailing the project that Fossett tapped him to create two years before his death. 
Called the Deep Flight Challenger, the submersible would have been "part spacecraft, part airplane and part submarine," Hawkes said. And somehow, thanks to the stuff street racers use to trick out their dashboards, the Challenger would have been capable of withstanding pressures of 20,000 pounds per square inch, (approximately 15,000 times the atmospheric pressure), he said. The "stuff" we're referring to is carbon fiber, and Hawkes said he opted for that material over conventional technologies, which use titanium. "The best and strongest materials such as titanium will only get you about halfway down to the ocean floor. We used carbon fiber that's laid down filament by filament under computer control, the same as what's used on rocket motor nozzles," he said. Fossett's remains were found amidst his plane's wreckage last week, confirming what many people had already suspected about the doomed billionaire adventurer. The fate of the submersible is unknown. Currently, the design belongs to Fossett's estate. [Marinij]
[ Via: Gizmodo, The Gadget Blog ]
[ Tag: ]