Tag: Space
-
Q&A: ‘Cosmos’ author Ann Druyan muses about possible worlds — and what Carl Sagan would do
Ann Druyan is an executive producer, writer and director of “Cosmos: Possible Worlds,” a National Geographic TV series premiering Monday. She’s also the author of a companion book, and the widow of astronomer Carl Sagan. (National Geographic Photo / Stewart Volland) How many dimensions does the cosmos have? If we’re talking about string theory, it…
-
OceanGate and NASA are teaming up to build better carbon-fiber pressure vessels
OceanGate’s Titan submersible takes advantage of carbon-fiber technology. (OceanGate Photo) Everett, Wash.-based OceanGate says it’s forged an agreement with NASA to support the development of carbon-fiber pressure vessels that could handle the crushing demands of deep-sea exploration — as well as the strains encountered in the vacuum of space. The agreement calls for NASA’s Marshall…
-
GeekWire Calendar Picks: Meet Charles Simonyi; cosmic rays; Star Brews Beer Festival; and more
Charles Simonyi aboard the International Space Station. (NASA Photo) — Not many people can say they’ve traveled to space. Not many can say they were also the original developer of software so prevalent today that most people wouldn’t be able to work without them. But Charles Simonyi can claim both of those accomplishments, along with…
-
Private Division opens Seattle game development studio to create Kerbal Space Program 2
Thanks to ventures like Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, the Seattle area has been raising its profile in the space industry. Now it’ll be the home of an entire space program: Kerbal Space Program 2, the next generation of a much-loved spaceflight simulation game. Private Division, which acquired Kerbal Space Program in 2017, announced…
-
Whip it good! Amazon patents a launch system for snapping payloads into the air — or even into orbit
A diagram shows Amazon’s whip-based launch system in operation on a ship. (Amazon Illustration via USPTO) Never let it be said that Amazon Prime Air VP Gur Kimchi thinks small: His latest patent lays out a plan for a launch system that could theoretically send payloads into space on the end of a miles-long whip,…
-
NASA’s moon program shines as one bright spot in White House science spending plan
A stretch version of the Blue Moon lander can accommodate astronauts and an ascent vehicle. (Blue Origin Illustration) While most discretionary spending is getting the axe in the White House’s newly released budget request, NASA and its Artemis program to put astronauts on the moon by as early as 2024 would receive a big boost.…
-
NASA lists nine potential names suggested by kids for its next Mars rover: Vote for your favorite
More than 28,000 students submitted names for the rover that NASA plans to launch toward Mars in July. (NASA / JPL-Caltech Illustration) NASA and an army of nearly 4,700 volunteer judges have selected nine potential names for a rover that’s due to be launched to Mars in July, and you have just six days to…
-
Amazon Web Services enlists AI to help NASA get ahead of solar superstorms
An extreme ultraviolet image of the sun, captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, shows an X9.3 flare erupting at lower right during a solar storm in 2017. (NASA / Goddard / SDO Photo) If the sun throws out a radiation blast of satellite-killing proportions someday, Amazon Web Services may well play a role in heading…
-
Tech’s extraordinary decade: What mattered most in the past 10 years of innovation
What were the top tech stories of the past decade? I’ve been discussing this topic with others recently on LinkedIn, and as I was editing GeekWire contributing writer Christopher Budd’s insightful commentary on the challenges created by technology over the past 10 years, it struck me that it would be worth sharing my list here,…
-
GeekWire Calendar Picks: Interview with Outlook product chief; comic convention; and more
— How did Outlook’s mobile app reach 100 million users since launching in 2015? Hear from Outlook Mobile team leader and longtime Microsoft employee Michael Palermiti talk about his learnings at the latest Products That Count event at Mixpanel HQ in Seattle; 6 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 8. — The world’s biggest technology conference…