Showing posts with label space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label space. Show all posts

Space whiskey returning to Earth soon (hurry, please)

Returning to Earth September 12. Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET

In 2011, vials of Ardbeg scotch whiskey were sent to the International Space Station as part of an experiment to see how the spirits' maturation process is affected by the near zero gravity of near space. Now it's almost time for a homecoming.

According to the folks at the Ardbeg distillery, which dates back to the early 19th century on the Hebrides Islands of Scotland:

"The vials contained a class of compounds known as 'terpenes.' Ardbeg was invited by US-based space research company NanoRacks LLC to take part in testing these micro organic compounds in a maturation experiment (the interaction of these compounds with charred oak) between normal gravity on Earth and micro-gravity i.e. space."

After orbiting the Earth over 15,000 times at a speed of 17,227 miles per hour the past few years, the single malt is scheduled to return to terra firma on September 12.

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After landing in Kazakhstan, the extra-terrestrially aged booze will be rushed to a lab in Houston, where Ardbeg says a team including the whiskey's creator will "proceed to unlock the mysteries of maturation, through the study of the interaction between Ardbeg-crafted molecules and charred oak, both in micro-gravity (in orbit) and normal gravity (in Ardbeg's Warehouse 3)."

The result will be a white paper that reveals the secrets of the universe and their effects on a good single malt. And perhaps we'll have a new answer to the great existential question of why we seem to be so isolated in the vast universe -- because the best of the hard stuff is being made and hoarded out there.

If not, no biggie. We'll still have a brand new space whiskey to console our lonesome selves with. Humans win!

Tags: Crave Sci-Tech Tech Culture Space About the author

Space Shuttles, carriers and Concordes: A Tour of the Intrepid Museum

Geoffrey Morrison

Manhattan is probably not the first place you'd think of to find an aircraft carrier. But there it is, docked halfway up the island. The USS Intrepid is more than just a retired naval vessel. It's the most visible part of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Iconic airplanes ranging from F-14 and F-16s, to the Concorde and the Space Shuttle, to the submarine USS Growler, are all on display.

Here's a full photo tour of these epic vehicles and museum.

A tour of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum (pictures) See full gallery

The spooky sounds of space

Hubble; Large Binocular Telescope; Subaru Telescope; Robert Gendler

There is no sound in space. Sound is produced by the vibration of molecules; any time something moves, it causes a corresponding vibration in its medium -- whether water or air -- which, in turn, vibrates the eardrum of any nearby listeners and is perceived as sound. In the vacuum of space, there is no air -- nothing for vibrations to travel through -- which means there is no way for those vibrations to reach your ears.

In space, truly, no one can hear you scream.

That does not mean that we have no audio recordings of what's out there; quite the contrary. But they are not originally recorded as audio. Rather, they are changes in energy, picked up by instruments on various probes: plasma vibrations, electromagnetic disturbances, radio waves, and the interactions of charged particles.

These recordings can then be converted into sounds, much like the terrestrial radio signals -- also a kind of electromagnetic radiation -- we create to communicate and entertain. Unlike tuning in to your favourite radio program, though, the sounds of space are a whole lot stranger: the howls and whistles of radiation, lightning, plasma waves, coronal mass ejections, solar winds.

NASA's own super-black coating ventures into space

The super-black material is on the far right. NASA/Bill Squicciarini

The announcement of Vantablack made quite a splash recently since its creators called it the "world's darkest material." It may hold the terrestrial crown, but NASA has sent its own super-black nano-coating up to the International Space Station for testing.

Like Vantablack, NASA's super-black coating is composed of carbon nanotubes, designed to improve optical instruments by making them more sensitive without needing to make them any bigger than they already are. The coating is 10,000 times thinner than a strand of human hair. Its ability to absorb stray light far outperforms the black paint that is typically used on instruments.

The coating has been in development for six years, with the project being led by NASA Principal Investigator John Hagopian, an optics engineer at the Goddard Space Flight Center. The material has been put through the paces in laboratories, but it's now ready for its space debut. "The objective is to determine how well this coating survives the harsh space environment," says Hagopian.

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Two test trays of the material arrived at the space station on August 12. It will be exposed to space for a year before being sent back to Earth for evaluation.

Hagopian is fine with his coating not being the blackest in existence. He's more concerned about the material surviving the rigors of space, which includes exposure to harsh radiation. "We are focusing on making our coatings robust and not necessarily the blackest for now," he says.

If the material makes it through its first space voyage, it could then get a trial in an actual space instrument, perhaps hitching a ride on a CubeSat, a type of tiny satellite. Ultimately, the research could result in more accurate optical instruments, letting researchers peer farther out into the universe to discover new astronomical objects.

Tomorrow Daily 034: Holographic video, new AI "Viv," driving a rover from space, and more

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Here are some links and notes for all the things on the show today:

OTOY shows off new end-to-end holographic video creationThe creators of Siri reveal "Viv," aim for advanced soft AIAstronaut on ISS controls Earth rover with "Space Internet"New releases: The Expendables 3, Locke, and HohokumUser feedback: Your #TDHolographs tweets, and our Phonetographer of the Day

Of course, you can find us everywhere on social media. Like, follow, and heart us as you desire!

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Astronaut drives rover on Earth -- from space

The Eurobot getting its commands from hundreds of miles away. Video screenshot by Michael Franco/CNET

If you ever had a remote-controlled car as a kid, you know that driving the thing around isn't always the smoothest operation. The legs of my mom's kitchen table certainly saw their share of accidents from my imprecise maneuvers.

So, imagine trying to operate a car-sized rover from about 250 miles away, while moving at over 17,000 miles per hour. That's what one European Space Agency astronaut did last week (see video below).

Related stories Rosetta spacecraft makes historic comet rendezvous Gaia satellite begins 3D-mapping the galaxy Watch gorgeous HD video from the space station From his home aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Alexander Gerst took the ESA's Eurobot rover through a series of maneuvers on the ground in the Netherlands. Gerst had the rover move around and take pictures, which were then beamed back to him on the space station.


"This was the first time Eurobot was controlled from space as part of an experiment to validate communication and operations technologies that will ultimately be used for future human exploration missions," said Kim Nergaard, head of Advanced Mission Concepts at the ESA's European Space Operations Center, in a statement.

The communication link between the rover and the ISS happened over "a new network that stores commands when signals are interrupted if direct line of sight with Earth or the surface unit is lost, forwarding them once contact is re-established," said the ESA. "In the future, controlling robots on Mars or the Moon will require a sort of 'space Internet' to send telecommands and receive data. Such networks must also accommodate signal delays across vast distances, considering that astronauts and rovers on Mars will have to be linked with mission controllers on Earth."

The Eurobot rover which Gerst controlled is a lander which may someday find itself exploring the moon or Mars. It can be operated either by an onboard passenger, or -- as just demonstrated -- remotely by an astronaut in a nearby ship or on a nearby planet. the rover can hold up to 330 pounds and has two robotic arms that can be fitted with a variety of tools, according to the ESA. It also has advanced vision systems, including a 3D camera, and force and torque sensors.

If only the remote control car I had as a kid was equipped with that type of gear. I'm sure my mom's furniture would have benefited greatly!

Tags: Crave Sci-Tech Space About the author

The best view of the Perseid meteor shower is from space

The backdrop helps make this epic shot of the Perseids captured from the International Space Station in 2011. Ron Garan/NASA

This week is a doozy for night sky watchers, with arguably the best meteor shower of the year in the Perseids (peaking tonight) and a concurrent supermoon to boot. While there's plenty of opportunity to play the role of bug-eyed meteor paparazzo here on Earth, some of the best views of the streaking psuedo-stars may be had from a little higher up, aboard the International Space Station.

Astronaut Ron Garan took the above shot from aboard the ISS in 2011, while circling the Earth at 17,000 miles per hour. At the moment the picture was taken, the station was over interior China heading in the direction of Beijing.

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NASA has since analyzed the photo and believes that the bright spec caught from afar and above that evening was a piece of comet debris only 1 centimeter in diameter colliding with our atmosphere at 132,000 miles per hour. Sounds like there's a space action movie franchise opportunity in there someplace: "Fast and Furious: Perseid Drift" perhaps?

Here's a closer look at what happens when a space rock the size of your fingernail begins to feel a little friction while traveling at roughly 1/5,000th the speed of light.

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