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Mars Base

Spray-on antenna gets great reception at Google event - 0 views

www.physorg.com/...na-great-reception-google.html

scibyte34 spray-on-antenna

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • A Utah startup has introduced a spray-on signal booster in a can that promises an improved signal
  • tested the spray on a tree, among other tests, and the team was able to send a VHF signal up to 14 miles away using only the treated tree
  • promoting it as a multi-purpose antenna, simple and quick to assemble, mountable on almost any surface, for use in any environment. "Any" bears quite a range of possible end uses.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • upbeat over successful tests that were run to examine the spray's signal performance underwater
  • is not to say the idea of a spray-on antenna on surfaces does not have a history
  • February 14, 2012
  • could be used by weather and oceanographic researchers and underwater welders.
Mars Base

Robonaut: Home - 0 views

robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/default.asp

scibyte34 robonaut

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • A Robonaut is a dexterous humanoid robot
  • challenge is to build machines that can help humans work and explore in space
  • Working side by side with humans, or going where the risks are too great for people
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • expand our ability for construction and discovery
  • capability we call dexterous manipulation
  • currently four Robonauts
  • others currently in development
  • The value of a humanoid over othe
  • designs is the ability to use the same workspace and tools - not only does this improve efficiency in the types of tools, but also removes the need for specialized robotic connectors
  • Robonaut 2 or R2, launched to the International Space Station on space shuttle Discovery as part of the STS-133 mission
  • first dexterous humanoid robot in space
  • deployed on a fixed pedestal inside the ISS
  • Next steps include a leg for climbing through the corridors of the Space Station, upgrades for R2 to go outside into the vacuum of space, and then future lower bodies like legs and wheels to propel the R2 across Lunar and Martian terrain
Mars Base

Aurora Oddity: Northern Lights Flare Up Without Big Sun Eruption | Space.com - 0 views

www.space.com/e-northern-lights-display.html

scibyte34 aurora ymhs

shared by Mars Base on 18 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Northern Lights Display Dazzles Without Big Sun Flare
  • reasons scientists can't yet explain, the northern lights blazed up in a dazzling display this week
  • despite the apparent lack of a major solar flare typically associated with these celestial light shows
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • began on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14),
  • uptick in activity in Earth's magnetic field sparked a geomagnetic storm
  • Sometimes the sky surprises us
  • with little warning, geomagnetic activity rippled around the Arctic Circle
  • producing an outbreak of auroras
  • among the best in months
  • some early speculation that a Feb. 10 sun storm, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME), may have triggered the northern lights show, but this solar outburst has not yet been confirmed.
  • occur when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth's upper atmosphere
  • creating ripples of glowing light
  • charged particles are funneled to Earth's poles by the planet's magnetic field
  • typically only visible to skywatchers in far northern or far southern latitudes
  • northern lights are called the aurora borealis
  • southern lights are dubbed the aurora australis
Mars Base

NASA - Robonaut 2 - 0 views

www.nasa.gov/...robonaut.html

scibyte34 robonaut

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Robonaut 2 completed its initial checkouts on board the International Space Station Wednesday, February 15, 2012
  • history with the first human/robotic handshake to be performed in space
  • message sent down in sign language. “Hello World,” the robot signed in American sign language
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • launched to the International Space Station almost a year ago
Mars Base

NASA - Historic Handshake for Robonaut 2 - 0 views

www.nasa.gov/...r2_handshake.html

scibyte34 robonaut

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Following the tests, R2 was powered down and put back into storage until time for the robot’s next task
  • The suite of cameras in its head not only provide R2’s operators in space and on the ground with a view of what it’s working on, they can also be used by the robot to verify the configuration of a switch its flipped or ensure that other work it has done is correct
  • After the vision characterization, the robot will be able to work with the taskboards sent into space
Mars Base

Robot Space 'Gas Attendant' Could Salvage Old Satellites by 2015 | Satellite Refueling ... - 0 views

www.space.com/ation-satellite-refueling.html

scibyte34 satellite

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • middle of the decade
  • possible to salvage satellites that run out of fuel or suffer minor malfunctions in orbit
  • Canada-based aerospace firm
  • ...16 more annotations...
  • designing a spacecraft that will serve as an orbiting gas station and mechanic.
  • will be able to top off satellites' fuel tanks
  • perform minor repairs as needed
  • first servicing satellite could be ready to go by 2015 or 2016
  • Currently, most satellites last only as long as their stores of onboard propellant allow
  • When a spacecraft runs out of fuel, it essentially turns into a very expensive piece of space junk, adding to the massive cloud of debris already clogging Earth orbit.
  • servicing spacecraft would be controlled from the ground
  • could operate with varying degrees of autonomy
  • when the SIS spacecraft itself runs low on fuel, a separately launched "tanker" would replenish its supply of propellant, allowing the vehicle to continue servicing satellites far into the future.
  • MDA thought it found that customer last year.
  • However, the two companies announced last month that the deal is off
  • I guess we were not able to meet those datelines for the original plan, due to various factors
  • isn't the only business or organization working to develop satellite-servicing technology
  • Aerospace firm Vivisat, for example, is designing a spacecraft called the Mission Extension Vehicle, which would dock to satellites and provide propulsion and attitude control.
  • The U.S. military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has started a program called Phoenix, which seeks to recycle still-functioning pieces of defunct satellites and incorporate them into new space systems for low cost.
  • 16 February 2012
Mars Base

DARPA Seeks Ideas to Recycle Space Junk Into New Satellites | Space Junk & Orbital Debr... - 0 views

www.space.com/ycling-phoenix-satellites.html

scibyte34 satellites debris

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • : 20 October 2011
  • United States Department of Defense is looking for ways to repurpose space junk
  • started a program called Phoenix, which seeks to recycle still-functioning pieces of defunct satellites and incorporate them into new space systems on the cheap
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • snag still-working antennas from the many retired and dead satellites in geosynchronous orbit — about 22,000 miles (35,406 kilometers) above Earth — and attach them to smaller "satlets," or nanosatellites, launched from Earth.
  • tender vehicle would cruise over to a satlet, pluck it out of its housing and ferry it to the appropriate defunct satellite. The tender would then switch the antenna over from the retired satellite to the satlet, creating a "new," and relatively cheap, satellite using previously useless space junk.
  • Satellites in GEO are not designed to be disassembled or repaired, so it's not a matter of simply removing some nuts and bolts
  • requires new remote imaging and robotics technology and special tools to grip, cut, and modify complex systems
Mars Base

NASA Wants Gas Stations In Space | NASA Contracts for Cryogenic Rocket Fuel Studies | F... - 0 views

www.space.com/ace-gas-station-contracts.html

scibyte34 satellite

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • 05 August 2011
  • NASA has awarded contracts to four companies with plans to study how to store and transfer fuel in space.
  • Rocket fuel is cryogenic, meaning super-cold substances like liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. If not kept extremely chilled and protected, some of those liquids tend to boil off into gases.
Mars Base

Fruit flies use alcohol as a drug to kill parasites - 0 views

www.physorg.com/...es-alcohol-drug-parasites.html

scibyte34 alcohol

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • February 16, 2012
  • according to a study published online on Feb. 16 in Current Biology
  • fruit flies will actually seek out alcohol to kill off blood-borne parasitic wasps living within them
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • consume alcohol to self-medicate, a behavior that greatly increases their survival rate
  • believe our results are the first to show that alcohol consumption can have a protective effect against infectious disease, and in particular against blood-borne parasites
  • the common fruit fly that swirls around browning bananas in your kitchen
  • The amount of alcohol in their natural habitat can range from 5 to 15 percent
  • fruit flies are really good at detoxifying alcohol."
Mars Base

Cleaning up Earth's orbit: A Swiss satellite to tackle space debris - 0 views

actu.epfl.ch/...orbit-a-swiss-satellite-to-tac

scibyte34 satellite debris

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Mars Base on 17 Feb 12
     
    Swiss satellite to tackle space debris
Mars Base

Swiss satellite to tackle space debris (w/ video) - 0 views

www.physorg.com/...llite-tackle-space-debris.html

scibyte34 satellite debris

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Swiss Space Center at EPFL is announcing today the launch of CleanSpace One, a project to develop and build the first installment of a family of satellites specially designed to clean up space debris.
  • NASA keeps close tabs on at least 16,000 of these objects that are larger than 10 cm in diameter
  • After its launch, the cleanup satellite will have to adjust its trajectory in order to match its target’s orbital plane
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • When it gets within range of its target, which will be traveling at 28,000 km/h at an altitude of 630-750 km
Mars Base

Spray-on Antennas Make Their Mark - SIGNAL Magazine - 0 views

www.afcea.org/...SIGNAL_Article_Template.asp

scibyte34 spray-on-antenna

shared by Mars Base on 17 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • July 2001
  • radio antennas that are sprayed onto a surface
  • consist of a conductive substance sprayed over a template with a radio aerial pattern on
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • the antenna material is available in the form of metal-based paints such as nickel or silver and carbon-graphite-based paints. To create an antenna, a template is placed on the desired surface, the paint is sprayed over it and a connector is attached.
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