TeamDroid | Space

Airborne Laser Testbed Successful in Lethal Intercept Experiment

Posted on 02.12.10 by John @ 6:29 pm

Spotted this real-world application of way cool technology today:

Airborne Laser Testbed Successful in Lethal Intercept ExperimentFeb. 11, 2010 – At 8:44 p.m. (PST)
A short-range threat-representative ballistic missile was launched from an at-sea mobile launch platform. Within seconds, the ALTB used onboard sensors to detect the boosting missile and used a low-energy laser to track the target. The ALTB then fired a second low-energy laser to measure and compensate for atmospheric disturbance. Finally, the ALTB fired its megawatt-class High Energy Laser, heating the boosting ballistic missile to critical structural failure. The entire engagement occurred within two minutes of the target missile launch, while its rocket motors were still thrusting.

[via Launch-Alert mailing list]
Airborne Laser Testbed Media Gallery

Popularity: 1% [?]

Trackback URL for this post

Soviet Star Wars

Posted on 01.12.10 by John @ 7:22 pm

Not that the proliferation of weapons in space (or other places for that matter) is something to ever wish for but you have to admit that the idea has a ‘Buck Rogers’ kind of coolness to it.

“…a massive satellite, the largest ever launched, equipped with a powerful laser to take out the American anti-missile shield in advance of a Soviet first strike. It was real, though—or at least the plan was… …[The Soviets] funded two massive R&D studies in the late 1970s and early 1980s to explore how to counter imaginary American missile defense ideas,” he says. Two concepts emerged: Skif—a laser “cannon” in orbit—and another weapon known as Kaskad (Cascade), designed to destroy an enemy’s satellites with missiles fired from another craft in orbit.”

Soviet Star Wars

Popularity: 1% [?]

Filed under: Cool and Dumb and Mad Science and Space and To be used for Evil
Comments: Comments Off

Trackback URL for this post

Sci-Fi-O-Rama

Posted on 01.04.10 by John @ 9:40 pm

If it wasn’t for the talents of Roger Dean, Chris Foss, Mobius, and countless others, where would our science fiction books get their amazing cover art? In ‘Sci-Fi-O-Rama’ you can take a leisurely jaunt through the countless dimensions of hyperspace and huge space ships and just soak in all those fantasy worlds.

Sci-Fi-O-Rama

Popularity: 1% [?]

Filed under: Artistic and Cool and Design and Space
Comments: Comments Off

Trackback URL for this post

Space Wallpaper Direct From NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Posted on 12.29.09 by John @ 5:42 pm

Brighten up your desktop with stunning shot of science imagery. Over 80 to choose from at various dimensions to fit even the most ‘embiggened’ of monitors. There are even instructions on how to apply this as a desktop to your computer if you were wondering how that sort of thing was done. Space craft, planets, satellite pictures of Earth, there are enough pretty pictures to make most everyone happy.

Space Wallpaper, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Moon, Stars and Galaxies – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Filed under: Artistic and Cool and General and Science and Space
Comments: Comments Off

Trackback URL for this post

Ice Rockets Away!

Posted on 10.07.09 by John @ 9:14 pm

Very nice, I like the part about the propellant being frozen while it’s being loaded into the motor.

Researchers are developing a new type of rocket propellant made of a frozen mixture of water and “nanoscale aluminum” powder that is more environmentally friendly than conventional propellants and could be manufactured on the moon, Mars and other water-bearing bodies.

New aluminum-water rocket propellant promising for future space missions.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Filed under: Cool and Mad Science and Science and Space and Technology
Comments: Comments Off

Trackback URL for this post

3D Astro Images

Posted on 06.22.09 by John @ 6:24 pm

Imagine if you had a head as larger than a planet, OK good. Now imagine that you are looking up at the ’sky’ (with your head being larger than the planet you normally live on some would say that the sky is everywhere but I digress…) and things that would normally appear flat begin to have depth. You can see that the moon is closer to you than the sun and that planets really do look like they are way out there. Astronomer JP Metsavainio has been taking wonderful photos of the night sky and then enhancing them to give you the illusion of what they would look like it you were of a galactic size. His estimates of depth are a best guess but I’m going to say that for the sake of argument that he is correct. Seeing these nebula and galaxies with stereo depth is just cool.

Astroanarchy

Popularity: 19% [?]

Filed under: Cool and Photography and Space
Comments: Comments Off

Trackback URL for this post

Gallery

Other Places

Science