As reported by Engadget: The Swiss aren't big on littering, and that philosophy apparently applies to space, too. After the nation's EPFL Center for Space Engineering launched its first satellites (the tiny SwissCubes) into orbit, the very next mission planned was "CleanSpace One" to get them out oforbit. For one, the researchers didn't want to add to the reams of existing space garbage threatening other satellites and astronauts at speeds of up to 15,000mph. But mainly, they want to test apractical systemfor cleaning space junk with relatively small targets. After considering various systems, the EPFL has settled on a "Pac-Man" solution that will trap the satellites with a conical net.
The operation will be tricky, because just finding the 4x4-inch satellites is going to be difficult. As such, the researchers are developing a high dynamic-range camera and image processing system that can spot bright reflections coming off the SwissCubes as they spin in space. Meanwhile, if the net doesn't deploy just so, the cubes could bounce off the cleanup satellite and end up in a worse spot than before.
The team rejected several capture options, including articulated arms with claws and a "tentacle" scheme. It settled on a cone-shaped net that unfolds and closes back down, saying "this system is more reliable and offers a larger margin for maneuvering than a claw or an articulated hand." After the Clean Space One satellite gobbles up all the cubes, it will de-orbit and burn everything up on the way back down to earth. The team has now passed the prototype phase and hopes to develop the first engineering models, with the aim of launching the space junk collection satellite by 2018.
As reported by Wired: Russia's Progress 60 cargo ship successfully landed on the Pirs Docking Compartment of the International Space Station (ISS) on 5 July, delivering much-needed supplies to the crew. The craft brought an array of fresh cargo -- the first since April -- to the Expedition 44 crew living and working onboard, including 106 pounds of oxygen, 926 pounds of water and 3,133 pounds of spare parts and hardware for experiments. The unpiloted Progress 60 is now set to remain attached to ISS until November. The ISS crew greeted the arrival of supplies with unreserved glee, reporting that it felt like "Christmas in July". Their relief perhaps isn't surprising: it's the first time the ISS has received new supplies since 14 April, following a series of ill-fated resupply missions; just last week, SpaceX's umannned Falcon 9 rocket, which was carrying cargo including new water filtration equipment and experiment materials, exploded just a few seconds into its flight due to a still-unknown glitch. An earlier Progress resupply flight in May saw the spacecraft spin out of control and disintegrate shortly after reaching orbit, while Orbital Sciences' private Antares rocket (also unmanned) exploded while attempting to take supplies to the platform in October 2014. Although NASA confirmed after the most recent disaster that the ISS crew had enough supplies to live and work comfortably until at least October, the arrival of supplies provides around an extra month of vital provisions such as food and water. Soon the crew of ISS can look forward to a supplies boost from the Japanese HTV-5 spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch its four-day trip on 16 August. Before that, three new ISS members are set to arrive on a Russian Soyuz craft on 22 July, which will then be transporting three of the current crew members back to Earth.
As reported by SpaceFlight Now: Joining the payload with its ride to space, United Launch Alliance crews today placed the next Global Positioning System satellite atop an Atlas 5 rocket for blastoff July 15.
The Air Force’s GPS 2F-10 navigation spacecraft will be boosted 11,000 nautical miles above the Earth in a three-hour launch sequence from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Liftoff is scheduled during a window of 11:36 to 11:55 a.m. EDT.
It is the second of three GPS constellation replenishment flights planned in 2015. The first occurred on March 25 using a Delta 4 rocket. Atlas is slated to conduct another in October.
This will be the 10th Block 2F satellite sent into the GPS network since 2010. Boeing in building a dozen spacecraft of this kind featuring greater accuracy, more signals, better anti-jamming and longer design lives than previous models.
The GPS 2F-10 satellite is valued at $245 million.
Already shrouded in the launcher’s 39-foot-tall, 14-foot-diameter aluminum nose cone, the spacecraft was hauled to the Atlas assembly building and hoisted atop the Centaur upper stage this morning.
The fully assembled rocket, standing 189 feet tall for launch, will be wheeled out to the Complex 41 pad aboard a mobile platform on July 14.
The satellite was flown to Florida earlier this year from Boeing’s manufacturing facility in El Segundo, California. After arriving, it was taken to the Cape’s Area 59 were GPS spacecraft undergo their pre-flight preps.
Final testing, loading of hydrazine maneuvering propellant and encapsulation in the rocket’s nose cone was accomplished with the satellite.
Early today, a convoy hauled the 3,400-pound satellite north through Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to United Launch Alliance’s Vertical Integration Facility where the Atlas had been stacked over the past few weeks.
The launch will be the 70th for a GPS satellite since 1978, the 15th to use an Atlas rocket and the fourth Block 2F on Atlas.
As reported by NBC News: NASA has been talking about sending airplanes to Mars formore than a decade, but the revolution in small satellites and drone airplanes just might turn the concept into a reality at last.
If the plan being hatched at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center works out, a folded-up glider could take a piggyback ride to the Red Planet in the 2022-2024 time frame, inside a spacecraft that would also carry a Mars rover.
During the cruise to Mars, the plane's fuselage and its 2-foot-wide (60-centimeter-wide) wings would be folded up inside a 3U CubeSat receptacle, which is about as big as a loaf of bread. A similarly sized satellite held the LightSail solar sail experiment that went through a successful orbital tryout last month.
A prototype for the airplane, known as Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars, or Prandtl-m, is to be tested later this year during a high-altitude balloon mission. The Prandtl-m craft would be sent up either from Tucson in Arizona or from Tillamook in Oregon, and released at an altitude of 100,000 feet — where Earth's atmosphere is about as dense as Mars'.
The full-scale mock-up of NASA's MarCO CubeSat held by Farah Alibay, a systems engineer for the technology demonstration, is dwarfed by the one-half-scale model of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter behind her.
A follow-up balloon flight would test the CubeSat deployment technology, and if that test goes well, yet another prototype would be sent up by a suborbital sounding rocket. That test calls for releasing the CubeSat at about 450,000 feet and deploying the airplane at 110,000 to 115,000 feet.
"If the Prandtl-m completes a 450,000-foot drop, then I think the project stands a very good chance of being able to go to NASA Headquarters and say we would like permission to ride to Mars with one of the rovers," Bowers said.
The idea of sending a drone glider to Mars represents just one small step in a larger effort to send humans to Mars — and there are lots of ideas about how to do it. Here are some of the latest Red Planet rumblings:
Report gives Mars One a boost
The Mars One plan to send citizen astronauts on one-way trips to the Martian surface has come in for a lot of criticism, but on Wednesday, the Dutch-based venture released an independent report saying that it's possible to build habitats to sustain the settlers.
The report from Paragon Space Development Corp. lays out the design for a system that could extract water and oxygen from Martian soil — and recycle much of the waste water that's generated by the crew.
Building a habitat capable of supporting life on Mars is "an attainable goal," Grant Anderson, Paragon's president and CEO, said in a news release. "If the will and the means are provided, we will see humans begin to explore and even colonize other planets in our lifetime."
The report comes in the wake of an MIT study that concluded Mars One's plans to build a Red Planet habitat were not feasible unless new technologies could be developed. In addition to the questions about technical feasibility, Mars One faces the challenge of raising the billions of dollars that would be required for trips to Mars — even if they're only one-way.
Strategy for Mars trips in the 2030s
While Mars One says it's aiming to land humans on Mars starting in 2027, NASA has a more extended timeline for Red Planet exploration. The space agency is working toward a goal of sending astronauts to Mars and its moons starting in the 2030s. But is even that timeline realistic in an age of tight budgets?
In April, a panel of scientists and engineers provided the broad outlines of a mission architecture that could get crews onto the Martian moon Phobos in 2033, onto the Martian surface for a short stay in 2039, and a yearlong mission in 2043 — all while staying within what's expected to be NASA's budgets during that time frame. This week, the full report was published as an article in the journal New Space. It will be freely available to download until July 29.
The report assumes that NASA will go ahead with the development of its Orion deep-space crew vehicle and heavy-lift Space Launch System, as well as a deep-space habitat, a lander with an ascent vehicle, and a space tug that would take advantage of solar electric propulsion.
"I think we can build a consensus around a long-term 'Humans to Mars' program, provided that we acknowledge cost constraints and act accordingly by limiting our appetite for new technology and by pacing the missions to meet our budget," Scott Hubbard, a former NASA official who is now a Stanford professor as well as New Space's editor-in-chief, said in an editorial accompanying the report.
Visions of Mars are on the rise
In his editorial, Hubbard referred to two high-profile movies that feature human missions to Mars: "The Martian," which stars Matt Damon and premieres in October; and "Out of this World," a film in development that has signed up Asa Butterfield ("Ender's Game") as its leading actor.
While you're waiting for the movies to come out, you can either read the novel on which "The Martian" is based, written by Andy Weir; or a thin little volume titled "How We'll Live on Mars," in which Stephen Petranek lays out a scenario for a Mars settlement in 2027.
Petranek traces the history of our Martian aspirations, going back to the era of Wernher von Braun and looking ahead to the era of billionaire-backed space programs. Weir, meanwhile, lays out a human-against-nature story that ranks right up there with "Robinson Crusoe." Either book will whet your appetite for future visions of Mars.
As reported by Engadget: Drones aren't just useful as scouts and signalers during rescue operations -- they can play a hand in the actual rescue, too. When the Auburn Fire Department went to help recover two young men stranded in the middle of rapids in Mechanics Falls, Maine, Fire Chief Frank Roma used a DJI Phantom 3 to deliver a tag line that carried a much-needed life jacket. It also doubled as an observer while emergency crews sent an inflatable boat to bring the men back to shore, as you can see in the video below. While Roma notesthat the Phantom 3 was his personal machine rather than official equipment, he's eager to see drones used more often in the field. This only "scratch[es] the surface," he tells TV network WMTW. It'll be a while before robots are carrying you out of danger, unfortunately, but that key role in a river rescue offers a glimpse of what's possible.
His jet-powered Virgin GlobalFlyer vehicle completed a full circumnavigation of the world in that time, travelling more than 41,000km.
In contrast, Mr Borschberg's Solar Impulse plane, which carries no fuel at all, had gone "only" some 5,500km in its 76 hours of flight.
The top surfaces of Solar Impulse are covered with 17,000 photovoltaic cells
Wednesday saw the Swiss pilot fly a holding pattern to time his encounter with an upcoming cold front to the optimum.
This will occur on Thursday, and Mr Borschberg needs good sun conditions to get his aircraft up and over the weather system so that he can navigate the final stretch into Kalaeloa on Friday.
Precisely when this historic landing will occur is somewhat uncertain.
Solar Impulse has some quite strict constraints to ensure the 72m-wingspan vehicle can put its wheels down safely.
These include a maximum cross wind of no more than four knots and a maximum overall wind speed of no more than 10 knots.
If it is too windy at ground level, Mr Borschberg will be instructed to circle overhead until the conditions calm down.
In good spirits: Andre Borschberg puts on his wig and fake beard
By then, he will probably have spent more than 120 hours in the air.
So far, he has coped remarkably well on very little sleep, and on Wednesday even made time to joke around in his cockpit by donning a wig and fake beard.
When he gets to Hawaii, he will be met by fellow adventurer and business partner, Bertrand Piccard.
The pair have shared the flying duties in the single-seater plane's round-the-world quest, which began in Abu Dhabi, UEA, back in March.
It is Mr Piccard – who famously made the first non-stop global circumnavigation in a balloon – who will fly the next leg from Kalaeloa to Phoenix, Arizona.
That is not quite as far as the current stint, but it still likely to take four days and nights.
From Phoenix, Solar Impulse will head for New York and an Atlantic crossing that would eventually see the plane return to Abu Dhabi.
Their Solar Impulse plane is not intended as a demonstration of the future of aviation. Rather, it is to supposed to show off the capabilities of solar power in general.
The vehicle is covered in 17,000 photovoltaic cells across its wings. These either power the vehicle's electric motors directly, or charge its lithium-ion batteries, which sustain the plane during the night hours.
LEG 1: 9 March. Abu Dhabi (UAE) to Muscat (Oman) - 441km; in 13 hours and 1 minute
LEG 2: 10 March. Muscat (Oman) to Ahmedabad (India) - 1,468km; in 15 hours and 20 minutes
LEG 3: 18 March. Ahmedabad (India) to Varanasi (India) - 1,215km; in 13 hours and 15 minutes
LEG 4: 19 March. Varanasi (India) to Mandalay (Myanmar) - 1,398km; in 13 hours and 29 minutes
LEG 5: 29 March. Mandalay (Myanmar) to Chongqing (China) - 1,459km; in 20 hours and 29 minutes
LEG 6: 21 April. Chongqing (China) to Nanjing China - 1,241km; in 17 hours and 22 minutes
LEG 7: 31 May. Nanjing (China) to Kalaeloa, Hawaii (USA) - 8,200km; journey aborted, plane diverted to Nagoya, Japan
As reported by Fortune: What do Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates, and Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk have in common?
They all fear that advances in artificial intelligence, an area of computer science in which machines can mimic human behavior and make decisions, could lead to potential unforeseen disasters down the road for humanity.
This is why Musk, the non-profit Open Philanthropy Project, and The Future of Life Institute, a research organization that aims to mitigate possible catastrophes from emerging technology, are teaming up to reward researchers working to prevent calamities caused by artificial intelligence.
So far, 37 research groups have received a share of the $7 million in grants made by the initiative.
Keep in mind, the types of disasters imagined by Musk and others aren’t the typical Hollywood fare involving terminators or robots gaining some sort of consciousness and turning on their human overlords. Rather, they are more practical in nature.
The grants are aimed to explore issues like the legal ramifications that could arise from machines and robots operating independently in society. Automated personal shopping assistants that pick up your groceries and self-driving cars are just a few possible examples. One of the research groups receiving grant is looking into ways to “manage the liability for the harms they might cause to individuals and property.” Essentially, if a robot runs a red light, the researchers want to know who should get the ticket.
Another research group is looking to develop guidelines on how a computer embedded with artificial intelligence could rationalize and explain its actions to humans. The idea is that people would be able to ask a machine why it is making a specific decision to troubleshoot any potential problems.
For example, consider a computer using artificial intelligence that is programmed to make trades on the stock market to achieve the best possible financial returns for a company. If part of the reason the machine is doing so well involves some form of illegal trading, a human could potentially stop the activity by asking the computer why is it making the trades it chooses to do.
The goal for all of this research is to lay the groundwork for scientists and engineers to create intelligent systems that can “work with humans in ways that wouldn’t have been possible before,” said Daniel Dewey, a Future of Life program officer that oversees the grants.The grants are just another example of the type of far-out projects that Musk, the CEO of the electric-car maker Tesla, likes to be involved with. Besides Tesla, Musk is also the CEO of commercial aerospace maker SpaceX and he dreamed up the idea of Hyperloop, a transportation system that involves shooting train-like capsules through tunnels at high speed between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Musk first outlined his plans to invest in artificial intelligence research in January. The $7 million in grants announced Wednesday are part of the $10 million Musk donated to the The Future of Life Institute at that time.
DeepFace uses a 3-D model to rotate faces,
virtually, so that they face the camera.
Image (a) shows the original image,
and (g) shows the final, corrected version.
While there’s a lot of research and funding taking place in artificial intelligence, especially from big tech companies like Google and the Chinese search company Baidu, Dewey explained that a lot of that research is geared toward projects that are boosting the performance of artificial intelligence technology. Facebook, for example, has developed technology and algorithms that have led to the social network being able to identify people in photos even if their faces were covered up.
Dewey likens the different kinds of artificial intelligence research to staff at a nuclear power plant, each of whom have different roles. While one power plant engineer might be working on ways to improve the efficiency of the reactor, a safety engineer would be responsible to make sure the reactor doesn’t blow up.
The operation will be tricky, because just finding the 4x4-inch satellites is going to be difficult. As such, the researchers are developing a high dynamic-range camera and image processing system that can spot bright reflections coming off the SwissCubes as they spin in space. Meanwhile, if the net doesn't deploy just so, the cubes could bounce off the cleanup satellite and end up in a worse spot than before. 
