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Visualized: Space shuttle Endeavour goes on a crosstown journey through LA streets
The space shuttle Endeavour finally bid adieu to its fans in Southern California last weekend, not in the air, but on city streets. The L.A. Times captured this remarkable feat in a time-lapse video, and it's quite a sight to see the orbiter sailing past suburban houses and fast food drive-thrus. Along its 12-mile crosstown trip from LAX to the California Science Center in Exposition Park, the shuttle atop a special transporter had to maneuver past trees, utility poles and of course hundreds of enthralled residents. This came weeks after it made its farewell tour over the California coast perched on a Boeing 747. Take a peek at the Endeavour's final fascinating journey at the source.
Space Shuttle Endeavour hitching a ride atop a 747 to its new home on September 17
Space Shuttles Discovery and Enterprise have already settled into their new homes, and now Endeavour is scheduled to depart for its future abode at the California Science Center on September 17th. Taking to the skies atop a modified Boeing 747, the shuttle will make pit stops in Texas and at Edwards Air Force Base in the Golden State before touching down at Los Angeles International Airport on the 20th. During the journey out west, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft will buzz certain cities and NASA sites along its flight path at roughly 1,500 feet in altitude. After its voyage, Endeavor will head to the science center on October 13th, but won't be on display until the end of the month. Yearning to catch a glimpse of the historic vehicle before it reaches its final resting place? Head past the jump for its flight schedule and flyover details.
HTC Endeavor specs revealed in leaked ROM: Tegra 3, 720p, Sense 4.0 (update: screenshots)
HTC fans spent the last couple of days (i.e., their weekend) unpicking a leaked ROM Update Utility for an officially non-existent handset called the 'Endeavor.' The specs revealed so far include a 1280 x 720 display spread over 4.7-inches, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, eight-megapixel rear shooter, front-facing camera, NFC, 1GB RAM and the new ICS-adapted version of HTC's Sense UI. These leaked specs tally with an earlier tip-off to MoDaCo, which further hinted at a 1.5GHz clock speed and Beats Audio. There's also a bunch of screenshots showing off the Sense 4.0 skin that we already glimpsed in a fuzzy HTC Ville video -- and it conspires to look both new and deeply familiar.Update: Screenshot gallery just added below, via Android Central.
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off one last time (video)
NASA's Endeavour shuttle marked its final launch today, lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, a fortnight after an initial takeoff was scrubbed over concerns surrounding an auxiliary power unit heater. A six-member crew lead by commander Mark Kelly and some tiny satellites are on-board for the STS-134 mission, which involves the delivery of the massive cosmic ray-collecting Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and some spare parts to the International Space Station. NASA's 134th flight is the penultimate mission for the current fleet of shuttle -- Atlantis will liftoff for a final time in July. Video of the smoke-filled majesty after the break.
SIM-sized satellites to lift off with Endeavour this afternoon
They won't be beaming GPS or radio signals back to Earth anytime soon, but these one-inch-square satellites could one day travel to distant planets -- without fuel. Developed over a period of three years by a team of undergraduates at Cornell University, the Sprite chips could eventually be used for communication, flying in clusters like tiny space plankton. After hitching a ride on-board the final space shuttle Endeavour mission this afternoon, the three prototype satellites will be mounted outside the International Space Station, where they'll sit for the next few years, exposed to conditions found only beyond our atmosphere. Perhaps someday we'll even see some "Spprite" KIRFs by the time China's own space station is ready to hit the launchpad in 2020.
Dextre robot now fully assembled, ready for testing
Apparently, the folks aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour aren't wasting any time piecing Dextre together (or jamming to their iPods), as just days after we first heard about this creature's future in space, now we're hearing that he's totally assembled and ready to rock. The bot, which is formally known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator, has been fitted with various tools and cameras and is all set to "undergo a series of tests and trials before it is asked to do major tasks." Godspeed, young Dextre -- hopefully you'll have more success than Ted and Gadget.
iPod takes one small step for PMPs, one giant leap for consumer electronics
Oh sure, iPods have found their way outside of our atmosphere before, but there's just something magical about spotting one front and (off) center on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Dollars to donuts it's perpetually repeating the discography of Air.
iPods rock the Space Shuttle
Update 11/16/2008: Welcome Digg visitors. While there may be iPods on the current STS-126 mission, these photos & the blog post are actually from the March 2008 mission.Eagle-eyed reader Walker was perusing hi-res photos of the Space Shuttle Endeavour (which is circling the planet at this moment, docked to the International Space Station in low-earth orbit) when he spotted an iPod through the crew cabin window. It's a massively cool find and we thought you'd like to know it's not the first time an iPod has braved the 3G hurtle into space. When the unmanned Jules Verne spacecraft launched earlier this month for its historic docking with the ISS, it took along several commemorative items, including an iPod containing a special list of songs chosen by the winner of a 2007 contest. STS crew member Leland Melvin went to the ISS last month aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis, and he took along an iPod pre-loaded with his favorite Christina McBride album and a few songs he'd composed on the piano. For Charlie Hobaugh's flight last year, he let his kids load his iPod for him. (Wow, that's trusting -- he could have spent the 13-day mission listening to Alvin & the Chipmunks). Getting an iPod into space isn't easy. The lithium batteries have to be replaced with specially certified alkaline batteries. Once docked, crew members can't bring them on board the Space Station, however, since they haven't been certified as safe in that environment. Your iPod may never make it to outer space, but if you want to protect it on your daily land-based EVAs, why not wrap it in a piece of history? Get a case from everQuest Design that's made from a piece of the Soyuz parachute. From one space geek to another, I ask you: how cool is that?Thanks Walker!%Gallery-18395%
Microsoft, NASA team up on 3D photo shoot of Endeavour
As NASA awaits the newly rescheduled launch of its latest mission, Microsoft has been busy creating a "3D montage" of the space shuttle Endeavour. According to the team, this venture will enable individuals around the globe to "view 3D images of Endeavour and surrounding buildings at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida before it launches into space." The environments are being constructed using hundreds of snapshots and an imaging technology dubbed Photosynth, which stitches together 2D digital images to give a three-dimensional view "that can be navigated and explored in a highly intuitive manner." This go 'round, it seems that the goal was simply to provide a wow-factor to remote onlookers, but both entities are reportedly "looking into ways of using this new technology to support future missions." Check out the results here.[Via PCWorld]