#A Space Game Gets Real 1) Players can purchase virtual ships for $25 to $1250 (in real money) depending on model and availability.
In June 2013 Star Citizen became the most crowdfunded project ever at $10 million. Many people who ponied up knew they would have to wait more than a year in some cases to play. 2) Between six and 16 thrusters move the game s ships
That might strain the ship s components. 2011 Developers begin building Star Citizen in secret revealing just enough details to entice investors. 10/10/12 Crowdfunding campaign begins
Late 2014 A first-person shooter module is set to be introduced. 2015 A planet-side social module will be added allowing players to explore cities. 2015 The single-player military campaign Squadron 42
is slated to release as a stand-alone game within the Star Citizen universe. Late 2015 Early public testing of the universe will begin as the game s designers pull together various modules. 2016 Star Citizen will become available as a seamless universe with modding tools and the ability for players
to host custom servers. This article originally appeared in the September 2014 issue of Popular Science e
but successfully integrating both manned and unmanned aircraft into the same flight patterns especially on the confined space of an aircraft carrier is essential for future operations.
It's made to carry everything from surveillance cameras and radar to rockets, flares, and some missiles.
#Japan's Military Will Patrol Earth's Orbitals Japan's military plans to take defense to the heavens in 2019.
According to a report by Japan's Kyodo news Agency, Japan's Self-defense Forces plan to add a space monitoring branch,
to be jointly run by the Japan aerospace exploration agency and Air Self-defence Force. The"fourth battlefield"paceontains a lot of stuff that's worth protecting,
A 2013 report from the Satellite Industry Association says that satellites made $189. 5 billion in revenue in 2012.
these satellites perform valuable functions for humans on earth. Since the launch of Telstar in 1962, satellites have relayed terrestrial communications,
and today both cars and smartphones rely on GPS satellites to know exactly where they are.
Japan's proposed space force would monitor Earth's orbitals with radar and telescopes, looking for harmful debris that threatens satellites.
This isn't an inherently apolitical, altruistic task. In 2007, regional rival China blew up one of its own satellites,
proving that it can in fact destroy satellites, and creating harmful debris for other geostationary machines.
In May Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency signed an agreement with the United states where they promised to give information on space debris to U s. Strategic Command.
NASA, together with the Department of defense, already have progams in place monitoring space debris. The architecture of space has had always a military underpinning.
American nuclear submarines, hiding out at sea, used geo-locating satellites to calculate target trajectories, so that they could reliably hit the same points on earth from anywhere.
Even as American troopers started fighting in Afghanistan, the Department of defense was floating ideas about"Space Control"to make sure that nothing in space threatened the important American satellites already there.
This new development out of Japan does not come unheralded. In 2008 the country passed a Basic Space Law,
which changed previous laws regarding space in a key way:""Nonmilitary use"became"nonaggressive use."
"This allows Japan the possibility of defensive military action in space, where before the country was limited by previous law and their constitution's intensely pacifistic Article 9. While On earth,
Japan has grown slowly its military, it's unlikely that a new space force means we'll see Japanese war satellites anytime soon.
Japan, like the United states, is one of 89 countries that signed the Outer space Treaty, which formally prohibits putting
and testing weapons in space s
#Solar Sponge Efficiently Makes Steam Generating steam is enormously useful. Much of the world's energy actually comes from steam-coal power plants heat up water to produce water vapor,
which turns turbines to generate electricity. A new technology creates steam by harnessing solar energy, using a relatively cheap sponge-like material,
and it does it with greater efficiency that ever previously achieved, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications.
The researchers don't claim the device could be used to create electricity, at least not yet. But it could relatively easily be scaled up to make fresh water out of salt water via distillation
Graphite absorbs the sun's rays and heats up. This creates a pressure differential that sucks water from the bottom into the top
This sponge converts 85 percent of the solar energy in sunlight it absorbs into heat, the authors wrote in the study,
or using a system of mirrors to concentrate sunlight, which are both more expensive and inefficient
The three-section waterproofed boxes are empty providing 450+sq. inches of free space for electronics along with open deck space for mounting payloads.
#Google commits $1. 36 billion for NASA facility, to house their robotics, space and flight technologies Google subsidiary Planetary Ventures has committed to a 60-year $1. 16 billion lease of the 1000 acre Moffett Field Naval Air station.
and testing in the areas of robotics space exploration aviation and other technologies NASA said in a press release.
NASA also said: Once renovations are complete Hangar One will again be home to high-tech innovation as Planetary Ventures begins using the historic facility for research development assembly and testing in the areas of space exploration aviation rover
/robotics and other emerging technologies. Hangars Two and Three will be used for similar purposes. This news comes on the heals of Google investment in Magic Leap last month as well the announcement of Andy Rubin departure r
and the Microsystems for Space technologies Laboratory both at EPFL in Switzerland have developed a new soft actuator that enables robots to fold.
#Antares orb-3 accident A very unfortunate incident for NASA and the commercial orbital transportation services program took place yesterday.
The Antares rocket that was about to send the Cygnus spacecraft on the ISS exploded a few seconds after its launch from NASA's Wallops flight facilities.
It is a major incident for US spaceflight that breaks a trouble-free period and could have important implications for the private spaceflight sector.
The Antares launcher and the Cygnus spacecraft it was carrying were developed both and operated by Orbital Sciences corporation one of the two private companies
(along with Spacex) under contract from NASA for supplying the International Space station with cargo supplies and secondary experimental and commercial ISS payload.
The video below shows that the explosion started from the base of the rocket close to the nozzles
while the rest above was intact. The first stage engines are the major suspect but it is still too early to know exactly what went wrong.
As stated by NASA's press conference the flight termination system was activated. This is a remote manual intervention that initiates a self-destruction mechanism
Unlike Spacex which is almost completely vertically integrated Orbital outsources most of its components and focuses on system integration and design.
Antares is a two-stage rocket and in its first stage it uses a pair of liquid propellant motors originally designed (and constructed!)
during the 60s for the Soviet N-1 rocket. Despite their age these motors are advanced highly more so than most contemporary rocket engines.
They were constructed as NK-33s in Russia but they are refurbished from US Company Aerojet (and renamed AJ26).
but it is worth mentioning that the use of Russian rocket engines from US operators recently became a very sensitive matter.
and ULA (the USA defense contractor for space launches that also use Russian made RD-180 engines) in an uncomfortable position.
Meanwhile the competition from Spacex and established companies like Lockheed and Boeing is very strong.
During the press conference that took place shortly after the accident NASA official stated their satisfaction from the way Orbital operates
and their will to resume Antares/Cygnus missions after the accident investigation is resolved. The COTS program apart from its obvious mission of ISS resupply also aims to validate the privately developed Dragon and Cygnus spacecraft.
Both usually have room and payload to spare so they're used extensively for transporting experiments.
The Cygnus cargo vehicle destroyed on this accident was carrying a lot of small satellites owned by schools universities and startups.
For example Planet labs an earth imaging startup lost 26 small satellites that were on board. Orbital stated that the payload is insured
The rocket and general hardware is also at least partially covered and as stated on the press conference NASA
and Orbital will find a way to deal with the cost of any replacements. Any correlation between payload and this accident is practically impossible so the rules
Nevertheless today there is unprecedented activity over commercial spaceflight even if we are still very far away from the glory days of nationally funded Apollo or Space shuttle.
Competition will certainly make access to space easier and cheaper for everyone even with occassional incidents like this along the way a
#British National Oceanographic Centre launches major unmanned exploration mission Collecting oceanographic data is accomplished usually by a combination of satellites buoys
#I think that to be realistic about the technology it#s important to realize that especially in the commercial space technology like this has a tendency to get mislabelled
Although there is some competition within this space he emphasizes the importance of cooperation. Progress from any one company is going to help the industry as a whole.
and helping him train for the All Star Games through a sequence of animated storybooks that play on a screen in his belly.
These kilobots#where a kilo stands for 1024#can form complex 2d shapes including a star a wrench and the letter#k
#satellites and commercial applications of space;##robotics and autonomous systems;##life sciences genomics and synthetic biology;##regenerative medicine;#
Overall automotive patents make up around one third of the total not including other types of vehicles such as trucks buses agricultural machinery aircraft and aerospace/defence.
and are a direct response to the pressure on space that is so common within large cities today.
and space instrument repair i
#Lifehand 2 prosthetic grips and senses like a real hand Roboticists and doctors working in Switzerland
#Robonaut doctor to practice in space Astronauts all know how important it is to stay healthy in space.
Most astronauts complete medical training which equips them with the skills to perform procedures such as first aid and basic surgery.
NASA came up with the answer recently when their teams began putting one of its humanoid robots through medical school.
For more complicated procedures an earth-based physician could control the robot via telepresence. After its training is complete the $2. 5 million Robonaut 2 designed to assist astronauts with their duties both inside
and outside the International space station will be able to add medical practices to its resume. Medical training is a complex and lengthy process even for a robot.
Unfortunately there is no super-software that can be uploaded to the robot to make it become an instant medical expert.
R2 joined its mechanical twin Robonaut 1 aboard the International space station on August 22 2013. Unlike R1 which is just a head
Other upgrades may enable the robot to work outside the space station to perform repairs and maintenance checks
by the time humans are ready to colonize Mars Robonaut doctors will be there to lend a healing hand d
#Urban vegetable garden system with LED lighting Keystone Technology LED vegetable garden system is a cultivation system for indoor plant factories that uses LED lighting instead of sunlight.
The most defining feature of the system on display at the company showroom in Yokohama is its 3-dimensional use of space. his is tiered a 5 cultivation system.
and does not have the coarse quality of lettuce grown in sunlight. Because it is softer it is a vegetable that is easy to eat even for elderly people.
and polyphenols than with vegetables grown in sunlight. ith this system there will be differences in production capacity depending on the shape of the plant.
#Chinaâ#moon landing and rover tip of iceberg Yutu (Jade Rabbit#)China rover-like robot was landed soft on the moon earlier this month.
and space exploration are just beginning to be seen. Yutu is wheeled a 6 rover. It has 4 cameras
hina conducts about 18 launches a year and sent its first astronaut into orbit in 2003.
In its most recent manned space mission in June three astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with a space laboratory.
Their mission was part of Beijing quest to open a permanent space station in Earth orbit within the next decade.#
#On the nonmilitary/space frontier China#12th 5-Year Plan targeted robotics as a growth industry necessary for China#development.
A quick look at all the ongoing research projects at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shenyang Institute of Automation shows their interest in space search
Other companies include Holomni makers of high tech wheels Bot&dolly and Autofuss the super cool robotics software companies behind the special effects in the film Gravity.
 Of course Play-i are not the only ones in this space with Thymio and Linkbot doing very good affordable educational robotics just to name a couple.
which spaces are available then drives itself to an empty space and parks. This system can automatically park multiple cars efficiently.
military and security (64%)manufacturing (57%)space exploration (45%)search and rescue (36%)and healthcare (18%.
and demo their quadrotor tricks at the ETH Flying Machine Arenaâ a 10x10x10m airspace dedicated to the study of control algorithms
and agreeing on the space in addition to rehearsing the demo itself. And then there was the packing to do:
Drone app harnesses crowd power to fast-track vision learning in robotic spacecraft Astrodrone is both a simulation game app for the Parrot AR.
Drone and a scientific crowdsourcing experiment that aims to improve landing, obstacle avoidance and docking capabilities in autonomous space probes.
As researchers at the European space agency Advanced Concepts Team, we wanted to study how visual cues could be used by robotic spacecraft to help them navigate unknown, extraterrestrial environments.
To this end, we designed a mission-based game where players simulate docking the Parrot with the International space station as quickly as possible
The code for communicating with Parrot is open source. Methodology The question we faced experimentally was how to couple the real-world object to the virtual space in which the drone would be flying.
In order to render the virtual space environment, we perform state estimation on the basis of the drone estimates of its height, speeds, angles,
accompanied by a press release about Astrodrone from the European space agency and the video shown below. Parrot also promoted our app on their site.
As long as there is even a small space the device can be used in any type of hospital.
It maps its own environment and uses an array of sophisticated sensors to autonomously move about a busy space without interfering with people or other objects.
and its dual modes of locomotion will enable it to fly long distances to survey large spaces in a short timespan,
One of the main problems in trying to get a flying robot to walk in small spaces is the surface areas of the wings.
but this makes it difficult for them to fit into smaller spaces. After observing D. rotundus
the research team used a foldable actuator that allows the wings to fold into a smaller space,
In that time, the process has achieved almost 100 percent efficiency in transporting the energy of sunlight from receptors to reaction centers where it can be harnessed a performance vastly better than even the best solar cells.
The chromophores have to be arranged just right, with exactly the right amount of space between them.
Good for business, good for the environment What if your business practices and operation can help save our planet?
We can change the way light waves are being reflected at will and ultimately focus a large area of sunlight onto a solar power tower
#NASA's drone is part chopper, part airplane Answer: NASA'S latest drone prototype, GL-10.
Better known by it's pop culture-inspired moniker, Greased Lightning, it is an innovative new concept for an unmanned vehicle (UAV) from NASA's Langley Research center in Hampton, Virginia.
The battery-powered drone has a 10-foot (3-meter) wingspan, 10 electric motors (eight on the wings,
one of the aerospace engineers working on the project, in a NASA press release.""We were ecstatic. Now we're working on our second goal--to demonstrate that this concept is four times more aerodynamically efficient in cruise than a helicopter."
as well as demonstrating the drone at various NASA events throughout the year. More from Tomorrow Transforme e
#Black hole is 30 times bigger than expected This shouldn't be possible. Researchers say they've detected a supermassive black hole at the center of a newly found galaxy that's far bigger than current theories allow.
The research was done by astronomers at Keele University and the University of Central Lancashire and will be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
The galaxy, with the very clunky name of SAGE0536AGN, was discovered with NASA's Spitzer space telescope. Scientists think it's about 9 billion years old.
The research team says it confirmed a black hole in the galaxy's center by measuring the speed of the gas swirling around it.
Then they used the Southern African Large telescope to gather data to help determine the size of the black hole.
Black holes heading for'massive collision,'says astronomer What they found blew away their theories about how galaxies evolve.
The data indicated the black hole is 30 times larger than expected for this size of galaxy, according to a press release from the Royal Astronomical Society."
"Galaxies have a vast mass, and so do the black holes in their cores. This one though is really too big for its boots--it simply shouldn't be possible for it to be said so large
Dr. Jacco van Loon, an astrophysicist at Keele University and lead author of the new paper.
How did this happen? Researchers say it could be that the black hole just grew much faster than the galaxy surrounding it,
or maybe the galaxy's growth was stopped prematurely. Scientists aren't sure whether SAGE0536AGN is just a fluke
or whether they've found a new class of galaxies s
#Water flows on Mars Potentially life-giving water still flows across the ancient surface of Mars from time to time,
NASA scientists said Monday in revealing a potential breakthrough in both the search for life beyond Earth
and human hopes to one day travel there. While the discovery doesn't by itself offer evidence of life on mars,
either past or present, it does boost hopes that the harsh landscape still offers some refuge for microbes to cling to existence."
"The existence of liquid water, even if it is super salty briny water, gives the possibility that
"said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA. NASA researchers using an imager aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter confirmed the watery flows by looking at light waves returned from seasonal dark streaks on the surface,
long suspected to be associated with liquid water. The investigation showed the streaks absorb light at specific wavelengths associated with chemicals known to pull water from the Martian atmosphere in a process known as deliquescence
said Georgia Tech doctoral student Lujendra Ojha, who first discovered the streaks while still an undergraduate student at the University of Arizona in 2011.
but also help keep it from boiling off in the thin atmosphere of Mars, the researchers said.
lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program. The researchers'findings are in a new paper being presented this week at the European Planetary science Congress in France.
This is not the first discovery of water on Mars. Researchers have known for many years that Mars has frozen water at its poles, in its thin atmosphere,
and, most recently, in tiny puddles that appear to form at night on the surface. Nor is it the first potential clue that Mars could have once
--or may still--host life. The Mars Curiosity rover, for instance, has detected methane on the surface of Mars,
as well as other chemical signatures suggesting the possibility of past or present life. It remains to be seen
but researcher Mary Beth Wilhelm said the results suggest"more habitable conditions on the near surface of Mars than previously thought."
But Alfred Mcewen, who heads up NASA's Hirise high-resolution camera aboard the Mars orbiter,
said he's fairly confident life will one day be found on Mars."It's very likely,
that there's life somewhere in the crust of Mars, microbes, "he said. Jim Green, director of planetary science at NASA, said the discovery announced Monday puts NASA in a perfect position to look for that life."
"We haven't been able to answer the question, 'Does life exist beyond Earth?'"'"Green said."
"But following the water is a critical element of that. We now have, I think,
a great opportunity to be in the right locations on Mars to thoroughly investigate that
Ian Walker, a bioroboticist at Clemson University, has been working with NASA to develop a flexible snake
and crevasses on the moon or Mars. He says the next generation of devices will have specific applications,
Theye one of the weirdest organisms on the planet, and we keep coming up with unexpected uses for them.
Actually, some people think mushrooms aren from this planet at all. Really. Now comes word that researchers at Researchers at the University of California,
The mushroom anodesporosity creates more space for the transfer of energy which can improve battery performance.
An array of 64 miniature loudspeakers creates three separate sonic force fields that work together in the space just above the speaker array.
whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. But if a producer could store energy from those sources
if engineers removed a whopping 5 gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year. Achieving that goal,
"and remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than humanity was dumping. That approach restored ocean ph,
and then pull it back out of the atmosphere sometime in the future, we will have a deep ocean that is hotter, more acidic,
If perfected, this onic tractor beamcould find uses ranging from treating kidney stones to creating artificial gravity on the International space station.
"that can support the bead against the pull of gravity. As the algorithm tunes the phases, the interference pattern and resulting hologram change,
which requires squeezing through small spaces. They are also using the PLL approach to increase throughput by operating many cantilevers on a single chip.
their trajectories are bent into circular orbits, causing them to loop around and around. The higher the magnetic field, the tighter a particle orbit becomes.
However, to confine electrons to the microscopic scale of a crystalline material, a magnetic field 100 times stronger than that of the strongest magnets in the world would be required.
ultrahigh magnetic field, using laser beams to push atoms around in tiny orbits, similar to the orbits of electrons under a real magnetic field.
However, in a tilted lattice, the atoms would have to work against gravity. In this scenario, atoms could only move with the help of laser beams. ow the laser beams could be used to make neutral atoms move around like electrons in a strong magnetic field
the group could make the atoms orbit, or loop around, in a radius as small as two lattice squares, similar to how particles would move in an extremely high magnetic field. nce we had the idea,
One example is construction in space, where working is difficult, there are severe constraints on volume and weight,
Other programmable materials could pay off in improved building environments. e want materials that transform themselves, depending on sunlight, moisture, humidity levels,
an we do it in the medical space??Industry partnerships work best hen we can actually collaborate to invent the future,
to think of something that no one is doing in that space and that can radically change an industry,
The Wifi Calling service will be limited to pay monthly subscribers using Samsung's Galaxy S6 and S5 phones and Microsoft's new Lumia 640."
who is the Truman and Nellie Semans/Alex Brown & Sons Professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment.
*Spacex: $12 billion The private space exploration firm founded by tech entrepreneur Elon musk announced in January that it raised $1 billion in a round led by Google and Fidelity Investments.
CB Insights rates its valuation at $12 billion. The company founded in 2002 is making rockets for NASA's space program and to resupply the International space station.*
*Pinterest: $11 billion The bulletin board-style social network confirmed in March a fresh investment round at a valuation of $11 billion,
More recently, the company entered the entertainment space, landing Netflix as a client. That was a product of the company's ability to process a lot of content in a short amount of time
The Synthetic Muscle could be used in robotics in deep space travel such as travel to Mars because of its radiation resistance."
"Based on the good results we had on planet Earth, the next step is to see how it behaves in a space environment,
"said Charles Gentile, a PPPL engineer who has worked closely with Rasmussen.""From there the next step might be to use it on a mission to Mars."Early Connection with PPPLRASMUSSEN began working with PPPL in 2007 just four years after she started Ras Labs. She received her first patent for a synthetic muscle in 1998.
It is a gel-like material called an electroactive polymer that can potentially mimic human movement
"We can't explore space without robots, "Rasmussen said.""Humans can only withstand a certain amount of radiation
so that limits the time that people can be in space, whereas robots particularly if they're radiation-resistant can be up there for long periods of time without being replaced."
and was equivalent to a trip from earth to Mars and back. A second test of 45 hours was enough to be equivalent to a trip to Jupiter
and beyondrasmussen and Gentile found that there was no change in the strength, electroacivity, or durability of the material due to the radiation although there was a slight change in color.
which is close to absolute zero, the coldest temperature possible in the universe. Preparing for launchsince then,
and the coupon will go into space, "said Gentile.""So I'll be up there with Gene Roddenberry."
a rocket carrying the Dragon, both produced by Space X, which will carry 4, 300 pounds of supplies and payloads, including material for research experiments, to the International space station National Laboratory.
The nine-engine rocket will propel the Dragon into orbit where it will meet with the Space station 33 hours after it is launched.
Astronauts will use the station's 57-foot arm to reach out and capture Dragon at 7: 15 a m. on April 15.
The material will be kept in a zero gravity storage rack in the U s. National Laboratory on the space station for 90 days.
The astronauts will photograph the materials every three weeks. When the material returns to Earth in July, it will be tested
and compared with identical materials that remained On earth. The International space station is an international science laboratory in low Earth orbit where astronauts conduct scientific research in biology, human biology, astronomy, meteorology and other fields in a gravity-free environment.
It has operated since November of 2000 with the cooperation of the U s.,Russia, many European nations, Japan, Canada, and Brazil.
It is staffed currently by two astronauts from NASA, three cosmonauts from Russia and an astronaut from the European space agency.
Use as a prostheticrasmussen is also exploring whether Synthetic Muscle could be used as a prosthetic liner.
she won a highly competitive grant from the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) to pursue the synthetic muscle experiment on the International space station National Laboratory (ISS-NL) through the Masschallenge global business accelerator.
She plans to attend the payload launch at the Cape canaveral Air force station Kennedy space center with her 12-year-old son Carl,
"I'm a huge space junkie. I wish I were going with my samples!""Rasmussen holds a Phd in chemistry, specialty polymer chemistry, from Virginia Tech and a master's degree in biology, specialty biophysics, from Purdue University.
Liftoff of Spacex resupply mission to the space statio o
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