Archive for the ‘Historic’ Category

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

The driving force behind Apple Computer, Steve Jobs died today. He leaves a legacy of a technology company that has defined the lives of a generation. He will be missed and remembered by us all.
Apple – Remembering Steve Jobs

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How Yuri Gagarin Went Into Space

( Click on infographic to make larger )

Source SPACE.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration

Lego Minifigs Headed for Deep Space

Looks like there will be LEGO mini figs on the next NASA mission to Jupiter! Full scale minifig replicas rendered out of aluminum will be bolted to the Juno probe bound to the largest of the gas planets in our solar system. So for the next five years a tiny god Jupiter, his sister Juno, and the astronomer Galileo will be hanging out on a one way trip to promote children’s education in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

[via Wired]

Lego Minifigs Soon Headed for Deep Space

Human Eye Like HDR Video System

I’ve long been a fan of the HDR image. Shooting full motion video has never seemed to be an option until now:

Anyone who regularly uses a video camera will know that the devices do not see the world the way we do. The human visual system can perceive a scene that contains both bright highlights and dark shadows, yet is able to process that information in such a way that it can simultaneously expose for both lighting extremes – up to a point, at least. Video cameras, however, have just one f-stop to work with at any one time, and so must make compromises. Now, however, researchers from the UK’s University of Warwick claim to have the solution to such problems, in the form of the world’s first full High Dynamic Range (HDR) video system.

World’s first full HDR video system sees like the human eye.

See larger image Practical HDR: A complete guide to creating High Dynamic Range images with your Digital SLR (Paperback) By (author) David Nightingale, Steve Luck List Price: $24.95 USD New From: $16.55 In Stock Used from: $19.89 In Stock

X-37B Returns from First Space Flight

Great news in the world of secret space flight:

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – The U.S. Air Force’s first
unmanned re-entry spacecraft landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base at
1:16 a.m. PST today.

The X-37B, named Orbital Test Vehicle 1 (OTV-1), conducted on-orbit
experiments for more than 220 days during its maiden voyage.  It fired
its orbital maneuver engine in low-earth orbit to perform an
autonomous reentry before landing.

The X-37B is the newest and most advanced re-entry spacecraft. Managed
by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (AFRCO), the X-37B program
performs risk reduction, experimentation and concept of operations
development for reusable space vehicle technologies.

“Today’s landing culminates a successful mission based on close
teamwork between the 30th Space Wing, Boeing and the Air Force Rapid
Capabilities Office,” said Lt Col Troy Giese, X-37B program manager
from the AFRCO. “We are very pleased that the program completed all
the on-orbit objectives for the first mission.”

OTV-1′s de-orbit and landing mark the transition from the on-orbit
demonstration phase to a refurbishment phase for the program.

The Air Force is preparing to launch the next X-37B, OTV-2, in Spring
2011 aboard an Atlas V booster.

Brian Webb
http://www.spacearchive.info

I wonder if the X-37B has enough delta V to make it to the ISS? If it did then there might be hope for more re-supply missions that don’t rely on the Russian Progress launches.

World Sky Race

Having long been a fan of lighter than air ships I find the prospect of a round the world race quite intoxicating. Read the rest of this entry »

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