Slashdot Mirror

Phrogman writes: "SpaceRef has posted an exclusive and detailed article concerning NASA's use of laptops in space including information on the LAN configuration aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis (with full-color diagrams); lists of software run on the Shuttle laptop computers (with screenshots like this); laptop specs; descriptions of the LAN to be installed on the Space Station; and a lot of other related official NASA materials and links." It's a neat primer on Taking Your Computer to Space, too -- it addresses things like the available power sources, the need for velcro, and quirks of operating in zero G.

Phrogman writes: "SpaceRef has posted an exclusive and detailed article concerning NASA's use of laptops in space including information on the LAN configuration aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis (with full-color diagrams); lists of software run on the Shuttle laptop computers (with screenshots like this); laptop specs; descriptions of the LAN to be installed on the Space Station; and a lot of other related official NASA materials and links." It's a neat primer on Taking Your Computer to Space, too -- it addresses things like the available power sources, the need for velcro, and quirks of operating in zero G.

Phrogman writes: "SpaceRef has posted an exclusive and detailed article concerning NASA's use of laptops in space including information on the LAN configuration aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis (with full-color diagrams); lists of software run on the Shuttle laptop computers (with screenshots like this); laptop specs; descriptions of the LAN to be installed on the Space Station; and a lot of other related official NASA materials and links." It's a neat primer on Taking Your Computer to Space, too -- it addresses things like the available power sources, the need for velcro, and quirks of operating in zero G.

TOTKChief writes "Normally, a Shuttle launch isn't all that interesting, right? Well, the STS-106 (ISS 2A.2b) mission was interesting because it used a very small launch window in order to save fuel, which is a good thing. SpaceRef has good coverage of STS-106 up and running, including some of the on-board science -- most notably a neat protein crystal growth experiment that was worked on by a good friend of mine. NASA needs to get cracking, though, because an ambitious launch schedule awaits."

TOTKChief writes "Normally, a Shuttle launch isn't all that interesting, right? Well, the STS-106 (ISS 2A.2b) mission was interesting because it used a very small launch window in order to save fuel, which is a good thing. SpaceRef has good coverage of STS-106 up and running, including some of the on-board science -- most notably a neat protein crystal growth experiment that was worked on by a good friend of mine. NASA needs to get cracking, though, because an ambitious launch schedule awaits."

TOTKChief writes "Normally, a Shuttle launch isn't all that interesting, right? Well, the STS-106 (ISS 2A.2b) mission was interesting because it used a very small launch window in order to save fuel, which is a good thing. SpaceRef has good coverage of STS-106 up and running, including some of the on-board science -- most notably a neat protein crystal growth experiment that was worked on by a good friend of mine. NASA needs to get cracking, though, because an ambitious launch schedule awaits."

Phrogman writes "SpaceRef has exclusive coverage of a new method of automatically inflating a balloon in the Martian atmosphere to permit probes to help explore the planet. These balloons using a newly discovered technique to automatically inflate based on a combination of a volatile liquid stored in the balloon itself and the atmospheric pressure on Mars. This appaarently was previously impossible. There is a much better description of the technique in the article, plus a 60 second video (in Real format) of a test inflation in Earth's Atmosphere conducted at 100,000 feet (a similiar atmospheric pressure to that of Mars). Very interesting stuff that might offer Nasa some better options for really exploring Mars."

Phrogman writes "SpaceRef has exclusive coverage of a new method of automatically inflating a balloon in the Martian atmosphere to permit probes to help explore the planet. These balloons using a newly discovered technique to automatically inflate based on a combination of a volatile liquid stored in the balloon itself and the atmospheric pressure on Mars. This appaarently was previously impossible. There is a much better description of the technique in the article, plus a 60 second video (in Real format) of a test inflation in Earth's Atmosphere conducted at 100,000 feet (a similiar atmospheric pressure to that of Mars). Very interesting stuff that might offer Nasa some better options for really exploring Mars."

Phrogman writes: "The most detailed images of the surface of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan have now been made public. There is more information in an article on Spaceref located here." Interestingly, the photos show three distinct bright areas around Titan's equator.

Phrogman writes: "The most detailed images of the surface of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan have now been made public. There is more information in an article on Spaceref located here." Interestingly, the photos show three distinct bright areas around Titan's equator.

Phrogman writes: "SpaceRef is the first to report that a Jupiter-sized planet has been discovered orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani which is located about 10.5 light years from Earth. The planet is oribiting the star at roughly 300 million miles - about the same distance as earth's asteroid belt. The discovery was made by astronomers at McDonald Observatory in Texas in collaboration with other astronomers around the world."

Phrogman writes: "SpaceRef is the first to report that a Jupiter-sized planet has been discovered orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani which is located about 10.5 light years from Earth. The planet is oribiting the star at roughly 300 million miles - about the same distance as earth's asteroid belt. The discovery was made by astronomers at McDonald Observatory in Texas in collaboration with other astronomers around the world."

TOTKChief writes: "Apparently, Uncle Sam now doesn't want to keep an artificial advantage in commercial spaceflight launches. I personally think this is great -- allowing commercial booster companies unfettered access to space will allow for market action to take place, which should eventually drive down launch costs and allow for R&D efforts to further lower launch costs. " What's going on is that Russian rockets don't have sales caps here - or at least they're expiring, and aren't being renewed. This means more launches with Russian rockets, which means more stuff, hopefully, going into space.

I'm here at Ottawa Linux Symposium, and I took the Quickies to the crowd and let them pick some of today's Quickies. Hope you like them. CitizenC told us to check out The Kama Sutra of Winnie the Pooh. Scary. alpha264 wrote in about a pegboard computer." Darkness Productions told us that Spaz Labs was back." Phrogman shared a huge collection of Space Images now available on Spaceref.com. kbolton told us to look at streaming anime for free. scampbell said that Yamaha Paper Craft has updated their rare-animal paper sculpture collection to include the Yellow-eyed Penguin. _endgame mentioned that voting has begun for the Freenet Logo." An anonymous coward wrote in about the Men of Sieg Hall calendar. I included that one for Telsa. cdlu wrote (from about ten feet away) about this thing that creates much annoyance from the console. MURL said that Christopher Lee has been cast in the role of a charismatic separatist in Episode II. And finally, I just wanted to mention that Dave Taylor from that company stopped by just to make sure that he wasn't mentioned in the Quickies. Teehee.

I'm here at Ottawa Linux Symposium, and I took the Quickies to the crowd and let them pick some of today's Quickies. Hope you like them. CitizenC told us to check out The Kama Sutra of Winnie the Pooh. Scary. alpha264 wrote in about a pegboard computer." Darkness Productions told us that Spaz Labs was back." Phrogman shared a huge collection of Space Images now available on Spaceref.com. kbolton told us to look at streaming anime for free. scampbell said that Yamaha Paper Craft has updated their rare-animal paper sculpture collection to include the Yellow-eyed Penguin. _endgame mentioned that voting has begun for the Freenet Logo." An anonymous coward wrote in about the Men of Sieg Hall calendar. I included that one for Telsa. cdlu wrote (from about ten feet away) about this thing that creates much annoyance from the console. MURL said that Christopher Lee has been cast in the role of a charismatic separatist in Episode II. And finally, I just wanted to mention that Dave Taylor from that company stopped by just to make sure that he wasn't mentioned in the Quickies. Teehee.

Autonomous Crowhard writes: "An article on SpaceRef relays information that a National Research Council committee is suggesting that NASA crash Galileo at the end of its mission. The reason for this is to avoid potentially contaminating Europa or Io with a crash there. (As I understand it, Galileo didn't undergo the same stringent decontamination procedures that landers normally have to go through.) Two questions: 1) Would humans constitute too much of a risk of contamination, and 2) Wouldn't you like to be able to put "Planetary Protection Officer" on your resume?"

Autonomous Crowhard writes: "An article on SpaceRef relays information that a National Research Council committee is suggesting that NASA crash Galileo at the end of its mission. The reason for this is to avoid potentially contaminating Europa or Io with a crash there. (As I understand it, Galileo didn't undergo the same stringent decontamination procedures that landers normally have to go through.) Two questions: 1) Would humans constitute too much of a risk of contamination, and 2) Wouldn't you like to be able to put "Planetary Protection Officer" on your resume?"

Phrogman writes: "There is some great information on the Mar's Society's Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station which is being set up in the 20km diamater Haughton meteorite crater on Devon Island in Canada's high arctic. They will be assembling a complete simulation of a manned Mars lander there and conducting research leading towards a human mission to Mars. The lander was built in Denver, and is currently undergoing final checks before being flown up to the crater by the U.S. Marine Corps. There is detailed information on the lander itself here.

The project is a joint venture with NASA, and is sponsored by the Mars Society, Discovery Channel, and of course flashline.com (thus the name). There is also excellent 360 degree Quicktime(tm) photos of the entire region on the official website for the Haughton-Mars project. Marc Boucher of spaceref.com is actually onsite at the base camp and will be reporting on events there over the next few months."

The attitude seems to be pragmatic -- if we want to go to Mars, we need to start building the infrastructure, make the public aware of the possibilities, demo Mars vehicles, etc.

Phrogman writes: "There is some great information on the Mar's Society's Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station which is being set up in the 20km diamater Haughton meteorite crater on Devon Island in Canada's high arctic. They will be assembling a complete simulation of a manned Mars lander there and conducting research leading towards a human mission to Mars. The lander was built in Denver, and is currently undergoing final checks before being flown up to the crater by the U.S. Marine Corps. There is detailed information on the lander itself here.

The project is a joint venture with NASA, and is sponsored by the Mars Society, Discovery Channel, and of course flashline.com (thus the name). There is also excellent 360 degree Quicktime(tm) photos of the entire region on the official website for the Haughton-Mars project. Marc Boucher of spaceref.com is actually onsite at the base camp and will be reporting on events there over the next few months."

The attitude seems to be pragmatic -- if we want to go to Mars, we need to start building the infrastructure, make the public aware of the possibilities, demo Mars vehicles, etc.

Phrogman writes: "NASA and astronomers at Cornell have collected the first ever radar images of a main-belt asteroid, a metallic, dog-bone shaped rock the size of New Jersey named Asteroid 216 Kleopatra. There is an article here with more information and a small image."

Maestrogenic writes: "Researchers from the UK have discovered (using a new camera on the UK Infrared Telescope) 13 extrasolar planets, free-floating in the Orion Nebula. None of them are smaller than eight Jupiter masses though. This pretty much proves that vagabond planets are a common thing, and brings the total [number of] extrasolar planets discovered to above 40. Here's the official press release. " Note: the jpeg image linked to on this page is a beautiful shot, and downloads quite quickly.