Lynk (Lynk Global, Inc.) has successfully connected a satellite in LEO to an ordinary mobile phone on Earth. The technical breakthrough enabled Lynk to send the world’s first ever text message from space to a mobile phone. This milestone, witnessed by independent third-party observers, represents the critical, industry-first next step for Lynk’s vision to use satellites to provide broadband services directly to more than five billion mobile phones on the planet,…
Read MoreU.S. Space Force Obtains Their First Offensive Weapon
Chicago-based writer Scotty Hendricks has posted an article at the Big Think infosite that reports the United States Space Force has just received their first offensive weapon — a satellite jammer. Read the rest here.
Read MoreAutoland System Uses Computer Vision
The next generation of autoland systems may not require any ILS signals to guide them. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich have equipped a Diamond DA42 with a system called C2Land that allows the aircraft to visually acquire the runway and then calculate a glideslope to put it on the numbers. Because the computer vision at the heart of the system uses visual and infrared sensors, it can find…
Read MoreApollo 11 Reaches the Moon
On the fourth day of the Apollo 11 mission, the crew needed to fire the engine of the Service Module to put the spacecraft into orbit around the moon. This lunar orbital insertion maneuver was required to take place on the far-side of the moon, out of contact with Mission Control. The 357.5 second burn of the rocket motor went perfectly, placing Apollo 11 into an elliptical lunar orbit of…
Read MoreNASA and UK Space Agency, Moon mission
The UK and U.S. space agencies have signed a statement of intent that paves the way for UK commercial satellite communication and navigation services to be used by future NASA missions to the Moon. The agreement was announced in a speech from Science Minister Chris Skidmore at the Policy Exchange in London on ‘Embracing the New Space Age’ on July 16, the anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch. Read it all here.
Read More2020 shaping up to be a rough year for Netflix
Many popular licensed titles are leaving Netflix over the next year or so. The company says it is ready, after spending billions on original content. But has it done enough to stop the 25% of vulnerable subscribers from leaving? Beloved and popular titles leaving the service Chances are something you love is leaving Netflix in the next year or so. Content providers, once happy to license content to the streaming…
Read MoreBreakthrough in Stretchable Electronics
With a wide range of healthcare, energy, and military applications, stretchable electronics are valued for their ability to be compressed, twisted and conformed to uneven surfaces without losing functionality. By using the elasticity of polymers such as silicone, these emerging technologies are made to move in ways that mimic skin. This sheds light on why Smooth-On Ecoflex, a substance most commercially used to create molds, movie masks, and prosthetics, is…
Read MoreGogo to build ATG network for 5G
Consumers are getting 5G on land, so why not in the air as well? In-flight internet provider Gogo announced plans to build a 5G network for aviation, with expectations for 2021 commercial availability. The company’s cellular-based network in the 850 MHz band operates over the continental U.S. and major air traffic routes over Canada and Alaska, with an FCC license to operate above 10,000 feet to avoid interference with ground-based…
Read MoreHow Atmospheric Sounding Transformed Weather Prediction
In the late 1950s, a scientist named Lewis Kaplan divined a new and groundbreaking way to calculate temperature in the atmosphere for weather forecasting: by measuring the vibration of molecules at different altitudes. The hope was to do this using a brand-new technology, an Earth-observing satellite. At the time, the only way to get a reading on atmospheric temperature was to dispatch high-altitude weather balloons, or radiosondes. Weather balloons collected…
Read MoreSynthetic Material Heals and Strengthens Itself Using Carbon from Air
A new synthetic material that can strengthen and repair itself could be beneficial for the construct industry if enhanced further. Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have created the new material that can react with carbon dioxide from the air to grow, strengthen and repair itself by performing a chemical process similar to how plants incorporate carbon dioxide from the air into growing tissues. “This is a completely new concept in…
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