The retirement of the space shuttle has sparked a debate about the value of human spaceflight. Some see it as a waste of resources. Robots are better, cheaper alternatives, they say – and robotic missions don’t risk human lives. Others see the ability to fly humans into space as being tied up with national prestige, influence, and soft power. Continue reading
The International Space Station may have to start operating without a crew in November if Russian engineers don’t figure out soon what caused a recent rocket failure, NASA officials announced today. The unmanned Russian cargo ship Progress 44 crashed just after its Aug. 24 launch to deliver 2.9 tons of supplies to the orbiting lab. Continue reading
Move over Commander Data, there’s a real robot in space, now. The International Space Station got a new crewmember today, one made not of flesh and blood, but of gears and clockwork instead. Called Robonaut 2, the automaton astronaut was activated by human spaceflyers today. Continue reading
A ring of antimatter, more specifically antiprotons, has been recently discovered around the Earth. Since antiprotons are charged sub-atomic particles, they are confined by the planet’s magnetic field lines. Continue reading
NASA has picked seven private spaceflight companies, each working to build a commercial spaceship, as its transportation of choice for launching experiments to the edge of space and back. Continue reading
There is renewed interest in air-breathing spaceplanes or reusable boosters. At the same time, remarkable launch cost reductions in more conventional boosters are imminent due to the efforts of SpaceX and other firms. Continue reading
New observations from the Herschel Space Observatory show a bizarre, twisted ring of dense gas at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Only a few portions of the ring, which stretches across more than 600 light-years, were known before. Continue reading
With the future of the International Space Station uncertain, the Chinese have announced their own space station program, instead of joining forces with the other space powers. China’s space station will be named “Tiangong” which means “Heavenly Palace” in Mandarin. Continue reading
Whether we realize it or not digital signage is all around us. From digital billboards, public transport signage, to digital displays at the grocery store or gas station, we are always exposed to tons of advertisement. The digital media industry … Continue reading
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” –Western Union internal memo, 1876. “Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.” … Continue reading