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Posts Tagged ‘NASA’

NASA picks eight astronaut trainees that may go to asteroids and Mars (video)

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If you like space exploration, you’ll want to get used to these eight faces — odds are that you’ll see at least some of them again. They represent NASA’s 2013 astronaut candidate class, and they’ll start training in August for a chance at going on missions to the International Space Station, asteroids and even Mars. The trainee pool is more eclectic than usual this time around. Half the picks are women, while three of the candidates come from non-military outfits such as Harvard Medical School and NOAA. Check out the full roster after the break.

Filed under: Transportation, Science, Alt

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Via: Space Travel

Source: NASA

Google and NASA collaborate on AI research with new quantum supercomputer

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Author: Stefanie Jenkins

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Google and NASA have teamed up to launch a new laboratory focused on advancing machine learning. The Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab — hosted at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California — will contain a quantum supercomputer that will be used by researchers from the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) and all over the world to pioneer breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.

NASA to live stream peak of Eta Aquarid meteor shower tonight starting at 9PM EST

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Author: Melissa Shroeder

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It’s that time of year again: the Eta Aquarid meteor shower is scheduled to peak tonight through tomorrow morning, and NASA will be live streaming the annual celestial spectacle beginning at 9PM. Astronomer Bill Cooke will be on hand taking questions from webcast viewers. For those who prefer to catch a glimpse in person, the space agency says (as usual) that your best bet is traveling someplace far removed from bright city lights. The shower will continue through dawn, with NASA expecting between 40 and 60 meteors per hour “under ideal conditions.” The Eta Aquarid meteor shower occurs each year as the Earth passes through the debris of Halley’s Comet, often resulting in fireballs and other mesmerizing visuals.

NASA PhoneSat returns photos from orbit, reminds us of streaming circa 1998

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Author: Janet Odell

The launch of NASA’s PhoneSat mission last year was loaded with promise: finally, proof that mobile technology could power nanosatellites and stick it to The Man. The photos have returned, and… well, Lockheed won’t be scrapping its big satellites just yet. While we’re impressed that the Nexus Ones onboard the three PhoneSats delivered images from orbit through amateur radio waves, the transmission artifacts are more like those from 15-year-old online videos than what we see on the ground today. Don’t think that the effort was in vain, however — far from it. While the inaugural PhoneSats have burned up in reentry, as expected, future iterations should build on the experience and make a better case for small-scale spacecraft.

Filed under: Transportation, Science, HTC

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Via: The Verge

Source: NASA (1), (2), PhoneSat

Rain will get more extreme thanks to global warming, says NASA study

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Author: Stefanie Jenkins

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The forecast for the future of rainfall on Earth is in: over the next hundred years, areas that receive lots of precipitation right now are only going to get wetter, and dry areas will go for longer periods without seeing a drop, according to a new NASA-led study on global warming. “We looked at rainfall of different types,” said William Lau, NASA’s deputy director of atmospheric studies and the lead author of the study, in a phone interview with The Verge. “The extreme heavy rain end the prolonged drought side both increase drastically and are also connected physically.”

US budget has NASA planning to capture an asteroid, USAF reviving DSCOVR (video)

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Author: Gabe Hall

Numerous have actually lamented the seeming decrease of the US area program. While we’re not expecting an immediate return to the halcyon days, the Head of state’s proposed federal spending plan for financial 2014 might see some restored ambition. NASA’s slice of the pie consists of a strategy that would enhance detection of near-Earth asteroids, send a solar-powered robotic ship (like the NASA concept above) to capture among the space rocks and tow it back to a stable orbit near Earth, where analysts could study it up close. The company would have people setting foot on the asteroid by 2025, or even as quickly as 2021. It’s a marvelous objective to state the least, however we ‘d potentially find out more about solar propulsion and defenses against asteroid collisions.

If NASA’s plans mainly involve the future, the US Air Force budget is exploring the past. It’s setting aside $ 35 million for a long-discussed rebirth of the Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite, likewise understood as DSCOVR– a vehicle that was scuppered in 2001 due to cost overruns, amongst various other aspects. Run by NOAA once aloft, the modernized satellite would concentrate on cautioning the Earth about incoming solar winds. That’s just among the satellite’s initial goals, but the November 2014 launch target is fairly practical– and we’ll need it when the satellite presently fulfilling the job is overdue for a replacement.

Filed under: Robots, ScienceCommentsVia: Space.com Source: NASA, AP(Yahoo)

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NASA gives planet-hunting TESS space telescope go-ahead for 2017 launch

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Author: Rod Sutherland

NASA’s Kepler space telescope hasn’t already exactly been a slouch when it concerns planet searching, however that effort will soon be getting a substantial boost thanks to a new goal picked by NASA as part of its Explorer program. Called the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (or TESS), this new space telescope will one-up Kepler with the ability to execute an all-sky survey (an area 400 times larger than previous objectives) to search for transiting exoplanets, with an eye towards worlds comparable to Earth in size. TESS was developed by an MIT-led group, and will be put in exactly what they refer to as a brand-new “Goldilocks” orbit, allowing it to take a trip close enough to the Earth every two weeks for a high-speed information downlink while still remaining safely past the hazardous radiation belts. It’s now set for launch in 2017, when it will be signed up with by the Neutron Star Interior Composition Traveler (NICER), an addition to the International Space Station likewise picked as part of the Explorer program last week that will utilize a procedure called X-ray timing to study neutron stars.

Submitted under: Science, AltCommentsVia: New ScientistSource: NASA, MIT

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NASA chief rules out manned Moon mission in the foreseeable future

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Author: Jesus Sargent

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NASA administrator Charles Bolden has dismissed the concept that the space company will attempt an additional manned Moon goal. Speaking with contemporaries, Bolden stated “NASA will not take the lead on a human lunar mission… most likely in my lifetime.” Bolden added that if the next administration reverses NASA’s decision it would set back the manned area program in its totality. He alerted that, should we divert resources to a manned moon mission in the future, we would most likely never “see Americans on the Moon, on Mars, near an asteroid, or anywhere” in our life times, discussing that “we can not continue to alter the course of human expedition.”

The firm will instead concentrate on a manned research goal to a nearby Planet, as it …

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NASA to get $100 million for asteroid wrangling project, says senator

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Author: jos

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The space lasso could soon be a reality. Senator Bill Nelson (D – FL) says that NASA is likely to get the $ 100 million it’s requesting to begin work on a robotic spaceship that could trap an asteroid and bring it into orbit around the moon in 2019, reports Space.com. “This is part of what will be a much broader program,” said Nelson on Friday. “The plan combines the science of mining an asteroid, along with developing ways to deflect one, along with providing a place to develop ways we can go to Mars.” Astronauts would then fly NASA’s Orion capsule and Space Launch Rocket System to the asteroid to begin research and exploration of the near-Earth object in 2021, said Nelson. The Washington Post reports that the mission could…

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NASA JPL controls rover with Leap Motion, shows faith in consumer hardware (video)

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Author: Ian Simpson

If you think utilizing the Leap Movement controller for playing air guitar and keying in without a key-board was cool, try utilizing it to control a NASA rover. Victor Luo and Jeff Norris from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory got on stage at the Game Developers Conference here in San Francisco to do simply that with the SPORTSMEN (All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer), which was located 383 miles away in Pasadena. As Luo waved his turn over the sensor, the robotic relocated kind, reacting to the subtle movements of his fingers and wrists, wowing the crowd that viewed it over a projected Google+ Hangout.

We talked to Luo and Norris after the panel to gain more understanding into the task. As Luo explains, among JPL’s major objectives is to develop tools to control robotics required for area expedition. Viewing as the gaming sector is already rife with user-friendly controllers ripe for the plucking, it made good sense to harness them for the job. “We’re really made use of to the blood loss edge,” he said. “From the Kinect to the PlayStation Relocate, they stand for major financial investments into use.” Struck the jump for our impressions of the simulation software, a look at JPL’s grander goal and for video clips of the trial and panel itself.

Filed under: Gaming, Robots, ScienceCommentsSource: NASA JPL

Posts Tagged ‘NASA’

NASA picks eight astronaut trainees that may go to asteroids and Mars (video)

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Google and NASA collaborate on AI research with new quantum supercomputer

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NASA to live stream peak of Eta Aquarid meteor shower tonight starting at 9PM EST

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NASA PhoneSat returns photos from orbit, reminds us of streaming circa 1998

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Rain will get more extreme thanks to global warming, says NASA study

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US budget has NASA planning to capture an asteroid, USAF reviving DSCOVR (video)

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NASA gives planet-hunting TESS space telescope go-ahead for 2017 launch

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NASA chief rules out manned Moon mission in the foreseeable future

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NASA to get $100 million for asteroid wrangling project, says senator

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NASA JPL controls rover with Leap Motion, shows faith in consumer hardware (video)

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