Military & Aerospace
NASA, Europeans uniting to send spaceship to moon
January 17, 2013 8:51 am | by MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer | News | CommentsNASA is teeming up with the European Space Agency to get astronauts beyond Earth's orbit. Europe will provide the propulsion and power compartment for NASA's new Orion crew capsule, officials said Wednesday. This so-called service module will be based on Europe's supply ship used for the International Space Station.
Space station to get $18 million balloon-like room
January 17, 2013 8:50 am | by HANNAH DREIER Associated Press | News | CommentsNASA is partnering with a commercial space company in a bid to replace the cumbersome "metal cans" that now serve as astronauts' homes in space with inflatable bounce-house-like habitats that can be deployed on the cheap.
World warm last year, but not like record US heat
January 16, 2013 8:56 am | by SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer | News | CommentsWhile the U.S. was smashing heat marks last year, the world as a whole barely slipped into the top 10 hottest years on record, two American science agencies said Tuesday
Astronomers discover largest known structure in the universe
January 14, 2013 8:58 am | by Reuters | News | Comments(Reuters) - Astronomers have discovered the largest known structure in the universe - a group of quasars so large it would take 4 billion years to cross it while traveling at speed of light. The immense scale also challenges Albert Einstein's Cosmological Principle, the assumption that the universe looks the same from every point of view, researchers said.
British waterway deploys ship safety aid to combat GPS attacks
January 11, 2013 12:20 pm | by Jonathan Saul, Reuters | News | CommentsBritain is deploying a back-up ship navigation system in the English Channel, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, to tackle the growing risks of disruptions of vessel satellite devices and jamming by criminal gangs.Mariners increasingly rely on global navigation systems that use satellite
Weightlessness no cure for "morning clumsies," astronaut says
January 11, 2013 9:00 am | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | CommentsLike many people, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield confesses that he's sometimes clumsy in the morning just after waking up. The three-time astronaut, now living aboard the International Space Station, was surprised to learn that did not change in the weightless environment of space.
Whew! Big asteroid no longer threat to Earth
January 11, 2013 8:51 am | by SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer | News | CommentsUpon further review, a big scary-sounding asteroid is no longer even a remote threat to smash into Earth in about 20 years, NASA says. Astronomers got a much better look at the asteroid when it whizzed by Earth on Wednesday from a relative safe 9 million miles away. They recalculated the space rock's
Ruggedized nano connectors minimize space requirements
January 10, 2013 2:36 pm | Omnetics Connector Corporation | Product Releases | CommentsOmnetics' new Polarized Nano connector line, the PZN series, continues to add pin counts in response to customer demand. These ultra-miniature connectors feature Omnetics' military style pin and socket designs to provide uninterrupted electrical connections for portable applications that are exposed to high shock and vibration environments.
Google Earth helps put North Korea gulag system on map
January 10, 2013 2:01 pm | by Paul Eckert, Reuters | News | CommentsGoogle Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt's visit to North Korea this week has been met with sharp criticism and low expectations, but the global Internet search giant indirectly is helping to make history by revealing one of the reclusive country's darkest secrets, say human rights activists
Year of oppressive US heat illustrated in numbers
January 10, 2013 9:03 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsLast year was by far the hottest year on record in the United States. Here's 2012's heat by the numbers: - Average annual temperature: 55.32 degrees F, a record. The old record was 54.32 degrees, set in 1998. - Weather stations across the Lower 48 states setting all-time high temperatures: 356.
Inertial measurement unit integrated into autopilot
January 9, 2013 4:47 pm | VectorNav Technologies | Product Releases | CommentsUnmanned Innovation announced that it has partnered with VectorNav Technologies to integrate VectorNav's VN-100 inertial measurement unit (IMU) into its os-Series Autopilots. Unmanned Innovation's os-Series Autopilots offer
Rocket's Core Gets Rave Review on This Week @NASA
January 9, 2013 3:30 pm | by @NASA | Videos | Comments"The core stage of NASA's Space Launch System -- America's new flagship rocket -- has successfully completed a major technical review by meeting system requirements within acceptable risk, and fell within schedule and budget constraints.
TWIE 130: Land Mine Sweeper that Blows in the Wind
January 9, 2013 3:26 pm | by Engineering.com | Videos | CommentsTWIE 130: Land Mine Sweeper that Blows in the Wind. This Week in Engineering - Asteroid pulling to lunar orbit; spiked space rovers; dandelion-inspired anti-mine device; robots sterilize hospital rooms; graves with QR codes; and printable record albums.
Engineering Newswire 19: Spikey Spacecraft Headed to Martian Moon
January 9, 2013 3:22 pm | Videos | CommentsToday on Engineering Newswire, brought to you by Interpower, the premier supplier of power system components for worldwide markets, we’re sending spikey little spacecraft to Martian moons, building a creepy little robot toddler, and moving one step closer to robotic telepresence. This episode features:
NASA's Kepler telescope finds 461 potential new planets
January 9, 2013 8:51 am | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | CommentsNASA's Kepler space telescope has uncovered another 461 potential new planets, most of which are the size of Earth or a few times larger, scientists said on Monday. The announcement brings Kepler's head count to 2,740 candidate new worlds, 105 of which have been confirmed.
Mock Mars trek finds down-to-Earth sleep woes
January 8, 2013 8:48 am | by SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer | News | CommentsAstronauts have a down-to-Earth problem that could be even worse on a long trip to Mars: They can't get enough sleep. And over time, the lack of slumber can turn intrepid space travelers into drowsy couch potatoes, a new study shows. In a novel experiment, six volunteers were confined in a cramped mock spaceship
Martian rock from Sahara desert unlike others
January 7, 2013 8:54 am | by Alicia Chang AP Science Writer | News | CommentsScientists are abuzz about a coal-colored rock from Mars that landed in the Sahara desert: A yearlong analysis revealed it's quite different from other Martian meteorites. Not only is it older than most, it also contains more water, tests showed. The baseball-size meteorite, estimated to be 2 billion years old,
Spaceport wants protections from tourist lawsuits
January 7, 2013 8:53 am | by JERI CLAUSING Associated Press | News | CommentsSpaceport America officials are urging legislators to limit potential lawsuits from wealthy outer space tourists who take off from New Mexico, saying such a bill is crucial to the future of the project. Legal experts, however, say there is no way to know whether the so-called informed consent laws
Vt. Air Guard hopes for jet, but others fear noise
January 7, 2013 8:51 am | by WILSON RING Associated Press | News | CommentsPlans on where to base the U.S. military's next-generation fighter jet, the F-35, concern people in communities from California to Florida to Maine who worry the aircraft are too loud. In Vermont, where the Air National Guard has flown planes from Burlington International Airport for more than 60 years
Our galaxy's 'geysers' are towers of power
January 3, 2013 10:12 am | News | Comments"Monster" outflows of charged particles from the centre of our Galaxy, stretching more than halfway across the sky, have been detected and mapped with CSIRO's 64-m Parkes radio telescope. Corresponding to the "Fermi Bubbles" found in 2010, the outflows were detected by astronomers from Australia, the USA, Italy and The Netherlands.
After setbacks, Russia boosts space spending
January 2, 2013 4:59 pm | News | CommentsThe country that oversaw the launch of the world's first artificial satellite hopes to regain some of its former glory with a big boost in space spending announced by Russia on Thursday after a series of failures.
Approaching comet may outshine the moon
January 2, 2013 4:54 pm | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | CommentsA comet blazing toward Earth could outshine the full moon when it passes by at the end of next year - if it survives its close encounter with the sun. The recently discovered object, known as comet ISON, is due to fly within 1.2 million miles (1.9 million km) from the center of the sun on November 28, 2013....
Would you like to contribute to our Brainstorm section?
January 2, 2013 4:50 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Blogs | CommentsWe here at ECN love to hear what you have to say, so for our February issue we’re opening up the Brainstorm discussion to our faithful readers. We want to hear your thoughts about consumer electronics and the future of technology. Typically, the Brainstorm is an editorial section consisting of short commentary....
Top 10 must-see posts for December
December 21, 2012 12:34 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsHere’s a rundown of the most read, most popular, most awesome articles on the web. Take a look at what you missed the first time around or check up on an old favorite to see the conversation in the comments. Keep checking out the Lead at www.ecnmag.com and follow us on Twitter @ecnonline for our most up-to-date articles.
NASA posts YouTube video debunking Maya "Armageddon"
December 21, 2012 9:11 am | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | CommentsNASA is so sure there will be a December 22, 2012, it has already posted a YouTube video titled "Why the World Didn't End Yesterday."Scientists say rumors on social media and the Internet of Earth's premature demise have been prompted by a misunderstanding of the ancient Maya calendar, which runs through December 21, 2012.
