NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement Art Contest

The National Space Society is sponsoring the NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement Art Contest

The National Space Society (NSS) is looking for student artists to create illustrations for the NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement. Submitted artwork should REALISTICALLY illustrate one of this year’s two themes: Asteroid Settlement or Building a Space Settlement.

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All full-time students at any grade level between the ages of 12 and 25 are eligible.

The deadline for submissions is March 16, 2014 (11:59 pm Universal Time).

Our goal is to have winners announced by April 1, 2014.

 

Bryan Versteeg, spacehabs.com
Image: Bryan Versteeg, spacehabs.com, illustrating both of this year’s themes.

Morpheus lander flies high and sideways for first time

Today NASA’s Project Morpheus made its second free flight and its first horizontal translation. The vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) vehicle is modeled after Armadillo Aerospace‘s quad vehicles and the flight is similar to that carried out by teams in the X PRIZE Lunar Lander Challenge several years ago.

Caption:

The second free flight of a Morpheus prototype lander was conducted Dec. 17, 2013 at the north end of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 81-second test began at 1:37 p.m. EST with the Morpheus lander launching from the ground over a flame trench and ascending about 164 feet, pausing briefly at 82 feet. The lander then flew forward, covering about 154 feet in 30 seconds before descending and landing on a dedicated landing pad inside the autonomous landing and hazard avoidance technology (ALHAT) hazard field. Morpheus landed within 3.5 inches of its target. Project Morpheus tests NASA automated landing and hazard avoidance technology and an engine that runs on liquid oxygen and methane, or “green” propellants. These new capabilities could be used in future efforts to deliver cargo to planetary surfaces. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/e….

Sci-Tech: Electronics with lossless conductors at room temperature

Not exactly room temperature superconductors but this DARPA supported theoretical research will be amazing if it works out  in real world  experiments:

Theorists Predict New State of Quantum Matter May Have Big Impact on Electronics
Experiments underway to validate topologically insulating stanene as first room temperature lossless conductor

Constantly losing energy is something we deal with in everything we do. If you stop pedaling a bike, it gradually slows; if you let off the gas, your car also slows. As these vehicles move, they also generate heat from friction. Electronics encounter a similar effect as groups of electrons carry information from one point to another. As electrons move, they dissipate heat, reducing the distance a signal can travel. DARPA-sponsored researchers under the Mesodynamic Architectures (Meso) program, however, may have found a potential way around this fundamental problem.

Meso program researchers at Stanford University recently predicted stanene will support lossless conduction at room temperature. Stanene is the name given by the researchers to 2-D sheets of tin that are only 1-atom thick. In a paper appearing in Physical Review Letters the team predicts stanene would be the first topological insulator to demonstrate zero heat dissipation properties at room temperature, conducting charges around its edges without any loss. Experiments are underway to create the material in laboratory conditions. If successful, the team will use stanene to enhance devices they are building under the Meso program.

“We recently realized there is another state of electronic matter: a topological insulator. Materials in a topologically insulating state are like paying for the gasoline to accelerate your car to highway speeds, but then cruising as far as you want on that highway without using up any more gas,” said Jeffrey Rogers, DARPA program manager. “Experiments should tell us what penalty electrons would pay for connecting to stanene in a practical application. However, the physics of stanene point to zero dissipation of heat—meaning electrons take an entropy hit once and then travel unimpeded the rest of the distance.”

Researchers at Stanford reported the first topological insulators in 2006 under a previous DARPA effort known as the Focus Center Research Program. The current Meso program developed the theory for stanene as part of research into more efficient ways to move information inside microchips. Other materials’ capabilities have come close, but only at temperatures that require extreme sub-zero temperatures created with bulky methods such as liquid helium.

“Stanene is a bold, yet compelling prediction,” said Rogers. “If the experiments underway confirm the theory, the application of a new lossless conductor becomes a very exciting prospect in the world of electronics. A host of applications—almost any time information is moved electronically from one place to another—could benefit.”

Amateur radio operators reached Juno during its fly-by

When the Juno spacecraft recently did a fly-by of earth on its way to Jupiter, amateur radio enthusiasts were urged to try to contact Juno. This brief documentary video describes the successful project:

http://youtu.be/_yqHy_MpNiQ

Caption:

During its close flyby of Earth, NASA’s Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft listened for a communication from amateur radio operators transmitting from locations around the world. This video clip depicts results, the “dits” and the “dahs,” of this high-flying social experiment.

And this short video displays the signals : Juno Detects a Ham Radio “HI” from Earth – NASA JPL Photojournal

Video: “The World Outside My Window”, time-lapse of ISS images of earth

David Peterson created this video from imagery of earth from the ISS:

Watch in HD and full screen:

The World Outside My Window – Time-Lapses of Earth from the ISS
from David Peterson on Vimeo.