voyager
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Hilton will design suites and sleeping quarters for Voyager’s private Starlab space station
What better company to design a cramped living space than a major hotel chain?
Corsair's first gaming laptop puts Elgato Stream Deck tech in its touch bar
PC accessory manufacturer Corsair has unveiled its first laptop, the Voyager AMD Advantage Edition, that's unabashedly designed for gamers and streamers.
NASA fights to keep the Voyager probes running after four decades
NASA's Voyager probes are still out there, exploring interstellar space 42 years after they left our planet. To keep them running all these years with generators that are 40 percent less powerful than they were decades ago -- and which are producing less and less energy over time -- the agency had to sacrifice some of their parts and components. In fact, the mission managers have recently switched off the heater for Voyager 2's cosmic ray subsystem instrument (CRS) as part of their new power management plan.
Voyager 2 probe may be on the edge of interstellar space
NASA's Voyager 2 probe may be close to joining its sibling and entering interstellar space. The vessel has been detecting a five percent increase in cosmic rays since late August, suggesting that it's close to crossing the heliopause (the edge of the solar wind bubble, aka the heliosphere) and entering the interstellar realm. Voyager 1 saw similar increases in May 2012, so its fellow spacecraft may be in for a repeat.
NASA wakes up Voyager's slumbering thrusters 37 years later
NASA's Voyager 1 has been drifting farther and farther away from our planet for the past 40 years. Now, the agency has ensured that it can maintain contact with the farthest spacecraft from Earth for at least two to three more years by waking up a set of backup thrusters it hasn't used since 1980. Voyager needs to rotate itself every so often so that its antenna points to our planet. It orients itself by firing several 10-millisecond puffs with its thrusters -- problem is, the ones it regularly uses haven't been performing as well after four decades in space.
NASA to release Voyager Golden Record as a vinyl box set
Speaking as a space-loving child of the '70s and a music fan, it was hard to contain my excitement when NASA took to Kickstarter to fund a pressing of the space agency's Voyager Golden Records. Sent into space in 1977, the Golden Record contained sounds of nature, greetings in many different languages and classical and rock music in the hopes that any aliens that found the space probe would better know humanity. The crowdfunding was successful, thankfully, and you can now get a box set of the watershed discs, this time on vinyl (or CD, if you must).
Kickstarter commemorates Voyager with projects celebrating humanity
Forty years ago, the two Voyager probes were launched and to honor the anniversary, Kickstarter has created Projects of Earth -- a group of campaigns inspired by the Voyager's Golden Record that offer "unique perspectives on humanity, culture and life on Earth." All of the projects will be launched between August 20th and September 5th -- the two dates of each of the Voyager probe launches -- and like the Golden Record, are meant to capture a portrait of our world as it exists today.
Google Earth feeds your wanderlust with 'Voyager' stories
There are two things you should never do if you want to maintain productivity: start clicking on links in Wikipedia, or open Google Earth. There are many, many other ways to waste time on the internet but the amount of work hours lost between those two is probably enough to make most managers weep. Your boss won't be too pleased, then, to learn that Google Earth's latest update, revealed today, ratchets up its time-killing potential several notches.
'The Mummy' in VR was shallow, but the seats were not
VR seat company Positron teamed up with Universal at SXSW this year to showcase a "Zero Gravity VR Experience" tied in with the studio's The Mummy reboot. While it fell (way) short of simulating weightlessness, it was nonetheless a nice way to watch virtual reality. If only the stuff I was watching wasn't quite so shallow. Like the movie it's based on, Universal's setup at SXSW is flashy and expensive. You walk into a nondescript ballroom at a convention center, and are greeted by a section of an aircraft's fuselage, together with a life-sized "Egyptian" sarcophagus from the movie. Behind a blackout curtain lay 20 or so VR seats, arranged as you'd expect seating in a high-class movie theater. These seats -- Positron Voyagers -- are the real stars of the show. Positron debuted the Voyager at Sundance earlier this year, and has since been touting the seat at various VR and film shows. Resembling an Arne Jacobsen egg chair, but with none of the charm and subtlety, the Voyager contains motors to control pitch and yaw to simulate motion, a built-in Subpac for vibrations, as well as a standard Oculus Rift headset and some noise-canceling headphones. The actual VR experience was of the shallow PR-grab variety: a 10-minute featurette narrated by Tom Cruise, showing how the movie's zero-gravity action sequence (which was pretty much 90 percent of the trailer) was filmed.
Uranus might have two more moons
NASA launched its two Voyager probes almost 40 years ago, sending the first on a more direct route out of the solar system. Voyager 2 took a longer route to survey Neptune and Uranus in 1986, becoming the first and only spacecraft to fly by the ice giants. Scientists continue to comb over that data, and they might have just made a discovery from the 30-year-old recordings: Two additional moons orbiting Uranus, bringing its total to 29.
Earthlings get a chance to own NASA's Golden Records
Back in the 70's, famed astronomer Carl Sagan and a team of scientists and artists put together a collection of golden phonograph records, which were sent to space aboard Voyager 1 and 2. They contain greetings in 55 languages, a plethora of animal sounds, traditional music from around the world, Mozart's and Bach's masterpieces, as well as Blind Willie Johnson and Chuck Berry tracks. Now, a Kickstarter campaign wants to give us lowly Earthlings a chance to own a copy of the Voyager Golden Records as a box set.
The UK government is getting its own 'Air Force One'
UK Prime Minister David Cameron and cabinet ministers are set to get their very own Air Force One under new government plans. Reuters reports that as part of a spending review due next week, Chancellor George Osborne will announce that £10 million will be spent on refitting a RAF Voyager A330 aircraft (pictured above), which usually operates as an air-to-air refuelling and transport aircraft, so it can be used for official government trips.
Study answers lingering questions about Voyager 1 in interstellar space
Three years ago, the American Geophysical Union said the Voyager 1 probe left the solar system. NASA quickly said nope, hold your horses, we're not there yet. Then, NASA announced a year later that yes, Voyager 1 really did make it. The debate still rages on in some pockets of the scientific community, but a new study out of the University of New Hampshire just pulled some solar wind out of detractors' sails.
Google Earth gets two new features for its 10th birthday
Can you believe that Google Earth has been around for a full decade now? To celebrate this milestone, Google unveiled a pair of striking new (and expanded) features to the planet virtualization system on Monday. The first is Voyager, which available on the desktop edition. It's designed to help you pick out and explore the coolest and newest imagery from around the world. These are organized into five categories: Street View, Earth View, 3D cities, Satellite imagery updates, and Highlight tour.
Star Trek Online starts its fifth anniversary celebration
It was five years ago February 2nd that Star Trek Online came mewing into the MMO world, bringing with it final frontiers, infinite diversity, and canon-approved lockboxes. Cryptic's so excited to share this milestone that it's starting the celebrations a little early with a daily giveaway from today through Thursday, beginning with a free research and development pack. The real special treat is more than just casual freebies, however. The team's introducing a brand-new featured episode, Dust to Dust, starring Garrett Wang as Harry Kim. Q is also returning with his annual events, although this time around he's adding an Omega Particle minigame to the mix. Completing both the featured episode and Q events will earn tokens to spend on various rewards (including a Kobali Samsar Cruiser) and fragments that can be assembled for an Omega upgrade kits.
Star Trek Online's Delta Rising cinematic has... arisen
Star Trek Online's Delta Rising expansion technically went live yesterday, but today's the official launch, and that means a brand-new cinematic and fresh screenshots. The update bumps the character level cap to 60, ushers in a partial Voyager cast, and adds a new tier of ships, gear, and officers to the roster. Enjoy the trailer and pics!
Star Trek Online announces more Voyager cast members in Delta Rising
When you're out exploring the Delta Quadrant, you want people around you who have been there before. It's a big, unfriendly place, after all. Star Trek Online players will have a bit more help than they had previously expected, though. In addition to Tim Russ (Tuvok) and Garret Wang (Harry Kim) reprising their roles from Star Trek: Voyager, Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), and Robert Picardo (The Doctor) will be making appearances in the game. No details on these appearances have yet been revealed, although Neelix is likely still in his role as ambassador, and the game's backstory has Seven of Nine working with the Daystrom Institute. It's likely that more lore will be uncovered as the expansion approaches its release this fall. [Source: Cryptic Studios press release]
Star Trek Online highlights the path of Voyager
Captain Kathryn Janeway led the crew of the USS Voyager across the Delta Quadrant, traveling 70,000 lightyears in seven years and encountering a variety of species and phenomena during the journey. Star Trek Online's next expansion, Delta Rising, is retracing her steps, bringing players back into the Delta Quadrant to explore both strange new worlds and ascertain the fate of the known ones. The most recent development blog takes a look at Voyager's journey through the region as well as where players will wind up relative to that lengthy trip. The expansion will cover a region of space starting at the Nekrit Expanse and extending toward the Alpha Quadrant, including encounters with races heretofore unseen in Star Trek Online such as the Kazon, the Ocampa, and the Talaxians. Players will also encounter the Borg Cooperative (a splinter group from the Collective) and the Benthan Guard, as well as a mysterious adversary that's harassing the entire region and giving every race pause. Whether you want to see the long-term effects of the Borg's failed Alpha Quadrant invasion or just pick up a Talaxian officer to handle your ship's mess hall, it seems you'll be getting the chance.
Captain's Log: Around round of Star Trek Online potpourri
Over the course of the last few weeks, Captain's Log has chronicled a series of interviews with various members of the Star Trek Online development team. Today, I think it's time to take a break and bring everyone up to date and outline some of the interesting things that happened in Star Trek Online in the past month. STO Lead Designer Al Rivera issued a special dev blog outlining the new changes to security for fleets, and Executive Producer Daniel Stahl also posted about the integration of material from Star Trek: Voyager into the game, so join me past the break as I cover what has happened in STO since we got back from Las Vegas!
AGU study says Voyager 1 has reached interstellar space, but NASA remains skeptical
It would be an understatement to say there's been a long build-up to the moment when Voyager 1 ventures into interstellar space: scientists thought the probe was on the edge back in 2010, and we've been waiting for the official milestone ever since. Researchers contributing to an American Geophysical Union journal now believe that the spacecraft may have crossed that symbolic border months ago. Measurements from August 25th onwards show a steep drop in the detected volume of cosmic rays from the heliosphere, just as the extrasolar rays are picking up. Spectrum measurements from the period also mirror those of interstellar regions. On the surface, the clues strongly imply that Voyager 1 has passed the limit of our solar system's influence. NASA, however, disputes the claims -- the agency notes that its vehicle is still traveling the magnetic highway, and it won't have officially escaped the surly bonds of the Sun until the magnetic fields shift. We won't break out the champagne and party streamers, then, but the dispute underscores just how close we are to having another human-made object roaming the galaxy.
