Kirobo Speaks from the ISS

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rJWJm0n8cjE?rel=0" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/kiribo-speaks/28951/" target="blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Gizmag</span></b></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">K</span><b>irobo became the first robot to speak in outer space on 21 August 2013. The robot astronaut, equipped with voice-recognition software from Toyota, sent a greeting to everyone on Earth and a photo to Mirata, the back-up crew member robot.</b><br /><br />Kirobo, who only speaks Japanese, won’t have much else to do until November or December—that’s when Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese commander of the ISS, arrives. He will conduct the first conversation with a robot in space in the ISS’s Kibo (Hope) Japanese Experiment Module.</div>

Kirobo Speaks from the ISS

Gizmag K irobo became the first robot to speak in outer space on 21 August 2013. The robot astronaut, equipped with voice-recognition softwa...

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NASA Engineer Says He Has a Way to Move Faster Than the Speed of Light

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kdaMI2wnVBg?rel=0" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://io9.com/5963263/how-nasa-will-build-its-very-first-warp-drive" target="blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">io9</span></b></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">N</span><b>ASA engineer <a href="http://www.icarusinterstellar.org/team/harold-white/" target="_blank">Harold White</a> stunned the aeronautics world when he announced that he and his team at NASA had begun work on the development of a faster-than-light warp drive. His proposed design, a re-imagining of an Alcubierre Drive, may eventually result in an engine that can transport a spacecraft to the nearest star in a matter of weeks—and all without violating Einstein’s law of relativity—nothing with mass can accelerate to light speed.</b><br /><br />The idea came to White while he was considering an equation formulated by Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre. In his 1994 paper titled, “The Warp Drive: Hyper-Fast Travel Within General Relativity,” Alcubierre suggested a mechanism by which space-time could be “warped” both in front of and behind a spacecraft.<br /><br />Alcubierre’s notion takes advantage of a quirk in the cosmological code that allows for the expansion and contraction of space-time, and could allow for hyper-fast travel between interstellar destinations. Essentially, the empty space behind a starship would be made to expand rapidly, pushing the craft in a forward direction—passengers would perceive it as movement despite the complete lack of acceleration.<br /><br />(Think of this bubble like a moving sidewalk: It carries you faster than you can walk, but your leg muscles still dictate how fast you can walk on the rubber surface. In the case of the space-time bubble, the “sidewalk” is moving faster than light, while objects inside that bubble still obey the speed limit.)</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4hfMHmEOsPydwXu7Bz2sGCImA5SutbVlPpaul2pmQWT-bHRFUejCQVhF5HrqjSmcCRUupWA4nlqmjXg9PYOrUXMEEy2vgsmpRuJcraidyDcn0KLMXNk3pdAmAnZOu4QGv6m3gBQPy1I/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4hfMHmEOsPydwXu7Bz2sGCImA5SutbVlPpaul2pmQWT-bHRFUejCQVhF5HrqjSmcCRUupWA4nlqmjXg9PYOrUXMEEy2vgsmpRuJcraidyDcn0KLMXNk3pdAmAnZOu4QGv6m3gBQPy1I/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Concept for warp drive craft. Photo: Michael Stravato for the NY Times</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;">In terms of the engine’s mechanics, a spheroid object would be placed between two regions of space-time (one expanding and one contracting). A “warp bubble” would then be generated that moves space-time around the object, effectively repositioning it—the end result being faster-than-light travel without the spheroid (or spacecraft) having to move with respect to its local frame of reference.<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: large;">“Remember, nothing locally exceeds the speed of light, but space can expand and contract at any speed. However, space-time is really stiff, so to create the expansion and contraction effect in a useful manner in order for us to reach interstellar destinations in reasonable time periods would require a lot of energy.”</span> ~Harold White</blockquote><br />Early assessments published in the ensuing scientific literature suggested horrific amounts of energy—basically equal to the mass-energy of the planet Jupiter (what is 1.9 × 1027 kilograms or 317 Earth masses). As a result, the idea was brushed aside as being far too impractical.<br /><br />The key, says White, may be in altering the geometry of the warp drive itself.<br /><br />White has redesigned the theoretical warp-traveling spacecraft—and in particular a ring around it that is key to its propulsion system—in a way that he believes will greatly reduce the energy requirements.<br /><br />White says, “I suddenly realized that if you made the thickness of the negative vacuum energy ring larger—like shifting from a belt shape to a donut shape—and oscillate the warp bubble, you can greatly reduce the energy required—perhaps making the idea plausible.” White had adjusted the shape of Alcubierre’s ring which surrounded the spheroid from something that was a flat halo to something that was thicker and curvier.<br /><br />White’s new new design could significantly reduce the amount of exotic matter required. And in fact, White says that the warp drive could be powered by a mass that’s even less than that of the Voyager 1 spacecraft.<br /><br />That’s a significant change in calculations to say the least. The reduction in mass from a Jupiter-sized planet to an object that weighs a mere 1,600 pounds has completely reset White’s sense of plausibility—and NASA’s.<br /><br />The warp drive design appears to be based on <a href="http://news.discovery.com/space/quantum-thruster-warp-drive-physics-130823.htm" target="_blank">an exotic form of matter</a> that nobody has seen experimentally.</div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OIC1E-GSj_w?rel=0" width="853"></iframe><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"></div>

NASA Engineer Says He Has a Way to Move Faster Than the Speed of Light

io9 N ASA engineer Harold White stunned the aeronautics world when he announced that he and his team at NASA had begun work on the developm...

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Memorial Spaceflights | Blast Your Loved Ones Into Space

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/TZLTk1qIC6s?rel=0" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">B</span><b>last the remains of your loved ones into space where they can orbit the Earth for a few months or years before re-entering the atmosphere in a blaze of glory, burning up as a fiery shooting star.</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.celestis.com/services.asp" target="_blank">Celestis</a> offers the choice of Earth orbits, a landing on the moon or “a voyage through deepest space, leaving the Earth-Moon system on a permanent celestial journey.”<br /><br />Elysium Space <a href="http://elysiumspace.com/pages/mobile-app" target="_blank">provides a mobile app</a> so you can follow your loved one’s journey in real time from the spacecraft in its orbit.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Wz0iywVJzs7PNJK_aSZj46gRRQroxZLq1aShkAOGvagKeHdsrHIIcNjmGW5xdFajDwvXxWnyDbO9dshdDMGCf0tzMcAmia_kcDIOvKyJAeRE2JmSUgEpHOgP2Dz-l5aXzgOkKA7MrYA/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Wz0iywVJzs7PNJK_aSZj46gRRQroxZLq1aShkAOGvagKeHdsrHIIcNjmGW5xdFajDwvXxWnyDbO9dshdDMGCf0tzMcAmia_kcDIOvKyJAeRE2JmSUgEpHOgP2Dz-l5aXzgOkKA7MrYA/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></div>

Memorial Spaceflights | Blast Your Loved Ones Into Space

B last the remains of your loved ones into space where they can orbit the Earth for a few months or years before re-entering the atmosphere ...

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Send Your Very Own Personal Spacecraft to the Moon

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jtOE3bd3MVs?rel=0" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1677943140/send-your-own-pocket-spacecraft-on-a-mission-to-th" target="blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Pocket Spacecraft</span></b></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">N</span><b>ow anyone with $300 can send their own personal spacecraft (called Scouts) to the moon. If you want to keep things closer to home, a $150 pledge gets you an Earth Scout that will be released into Earth's atmosphere.</b><br /><br />Your Scout is a polyimide disc (a material used for flexible circuit boards, spacesuits and, of particular relevance for this application, high performance solar sails) held taut by a NiTi memory metal hoop that can also double as an antenna. These will be loaded by the thousand into an Interplanetary CubeSat Mothership which will fly to the body of interest, send out the Scouts to explore it, and relay their discoveries back to Earth and amongst each other.<br /><br />The thinness and lightness allows the packing of thousands per mothership and act as very small solar sails (when coated with a thin metal layer) to move about space, and potentially survive re-entry from orbit to the surface of bodies with suitable atmospheres.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLRpog5tzQhuDlxxkhkZHtuCVDqJ9t466yj3exeCm5sVD1YKBcAAif5Ugak6e9NDMO0Xb0tPFNIOCmZIgRLopwhgBmaW2wNvdBjmbDtvlOyetoJx2_Le10tntKOrl4u4D47am2PMggVs/s1200/1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="477" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLRpog5tzQhuDlxxkhkZHtuCVDqJ9t466yj3exeCm5sVD1YKBcAAif5Ugak6e9NDMO0Xb0tPFNIOCmZIgRLopwhgBmaW2wNvdBjmbDtvlOyetoJx2_Le10tntKOrl4u4D47am2PMggVs/s1600/1.jpg" width="853" /></a></div><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;">You can upload a picture or message which will be printed on your spacecraft. You decide where you would like your Scout to go – load it onto the Earth Scout deck, and soon after it is launched into space, we’ll release it into Earth’s atmosphere to attempt re-entry and recovery from the surface of the planet. Load it onto the Lunar Scout deck and we’ll try to send it to the moon and release it to deorbit to the surface of the moon.<br /><br />Scouts are solar powered with integrated optical and radio transceivers and can have sensors including a single pixel optical sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, temperature sensor, strain gauges and more. If you are comfortable with Arduino level software development, you can run your own software on Software and Hardware Development Scouts. We’ll provide a web based integrated development environment (IDE) so you can write code, test on a Scout simulator and in a virtual solar system and upload your design to your own Software Development Scout.</div>

Send Your Very Own Personal Spacecraft to the Moon

Pocket Spacecraft N ow anyone with $300 can send their own personal spacecraft (called Scouts) to the moon. If you want to keep things close...

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Iron Man Space Diving Suit

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="483" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/19451688?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=ffffff" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/space-diving-iron-man-suit/27659/" target="blank">Gizmag</a></b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span><b>he development of a real life Iron Man suit allows astronauts or extreme thrill seekers to space dive from up to 62 miles (100 km) above the Earth‘s surface at the very edge of space, and safely land using thruster boots instead of a parachute. </b></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjumSt_ZhcCgw98uTdhzBvLQRbQyBckDXA9Ff_xPrga7qGnM1XV3T8bM8UWWzpY8-9i_yyIZVCYak5O1dQrgamtG8wITjRadEEdFC3CoPQbmpDAB5UZcUKtF7CljIVut701OpScyqsJ0Rg/s1600/7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjumSt_ZhcCgw98uTdhzBvLQRbQyBckDXA9Ff_xPrga7qGnM1XV3T8bM8UWWzpY8-9i_yyIZVCYak5O1dQrgamtG8wITjRadEEdFC3CoPQbmpDAB5UZcUKtF7CljIVut701OpScyqsJ0Rg/s1600/7.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mock up HUD display of the hi-tech augmented reality goggle. Photo: Blaze Sanders/Juxtopia</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;">Hi-tech inventors over at Solar System Express (Sol-X) and biotech designers Juxtopia LLC (JLLC) are collaborating on this project with a goal of releasing a production model of such a suit by 2016. The project will use a commercial space suit to which will be added augmented reality (AR) goggles, jet packs, power gloves and movement gyros.</div>

Iron Man Space Diving Suit

Gizmag T he development of a real life Iron Man suit allows astronauts or extreme thrill seekers to space dive from up to 62 miles (100 km) ...

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NASA Launches Three Smartphone Satellites

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GU1AHBgUn10?rel=0" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/small_spacecraft/phonesat.html" target="blank">NASA</a></b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">A</span> <b>trio of PhoneSats is operating in orbit, and may prove to be the lowest-cost satellites ever flown in space. The goal of NASA's PhoneSat mission is to determine whether a consumer-grade off-the-shelf commercial smartphone can be used as the main flight avionics of a capable, yet very inexpensive, satellite. </b><br /><br />NASA’s prototype smartphone satellite, known as PhoneSat 1.0, is built around the Nexus One smartphone made by HTC Corp., running Google’s Android operating system. The Nexus One acts as the spacecraft onboard computer. Sensors determine the orientation of the spacecraft while the smartphone's camera can be used for Earth observations. Commercial-off-the-shelf parts include a watchdog circuit that monitors the systems and reboots the phone if it stops sending radio signals.<br /><br />NASA’s PhoneSat 1.0 satellite has a basic mission goal — to stay alive in space for a short period of time, sending back digital imagery of Earth and space via its camera, while also sending back information about the satellite’s health. <br /><br />As part of their preparation for space, the smartphones were outfitted with a low-powered transmitter operating in the amateur radio band. They sent the image information to awaiting hams who worked with the Ames engineers to stitch together multiple, tiny images to restore the complete Earth view.</div><br /><object height="480" id="otvPlayer" width="853"><param name="movie" value="http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/flash/embeddedPlayer/swf/otvEmLoader.swf?version=fw1000&station=kgo§ion=&mediaId=9084217&parentId=9084230&cdnRoot=http://cdn.abclocal.go.com&webRoot=http://abclocal.go.com&configPath=/util/&site=" ></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed id="otvPlayer" width="853" height="480" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" allowfullscreen="true" src="http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/static/flash/embeddedPlayer/swf/otvEmLoader.swf?version=fw1000&station=kgo§ion=&mediaId=9084217&parentId=9084230&cdnRoot=http://cdn.abclocal.go.com&webRoot=http://abclocal.go.com&configPath=/util/&site="></embed></object>

NASA Launches Three Smartphone Satellites

NASA A trio of PhoneSats is operating in orbit, and may prove to be the lowest-cost satellites ever flown in space. The goal of NASA's ...

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Apply for a One-Way Trip to Mars

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/74pA5YH-ehY?rel=0" width="853"></iframe><br /><br /><div id="posttext" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/22/17865202-thousands-want-to-take-one-way-trip-to-mars-but-will-you-pay-their-way" target="blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">NBC News</span></b></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">Y</span><b>ou can be part of what may be the ultimate reality show. Mars One is <a href="http://applicants.mars-one.com/" target="_blank">now taking applications</a> for a one-way trip to Mars in 2023.</b><br /><br />The idea is to jump-start a permanent settlement on Mars, with more supplies and settlers arriving every couple of years.<br /><br />The organizers say the $6 billion cost for the first landing would be covered through reality-TV deals and merchandising.<br /><br />Mars One has received more than 10,000 emails from more than 100 countries around the world, voicing willingness to sign up for a one-way ticket to the Red Planet. Starting last Monday, anyone 18 or older can formally apply — provided that they pay an application fee. The fee ranges from $5 to $75, depending on the standard of living for the country of residence. U.S. residents, for example, will be charged $38. <br /><br />Each applicant will have to submit a one-minute video explaining why he or she should be among the first humans on Mars. Applicants will be screened for physical and mental fitness, and will have to speak English. They should also be “mature and interesting," Mars One says. But chief medical director Norbert Kraft said there are no formal academic or professional prerequisites. “We will give the training,” he said.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=10,0,0,0" height="245" id="msnbc26afbe" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" /><param name="FlashVars" value="launch=51624836&width=420&height=245" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed name="msnbc26afbe" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" width="420" height="245" FlashVars="launch=51624836&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object><p style="font-size:11px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: #999; margin-top: 5px; background: transparent; text-align: center; width: 420px;">Visit NBCNews.com for <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">breaking news</a>, <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032507" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">world news</a>, and <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072" style="text-decoration:none !important; border-bottom: 1px dotted #999 !important; font-weight:normal !important; height: 13px; color:#5799DB !important;">news about the economy</a></p></div>

Apply for a One-Way Trip to Mars

NBC News Y ou can be part of what may be the ultimate reality show. Mars One is now taking applications for a one-way trip to Mars in 2023....

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