In late March, the American Geophysical Union announced that the Voyager I space probe became the first man-made object to leave our solar system. Just a few hours later though, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory shot down that claim noting that the tell-tale sign of hitting interstellar space (a “change in the direction of the magnetic field”) hasn’t been detected yet.
Still, this whole thing… → Read More
The Microsoft Research team is building an epic map of the universe using data and photographs collected from the many telescopes around the world, including NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. They call it The WorldWide Telescope. → Read More
In what has ended up being a weird couple weeks for Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX founder should have a better day today after the launch of the Dragon capsule on its second resupply mission to the International Space Station. NASA announced that it had approved the mission back on Valentine’s Day, mentioning that the spacecraft will be packed with over one ton of experiments and supplies on… → Read More
Tesla Motors has been getting plenty of attention lately because of its heated back-and-forth with New York Times writer John Broder, but that only helped to drown out news concerning founder Elon Musk’s other transport-related venture. NASA announced earlier today that SpaceX’s Dragon capsule would be sent into low Earth orbit for a second supply run to the International Space Station on March 1. → Read More
Getting a glimpse into the lives of astronauts in space has been de rigueur since the days of the Apollo program, but actually interacting with those busy space-dwellers? That’s a much more modern trend, and one that NASA seems eager to continue.
To that end, NASA recently announced that U.S. astronauts Kevin Ford and Tom Marshburn and Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency would be… → Read More
Tonight, at the 6th Annual Crunchies Awards, the Mars Curiosity won for Best Technology Achievement. Because, you know, science is awesome.
Presented by former Square COO Keith Rabois and VentureBeat’s Meghan Kelly, NASA “Mohawk Guy” Bobak Ferdowsi accepted the award on behalf of the whole Mars Curiosity team. → Read More
Earlier this year, NASA updated its iconic “Blue Marble” image of the Earth, and last week, it released the first version of the “Black Marble,” its image of the planet at night. We’ll still have to wait and see if the “Black Marble” will be just as iconic as NASA’s earlier efforts, but it sure looks stunning and, thanks to a collaboration between Google, NASA, and NOAA, you can now explore it… → Read More
LeWeb Paris is less than a month away and conference organizers Loic and Geraldine Le Meur just posted this year’s schedule. The theme of the event, which is scheduled to run from December 4th to 6th, is “The Internet of Things.” There is a clear focus on connected hardware, with speakers like Nest‘s Tony Fadell and Fitbit‘s James Park, as well as representatives from companies like Lifx… → Read More
I love foursquare, I check in from pretty much everywhere I go. However, I would say that the Curiosity Rover on Mars is seeing cooler scenery than I ever have. Today, foursquare reported that the craft has checked in on foursquare for the first time. → Read More
NBC News reports that astronaut and icon Neil Armstrong passed away earlier today due to complications from a heart-bypass operation he underwent a few weeks ago. He was 82.
Though his merits were many, Armstrong was best known for one thing. On that fateful day back in July 1969, with the eyes of history watching, he clambered down the ladder on the front leg of the Lunar Module “Eagle” to… → Read More
At 10:32 p.m. PST on Sunday night, NASA’s robotic space rover, “Curiosity,” touched down on the surface of the Red Planet — in the “Gale Crater” for those keeping track. The landing was a landmark event — the culmination of eight months of space travel (Curiosity launched on November 26, 2011) and some $2.5 billion. While the mere feat of surviving a trip through space (35 million+ miles) and a… → Read More
To celebrate Kennedy Space Center’s 50th birthday, Google just added the Space Shuttle Program’s former launch facilities to its Street View service. With over 6,000 panoramic views, this is Google’s largest special collection of Street View imagery yet. This new collection gives users access to areas of the Space Center that are normally off-limits for visitors and also preserves an interesting… → Read More
As lovers of technology and slaves to the news cycle, we all get caught up in the next new thing. The cynic in me notes that the 43rd anniversary of the moon landing – an occurrence that changed the course of history with a completeness and intensity that few warmongers have ever been able to induce – is just another moon landing anniversary. It isn’t the 25th or the 50th or the 100th. It’s just… → Read More
Nobody likes to admit it, but if you’re a working professional, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with sweat stains. The commute to work, the stress of meeting a deadline, the faulty air conditioning in the boardroom, cotton weaves — all of these things and many more have been known to conspire against you, the working professional. Luckily, Ministry of Supply feels your stinky, stinky pain. → Read More
Paul Martin, NASA’s Inspector General, gave written testimony in a House committee earlier this week detailing the security threats faced by their IT infrastructure. The thrust of the document is that NASA needs to double down on cybersecurity but, naturally, needs more money to do so.
Their IT budget is $1.5 billion, but of that only $58 million was spent on security. Considering the enormous… → Read More
A surprising piece of news was buried in an article this week. Friday, The Mercury News reported the three top executives at Google, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt, are offering to pay $33 million to finish the restoration of the historic airship hangar at Moffett Field. The giant structure, built in the 1930s and called Hangar One, sits a few miles from the Googleplex and it’s well… → Read More
While giveaways and “follow us and win!” contests aren’t always worth calling out, this promotion from @NASA is too great to pass up. They’re planning on inviting 150 of their followers to watch the Curiosity Mars Rover launch. Yes, the actual launch, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. → Read More
You’ve likely already heard about that defunct six-ton satellite hurtling its way to the Earth’s surface. Unless you’re paranoid, you also know that the chances of this changing anyone’s life, anywhere (save for a few NASA peeps) are very small. Like, microscopic.
Still, it’s been a slow news week and the media has to keep pumping things out — and so begins the emergence of a thousand… → Read More
Space buffs like me are sure to get a kick out of this one: NASA has released a score of historical sound bites from the space program for use as ringtones or system sounds.
I ask you, what could be more appropriate to herald an error on your PC than Jack Swigert’s “Houston, we have a problem” from Apollo 13? Or, alternately, what better way to celebrate a successful boot than listening to the… → Read More
This beauty is a Nikon F Photomic T, which first hit the streets all the back in 1965. Aside from being a gorgeous piece of retro tech, it’s also one of several NASA-owned cameras from the estate of collector Arthur Keir that have been put up for auction. → Read More
Yes, that headline sounds a little ridiculous. But it’s not much of an exaggeration.
Today Google has posted a video showcasing how the Nexus S is being used by NASA to power its SPHERE satellites — the free-floating devices that NASA says were actually inspired by the lightsaber sparring droid seen in Star Wars. The satellites have been on the International Space Station since 2006, so they… → Read More
Better lay your millions on the table now and reserve your spot on the ISS now. Russia, NASA, and the rest of the ISS’ partners announced today that they are going to allow the ISS to crash into the atmosphere after it’s decommissioned in 2020. The reason? Space doesn’t need more junk.
The first ISS component launched in 1998 and has slowly grown into a large space station with 15 units. The… → Read More
Today, after 133 launches spanning nearly three decades, the era of the Space Shuttle is set to close with one final launch. Atlantis is currently on the launchpad, fueled, loaded with her four man crew and ready to delivery supplies to the ISS. It’s a bittersweet day as an exciting time in the US’s space history comes to a close, but unfortunately due to budget constraints rather than replacement… → Read More
Think Arizona’s dust storm was huge? Check out the Great White Spot on Saturn. What first started as a small but bright dot last December, has grown to a massive storm that is currently encompassing a vast part of the planet’s upper half. The Cassini spacecraft first picked it up on December 5, 2010 and then astronomers then noticed the bright dot. Cassini then observed lightning… → Read More
After the retirement of the Shuttle program, NASA will begin flying along with – and funding – multiple “commercial crews” including Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin group and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. NASA is paying out $270 million to SpaceX, Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada (not the beer) and Boeing. This program, begun in 2009 and is now vitally important as it pairs NASA’s scientists and astronauts with… → Read More
Don’t fret if NASA passed up your place as one of the Shuttles’ permanent homes as there are plenty of avation icons to go around. Like this Concorde. It’s only $150k. But there’s a catch. Yeah, there’s always a damn catch, but in this case I think it’s better this way. → Read More
30 years ago today the Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off on the first shuttle mission. Two missions ended in disaster, but a total of five different shuttles spent a collective 1289 days in space over 132 missions. The program is set for retirement after Atlantis’ final voyage later this month. The three remaining shuttles, along with the Enterprise prototype, are going to need cozy homes.
Of… → Read More
The kids over at BoingBoing (lucky stiffs) got invited to NASA’s labs to check out the next Mars rover, Curiosity. They’ve got a ton of great pics over there, so check it out. Meanwhile, still no word from Spirit. Damn your sandy environment, Mars! → Read More
Get ready for a nuclear-powered spacecraft—maybe! The Russian Federal Space Agency says that it will hold talks with Nasa and a number of countries on April 15 to see if they can’t get started on creating a “nuclear engine” by 2012. Such an engine, it’s believed, would only cost around $600m to develop. → Read More
The final Endeavour launch — which could be the final space shuttle launch — was slated for April 19th but had to be moved 10 days primarily because of a scheduling conflict. The Russian resupply space vehicle is also scheduled to be docked at the International Space Station during that time and the station is not outfitted to support two docked vehicles. Apparently Russia doesn’t know how to… → Read More
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
