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ICYMI: CT scanning mummies and drones that land like birds
Today on In Case You Missed It: Researchers from The Field Museum are using CT scanners to look inside mummies from Peru and Egypt to see what lies behind the casket and ancient gauze. The images have uncovered information about the gender and approximate age the of deceased when they took their last breath. It also gives museum-goers the opportunity to peel away the layers of a mummy and check out 3D models of what the dead might have looked like before they met their untimely end.
Blue Origin shows how 'New Glenn' rocket will fly and land
Yesterday Blue Origin showed off the BE-4 engine for its "New Glenn" rocket, and today CEO Jeff Bezos revealed its launch customer and an animation showing how it'll fly. Its new ship is capable of putting a 50-ton payload into a low-Earth orbit or 14 tons in a geosynchronous orbit and then landing the first stage on a moving barge (video, below). That's nearly identical, of course, to what the SpaceX Falcon 9 can do. Blue Origin has also landed the New Shepard's first stage multiple times (on land), but it's not an orbital-capable rocket like the Falcon 9.
Blue Origin's latest rocket engine is finally complete
After six years of development, the first of Blue Origin's new BE-4 rocket engines has finally been fully assembled. The company's founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, debuted the images via a series of tweets.
Jeff Bezos is planning a delivery service for the moon
SpaceX isn't the only private space corporation that's capitalizing on the administration's renewed interest on the moon. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin also has plans to develop a lunar spacecraft with a lander named "Blue Moon." According to The Washington Post, the Amazon founder wants to use that spacecraft to launch an Amazon-like shipping service that would deliver equipment needed to establish human settlements on the lunar surface by mid-2020s. It could also deploy rovers and scientific instruments meant to study Earth's natural satellite.
Amazon will spend $1 billion to conquer the Middle East
Amazon is one of the world's largest retail destinations, but it doesn't have much traction in the Middle East. That's why rumors that it's looking to buy Souq.com, the Amazon of the Middle East, make so much sense. Bloomberg is reporting that Jeff Bezos and crew might spend up to $1 billion on the site to gain a foothold across Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Neither party is talking about the deal, but if it's getting reported in an august financial publication like Bloomberg then it must be serious.
Blue Origin successfully tests its crew escape system
Blue Origin's escape system test went by without a hitch. Jeff Bezos' private spaceflight outfit successfully ejected the crew capsule from the New Shepherd rocket about 45 seconds after launch, shooting it away at about 400MPH before parachutes carried it safely to Earth. On top of this, Blue Origin landed New Shepherd again -- there were worries that the capsule's rocket would damage the booster and prevent it from landing safely. You can watch it yourself below, starting at the 1:05:58 mark.
Watch Blue Origin test its crew escape system on October 4th (update: now the 5th)
Blue Origin is about to take an important step toward its first manned flights. Jeff Bezos and company are planning to test New Shepherd's mid-flight escape system on October 4th, with a live stream beginning at 10:50AM Eastern. The firm promises that it will be "dramatic," and that may not just be hyperbole. When the crew capsule fires its rocket to make a getaway, there's a chance that it could damage the booster and prevent it from landing. That's not a problem in a real emergency, but unfortunate if you're hoping that this New Shepherd (which has flown four times before) will live to fly another day. This could be either wonderfully uneventful, full of explosions or a mixture of both -- you'll just have to watch to find out. Update: Blue Origin delayed the flight to the 5th due to weather. You can tune in below at 10:45AM Eastern.
After Math: The final frontier
We saw some significant developments in the field of space exploration this week. Jeff Bezos unveiled his latest heavy lift rocket. The Gaia satellite has mapped its billionth Milky Way star. China launched another piece of its Heavenly Palace into orbit. And Galaxies just can't seem to stop exploding. Numbers, because how else are you going to accurately measure your insignificance against the infinite voids of space?
Jeff Bezos' next rocket is a massive, reusable booster
Jeff Bezos isn't about to let SpaceX have the private heavy-duty rocket field to itself. Blue Origin has introduced New Glenn (named after astronaut John Glenn), a massive reusable booster rocket that makes SpaceX's Falcon Heavy look modest. The two-stage model already dwarfs the Falcon at 270 feet tall, while the three-stage version is nearly as tall as the legendary Saturn V at 313 feet. Yes, it's more than a little Freudian, but it'll be helpful getting both satellites and people into space.
Blue Origin lands its reusable rocket a fourth time
Blue Origin's reusable rocket is practically running like clockwork. The private spaceflight outfit has successfully landed its New Shepard rocket a fourth time (during its first-ever live stream), touching down with a seemingly effortless amount of grace. Jeff Bezos and company weren't just showing off, though. They also successfully tested the redundancy of the crew capsule's parachute system, showing that the capsule can survive even if one of the chutes fails. We're still a long way from testing a manned capsule (the windows are still painted on in this version), but it's an important step toward the goal of lower-cost space travel. You can watch the entire replay below -- if you want to cut to the chase, the launch starts around the 1h 2m mark.
Blue Origin will livestream its next launch on June 19th
Jeff Bezos' spaceflight outfit Blue Origin has kept their first three New Shepard rocket launches under wraps in the past, only posting videos and announcements after the the booster safely returned to Earth. But for its fourth test flight, the company will be streaming the whole thing live from its West Texas launch facility.
Blue Origin and NASA team up to test new technologies in space
NASA has just added Jeff Bezos' space travel company Blue Origin to its list of carriers approved for carrying new technologies to space. The partnership is part of the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), which allows other space travel organizations outside of the government to test new technologies in microgravity or zero gravity environments. Blue Origin's part in all this is its payload system that works something like a stack of miniature shipping containers, with each one wired with power, cameras, telemetry data and control systems to carry out and monitor microgravity research on its New Shepherd suborbital vehicle. Experiments sent up on the New Shepherd will get about three minutes time in "a high-quality, microgravity environment" at a height of over 100 km. In the future, as Blue Origin gets closer to manned flights, researchers will eventually be able to fly along for hands-on space experiments. Until then, Blue Origin will sell a benchtop development unit that can be used to program experiments from the comfort of your own lab. Rounding out the rest of NASA's STMD roster are: Masten Space Systems, Near Space Corporation, UP Aerospace, Virgin Galactic and World View Enterprises.
Blue Origin's next flight will end in a crash-landing
While Blue Origin has shown it can successfully land a reusable rocket multiple times, the space tourism company will hit the ground a little harder on the next test. As Jeff Bezos announced this week, his space venture will intentionally crash the empty crew compartment to see what happens when the parachutes fail.
Bezos confirms more brick-and-mortar Amazon stores
Amazon is building more brick-and-mortar stores and beefing up Prime membership perks, company CEO Jeff Bezos has confirmed at the company's annual meeting for shareholders. At the moment, the mostly online-based retailer has a single bookstore in Seattle, but it's already building a new outlet near San Diego. "We're definitely going to open additional stores," he said, "how many we don't know yet." It's unclear if the new location is going to be another bookstore or if it will be selling other items, as well. If you'll recall, reports came out earlier this year that the company could open other types of retail outlets.
Amazon CEO says a brand-new flagship Kindle is coming next week
If you're thinking about buying a Kindle Voyage, you probably should hold off. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos just tweeted this morning that the company is ready to release an "all-new, top of the line" Kindle next week. Presumably, that'll be a replacement for the aging but still powerful Kindle Voyage, which was released back in the fall of 2014. It's still an excellent e-reader (albeit an expensive one at $200), but the mid-range Kindle Paperwhite has since adopted its high-resolution screen at a much lower price.
Blue Origin posts video of its rocket's third flight
Another day, another suborbital spaceflight for Blue Origin's BE-3 rocket booster. The New Shepard reached an altitude of 103km during its third flight yesterday, before the capsule came home via parachute and its engine landed while restarting at about 3,600 feet above the ground. We're still waiting for those promised bigger rockets, but you can get your weekend's video dose of rocketry.
Next Blue Origin rocket carries two microgravity experiments (update: success)
We only just found out that Jeff Bezos & Co. are planning another round trip rocket flight for tomorrow, and now they've announced something extra. This time around the New Shepard vehicle will be carrying two microgravity experiments. Being able to conduct science not possible on Earth is part of Blue Origin's pitch for its rockets, and each setup takes advantage of the flight in different ways.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin will launch its rocket a third time
Jeff Bezos' rocket company has already shown its product is reusable, but if it's going to launch "space" tourism, it will have to fly many times. As such, Blue Origin is working fly the New Shepard rocket for the third time on Saturday. According to Bezos, this time the engine will restart fast "just" 3,600 feet above the ground, leaving little room for error on its trip home from the edge of space. Plus, the company's previous tests have only been revealed after the fact, so that's another change. Still, we're not expecting any kind of SpaceX-style livestream, but Bezos says there will be drone cameras in place to get an aerial view of the flight. Whether or not it all works as planned, there should be some exciting footage to share so check back here tomorrow. Update: At least two microgravity science experiments will be along for the ride.
Amazon organized a secret robot, AI and space conference
Amazon brought a number of AI, robotics and space exploration experts together for a secret conference this week, according to Bloomberg. It was called MARS, or Machine-Learning (Home) Automation, Robotics and Space Exploration conference. Apparently, Jeff Bezos himself attended this very exclusive, invitation-only event in Palm Springs. He mingled with guests from various robotics companies, automakers like Toyota, research institutes like ETH Zurich and educational institutions, including MIT.
Jeff Bezos' space company plans to launch tourist flights by 2018
Blue Origin could be offering commercial suborbital space flights as soon as 2018. Jeff Bezos, the company's founder, has revealed his team's plans for the coming years during an event that showed off Blue Origin's headquarters to the press for the first time. Bezos' space company wasn't making as much noise as, say, SpaceX, until it successfully launched, landed and then actually reused a reusable rocket before anyone else. Clearly, that did wonders for the team's confidence.
