Tag: Space
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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,…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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SpaceX seeks to block Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellite broadband program from skipping a regulatory hurdle
SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) A space battle is brewing over access to a limited slice of radiowaves between several companies that want to launch thousands of satellites into orbit to blanket the planet with high-speed internet. SpaceX and several other companies that went through a complex process to get…
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Not so far, far away: How the Star Wars galaxy falls short of the real-life search for planets
Luke Skywalker’s home planet, Tatooine, and its two suns are a good example of science echoing Star Wars. Or is it the other way around? (Lucasfilm Photo) Over the past 42 years, filmgoers have seen exotic worlds come to life in a succession of Star Wars movies — a series that is now coming to…
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Amazon is moving Project Kuiper satellite operation to huge Redmond facility
Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, speaks at the Satellite 2017 conference in Washington, D.C. (Via Satellite Magazine via YouTube) Amazon announced today that its Project Kuiper satellite operation has outgrown its current office space, and will move into 219,000 square feet of space that it’s leasing in Redmond, Wash. —…
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Who’s the best Star Trek captain? Alexa agrees with Jeff Bezos when Picard drops in on Amazon HQ
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Patrick Stewart, who plays Captain Jean-Luc Picard in a new Star Trek streaming series, share a laugh during Stewart’s visit to Amazon’s Seattle headquarters. (Jeff Bezos via Instagram) When the actor who plays the boss’ favorite Star Trek captain drops in at the office, it’s best to agree with the…