Wednesday 31 December 2014

PL enters RoboSimian in the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals



Bigger may be better, but better isn't always better. In October, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California unveiled a new and improved version of its RoboSimian robot. Called Surrogate, it has many advantages over its predecessor, but it's RoboSimian that is going to next year's DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals... Continue Reading JPL enters RoboSimian in the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals

Section: Robotics

Tags: California Institute of Technology, DARPA, DARPA Robotics Challenge, JPL,Robotics, Robots

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Robodynamics' Luna personal robot hits Kickstarter



Back in 2011, Gizmag looked at Robodynamics' Luna personal robot. At that time, the details were a bit scarce, though the company did say that the machine was shipping that year. As 2014 draws to a close, Luna has still to reach market, but the maker has launched a Kickstarter to raise money to start manufacturing while giving us a closer look at the robot's specs... Continue Reading Robodynamics' Luna personal robot hits Kickstarter

Section: Robotics

Tags: Kickstarter, Robots, Telepresence

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Tuesday 30 December 2014

Starscraper aims at cheaper, gentler suborbital rocket



The International Space Station (ISS) may get all the glory, but suborbital rocket flights still play a vital part in space research. The problem is that even though such flights only go to the edge of space, they are expensive, few in number, and put massive stresses on experiments. Partly funded by a Kickstarter campaign, students at Boston University are developing an inexpensive suborbital rocket for educational purposes that uses new engine designs to create a cheaper, reusable suborbital rocket that's easier on the payload... Continue Reading Starscraper aims at cheaper, gentler suborbital rocket

Section: Space

Tags: Boston University, Education, Hybrid, Kickstarter, Rocket

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Dawn begins Ceres approach for orbital rendezvous



Like the end of a very long and eventful road trip, NASA's Dawn spacecraft has its main goal in sight. The space agency says that the unmanned probe has emerged from behind the Sun as it uses its ion propulsion to catch up with the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt and that mission control was able to re-establish contact. The craft has received instructions for executing a series of maneuvers that will take it on its final approach phase, which will end with it going into orbit around Ceres... Continue Reading Dawn begins Ceres approach for orbital rendezvous

Section: Space

Tags: Asteroid, Ceres, Dawn, Dwarf planet, ion engine, JPL, NASA, Spacecraft, Unmanned

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Monday 29 December 2014

KC-46A tanker program makes first test flight



Boeing and the US Air force have announced the successful first test flight of the KC-46A tanker program. Set to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers, the KC-46A is designed to act primarily as an airborne refueling tanker, but can also carry passengers and cargo, or act as a medivac airplane. .. Continue Reading KC-46A tanker program makes first test flight

Section: Military

Tags: Aircraft, Boeing, Flight, KC-46A, US Air Force, Washington

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Sunday 28 December 2014

Acoustic Zoom could save dolphins' hearing while aiding geologists



If you've ever been asleep on a yacht in harbor when a submarine tests its sonar, you know that underwater sound is anything but trivial – one ping can send you out of your bunk and across the room. Small wonder that the major navies spend a fortune studying the impact of naval and civilian sonar systems on sea animals such as whales and dolphins, who live in a world of sound. Scientists at the University of Bath have developed a more cetacean-friendly sonar system called Acoustic Zoom that is not only less disruptive to marine life, but also improves resolution beyond that of current methods... Continue Reading Acoustic Zoom could save dolphins' hearing while aiding geologists

Section: Science

Tags: Dolphin, Environmental, Sensors, Underwater, University of Bath

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MESSENGER uses helium for last minute reprieve



Now orbiting the planet Mercury after over ten years in space, NASA's MESSENGERspacecraft is still functioning better than expected. Its mission will soon come to an end though – it's running out of fuel and is scheduled to crash into the planet in March. However, mission control have come up with a novel plan that will use the helium used to pressurize the unmanned probe's engine to give it another month of life. .. Continue Reading MESSENGER uses helium for last minute reprieve

Section: Space

Tags: Johns Hopkins University, Mercury, Messenger, NASA, Spacecraft

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Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout makes first destroyer flight



A helicopter landing on the flightdeck of a destroyer is hardly news – unless it's the US Navy's latest Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Northrop Grumman's MQ-8C Fire Scout became the first unmanned helicopter to operate from a US destroyer on December 16. Under guidance of the ship's ground control station, the MQ-8C made 22 takeoffs and 22 precision landings on the guided missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) off the coast of Virginia. .. Continue Reading Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout makes first destroyer flight

Section: Military

Tags: Helicopters, Northrop Grumman, UAV, Unmanned, US Navy

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Saturday 27 December 2014

Recapture system limits mercury exposure from gold purification



According to the World Gold Council, about 195,300 tons of gold have been dug out of the ground in all of human history. Countless lives have been lost obtaining the rare metal, and in the developing world, which currently accounts for 20 percent of the world's gold production, small-scale mining and smelting under primitive conditions poses a major health hazard. To help alleviate this, a team from Argonne National Laboratory and the US Environmental Protection Agency are developing a prototype mercury capture system to reduce heavy metal pollution... Continue Reading Recapture system limits mercury exposure from gold purification

Section: Environment

Tags: Argonne National Laboratory, Brazil, Environment, Environmental Protection Agency, Gold, Mining

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End of year catch up





The European Space Agency is shipping crude oil into space. This may seem like a poor market strategy, but there's method behind this petroleum madness. The space agency is sending a set of small, highly-pressurized containers of crude oil into orbit as part of an experiment aimed at learning how oil behaves in deep underground reservoirs... Continue Reading ESA sending crude oil into space

Section: Space

Tags: China, ESA, Oil, petroleum, QinetiQ, Spacecraft

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Sit out on a clear summer's night and the odds are that you'll be treated to a meteor shower that's the remnant of a comet's passing. However, such showers are not peculiar to our planet. NASA's unmanned MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) orbiter has uncovered evidence that the planet Mercury is subject to the same sort of periodic meteor showers as the Earth, only instead of a light show, it produces a spike in calcium in the planet's exosphere... Continue Reading MESSENGER finds signs of Mercury meteor showers

Section: Space

Tags: Comets, Mercury, Messenger, NASA, Solar System

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Though the new Discovery Sport isn't scheduled to go on sale until next month, Land Rover is putting it in the showrooms all 117 of its retailers in the UK … sort of. Instead of actual cars, the company is offering virtual 3D versions of the Sport that customers can take a tour of using Augmented Reality (AR) technology... Continue Reading Land Rover Discovery Sport arrives in showrooms ... virtually

Section: Automotive

Tags: Augmented Reality, Discovery Sport, iPhone, Land Rover, Virtual

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If there's one steady market for wristwatches, it's astronauts. Omega watches, for example, have flown on manned space missions since the Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronograph was carried on Project Mercury in the early 1960s. Now the latest version, the Speedmaster Skywalker X-33, is seeing service on the International Space Station. Based on a patented idea by ESA astronaut Jean-François Clervoy, the timepiece is not only made to withstand the rigors of space, but also to carry out functions useful to space travelers... Continue Reading ESA and Omega create new astronaut watch

Section: Space

Tags: ESA, International Space Station, LCD, Omega Watches, Space Travel, Watches

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The European Space Agency's (ESA) eight-year Venus Express mission has come to an end. Having already extended its lifespan to four times that originally planned, the unmanned orbiter has exhausted its fuel during a final attempt to further prolong its usefulness. According to ESA, the spacecraft can no longer hold the correct attitude to maintain communications with Earth and will soon burn up in the Venusian atmosphere... Continue Reading Venus Express mission ends as fuel runs out

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Tags: ESA, Spacecraft, Unmanned, Venus, Venus Express

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On Friday, the Dragon CRS-5 mission lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket. If the launch is successful, the unmanned Dragon spacecraft will carry supplies and experiments to the ISS, but that part is almost routine. What is unusual is that SpaceX has confirmed that it will not only attempt a powered landing of the Falcon 9 booster, but will do so as a precision landing on a robotic sea barge. .. Continue Reading SpaceX to attempt Falcon 9 platform landing on Friday

Section: Space

Tags: CRS-5, Dragon, Falcon, Platform, Rocket, Spacecraft, SpaceX, Unmanned

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The hunt for present or past life on Mars got a boost as NASA's Curiosity rover records spikes in atmospheric methane ten times greater than previously measured by the unmanned probe. Though the levels are far below those found on Earth, methane is a key indicator that life may be or may once have been present. In addition, the nuclear-powered explorer has also detected the first confirmed organic compounds in drill samples taken from Martian rocks... Continue Reading Curiosity finds active organic chemistry on Mars

Section: Space

Tags: Chemistry, Curiosity Rover, Goddard Space Flight Center, Mars, Mars Science Laboratory, Methane, NASA, Organic

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NASA's Kepler space telescope shows that it still has life in it as its extended mission begins to bear fruit. This week, the space agency announced that the spacecraft detected a new exoplanet, demonstrating that its K2 life extension mission is working. The planet, called, HIP 116454b, is 2.5 times larger in diameter than the Earth and orbits a star 180 light years from Earth in the constellation of Pisces every nine days at a distance that makes it much too hot for it to sustain life. .. Continue Reading Kepler finds new exoplanet as it starts new mission

Section: Space

Tags: Exoplanet, Kepler Mission, NASA, Space telescope, Spacecraft, Unmanned

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Space travel is a bit more civilized now that there's a bespoke Italian espresso machineaboard the International Space Station (ISS). Unfortunately, solving one problem just raises another and the astronauts are still having to drink their cappuccinos out of placcy bags. To help the zero-g coffee aficionado, Portland State University's (PSU) Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science has developed a microgravity espresso cup that drinks like its earthbound counterparts... Continue Reading Portland State University creates zero-g espresso cups for space

Section: Space

Tags: Coffee, Engineering, International Space Station, NASA, Portland State University,Space Travel

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Lasers have been used to analyze the bones of sailors who drowned when the Royal Navy warship the Mary Rose sank in 1545. The new non-destructive technique carried out by the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, North London, shows that the men suffered from rickets, shedding new light on nutrition in Tudor England... Continue Reading Lasers shed new light on life aboard the Mary Rose

Section: Science

Tags: Archeology, Disease, Laser, Royal Navy, Sailors, University College London

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Proving that not all the space spectaculars are on the big screen at Christmas, NASA has released video taken from inside the Orion spacecraft during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere earlier this month. The ten-minute video shows the final minutes before its December 10 splashdown as it made a fiery descent ahead of a parachute landing in the Pacific ocean... Continue Reading NASA releases video of Orion re-entry

Section: Space

Tags: EFT-1, NASA, Orion Spacecraft, Reentry, SLS, Spacecraft, Unmanned, US Navy, Video

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Mars is regarded as the most Earth-like of the planets in the Solar System, but its atmosphere is only 0.6 percent as dense as Earth's and is constantly leaking what little air it has into space. NASA'S Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) Mars orbiter is providing new insights into the loss of the Martian atmosphere by discovering how the solar winds penetrate to surprisingly low altitudes... Continue Reading MAVEN uncovers secrets of Martian atmosphere loss

Section: Space

Tags: Atmosphere, Magnetic field, Mars, MAVEN, NASA, Spacecraft

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If there were any dinosaurs around, they could tell you that an asteroid impact can ruin your whole day. But if we did learn that one was actually going to strike the Earth in a month, what would the authorities do? To find out, the European Space Agency held its first ever mock asteroid drill to work on solutions and identify problems in how to handle such a catastrophe. .. Continue Reading ESA carries out asteroid impact drill

Section: Space

Tags: Asteroid, Chelyabinsk Meteor, ESA, Impact

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For doctors, nurses, soldiers, and other responders fighting the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, currently available protective suits are both too hot to wear in the tropics and often a source of contagion when they're being taken off. To make moving and treating patients safer, Johns Hopkins University, along with international health affiliate Jhpiego and other partners, is developing a new anti-contamination suit for health care workers that is both cooler to wear and easier to remove. .. Continue Reading Johns Hopkins develops safer suit for Ebola workers

Section: Health and Wellbeing

Tags: Disease, Ebola, Health, Johns Hopkins University, Prototype, Safety

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One thing that is guaranteed to put a naval ship commander in front of a court martial is running aground. Unfortunately, despite all the advances in satellite technology and other aids, navigation is still as much an art as a science – and a very time-consuming one at that, with it taking days and sometimes weeks to chart out a mission. To free up captains and reduce their chances of having to answer awkward questions, the US Navy is introducing a new automated navigation planning system into its surface fleet that speeds up course planning and reduces the chance of human error. .. Continue Reading US Navy introducing system to help commanders plot the best course

Section: Military

Tags: Automation, Marine, Navigation, ONR, Submarine, US Navy

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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are the eyes in the skies for soldiers and disaster relief crews, but despite over a century of aviation progress, they still leave a lot to be desired and close quarters are very difficult for them to navigate on their own. To make UAVs more practical in debris-strewn areas, DARPA's Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program aims to develop algorithms that will allow autonomous fliers to negotiate obstacles as easily as a bird of prey... Continue Reading DARPA puts out call for super-agile UAVs

Section: Military

Tags: Autonomous, DARPA, Navigation, UAV, Unmanned

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The Chinese calendar may see 2014 as the Year of the Horse, but Rolls-Royce sees it as the Year of the Bespoke Car. To celebrate, the car maker presented its Suhail Collection; its first bespoke collection to cover all current Rolls-Royce models. .. Continue Reading Rolls-Royce releases its Suhail Collection to mark "Year of the Bespoke Car"

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Tags: Car, Collection, Rolls Royce

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It's been a busy year in space. In a mixture of triumph and tragedy, space exploration reached new horizons, tested new technologies, and pushed the limits of the possible in 2014. So as the old year draws to close, Gizmag looks back on the space highlights of the past twelve months... Continue Reading 2014: A space odyssey

Section: Space

Tags: 3D Printing, Antares, Cygnus, Elon Musk, ESA, Falcon, International Space Station,Mars, Mars Orbiter Mission, Moon, NASA, New Horizons, Orion Spacecraft, Philae, Rosetta,Solar System, Space Launch System, Spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic

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At the moment, if you want to fly to the International Space Station, you're only option is to hitch a lift on one of Russia's 1970s-vintage Soyuz space capsules. That may not be the case for too much longer, with NASA announcing that it has approved the first milestone for the manned version of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. .. Continue Reading NASA approves first SpaceX milestone for Crew Dragon spacecraft

Section: Space

Tags: International Space Station, NASA, Spacecraft, SpaceX

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Saturday 13 December 2014

Rolls-Royce looks towards robotic shipping with virtual bridge concept



Rolls-Royce, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and Aalto University are expanding on their ideas for a virtual bridge that could soon lead to a future where the line between manned and robotic ships becomes completely blurred. Combining automated ship systems and constant high-data level communications, it's part of what Rolls-Royce see as the "next major transition for the shipping industry.".. Continue Reading Rolls-Royce looks towards robotic shipping with virtual bridge concept

Section: Marine

Tags: Aalto University, Autonomous, Ergonomic, Navigation, Remote Control, Robotic,Rolls Royce, Shipping, Unmanned, VTT Technical Research Centre

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Friday 12 December 2014

US Navy successfully deploys laser weapon



The laser goes from the weapon of tomorrow to the weapon of today as the US Navy announces the completion of its successful deployment of the Office of Naval Research's (ONR) Laser Weapon System (LaWS). The deployment is the first on a US Naval vessel and took place on the USS Ponce (LPD-15) in the Arabian Gulf from September to November of this year... Continue Reading US Navy successfully deploys laser weapon

Section: Military

Tags: Laser, Laser weapon, ONR, Prototype, US Navy, Weapons

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Glasgow scientists create chemical evolution



Scientists haven't created life in the laboratory yet, but when they do, they'll be off and running. Case in point is a University of Glasgow team led by Professor Lee Cronin, the Regius Chair of Chemistry, which has developed the world's first chemical system capable of evolving as part of a project that aims at creating synthetic "life" without DNA... Continue Reading Glasgow scientists create chemical evolution

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Tags: Chemicals, Evolution, Robotic, University of Glasgow

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Thursday 11 December 2014

Rosetta sheds light on origin of Earth's oceans



The oceans are a mystery in more ways than one, but you might not expect the answers to come from a pack of electronics and a comet. But that's what the European Space Agency (ESA) says about the unmanned Rosetta probe orbiting comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Though 67P is making its first visit to the inner Solar System and won't come closer to the Earth than hundreds of millions of miles, it is throwing new light on one of the fundamental questions in Earth's history: Where did the oceans come from?.. Continue Reading Rosetta sheds light on origin of Earth's oceans

Section: Space

Tags: Comets, Earth, ESA, Hydrogen, Kuiper Belt, Oort cloud, Rosetta, Solar System, Water

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Bloodhound Supersonic Car group tests hybrid rocket engine



Britain's Bloodhound team has taken a slow-but-steady approach toward its goal of breaking the world land speed record, but it appears to be paying off. Bloodhound, along with its partner, the Norwegian/Finnish aerospace and defense group, Nammo, have successfully tested a large hybrid solid/liquid rocket engine at Nammo's test facility in Norway. Described as the "latest in the evolution of hybrid rocket motor technology," it's one of three power plants that will be used by the Bloodhound Supersonic Car when it makes its record attempt in 2016... Continue Reading Bloodhound Supersonic Car group tests hybrid rocket engine

Section: Automotive

Tags: Bloodhound SSC, Hybrid, Norway, Rocket, South Africa, Supersonic

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Lockheed Martin engineers get first look at Orion post splashdown



The Orion spacecraft may have taken less than five hours to fly into space and back, but it will take a fortnight for it to return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, so Lockheed Martin, builder of the capsule, is conducting tests on the fly. As the 19,650 lb (8,913 kg) capsule designed to take astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit was unloaded ashore in San Diego, California from the recovery ship USS Anchorage, Lockheed engineers were waiting to take samples of the heat shield and begin processing the flight recorders. .. Continue Reading Lockheed Martin engineers get first look at Orion post splashdown

Section: Space

Tags: California, EFT-1, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Orion Spacecraft, Spacecraft, US Navy

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Sunday 7 December 2014

New Horizons Pluto probe awakes





If you think it's hard waking up after a nine-hour plane flight, imagine doing so after a space voyage of nine years and three billion miles. On Saturday, NASA's New Horizons deep space probe woke itself up from hibernation mode as it began preparations for its flyby of Pluto and its moons next July. Having traveled 2.9 billion miles from Earth and with 162 million miles to go, the signals announcing the awakening took four hours and 26 minutes to cover the distance to NASA’s Deep Space Network station in Canberra, Australia... Continue Reading New Horizons Pluto probe awakes

Section: Space

Tags: Kuiper Belt, NASA, New Horizons, Pluto, Spacecraft, Unmanned

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NASA loses contact with Deep Impact probe

Dawn space probe gets best look yet at Ceres



The Dawn spacecraft has lifted the veil on another corner of the Solar System by taking its best image yet of the dwarf planet Ceres. The nine-pixel-wide image was taken from a distance of 740,000 mi (1.2 million km) from Ceres as part of the final calibration of Dawn's science camera as the unmanned probe approaches the 590 mi (950 km) wide planetoid, which it will rendezvous with and orbit in March of next year... Continue Reading Dawn space probe gets best look yet at Ceres

Section: Space

Tags: Asteroid, Ceres, Dawn, Dwarf planet, Hubble, Mars, NASA, Solar System, Spacecraft

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Orion splashes down



Another chapter in the history of spaceflight was written today at 8:29am PST, as the EFT-1 mission ended with the splashdown of the Orion capsule in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California. Though designed to carry astronauts into deep space, the Orion was unmanned for the flight, which was planned to certify the spacecraft and test critical flight systems... Continue Reading Orion splashes down

Section: Space

Tags: NASA, Orion Spacecraft, Spacecraft, Unmanned, US Navy

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SPOFEC tweaks the Rolls Royce Wraith



The Rolls-Royce Wraith may be the showpiece that demonstrates what the modern incarnation of the famous marque can do in th engineering as well as style departments, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. At least, that's what car customizer SPirit OF ECstasy (SPOFEC) seems to think as it offers its Wraith upgrade package for the luxury coupe... Continue Reading SPOFEC tweaks the Rolls Royce Wraith

Section: Automotive

Tags: Aerodynamics, Luxury, Performance, Rolls Royce, rolls royce wraith

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Thursday 4 December 2014

Update: NASA announces new Orion launch date



NASA announced today that the EFT-1 mission launch has been rescheduled for 7:05 am EST on Friday. Officials at NASA, Lockheed Martin, and United Launch Alliance say the problem that finally resulted in the scrubbing of Thursday's launch of the Orion space capsule has been identified. It was a malfunction in liquid hydrogen fill and drain valves on both the port and center common booster cores used for fueling the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy booster, which could not be closed properly before the launch window was exceeded. .. Continue Reading Update: NASA announces new Orion launch date

Section: Space

Tags: EFT-1, Launch, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Orion Spacecraft, Spacecraft, United Launch Alliance

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Aston Martin DB10 to co-star in next Bond film



One thing about the James Bond film franchise is that, aside from Batman, he's the only hero where news of his latest adventure can be eclipsed by what car he's driving. So, it's no surprise that the announcement at Pinewood Studios that the next 007 epic, Spectre, which begins production on December 8, was overshadowed a bit when Aston Martin together and EON Productions unveiled the new Aston Martin DB10, which will "co-star" in the film. .. Continue Reading Aston Martin DB10 to co-star in next Bond film

Section: Automotive

Tags: Aston Martin, James Bond, Luxury

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