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Archive for the ‘habitats’ category: Page 71

Nov 18, 2019

Nanoracks just booked a SpaceX launch to demo tech that turns used spacecraft into orbital habitats

Posted by in categories: habitats, robotics/AI, space travel

SpaceX is going to launch a payload for client Nanoracks aboard one of its new rideshare missions, currently targeting late 2020, that will demonstrate a very ambitious piece of tech from the commercial space station company. Nanoracks is sending up a payload platform that will show off how it can use a robot to cut material very similar to the upper stages used in orbital spacecraft — something Nanoracks wants to eventually due to help convert these spent and discarded stages (sometimes called “space tugs” because they generally move payloads from one area of orbit to another) into orbital research stations, habitats and more.

The demonstration mission is part of Nanoracks’ “Space Outpost Program,” which aims to address the future need for in-space orbital commercial platforms by also simultaneously making use of existing vehicles and materials designed specifically for space. Through use of the upper stages of spacecraft left behind in orbit, the company hopes to show how it one day might be able to greatly reduce the costs of setting up in-space stations and habitats, broadening the potential access of these kinds of facilities for commercial space companies.

This will be the first-ever demonstration of structural metal cutting in space, provided the demo goes as planned, and it could be a key technology not just for establishing more permanent research families in Earth’s orbit, but also for setting up infrastructure to help us get to, and stay at, other interstellar destinations like the Moon and Mars.

Nov 13, 2019

Caterpillar’s autonomous vehicles may be used by NASA to mine the moon and build a lunar base

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, food, habitats, robotics/AI, space

Caterpillar has been synonymous with big, heavy equipment — for farming, construction and mining — since Holt Manufacturing and C. L. Best Tractor merged in 1925 to form the Peoria, Illinois-based company. Over the years, tons of innovation have been built into the iconic yellow products, too, from the Model 20 Track-Type Tractor introduced in 1927 to the ginormous engines that helped power the Apollo 11 mission to the moon 50 years ago.

Coincidentally, one of Cat’s latest breakthroughs is self-driving, or autonomous, and remote-controlled mining equipment, which could very well find itself on the moon when NASA is scheduled to return to the lunar surface in 2024, with plans to build a permanent base near the orb’s south pole, part of the Artemis program.

Just as on terrestrial sites, Caterpillar fully or semi-autonomous bulldozers, graders, loaders and dump trucks could be utilized to build roads, housing and other infrastructure. Operator-less drilling and digging machines might mine water, oxygen-rich rocks and moon dust for use in 3D printing of various materials.

Nov 13, 2019

Inside a Martian Habitat Factory in New York City

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, habitats, space

Inside the strange world of 3D printing Martian homes.

Nov 9, 2019

UPS Flight Forward and CVS make their first residential delivery by drone

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, drones, habitats

UPS Flight Forward recently was awarded their Part 135 certification from the Federal Aviation Administration, which allows them to make deliveries by drone throughout the U.S. This week, UPS in partnership with CVS made their first residential delivery by drone by dropping off prescription drugs from a CVS pharmacy directly to a consumer’s home.

Nov 9, 2019

Luxury hotels could be launched into Earth’s orbit as early as 2021. This is what future space lodging might look like

Posted by in categories: habitats, space

Tourists may soon be wining, dining, and even playing Quidditch in space. NASA’s search for space-habitat designs is starting a new tourism industry.

Nov 4, 2019

How we Benefit from Getting our Genomes Sequenced

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, finance, food, genetics, habitats, health, internet, mobile phones

When the first smartphones arrived, few people understood how they would change our reality. Today, our internet-connected mobile device maps our travel, manages our finances, delivers our dinner, and connects us to every corner of human knowledge. In less than a generation, it has become almost an extension of our central nervous system — so indispensable that we can’t imagine leaving home without it to guide us.

We are about to embark on another journey even more important to every individual and to human society. We are entering the age of genomics, an amazing future that will dramatically improve the health outcomes of people across the planet. Soon, we won’t be able to imagine a time when we left home without knowledge of our genome to guide us.

Continue reading “How we Benefit from Getting our Genomes Sequenced” »

Nov 4, 2019

Building Solar Panels in Space Might be as Easy as Clicking Print

Posted by in categories: habitats, solar power, space, sustainability

Scientists are testing a new, durable, recyclable and efficient material that could soon power habitats on the Moon.

Nov 3, 2019

How we’ll get to Mars — what’s the biggest challenge, money or technology?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, economics, habitats, health, nuclear energy, space travel

“There are a number of critical technologies that have to be assessed and tested before we go to Mars,” he told Quirks & Quarks host Bob McDonald.

His short-list includes reusable landers, new space suits, mining gear, water and fuel production plants and safe nuclear power sources that could be used to power habitats and equipment on the red planet.

Continue reading “How we’ll get to Mars — what’s the biggest challenge, money or technology?” »

Nov 2, 2019

Portland teen’s cancer detection project wins national prize; rural district wants 2020 bond, won’t say what it’s for: The week in education

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, education, engineering, habitats, information science, mathematics, robotics/AI

A Portland teen won second place in a national technology contest, taking home $2,500 that he can use to attend science camp next summer.

Rishab Jain, 14, is a freshman at Westview High School. His winning project, which he calls the Pancreas Detective, is an artificial intelligence tool that can help diagnose pancreatic cancer through gene sequencing. The algorithm helps doctors focus on the organ during examinations, which is often obscured because it moves around the abdominal area as patients breathe and other bodily functions shift other organs as well.

Last year, the same project netted $25,000 from 3M when he attended Stoller Middle School. He used that money to fund his nonprofit, Samyak Science Society, which promotes science, technology, engineering and math education for other children, Time Magazine reported.

Nov 1, 2019

Wildfires pose new threats as homes burn, releasing toxic fumes

Posted by in categories: habitats, health

As wildfires in California and elsewhere become the new normal, scientists are racing to learn the airborne health risks of the chemicals in our homes.

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