Brazil nuts would rise to the top of a container of mixed nuts on Mars and the Moon, but more slowly than on Earth, say physicists
Tag Archives: lunar
Brazil Nut Effect Measured in Lunar and Martian Gravity Conditions
Posted by Gsurface
on April 5, 2013
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Destination Moon: Russia to launch lunar robots
Posted by Gsurface
on April 3, 2013
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Russia is developing a renewed robotic moon exploration program, building upon the history-making legacy of orbiters, landers, rovers and sample-return missions the country launched decades ago.
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A Chat With Robotics Pioneer Red Whittaker On The Google Lunar X Prize And The Future Of Interstellar Exploration
Posted by Gsurface
on March 3, 2013
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Red Whittaker is a certified legend in the robotics community. The head of the Field Robotics Center at Carnegie Mellon University, Whittaker has been instrumental building the driverless car that took part in the DARPA Grand Challenge as well as the Mars Rover, a robot designed to explore volcanoes, the arctic, and other planets.
TechCrunch
NASA Achieves Laser Communication With Lunar Satellite
Posted by Gsurface
on January 20, 2013
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New submitter EngnrFrmrlyKnownAsAC writes “Communicating with lasers has become the hot new thing. While most researchers are seeking faster throughput, NASA set its sights in a different direction: the moon. They recently announced the first successful one-way laser communication ‘at planetary distances.’ What did they send? An image of the Mona Lisa, of course. ‘Precise timing was the key to transmitting the image. Sun and colleagues divided the Mona Lisa image into an array of 152 pixels by 200 pixels. Every pixel was converted into a shade of gray, represented by a number between zero and 4,095. Each pixel was transmitted by a laser pulse, with the pulse being fired in one of 4,096 possible time slots during a brief time window allotted for laser tracking. The complete image was transmitted at a data rate of about 300 bits per second.’”
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Astronauts Could Remotely Control Moon Rovers from Lunar Orbit, Says NASA Plan
Posted by Gsurface
on November 21, 2012
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Does the moon have levitating lunar dust?
Posted by Gsurface
on November 20, 2012
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NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is to depart the Earth for the moon in August 2013. LADEE is loaded with science gear, including instruments that can address a lingering question that’s rooted in space history: Are electrostatically lofted lunar dust particles present within the moon’s tenuous atmosphere?
Google Lunar X Prize Teams Now In a Race With China As Well As Each Other
Posted by Gsurface
on November 16, 2012
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MarkWhittington writes “The Google Lunar X Prize rules of competition have a clause that reduces the $ 20 million grand prize to $ 15 million for the first private group to land a rover on the lunar surface should a government funded rover land first. The first scheduled government funded rover to land on the moon is the Chinese Chang’e 3. It is slated for a 2013 landing.”
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Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute
Posted by Gsurface
on October 27, 2012
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How was your week? We got to spend a couple of days trekking around the Carnegie Mellon campus in Pittsburgh, PA to check out some of the latest projects from the school’s world renowned Robotics Institute — a trip that culminated with the bi-annual induction ceremony from the CMU-sponsored Robot Hall of Fame. Given all the craziness of the past seven days, you might have missed some of the awesomeness, but fear not, we’ve got it all for you here in one handy place — plus a couple of videos from the trip that we haven’t shown you yet. Join us after the break to catch up.
Butlers, lunar rovers, snakes and airboats: the best of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 27 Oct 2012 12:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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A Tour of Astrobotic Technology’s lunar rover lab at Carnegie Mellon (video)
Posted by Gsurface
on October 23, 2012
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Things are buzzing late Monday afternoon at Carnegie Mellon’s Planetary Robotics Lab Highbay. Outside, in front of the garage door-like entrance, a trio of men fills up a kiddie pool with a garden hose. Just to their left, an Enterprise rent-a-truck backs up and a handful of students raise two metal ramps up to its rear in order to drive a flashy rover up inside. I ask our guide, Jason Calaiaro, what the vehicle’s final destination is. “NASA,” he answers, simply. “We have a great relationship with NASA, and they help us test things.”
Calaiaro is the CIO of Astrobotic Technology, an offshoot of the school that was founded a few years back, thanks to Google’s Lunar X Prize announcement. And while none of the handful of vehicles the former student showcases were made specifically with the government space agency in mind, given the company’s history of contractual work, we could well see them receive the NASA stamp of approval in the future. Asked to take us through the project, Calaiaro tells us, quite confidently, that the trio of vehicles behind us are set to “land on the moon in 2015,” an ambitious goal set to occur exactly three weeks from last Friday.
Continue reading A Tour of Astrobotic Technology’s lunar rover lab at Carnegie Mellon (video)
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A Tour of Astrobotic Technology’s lunar rover lab at Carnegie Mellon (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Joseph Palaia Answers Your Questions About Building Lunar Machines and Mars
Posted by Gsurface
on July 19, 2012
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Last week you asked Joseph Palaia, Chief Operating Officer & Director of research laboratory Earthrise Space, Inc. about living on Mars one day and building moon machines with students. Below you’ll find his answers to your inquiries.
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Ask Joseph Palaia About Building Lunar Machines and Living On Mars
Posted by Gsurface
on July 13, 2012
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Joseph Palaia is an entrepreneur, engineer and technologist who is working on creating the first permanent settlement on Mars. In 2009, he served as executive officer and chief engineer for a one-month simulated Mars mission at the Mars Society’s Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island in the Canadian arctic. He has played an integral role in two commercial design studies of the first permanent Mars settlement. He is co-author of technical papers on the topics of Mars nuclear power plant design, Mars settlement architecture, space economics and the economics of energy on Mars. In addition to his work on inhabiting Mars, Joseph is also the Chief Operating Officer & Director of Earthrise Space, Inc. ESI is a research laboratory whose goal is to design, build, and operate spacecraft with the help of students. They are currently working on both a lunar lander and lunar rover for the Google Lunar X Prize. Joseph has agreed to take off his spacesuit and answer any of your questions about building moon machines with students, long-term survival in space, and all things Kuato related. Ask as many questions as you like, but please confine your questions to one per post.
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X Prize adopts NASA guidelines for protecting lunar heritage sites, Buzz Aldrin punch averted
Posted by Gsurface
on May 25, 2012
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NASA hopes that one small step by Google’s Lunar X Prize will eventually lead to a giant leap in protecting historical sites on the moon. The X Prize Foundation announced that it will adopt guidelines released by the space agency last year to help preserve lunar heritage sites. The move comes at a crucial time as a new space race increases the possibility of an imminent moon landing, according to NASA. Google’s Lunar X Prize alone currently has 26 contestants worldwide vying to land a robot on the lunar surface by 2015. NASA stressed that their recommendations aren’t law and “do not represent mandatory U.S. or international requirements.” Examples include approach and landing guidelines to minimize disturbance, contamination and degradation of Apollo mission sites. That certainly sounds more reasonable than, say, plopping some dude in a spacesuit at a lunar outpost to shoot trespassers with a plasma shotgun while yelling, “Get off my property!” In the meantime, feel free to mosey on over to the PR after the break.
X Prize adopts NASA guidelines for protecting lunar heritage sites, Buzz Aldrin punch averted originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 00:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The lunar module: From models to the moon
Posted by Gsurface
on March 14, 2012
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A tribute to the Lunar Excursion Model (LEM), that which allowed Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong to take their first, historic steps on the moon. Full slideshow at LIFE.com.
Lunar Base Foe Romney Endorsed By Lunar Base Supporters
Posted by Gsurface
on January 29, 2012
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MarkWhittington writes “Mitt Romney has infamously suggested that the idea of lunar colonies is ‘zany’ and has ridiculed Newt Gingrich’s idea of building a lunar base by 2020. However Romney has been endorsed by a group of aerospace heavyweights, including Apollo moonwalker Gene Cernan and former NASA administrator Mike Griffin, many of whom have previously supported the idea of lunar bases.”
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GRAIL-A Enters Lunar Orbit
Posted by Gsurface
on January 1, 2012
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NASA’s twin-craft GRAIL mission, launched way back in September (more information here), has successfully reached its destination. Grail-A has now entered lunar orbit; GRAIL-B is expected to enter lunar orbit tomorrow.
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Saturday’s Lunar Eclipse Will Include ‘Impossible’ Sight
Posted by Gsurface
on December 10, 2011
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Lunar Eclipse Will Supersize Blood-Red Moon Saturday
Posted by Gsurface
on December 10, 2011
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Good morning, moon: Supersized lunar eclipse Saturday (video)
Posted by Gsurface
on December 9, 2011
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Drag yourself out of bed tomorrow morning for this, if you’re in the Western United States. There won’t be another total lunar eclipse until 2014.
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