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Archive for the ‘space’ category: Page 998

Oct 13, 2015

Embry-Riddle and Honeybee Robotics Receive $750,000 Research Award from NASA to Develop Asteroid Mining Robots

Posted by in categories: engineering, robotics/AI, space

Mars Robot
NASA has announced the continuation of a two-phase $750,000 research award to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and project partner Honeybee Robotics to develop a small integrated autonomous robotic spacecraft system to support the exploration and mining of asteroids and other planetary bodies and moons.

Dr. Hever Moncayo and Dr. Richard Prazenica, both Assistant Professors of Aerospace Engineering in the College of Engineering are leading the effort at the Daytona Beach Campus. Also collaborating on this project is Dr. Sergey Drakunov, Professor of Engineering Physics in the Physical Sciences Department and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Kris Zacny is the team lead for Honeybee Robotics.

The Embry-Riddle team includes Aerospace Engineering master’s degree students Diego Garcia, Chirag Jain, Andres Chavez, Wai Leuk Law, Aerospace Engineering Ph.D. student Andres Perez and Engineering Physics Ph.D. student Samuel Kitchen-McKinley. The researchers are focusing on an innovative concept based on autonomous small free-flyer prospector spacecraft that can leave from, return and recharge from a mothership on the planet’s or asteroid’s surface.

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Oct 12, 2015

Space-inspired objects — By Helen Chislett | Financial Times

Posted by in categories: media & arts, space, space travel

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“When the Rosetta spacecraft deployed the Philae lander to land on a comet last November, the world held its breath. … Little surprise too that space is back on the design agenda as a primary source of inspiration. Visiting Design Miami/Basel in June, it was obvious that the “Philae effect” was having an impact much closer to home.”

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Oct 11, 2015

This Week in Science: October 4th — 11th, 2015

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, science, space

This Week in Science: The First Privately Backed Moon Mission, Using Gene Therapy to Reverse Aging, Artificial Veins and Arteries, and More.

Go here for a clickable image: http://futurism.com/images/this-week-in-science-october-4th-11th-2015/?src=home

Sources
Detecting All Viruses:http://futurism.com/5srzA
Water on Pluto: http://futurism.com/aO2av
Kidney Tissue from Stem Cells: http://futurism.com/DLDON
Converting Algae Blooms into Electrodes: http://futurism.com/w9ez
Fixing Holes in Heart: http://futurism.com/a13Jd
Reversing Aging: http://futurism.com/TjaTL
Private Moon Mission: http://futurism.com/9V626
Artificial Veins: http://futurism.com/rKNzH

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Oct 11, 2015

Close cousins? Comparison between Earth and Kepler-452b and their host stars

Posted by in category: space

Scientists using data from NASA’s Kepler mission have confirmed the first near-Earth-size planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. The habitable zone is the region around a star where temperatures are just right for water to exist in its liquid form.

The artistic concept compares Earth (left) to the new planet, called Kepler-452b, which is about 60 percent larger. The illustration represents one possible appearance for Kepler-452b — scientists do not know whether the planet has oceans and continents like Earth.

Both planets orbit a G2-type star of about the same temperature; however, the star hosting Kepler-452b is 6 billion years old, 1.5 billion years older than our sun. As stars age, they become larger, hotter and brighter, as represented in the illustration. Kepler-452b’s star appears a bit larger and brighter.

Continue reading “Close cousins? Comparison between Earth and Kepler-452b and their host stars” »

Oct 10, 2015

Elon Musk: We need to leave Earth as soon as possible

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, existential risks, space

He believes in a good backup plan.

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Oct 10, 2015

These Mysterious Blazing-Fast Ripples Racing Around a Star Defy Explanation

Posted by in category: space

Scientists were looking for planets forming in the large disk of dust surrounding a young star when they encountered a surprise: fast-moving, wavelike arches racing across the disk like ripples in water.

The team first spotted the five structures in data from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile while searching for lumps and bumps that might indicate planets forming around the young star. When the researchers looked back at images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 2010 and 2011, they managed to spot the same features — but in new locations. A new video of the mysterious ripples, describes the strange features as seen by ESO scientists.

“Our observations have shown something unexpected,” Anthony Boccaletti, a researcher from LESIA (Observatoire de Paris/CNRS/UPMC/Paris-Diderot) in France and lead author on the paper, said in a statement. “The images from [the Very Large Telescope instrument] SPHERE show a set of unexplained features in the disk, which have an archlike or wavelike structure unlike anything that has ever been observed before.” [The Top 10 Strangest Things in Space]

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Oct 8, 2015

Pluto Has Red Ice And Blue Skies

Posted by in category: space

Space sailors’ delight?

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Oct 8, 2015

Scientists just got a first glimpse at the color of Pluto’s atmosphere, and it’s unlike anything they expected

Posted by in category: space

The growling list of mysteries surrounding Pluto just got longer. On Oct. 8, NASA released the first color photo of Pluto’s atmosphere, and the shade they saw was anything but expected:

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Oct 7, 2015

Google Lunar X Prize team signs contract to send spacecraft to moon

Posted by in category: space

A team of Israeli engineers is the first to advance in an international competition sponsored by Google to send a privately-funded spacecraft to the moon, contest organizers announced Wednesday.

The Israeli nonprofit group SpaceIL has signed a contract with American aerospace manufacturer SpaceX to launch an unmanned spacecraft into lunar orbit — the first step a team must take toward landing on the moon and winning the $20 million grand prize. The launch is expected to take place in the second half of 2017.

Google’s contest is meant to encourage private industry to create new technologies to reach the moon at lower costs than what governments have spent in past lunar expeditions.

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Oct 7, 2015

China now spends more on science than the EU, will soon overtake the US

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, science, space

Maybe we can convince the Chinese to start funding our space program.


On Monday, Chinese scientist Youyou Tu was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of a new malaria therapy. It was remarkable research in its own right, but equally significant is the fact that Tu is the first scientist to ever be awarded a Nobel Prize for work done at a Chinese institution — despite the fact that the country trains more scientists and engineers than any other nation on Earth.

In fact, China now spends more money on research and development than Europe, and by 2020, it’s predicted to outspend the US, as Nature editor Ed Gerstner wrote last month in Research Information. But despite that investment, there’s a big reason for why Chinese science has lagged behind other parts of the world — it has a long history of pumping out dodgy research.

Continue reading “China now spends more on science than the EU, will soon overtake the US” »