alanboyle

alanboyle, 6 days ago to space

UPDATE: Two #NASA astronauts were launched into orbit to begin the first crewed mission of the #Boeing #Starliner capsule, after years of costly delays and two scrubbed countdowns: https://www.geekwire.com/2024/third-countdown-boeing-starliner/ #Space

alanboyle, 8 days ago to space

That was fast! After a couple of days of taking samples and taking selfies, China's Chang'e-6 probe lifted off from the moon's far side and is due to rendezvous with an orbiter to stash those samples for the trip back to Earth. https://cosmiclog.com/2024/06/04/chinese-probe-collects-moon-samples-and-lifts-off/ #Space #ChangE6 #China #Moon

alanboyle, 28 days ago to space

A milestone shakedown cruise for Boeing's #Starliner space taxi has been postponed until May 21 to give the launch team some extra time to conduct tests and resolve concerns about a small helium leak. https://www.geekwire.com/2024/additional-delay-boeing-starliner-crew/ #Space #NASA #Boeing #ISS #ULA

alanboyle, 1 month ago to space

UPDATE: The first crewed launch of #Boeing #Starliner space taxi has been postponed "out of an abundance of caution," due to concerns about a balky valve on the rocket's upper stage. https://www.geekwire.com/2024/boeing-starliner-space-station-2/ #Space #ISS

alanboyle, 1 month ago to SpaceX

For years, #SpaceX has been talking about creating a #Starlink communication network in Martian orbit. Now #NASA is paying SpaceX and eight other companies to flesh out their ideas for supporting future robotic missions to the Red Planet. https://cosmiclog.com/2024/05/03/starlink-on-mars-nasa-is-paying-spacex-to-look-into-it/ #Space #Mars

alanboyle, 1 month ago to SpaceForce

Marysville, Wash.-based #Gravitics revealed further details about its $1.7 million contract with the U.S. #SpaceForce to adapt its space station module architecture for military applications. https://www.geekwire.com/2024/gravitics-space-force-station-architecture/ #Space

alanboyle, 1 month ago to Seattle

#Seattle-based #Radical emerges from stealth - and will use $4.5 million in fresh investment to accelerate its effort to build autonomous solar-powered airplanes that can fly in the #stratosphere for months at a time and carry payloads for imaging, remote sensing and communications. The startup's founders are #Amazon #PrimeAir veterans. https://www.geekwire.com/2024/radical-raises-funds-solar-airplanes/ #Tech #Aerospace #Solar

alanboyle, 2 months ago to space

Newly published results from the Event Horizon Telescope suggest that all black holes - including the one at the center of our Milky Way galaxy - have some features in common, including strong magnetic fields in their surroundings and a jet of material blasting outward. They wouldn't be pleasant places to get close to, but I guess you knew that. https://cosmiclog.com/2024/03/27/scientists-map-magnetism-around-our-galaxys-black-hole/ #EHT #BlackHole #SgrA* #Space

alanboyle, 2 months ago to tech

#Boom Supersonic's XB-1 jet didn't go #supersonic during its first flight at Mojave Air and Space Port - but that wasn't the point. https://cosmiclog.com/2024/03/22/boom-supersonic-gives-its-test-plane-a-subsonic-debut/ #Tech #XB1

alanboyle, 3 months ago to space

DATA ... IN ... SPACE! A freshly minted startup called #Lumen #Orbit says it has raised $2.4 million for a plan to send up hundreds of satellites to process and downlink data collected by other #satellites in orbit. https://www.geekwire.com/2024/lumen-orbit-stealth-2-4m-data-centers-space/ #Space

alanboyle, 3 months ago to space

During a #60Minutes segment on NASA's #Artemis moon program, an executive at Jeff Bezos' #BlueOrigin space venture says the company is aiming to send its first cargo lander to the surface of the #moon in the next 12 to 16 months. https://www.geekwire.com/2024/blue-origin-2025-moon-lander/ #Space #BlueMoon

alanboyle, 3 months ago to space

The team behind Japan's #SLIM #moon lander expected the long lunar night to chill and kill the spacecraft's circuitry, but the upended probe turned out to be more resilient than they thought. Will Intuitive Machines' #Odysseus lander also exceed expectations? https://cosmiclog.com/2024/02/26/surprise-japans-moon-lander-wakes-up-after-cold-night/ #JAXA #Space #Japan

alanboyle, 3 months ago to space

#Eris and #Makemake may be dwarf planets, but they're not dead planets: Scientists analyzed data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and found evidence pointing to geothermal activity deep within those mini-worlds. https://cosmiclog.com/2024/02/16/webb-telescope-detects-activity-within-dwarf-planets/ #Space #JWST #DwarfPlanets #Planets

alanboyle, 4 months ago to space

If NASA's #Ingenuity is "the little helicopter that could" on #Mars, JAXA's #SLIM is "the little lander that could" on the #moon. The upside-down robot soaked up enough sunlight to work until lunar sunset, and its handlers hope to revive it again when the sun rises! https://cosmiclog.com/2024/02/01/japans-moon-lander-sleeps-again-after-sending-science/ #Space

alanboyle, 4 months ago to nuclear

With an assist from #Westinghouse, Zeno Power is making steady progress on its plan to create a next-generation nuclear battery that could be used in places ranging from the bottom of the ocean to the surface of the moon. https://www.geekwire.com/2024/zeno-power-westinghouse-radioisotope/ #nuclear #tech #rps

alanboyle, 4 months ago to Japan

Even though mission managers have run up against a problem with power generation, today's successful touchdown of the #SLIM #moon lander marks one giant leap for #Japan's #space program. https://cosmiclog.com/2024/01/19/japanese-robot-lands-on-moon-but-faces-power-drain/ #MoonSniper #JAXA

alanboyle, 4 months ago to random

Ten days after its launch, the #Astrobotic #Peregrine lunar lander has fallen back to Earth, ending a #moon mission that was doomed by a propellant leak. https://www.geekwire.com/2024/astrobotics-peregrine-moon-lander-mission-end/

alanboyle, 5 months ago to space

#Astrobotic confirms that it won't be able to have its #Peregrine spacecraft make a soft landing on the #moon, due to an oxidizer tank leak that may have occurred because a valve failed to seal. The propellant is expected to run out within a couple of days. https://www.geekwire.com/2024/astrobotic-no-moon-landing/ #Space

alanboyle, 5 months ago to Futurology

Six years of research have produced a comprehensive atlas of all the cells in the #brain of a mouse, and the researchers already have the human brain in their sights for similar treatment - with Seattle's @AllenInstitute playing a leading role. https://www.geekwire.com/2023/entire-mouse-brain-cell-map/ #Neuroscience #Science #Biology

alanboyle, 7 months ago to philosophy

#Zeno Power says it has completed a "historic" demonstration of a new type of radioisotope heat source that could open the way for off-grid power systems on the ocean's floor or on the moon. https://www.geekwire.com/2023/zeno-power-strontium-radioisotope-heat-source/ #Space #Nuclear #Radioactive

alanboyle, 7 months ago to space

In a new book titled "Her Space, Her Time," Shohini Ghose highlights the stories of women physicists and astronomers who opened up scientific frontiers - but missed out on the recognition they deserved. And in our #FictionScience podcast, she talks about what needs to be done to bridge the gender gap. https://cosmiclog.com/2023/10/24/her-space-her-time-reveals-hidden-figures-of-physics/ #Space #Science #Women

alanboyle, 7 months ago to ai

Award-winning writers Ted Chiang and Eric Heisserer, who worked together on the movie #Arrival and are familiar with the impact of #AI on creative professions, reflect on techno-optimism vs. techno-realism at the #GeekWireSummit. https://www.geekwire.com/2023/writers-techno-optimism-ai-nonsense/

alanboyle, 8 months ago to Amazon

UPDATE: United Launch Alliance's #AtlasV rocket launches the first prototype satellites for #Amazon's #ProjectKuiper broadband network - which is far behind #SpaceX's #Starlink network but hopes to catch up. https://www.geekwire.com/2023/amazon-kuiper-satellite-atlas-protolaunch/#Space #Protolaunch #Broadband #Satellites

alanboyle, 8 months ago to Amazon

In a memo to the staff of his #BlueOrigin space venture, Jeff Bezos says the company's next CEO, outgoing #Amazon exec Dave Limp, has an "outstanding sense of urgency" - which is something Blue Origin's critics say has been sorely lacking. https://www.geekwire.com/2023/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-ceo-dave-limp-urgency/ #Space

alanboyle, 8 months ago to random

Seattle's @AllenInstitute, which was created by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2003 to explore the frontiers of bioscience and open science, is celebrating its 20th birthday this month - and the public is invited to the party. https://www.geekwire.com/2023/allen-institute-20-years-frontier-bioscience/