After passing a big test, what’s next for Orion on the way to Mars?
To infinity and beyond
NASA’s Orion space capsule splashed down into the Pacific Ocean this morning after spending 4.5 hours doing two loops around Earth. This…
NASA
Advertisement
Curiosity reaches its major destination: Mount Sharp
The Curiosity rover has been rolling across Mars’ surface for two years now, stopping regularly to analyze samples of Martian rocks and…
An algae startup emerges with a pilot plant in Alabama
Startup Algae Systems is finally talking about what it’s been up to.
We have liftoff: NASA launches its carbon monitoring satellite
After a short 24-hour delay, NASA launched a rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California Wednesday morning, which contains a satellite and…
Advertisement
In the skies, cutting edge tech seeks to answer key questions on the changing climate
Tech innovations are leading to better and more low cost ways to monitor Earth’s vital signs and answer tough questions.
NASA successfully uses laser to transfer video from the space station to Earth
A 22 MB video transferred in 3.5 seconds, compared to the more than 10 minutes it takes with traditional equipment.
Advertisement
Get ready for a quantum computing software company
An Australian company called Aerospace Concepts is partnering with Lockheed Martin to perform research on its quantum computer that could result in the world’s first quantum computing software company. Aerospace Concepts specializes in complex system design, a presumably strong use case for quantum computing.
The Gigaom interview: How NASA’s Curiosity team prepares for Mars, and maybe someday the moon
Before NASA tries new tasks with the Curiosity rover, it tests them on Earth with a replica rover at the Jet Propulsion Lab. Mission manager Rick Welch explains a few of the challenges that await his team on Mars.
Advertisement
The power of science lures viewers (and famous people) to NASA’s original videos
An educational video from NASA found viral success earlier this month thanks to a bunch of video game references — but “Fusion vs. Fission” is only the agency’s latest star-studded short.
Listen to the data duet of the Voyager space probes
Using an emerging analytic technique known as data sonification, European academic data network GÉANT has created a remarkable piece of music out of 37 years’ worth of data from the space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.
Advertisement
Amazon is housing 20TB of free climate data from NASA
Amazon Web Services is now offering up free access to three NASA datasets from the NASA Earth Exchange project about the world’s…
Google, NASA explain quantum computing and making mincemeat of big data
Google, along with its peers at NASA and D-Wave, has released a short video explaining its new quantum computer and the potential — albeit yet unimagined — things it will be able to do.
Lasers! NASA to test record-breaking laser communications system
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/518826/nasa-moonshot-will-test-laser-communications/ If all goes as planned, a NASA moonshot Friday will demonstrate a new Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration system that delivers world-record-shattering 600…
Ex-NASA CTO on cloud computing, zero-gravity and Glass-like tech in 2006
Ex-NASA CIO and CTO, and current Nebula co-founder and CEO, Chris Kemp came on the Structure Show podcast this week to talk about everything from upgrading NASA’s infrastructure to commercializing the OpenStack software he helped create while there. Here are some highlights.
NASA wants to print a spacecraft, but first it’s printing the electronics
Researchers at PARC, home of the laser printer, are working on printing sensors that could flutter about on the surface of Mars to collect environmental data.
NASA bungles data security in the cloud, but at least it reached the cloud
NASA divisions have signed up for cloud services without getting certain approvals and have left some data less secure than federal officials would like, according to a new report.
How NASA is using Hadoop to advance climate science
Developers working for NASA are standing up a Hadoop cluster that can simplify the process of analyzing large swaths of data on climate and atmosphere. The system could reduce busy work for climate scientists.
NASA vows to track every asteroid near Earth as soon as it figures out how
An ambitious new plan calls for the deflection of the most dangerous near-Earth objects and research into how to move an asteroid into the moon’s orbit.
Google, NASA quantum computing project could bring stronger machine learning to the masses
Google said Thursday it is establishing a Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab to trigger the next phase of machine learning with the power of quantum computers. The efforts could trickle down to ordinary people.
Stunning Google Earth photos show our planet changing
Google, NASA, USGS and TIME have released a set of photos that show a “picture of Earth through time.” It is stunning to see Amazon rainforest shrink and a glacier vanish. Impressive
Coming to America: a Swiss solar powered plane
A Swiss project that is 10 years in the making aims to show that solar powered planes could one day shuttle people around the world. After carrying out demonstration flights in Europe and North Africa, Solar Impulse is coming to America this year.
Nebula promotes NASA vet to oversee OpenStack effort
Jesse Andrews, an OpenStack veteran who’s done stints at NASA, ANSO Labs and Rackspace, will lead Nebula’s plug-and-play OpenStack development effort as it nears launch, the company said.
Science Hack Day: Bridging the gap between coders and chemists
What would happen if you put hackers and scientists together and let them play? That’s what Ariel Waldman is trying to find out with Science Hack Day, a wildly popular event that brings together science, design, and technology.
NASA tries to free creativity with Big Data Challenge
NASA and a couple other government agencies have kicked off a series of TopCoder challenges designed to find innovative solutions to the government’s big data problems. The first contest is all about making disparate, incompatible data sets usable and actually valuable across agencies.
Hubble goes deep for amazing new space images
New images built using 10 years of data of the Furnace constellation and beyond show what NASA and ESA officials call the deepest look ever into the universe.
NASA scrubbed Mars Rover code clean — over and over
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab used Coverity and a suite of other static analysis tools to analyze and check millions of lines of C code to make sure the Mars Curiosity Rover got to its destination safe and sound.
Personalized learning site Alleyoop boosts science content with NASA, Nat Geo
Personalized learning site Alleyoop is partnering with several top partners to increase its science content for students. The Pearson-backed ed tech startup, which helps students prepare for college with customized and gamified interactive subject-based content, wants to inspire future STEM leaders.
How to watch the Mars landing
If all goes according to plan (knock wood) NASA’s Curiosity Rover, a 1 ton, nuke-powered space robot that’s traveled 345 million miles in eight months, will land on Mars Sunday night. Here’s how you can watch the landing, which is slated for 10:31 p.m. PST.
NASA backs off OpenStack development
NASA, one of the two original backers of the OpenStack project, plans to stop actively developing software for that open-source cloud computing platform. NASA executive Karen Petraskas signaled the move at the Uptime Symposium this week, according to a published report.
Space hackathon: Coders set to compete on NASA/DARPA project
DARPA and NASA are sponsoring a challenge run by the MIT Space Systems Laboratory, TopCoder, and Aurora Flight Sciences that will invite coders to write a computer program that enables a satellite to dock with a space object that is tumbling in geosynchronous orbit.
OpenStack based Piston Cloud Computing gets $4.5 MM in funding
Piston Cloud Computing has launched with $4.5 million from True Ventures, Hummer Winblad and others in what is both a big deal for the relatively young OpenStack platform as well as an expected move by the founders of what became the code for OpenStack.
The space shuttle: So flawed, yet so inspiring — so human
When I covered a space shuttle launch in 2005, what struck me most about it was how jury-rigged and flawed and human things seemed — especially for a multibillion-program aimed at putting people into space — and yet, how inspiring it all was at the same time.
A shuttle of dreams, hopes and possibilities
The final U.S. space shuttle launched Friday morning from Cape Canaveral, Fla. and the world was watching. Since many of us at GigaOM have some special shuttle memories to share, we gathered a few of them and invite y’all to provide yours as well.
What you need to know about flow batteries
Flow batteries — big tanks of liquids that can store energy — are jockeying for a place in a growing energy storage market that will enable utilities to better manage the electric grid, provide back-up power and potentially work with the electric rates system.
NASA App HD for iPad: Bringing Space to You
Space enthusiasts who follow information coming out of NASA with excitment should download the free NASA HD app for the iPad right now. This app aggregates all of the happenings at NASA with a gorgeous interface that is tailored for touch operation on the iPad.
Why OpenStack is Ready for Success
Last month, Rackspace and NASA jointly announced OpenStack.org, re-igniting a discussion about long-sought-after open cloud standards. In our view, OpenStack is the first project that has a good chance at standardization between multiple cloud vendors and private clouds. Here’s a look at why.
Touchscreen Devices and Gloves Don't Mix — or Do They?
Winter has definitely arrived here in the UK, with temperatures dropping over the past week or so, prompting me to break out…
“Bomb the Moon?” More Like Bore the Moon
Perhaps my expectations were set ridiculously high from watching Star Wars and Star Trek all these years, but when America says it’s…
Watch the Space Shuttle Discovery Live
Update: The launch was postponed due to stormy weather. Update 2: After postponements, the launch finally took place late Friday night. Looking…
Google's Under-the-Radar Algae Play Seeks Fresh Funds
Google (s GOOG) has showered funds on solar power, plug-in vehicles, batteries and energy management since getting bitten by the cleantech bug…
Send Your Videos to Space — and Get a Response!
Have you ever wondered if something or someone else is out there? Wonder no more! A NASA astronaut wants to talk to…
The Eye in the Sky on Carbon Dioxide
Update: The eye in the sky didn’t quite make it to its lofty perch — after it’s launch this morning the satellite…
GE & NASA to Test Hybrid Jet Engine
GE Aviation (s GE) and NASA are teaming up to test an “open rotor” jet engine design that puts the fan blades…
Wholesale Internet Bandwidth Prices Keep Falling
Sure it’s not like back in the early 2000s, when those crooks from Enron were driving the prices of bandwidth down into…
Rohati Launches Security Appliance for Compliance
Today, a new data center appliance launches from San Jose, Calif. startup Rohati Systems. The appliance monitors the flow of traffic in…
Harvard: How to Predict Business Surprises & Disasters.
We write often about how the only thing predictable at a startup is — the lack of predictability. Today HBS Working Knowledge…
