Atlantis
Latest
Visualized: Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its final journey, arrives at new home (video)
On Friday, Space Shuttle Atlantis made its final voyage, marking the last time an orbiter in America's shuttle program would be on the move. We were on-hand during the occasion and followed Atlantis as it slowly trekked to its destination, a 90,000 square-foot exhibit building at Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex. To live out the event vicariously, check out the photos below or hit the jump for the video.
Watch Space Shuttle Atlantis' final journey to the Kennedy Space Center visitor building (video)
It's always bittersweet when we see great vehicles on their way to becoming museum pieces, after all, they represent something pretty special. Space Shuttle Atlantis landed in Florida back in July, where it's been locked inside the vehicle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Center -- which is where we got a chance to look inside. Now it's making its final journey, a 10-mile cruise along the road to the visitor center, where it'll hopefully inspire generations for many years to come. If you'd like to watch the operation as it takes place, then head on past the break to watch the livestream.
Space Shuttle Atlantis hands-on: a look inside (video)
Space Shuttles Discovery, Endeavour and Enterprise have all left Kennedy Space Center for new homes, but Atlantis? She's staying. Come November 2nd, the orbiter will be wheeled out to a 65,000-square-foot exhibit, which is still being constructed at KSC's visitor complex. Though the craft's cargo bay doors will be open and its remote manipulator arm extended when its displayed, visitors won't be able to climb aboard it -- or any of the other shuttles, for that matter. However, we got the chance to visit Bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility, step inside Atlantis and give it the hands-on treatment. Look out below for the gallery or hit the jump for the full video tour.
Drakensang celebrates end of beta, releases Atlantis trailer
There's good news and bad news for Bigpoint. Yesterday we told you about the bad news as the company announced it would be shutting down its mobile games division. Its bread-and-butter browser MMOs are still alive and kicking, though, none more so than Drakensang Online. The free-to-play hack-and-slash title is celebrating its end-of-beta milestone, and Bigpoint says the game has amassed a whopping nine million registered players. As usual with such stats, we don't know how many of those nine million have actually played (or paid), but it's a big number nonetheless. The game also boasts a new continent (Atlantis), and Bigpoint has released an accompanying teaser trailer that you can view after the cut. [Source: Bigpoint press release]
Drakensang raises Atlantis update from the deeps
Drakensang Online welcomes the citizens of Atlantis to its game world today. The hack-and-slash MMO pushed its largest update ever to the live servers, and it's so big that the ocean itself could not contain it. That's what we call "hyperbole" in the biz. The Atlantis update is a wonder to behold. It includes a new continent with eight areas, 100 additional quests, and plenty of challenges for experienced players to tackle. The city itself is in ruins following its downfall by the giant snake Gorga. The update also includes a revamped world map that should help adventurers find their way. In related news, Bigpoint claims that over eight million players have registered for Drakensang Online. [Source: Bigpoint press release]
Dark Age of Camelot storms the castle with Patch 1.111
People of Midgard, Albion, and Hibernia -- fight for glory! The call to battle is strong and never-ending, and Mythic is looking to your continued diligence and thirst for blood to keep Dark Age of Camelot's PvP raging. For its part, Mythic has delivered the latest tantalizing update to the game today, Patch 1.111. To keep the battlefield skirmishes hot, the studio has added new RvR missions to the Frontiers. This should hopefully cause a greater amount of conflict as players strive to accomplish their tasks. Patch 1.111 also includes a host of class tweaks (including a huge buff to Thanes), additional controllable pets for Animists, and new Atlantis quests. These quests start at level 30 and will help players garner more Atlantean Glass for their artifacts, which should help ease the pain of grinding out Master Levels. The patch is currently live on all servers.
Nexus S takes to space aboard Atlantis, does astronauts' dirty work
The last time Google's jet-setting smartphone took to space, it wasn't exactly flying in style. Well, the Nexus S has ditched its styrofoam trappings for more respectable digs -- specifically, NASA's last manned space shuttle, Atlantis. Its mission: "explore how robots can help humans experiment and live in space more efficiently." Affixed to a series of three robotic satellites, known as SPHERES (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites) the phones engaged in tasks usually done by their human travel companions, like recording sensor data and capturing video. A special sensor-logging app was customized by NASA to capture sensor data and is now available for download in the Android Market. To see the space traveling smartphone at work, hop on past the break, or hit up NASA's project page at the coverage link below.
Bounty Bay Online expands into the Raging Seas today
Man the crow's nest! Tighten that jib! Swab the poopdeck! For today, Bounty Bay Online is sailing away from safe harbors and into the Raging Seas content update. This free-to-play pirate MMO is no stranger to constant peril and sizable patches. Raging Seas adds three new ships to the game and a much improved system to upgrade your boat, with special items that can boost your rudder, hull, cannon range, and more. Also included in the patch is an exciting group instance called the Naval Battle of Gravelines that throws you into an epic sea battle during the Spanish Armada era. Raging Seas follows this past May's Bounty Bay land-based Atlantis update. You can watch the short trailer for the patch after the jump!
Engadget Podcast 249 - 07.22.2011
Here at Engadget, and here on the Engadget Podcast in particular, we're all about customer service. OK, maybe not all about customer service, but on this episode we've dedicated twenty percent of our breath to answering your questions! If you happen to enjoy a bunch of Apple news too -- which we heard you do you -- then we're at about fifty percent on-track to serving you completely. If you like Apple news, having your questions answered, and a healthy dose of other up-to-the-minute information in the spacecraft, e-reader, and digital camera realms...well, let's just say we got this.Host: Tim Stevens, Brian HeaterGuests: Dana WollmanProducer: Trent WolbeMusic: Paradise City02:44 - Apple Mac OS X Lion available now in the App Store06:00 - Apple refreshes MacBook Air with Sandy Bridge, Thunderbolt, and backlit keyboards08:35 - Apple OS X Lion (10.7) review17:32 - The MacBook drops from Apple's Store (update: confirmed)22:37 - Apple updates Mac mini: Core i5 and i7, Thunderbolt, AMD Radeon HD, no SuperDrive22:55 - Apple rolls out 27-inch Thunderbolt Display with FaceTime HD camera, built-in speakers23:45 - Apple's Q3 earnings exceed estimates: $28.57 billion revenue, $7.31 billion profit, 20 million iPhones sold25:13 - Apple outpaces Nokia in global smartphone shipments28:00 - Nokia Q2 2011: 'clearly disappointing' results as challenges prove 'greater than expected'32:35 - Motorola Droid 3 review37:35 - Sony Alpha NEX-C3 review42:55 - iRiver Story HD review49:51 - Space Shuttle Atlantis touches down in Florida, won't be going back up again50:44 - Google 'winding down' Labs, likely due to meddling older sister51:40 - Listener questionsHear the podcastSubscribe to the podcast[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune MarketplaceDownload the podcastLISTEN (MP3)LISTEN (AAC)LISTEN (OGG)Contact the podcastSend your questions to @tim_stevens.Leave us a voicemail: (423) 438-3005 (GADGET-3005)E-mail us: podcast at engadget dot comTwitter: @tim_stevens @bheater @danawollman
Space Shuttle Atlantis touches down in Florida, won't be going back up again
You already know how we feel about the Space Shuttle program coming to a close, but of course that was just a little premature. Now it's all done except for the mothballing, with the Atlantis touching down successfully at runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center. Crewmembers Chris Ferguson, Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus, and Rex Walheim are back on our planet and, traveling at speeds decidedly slower than escape velocity, can officially put a cap onto this historic series of space missions that we, at least, will never forget. In the words of NASA: "Job well done, America." For those interested, head over to NASA's website for the live coverage of this historic moment.
5 apps for the armchair astronaut & the final Space Shuttle launch
Unless you've been living under a rock lately, you know that today's launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis, mission STS-135, signals the end of the shuttle program as we know it and the closing of a chapter in American human spaceflight. Weather and ten trillion other mechanical considerations permitting, the launch is at 11:26 a.m. ET and you can watch a live stream of the events right on NASA's website. You can also watch the launch on the NASA apps (listed below). Given the historic nature of the launch, you'll probably be able to find it on television as well. If you won't be near a TV or internet connection, don't worry. We've got your back. Here are five apps to keep you in the loop through the final countdown and beyond. NASA App for iPhone and iPad - These apps are really robust and pack a lot of cool stuff into one neat package. Stream NASA TV right to your phone or iPad, watch videos of everything from spacewalks to astronaut training exercises, and browse thousands of images taken in space. It even has Facebook and Twitter integration so you can blast all your friends with rapid-fire status updates during the excitement of the launch. They'll just love you for it. Really. GoAtlantis - This app was designed specifically for the STS-135 mission and helps you track Atlantis' post-launch movement in real-time. Watch the tiny orbiter on your screen zip around earth in low-earth orbit as it catches up and eventually docks with the International Space Station (ISS) two days later. The coolest feature in this app is its ability to predict when the ISS will pass over your location to you can catch a glimpse as it goes by. Yes, you really can see it winking and blinking in the sky if you know just where to look, and GoAtlantis will tell you. AstroApp: Space Shuttle Crew - As the mission clock ticks down, use the time to learn the history of the Space Shuttle program, its missions, and the astronauts that flew them. Commissioned by NASA, AstroApp contains full biographies of each crew member and are searchable via mission or alphabetically. For the imaginative at heart, app developers threw in a nice little tool that allows you to superimpose your face onto a flight suit so you see what you'd look like if you were ready for liftoff. Mission Clock - Speaking of mission clocks, if you're a diehard space junkie with $5 burning a hole in your pocket, this app is worth every penny. It provides up-to-the-minute information on all NASA launches as well as those at other space agencies around the world and also provides alerts with breaking news from mission control. The neatest thing about this app is that it doesn't just count down the time until launch, it tells you what the crew is doing every step of the way. SpaceGeek - Like the NASA App mentioned above, SpaceGeek offers live streaming of NASA TV, but it brings more to the table. The app has videos, pictures, mission updates, a breaking news feed, Twitter updates, and more. For such a full-featured app, it's hard to believe its only a buck, but it's worth it. %Gallery-127998% Have a favorite shuttle hugger app of your own? Share it with us in the comments.
Panasonic's AG-3DA1 camera will shoot 3D video, Robonaut vlogs on the International Space Station
NASA's Robonaut 2 is something of a celebrity around these parts, owing to his dashing good looks and insatiable appetite for publicity, which can now be put to good use with a new toy the landlubbers are sending his way: a professional 3D camera. The human-aiding robot that presently calls the International Space Station home will soon be joined by Panasonic's AG-3DA1, a full 1080p 3D video recorder with twin lenses and dual 2 megapixel 3MOS sensors. Panasonic is also loading up the next Space Shuttle Atlantis flight to the ISS (scheduled for June 28th) with 25.5-inch 3D LCD monitors and rugged Toughbook laptops to help with documenting proceedings aboard the research vessel. The new shooter costs a whopping $21,000, and though it's not clear whether NASA paid for it or Panasonic just decided to be charitable, the space agency should have the cash to splash after deciding to shelve the James Cameron-approved project to slap a zoom-equipped 3D imager on its next Mars rover. We're just wondering if the human world is quite ready for 3D video blogs from its favorite robotic astronaut.
Researchers claim discovery of lost city of Atlantis, conveniently located in southern Spain
We had to do a double take when we read this headline from Reuters, but sure enough, it's not April1st yet and its writers don't seem to be joking: the location of the lost city of Atlantis has finally been discovered. Such is the bold claim from an international team of researchers, dreamers and intrepid adventurers. With the use of ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography, they've unearthed evidence to suggest that a spot on the southern coast of Spain, just north of Cadiz, played host to what may have been human society's first metropolis. One of the reasons why it's taken archaeologists so long to pinpoint its whereabouts may be the fact that it lies 60 miles inland, where you wouldn't really expect it to be susceptible to the effects of tidal waves (which is what Plato's account of the ancient city identified as its demise). A National Geographic documentary on the subject will be broadcast this evening where we may learn more about what was discovered, the methods for doing so, and the gorgeous tans those scientists built up in sunny Spain.
God of War 2's lost Atlantis level pulled from the abyss
When God of War 3 director Stig Asmussen recently revealed that "we cut less" from the PS3 game than from its PS2 predecessors, he wasn't kidding! As PlayStation Blog has unearthed, God of War 2 has the entire "lost" city of Atlantis buried in its design history. In the video after the break, level creator Jonathan Hawkins guides us through the blueprint. This was his first "big chance," recalls Hawkins, who says "knowing what i know now, it cracks me up how all out I went." He reckons three to four months were spent on the intricate Atlantis level before it was eventually scrapped as the game's story evolution went in a different direction. (Kratos does take care of unfinished Atlantis business in the new Ghost of Sparta PSP game.) "As a designer you have to have tough chops and, you know, roll with the punches," Hawkins warns with a chuckle about the unsentimental creative process. "I wish you guys could have played it."
Atlantis surfaces in Bounty Bay Online
Long ago thought lost, the lands of Atlantis have resurfaced in Frogster Interactive's Bounty Bay Online! The new area offers two new islands for players to check out: Bimini and the Northern Islands. The free expansion also offers a wealth of new content for players at endgame, as well as some modifications to systems that will make the game more enjoyable overall. To top it all off, all Bounty Bay Online players of all levels will get twice the experience all weekend long to celebrate! Players will find a new level cap of 150, crafting improvements, tricky treasure map puzzles, an all-new achievement system, quests, and several new dungeons among the numerous additions. In short, this new update is absolutely bountiful! If you'd like more details or to sign up for some historical(esque) MMO free-to-play fun, head on over to the Bounty Bay Online site!
Massively takes its turn with Atlantica Online's new patch
As we waited on the conference call for the Atlantica Online developers to start our virtual press tour, a fellow journalist and I chatted about the possibilities of virtual tabletops. I told him about my desire for a real virtual tabletop game, one that would allow players to take turns setting up scenery, adding armies and destroying each other. Little did I know that I was about to see something that would make me feel the same satisfaction as a tabletop does, despite their being different in a few ways. Atlantica Online's new patch will allow players to participate in the new Tactical Battle System -- essentially a turn-based strategy game of moving pairs of soldiers across a map, avoiding and setting traps, and defeating mighty enemies. During most of the interview, I found myself asking questions that were already covered, since I was just having too much fun playing the game to hear our hosts speak. Frankly, I wasn't embarrassed. After all, isn't becoming immersed in strategy the point of a game like Atlantica Online? Read on and I'll tell you the details of what I found, including the scoop on the eagerly awaited housing system.
iPads help perform surgery, capture history
Not satisfied that the magical and revolutionary Apple tablet is helping marine mammals communicate their displeasure with the despoilage of the majestic oceans? Fortunately, the iPad is no unitasker; it's being put to good use in both inner and outer space. First up, CrunchGear points to this video of Japanese surgeons using the iPad as a display for reference during an operation. The iPad appears to show CT images and possibly a video loop as well; it's covered with a sterile plastic drape. Any translation efforts welcome -- and if other physicians are using the iPad in similar fashion, do let us know. Second, photographer Scott Audette sent a note to let us know he was able to use the iPad, in combination with some wireless camera control tech from Canon, to manage a remotely positioned camera and capture images of the final scheduled launch of space shuttle Atlantis. The full rundown on gear and configuration is on Scott's blog, and it's quite a read.
Space Shuttle Atlantis ends its run of predicting disaster for other NASA shuttles
And then there were two... After 25 years, 32 successful missions, and more than 120-million miles traveled, space shuttle Atlantis made what's likely to be its last landing yesterday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Of course, being the astute follower of space tech that you are, you knew this already. But did you also know that Atlantis had an uncanny knack for predicting disaster? Way back in November of 1985, on just its second mission, Atlantis experienced a blow-back of hot gases past the primary O-rings in one of its solid rocket boosters, resulting in serious erosion of said O-ring. NASA noticed the problem, but didn't recognize the danger -- three months later a similar O-ring failure led to the loss of the Challenger and her crew. Three years later during STS-27, Atlantis' heat shield sustained severe damage from a piece of insulation that broke off of the right solid rocket booster during launch. Since this was a classified mission for the Department of Defense (you know, to handle super secret military stuff), the shuttle's crew was forced to encrypt the images of the damaged tiles it sent back to NASA, which lowered the resolution of the images enough that the ground crew wrote off the damage as a trick of the light. Looking at the clear images onboard the spacecraft, the crew's commander Robert "Hoot" Gibson was so certain of the damage, he remarked that "we are going to die." Fortunately, Atlantis survived reentry, and the ground crew stared in shock at the missing, cracked, and broken tiles while likely getting a serious dose of "I told you so" from the crew. Years later in 2003, the exact same thing happened to the shuttle Columbia on launch; needless to say, her crew wasn't so lucky. The second-youngest orbiter, named after the world's longest-serving scientific research vessel (the RV Atlantis), first blasted into space on October 3, 1985 on a military mission for the Department of Defense -- yet again to do secret military stuff. Oh, how the times have changed... its final mission saw Atlantis successfully deliver the Russian Mini-Research Module Rassvet to the ISS. She'll be prepped one last time to stand-by as a rescue ship for the upcoming (and final) missions of Endeavor and Discovery, but Atlantis' days in space are likely over. All gussied up with nowhere to go, Atlantis will finally be laid to rest. And yes, we'll shed a tear or two.
PAX 2009: Dark mysteries of The Secret World
So, you may have heard: Funcom is taking famous myths, urban legends, pop culture, history and even things like the Rota Fortunae and blending it all into a game called The Secret World. We sat down with lead designer Martin Brusgaar and creative director Ragnar Tornquist at PAX 2009 to discuss the game and a few of its many secrets.The Secret World has a vibe unlike any other MMO or really game currently out there. Its premise is simple -- all the legends, myths and more are true. Atlantis is rising, vampires roam the night, 2012 is the beginning of a new fourth age and so on. The world is a dark, scary and magical place. Although, it's more of the first two than anything else.%Gallery-72395%
XBMC Atlantis beta released: Linux / OS X users invited
Hooray! The chains of platform discrimination have been cast away in the latest iteration of XMBC. The dev crew has announced the very first cross-platform Beta version of XBMC media center for Linux, Mac OS X (Leopard and Tiger), Windows, and Xbox in preparation for the upcoming stable release of XBMC (which is code named Atlantis). A few notable additions to this version include XMBC Live -- a "bootable CD which gives users the opportunity to try XBMC on their computer, without touching their hard drive" -- and initial support for integrating iTunes and iPhoto media into XBMC... for Mac users, anyway. The final release is currently on track for an October launch, and if you'd like that to remain true, we'd recommend giving the beta a whirl and submitting any bugs to the gurus behind the scenes. So, what exactly are you waiting for again?Read - Atlantis Beta 1Read - iPhoto / iTunes integration
