Category: Space

Science Space Tech

NASA launches $5 million contest to find CubeSats for deep space missions

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As reported on Engadget. by Mariella Moon Attention, scientists, hobbyists and anyone in between who can design a mean CubeSat, or a mini cube-like satellite, for space exploration: registration is now open for NASA’sCube Quest contest, and the agency’s giving out cash prizes worth a total of $5 million. NASA’s no stranger to holding competitions in an effort to tap into the brilliant minds of folks outside their roster of employees, but this one is…

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Space

Prototype NASA robot will burrow through sheets of alien ice

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As reported on Engadget. BY DANIEL COOPER  When it came to life on Mars, NASA might have struck out, but it’s got a good feeling aboutEuropa. The agency is working on a probe designed to scan its vast oceans for signs of alien life, but there’s a problem, namely the thick layer of ice that covers the moon’s surface.That’s where VALKYRIE comes in, a torpedo-shaped robot that’ll suck up water, warm it and fire it back into the ice…

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Science Space

Scientists discover one of the most Earthlike planets yet

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As reported on The Verge. By Ellis Hamburger Can Gliese 832c support life, or is it just a super-Venus? Sci News is reporting that astronomers at the University of New South Wales have discovered an Earthlike planet just 16 light-years away. The planet, dubbed Gliese 832c, is orbiting a red dwarf star half the mass and radius of our own sun. Gliese 832c has an orbital period of about 35 days, and a mass more than five times…

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History Space

Curiosity celebrates its first action-packed Martian year

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As reported on Engadget. BY STEVE DENT  Curiosity feted its first Martian year on the red planet (687 earth days) with a stiched-up selfie while NASA reflected on the Mars rover’s triumphs and setbacks. So far, it has achieved most of its mission goals, particularly its quest for evidence that Mars could have supported life. Drilling samples revealed traces of all the elements needed for life, and itspotted a streambed that once had “vigorous” water flow. The rover also found that…

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Space

Ten years ago, SpaceShipOne completed the first private flight into space

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As reported on The Verge. By Dante D’Orazio Ten years ago today, SpaceShipOne and pilot Mike Melvill blasted just past the Earth’s atmosphere into space, marking beginning of commercial spaceflight. The Paul Allen-funded project successfully became the first privately-financed human spaceflight, and after its success it seemed that commercial space travel was just around the corner. However, after just a couple more flights later in 2004, the SpaceShipOne was retired. There hasn’t been another commercial, suborbital…

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Google Space

Google reportedly wants in on Virgin Galactic’s space business

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As reported on Engadget. BY MATT BRIAN Fresh from its $500 million acquisition of satellite imaging specialist Skybox, Google appears to be ready to make another space-related investment. Sky News reports that the search giant is in advanced talks to take a minority stake in Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic business with a view to getting its internet satellite project off the ground. Google may invest around $30 million into the company, which is set to begin commercial flights to space later this year, forming a…

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Space

NASA readies Mars ‘flying saucer’ for risky hypersonic flight test

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As reported on Engadget. BY STEVE DENT The wispy atmosphere of Mars is 99 percent thinner than Earth’s — not great for slowing down space ships or metorites. NASA’s testing a way to make it work, however, using a helium balloon, rockets and a Low Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) vehicle, which looks suspiciously like a UFO. The plan is to launch the LDSD to 120,000 feet using the balloon, then push it to the edge of space (180,000 feet) with…

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Space

Virgin Galactic’s space flights cleared for US blastoff

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As reported on Engadget. BY MATT BRIAN Virgin Galactic’s plans to charter its first space flights by the end of the year have been given another huge boost after it got the green light to begin planning launches. The company, which is now deep in its testing phase, signed a deal with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to help it set clear guidelines on how its missions will take place in US airspace. The agreement doesn’t give Virgin a…

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Science Space

A bitter war between chimps in the 1970s might be explained with social networking software

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As reported on The Verge. By Josh Lowensohn 43 years ago, a group of chimpanzees that were once living peacefully in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park suddenly split in two — one in the north area of the park, and the other in the south. The members, who once cohabited the same area, eventually became so territorial that those unlucky enough to wander into the rival group’s area without protection were killed, often brutally. WHAT HAPPENS WITH CHIMPS…

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Space

The 13 billion-year evolution of the universe, crammed into a four-minute video

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As reported on Engadget. BY MAT SMITH Now you’ve got the basics of the universe down, try a dreamy tour through 13 billion years of stars and the space between them all. That’s what Nature’s offering, courtesy of MIT and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Prior attempts to scale and visualizeeverything ever were apparently hampered by a lack of computing processing power and the outright trickiness of the physics involved. The Illustris Project eventually took five years to craft and is…

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