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Blue Origin makes another bid for a NASA lunar lander contract
Astrobotic, which has developed a lunar rover, and Boeing are among Blue Origin's latest lunar lander partners.
Blue Origin teams with spaceflight veterans to complete its lunar lander
Blue Origin won't be alone in working on a crewed lunar lander that will (hopefully) participate in NASA's Artemis program. Jeff Bezos' outfit has unveiled a trio of partners that will help it complete the Human Landing System, all of which are space industry veterans. Lockheed Martin will work on the reusable Ascent Element vehicle as well as lead crewed flight ops. Northrop Grumman, meanwhile, will produce the Transfer Element that brings the landing system toward the Moon. Draper, in turn, will handle descent guidance and avionics.
Spacesuit 'take me home' feature could save lost astronauts
The greatest fear for many astronauts is to get lost or disoriented during a spacewalk, especially if it's untethered. How do you get back to safety with no sense of direction, little to no help and a limited supply of oxygen? Researchers at Draper might offer a lifeline. They recently applied for a patent on a self-return feature in spacesuits that would automatically navigate back to the astronaut's home ship. A spacefarer in a panic could just slap a button and know they would get back to the airlock.
Scientists are making genetically modified cyborg dragonflies
A biomedical solutions company called Draper is developing a technology that can turn a dragonfly into a living drone. They call it the DragonflEye project, and the technology's main component is a tiny backpack equipped with solar panels to harvest energy. It also has integrated guidance and navigation system composed of optogenetic tools that Draper made with the help of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) at Janelia Farm. The idea is to use those tools to send commands from the backpack to the "steering" neurons that control the insect's flight inside the dragonfly's nerve cord. It's a totally different approach to hijacking an insect's muscles.
ExoPlanetSat nanosatellite to begin search for alien worlds next year
SETI's search for intelligent life in outer space may be on ice for the time being, but the search for alien planets that may possibly support life of some sort is now being bolstered by a number of new efforts. One of the latest is the so-called ExoPlanetSat nanosatellite developed by MIT and Draper Laboratory, which recently got the go-ahead from NASA's Cubesat Launch Initiative and is now set to hitch a ride into space sometime in 2012. While not quite as "nano" as the SIM card-sized satellites that launched with the Shuttle Endeavor, the smaller-than-a-breadbox ExoPlanetSat is still pretty tiny by satellite standards, yet it packs all the necessary optics and technology required for what's known as transit observation -- that is, monitoring a star for decreases in brightness, which could indicate a planet passing in front of it. What's more, while the launch of a single satellite is plenty to get excited about, the researchers hope that it lead the way for a whole fleet of similar nanosatellites that could greatly speed up the search for planets.
Draper Labs develops prototype Mars Hopper
The Mars rover, that self-propelled, solar powered box o' sensors 'n stuff that slowly inches along the surface (and battles the fierce environment) of the red planet may be a mainstay of space exploration, but it's certainly not the only way to get the job done. For instance, the kids at Draper Labs -- last seen in this space with their injectable nanosensor -- are in the process of developing vehicles that would (literally) leave traditional rovers in the dust. The Draper Hopper prototype is designed with a ducted fan propulsion system that uses compressed nitrogen gas to cover twenty-five miles in a few days or, at best, a few hours. By way of comparison, NASA's Spirit and Opportunity craft have covered roughly twenty miles since hitting the Martian surface in early 2004. Of course, the hoppers will have to bring fuel with them, so their lifespans will be cut drastically shorter than their wheel-based contemporaries, but we've always believed more autonomous vehicles should "live fast / die young," like Sid Vicious or James Dean. With any luck, we should see test flights by January 2011.
Draper's Fine Art for FlatScreens conceals your HDTV when not in use
Draper treated us earlier this year with a brilliant flatscreen lift made for those not exactly kosher (or allowed -- by the SO, landlord, etc.) with hanging their HDTV upside the wall. This piece, however, is for that sect who already has one mounted in or on their wall, particularly for the subset that can't stand the sight of it when not in use. The Fine Art for FlatScreens, part of the Reveal/Conceal line, contains a woven reproduction of an original work of art, and there are 39 Jacquard Tapestries to choose from. If none of those float your boat, you can also work up a custom design for the right price. Speaking of which, pricing for complete units runs from $835 right on up, with replacement tapestry's ringing up at around $326.[Via WidescreenReview]
Draper introduces new FlatScreen Lift to conceal your HDTV
For those still not keen on hanging their flat-panel on the wall, Draper has crafted an all new motorized lift in order to reveal and conceal your HDTV at the press of a button. Designed to handle plasmas / LCDs up to 50-inches and add less than 5-inches to the overall depth, the FSL-F-50 FlatScreen Lift can be built into custom cabinetry and even includes "a unique secondary shelf beneath the display itself, allowing you to attach a matching trim piece to fill the opening left by the open cabinet lid." The unit can reportedly hoist up to 210-pounds and takes just over half a minute to fully deploy with zero weight. Oh, and if this particular model doesn't jive with your current TV, the firm is expected to add two additional sizes in the near future to accommodate smaller displays and units spanning up to 65-inches diagonally.[Via Widescreen Review]
Visionmill cranks out HD IPTV channel, more to come?
While the mega-corporations are making this whole HD IPTV thing look easy, it's hard out here for an entrepreneur trying to launch his own gig. Rob Draper, an internationally acclaimed cinematographer, envisions IPTV as the future of television delivery, primarily because advertisers can focus their marketing to select channels / websites rather than just blasting ads out to everyone as they do now, theoretically wasting resources on folks who will shun their offerings anyway. After a failed attempt to make Visionmill, his own IPTV service, "a source of programming for TV food channels" and to turn Camden, Maine a "TV production hotspot," he branched out on his own and created SingleMalt.tv, which is dubbed the "world's first internet TV channel devoted to single malt Scotch whiskey." More important, however, is the fact that everything on the site is shot and delivered in crisp 720p, and while it may be hard to convince Mr. Draper to venture somewhere other than the beautiful hillsides of Scotland to set up shop, there could be more channels in the future as his startup blossoms -- but for now, we can all raise our glasses to 720p over the 'net, eh?