Tag: Space
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How to geek out with Neil deGrasse Tyson, on stage, on screen or with a book
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson hosts “StarTalk” from the American Museum of Natural History in New York. (Credit: National Geographic Channel) Few people can geek out to a movie harder than astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, but he met his match when it came to Thor’s hammer. Tyson, who’s the director of New York’s Hayden Planetarium as…
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Museum of Flight teams up with Microsoft for virtual reality tours of historic airplanes
Visitors to Seattle’s Museum of Flight can use smartphones equipped with VR glasses to look into the interior of historic airplanes. (Credit: Microsoft via YouTube) It’s not easy to crawl through the guts of a World War II bomber, but a new virtual reality project from Microsoft and Seattle’s Museum of Flight turns it into…
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Facebook beams its ‘like’ options into the Star Trek universe for science-fiction fans
Facebook’s reaction emojis take on a Star Trek look for fans today. (Credit: Facebook) Do you love “Live Long and Prosper”? Then you’ll probably be reacting to Facebook posts with Star Trek icons today. The social-media giant morphed its usual lineup of like, love, haha, wow, sad and angry emojis to reflect a Trek vibe, in…
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‘Building Star Trek’ connects 50-year-old artifacts with 23rd-century technologies
A scaled-down model of the Starship Enterprise hangs from the ceiling at “Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds,” an exhibit at Seattle’s EMP Museum marking the 50th anniversary of the TV show’s premiere. (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota) The vision of the future that “Star Trek” laid out in 1966 may have been bright and shiny, but…
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Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg ‘deeply disappointed’ to lose his satellite in SpaceX’s rocket explosion
Mark Zuckerberg saw the Amos-6 satellite as the first step in Facebook’s plan to provide satellite internet access to underserved regions of the world. Today’s loss of a Falcon 9 rocket and its satellite payload was a bummer for Facebook billionaire founder Mark Zuckerberg as well as for SpaceX billionaire founder Elon Musk. “As I’m…
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FAA puts key Amazon, UPS, Facebook and Google execs on Drone Advisory Committee
An Amazon delivery drone. Photo via Amazon. Gur Kimchi, the vice president of Amazon’s Prime Air drone delivery operation, has been named along with a variety of other tech executives to a Drone Advisory Committee that “will help the FAA prioritize its activities, including the development of future regulations and policies” for unmanned aircraft in U.S. airspace. Gur…
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Obama puts Neal Stephenson’s sci-fi tale ‘Seveneves’ on his summer reading list
“Seveneves” by Neal Stephenson. (Credit: William Morrow) Seattle science-fiction author Neal Stephenson’s tale about the moon’s destruction and what happens next, “Seveneves,” has won a place on President Barack Obama’s summer reading list. Obama, who’s beginning his summer vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, isn’t the only one who has put Stephenson’s 880-page novel on a short list. Microsoft…
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Techstars grad Kepler Communications raises $5M to launch mini satellites by 2017 and double its team
Kepler CEO Mina Mitry. Kepler Communications, a Techstars Seattle graduate building telecom infrastructure for space, just secured $5 million in seed funding. New York venture capital firm IA Ventures led the round. The Toronto-based startup will use the funds to grow its team and launch two tiny satellites into space in the next 15 months. Previously: Startup…
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Out of this world! Seattle sisters launch their Loki Lego 2.0 balloon craft past 100,000 feet
Loki Lego Launcher 2.0 soars high above central Washington on July 30. (Courtesy of Rebecca and Kimberly Yeung) Update: A new YouTube video, below, captures the preparation and launch of Loki Lego Launcher 2.0. The girls have also update their blog with a mission debrief post, which discusses data from the onboard solar experiment as…
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Seattle girls who captivated nation with homemade spacecraft ready to launch again — with new science goals, new Star Wars hero on board
Budding scientists and space explorers Rebecca and Kimberly Yeung of Seattle. The Seattle sisters who captivated GeekWire’s audience and earned an invitation to the White House after launching a homemade craft to the edge of space are embarking on another mission this weekend. Rebecca and Kimberly Yeung are planning to send up the Loki Lego…