Google is working on a project space elevator

According to a report by Fast Company, the Google X labs, working in secret on specific projects, have attempted to design a good orbital elevator to go into space.

Google X labs are a little hidden part of the iceberg google. far from the traditional activities of the Web giant, these labs are designed to perform operations research and development in all areas.   some of their projects been made ​​public, as automate cars or augmented reality glasses , others have leaked, as work on face recognition or voice recognition. The secrecy surrounding these laboratories will into their location, hardly do we know they are in the San Francisco Bay.

These secret laboratories would thus nurtured the ambition to build a space similar to that elevator recently referred by scientists at the International Academy of Astronautics. They had, however, referred to the difficulties of making such a project, and it seems that they are the same reasons that prompted Google to abandon the idea for the moment. The researchers include concluded that this would require "cables at least a hundred times stronger than steel more resistant than we know." If such a cable can be replaced by carbon nanotubes, the problem is in their design: for now,there is no cable carbon nanotube whose length exceeds the meter . The project has been shelved for now, but may well reappear soon as technological advances permit.

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The graceful solar flare NASA

NASA regularly publishes unpublished images of space, and has unveiled a video of a solar flare.Occurred Wednesday, April 2, this phenomenon was filmed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite, solar observatory space agency.

Defined as "graceful" by NASA, it is an M-class solar flare, with an intensity level of 6.5. Qualified average eruption, it is ten times less powerful than the most powerful class in the category X,. The latter can cause geomagnetic storms and disrupt the atmosphere, causing the malfunction of electronic devices. If the image is spectacular, it suggests to the surface of the sun, some chips and flares. All captured between the union of two wavelengths of ultraviolet radiation lengths.

The satellite was filmed was put into orbit around the Earth, over 36 000 km altitude over the Pacific.

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A 30-meter asteroid came close to Earth

The NASA has published a rating rather unexpected: an asteroid with a size of about 30 meters rose this week near the Earth, that is to say, a distance of 350,000 kilometers at its furthest point close, or about 35 000 km less than our Moon . Named 2014 DX110, its passage was held this morning at 10:00 (French time).

If this kind of phenomenon is not very common, there is nothing exceptional, according to NASA, which indicates that its instruments detect "about twenty per year" , which graze the earth without causing hazards. However, the announcement came very late from the space agency, just hours before the passage of the asteroid. I must say that if the instruments for detecting objects of NASA are performing, they are not foolproof. In February 2013, a meteor had fallen over the city of Chelyabinsk, 1,500 km from Moscow, Russia. It was an asteroid having disintegrated at 5000 meters below the surface of the Earth, and causing heavy damage and many without NASA could react upstream injured.

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An elevator to space, it is possible (and more convenient than the rocket)

The concept of the elevator into space has often been mentioned in various works of science fiction, but never really looked into reality. Yet it has aroused the interest of scientists from the International Academy of Astronautics, explaining that such a project is feasible.

In this 300-page report , scientists studying concretely so the possibility of setting up such a project.Better they even raise the question of whether such a solution does not present more benefits than the current system of rockets used to travel in space. Rockets have the drawback of being constituted 80% of the mass of a clean fuel, the rest generally becoming a new space debris once the mission is completed, and can not take a limited cargo . An elevator as that imagined by scientists system would free of these constraints and energy loading to some extent.

The true complexity of such a project obviously lies in its construction and implementation. The general idea would be to hang a cable carbon at the equator, it is down to a counterweight that would maintain a geostationary orbit. The cable shown in the example is nearly 99,750 kilometers, which involves many calculations regarding its mass to maintain the orbit and the tension of said cable. If this project seems crazy, the report take it very seriously. Of course, the idea is yet nowhere else in the imagination of its creators, but all the elements seem to be present for it to be feasible. In the late 90s, NASA had already presented a type of cable that could correspond to that required in the report.

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The Taranis drone passed his test flight

If the firm BAE Systems and the UK Ministry of Defense has always been secretive about the Taranis project, they reveal more about the evolution of their UCAV. According to its current stage, the stealthy UAV demonstrator has successfully completed the first flight tests. A feat that has exceeded all expectations according to the designers.

Taranis is named after the god of thunder in Celtic mythology. While the tests were carried out during the last months of 2013, the news was revealed recently. Thus, during the inaugural flight of 15 minutes, the British fighter drone has achieved a faultless from takeoff to landing, through some moves. All controlled remotely by Bob Frase, a former pilot. Further, Taranis has also managed other flight tests during which he was able to fly for an hour at altitudes and speeds.

These results should allow its creators to develop an unmanned stealth fighter capable of choosing and precision strike over a long distance. Funded by the UK government, Scotland the Taranis has cost so far, nearly 185 million pounds (about 220 millions euros).

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The Japanese attack on NASA space pollution

Pollution is everywhere, even in space. Human activities related to space exploration are the main cause. Japanese Nasa has addressed the issue by developing a solution that could be remedied.Indeed, it has rid the sky, at least Earth's orbit of the clouds of space debris.

The JAXA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has developed a project to fight against space pollution. It is to create a huge magnetic net that will be able to attract metal debris abound in space. A first test is provided to the current end of February with a satellite developed by the University of Kagawa. Its operation is quite simple: once placed in orbit, the satellite will deploy a net 300m long and 30cm wide. It will create a magnetic field around it to catch small waste orbit the Earth. Once collected, the net and its contents will be released and returned to the atmosphere where it will burn during the fall.

If the test is successful, JAXA pass to another stage in developing a model of bigger net of nearly 800m long, able to catch all kinds of debris. This is provided for in 2019.

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Hubble detects clouds on a distant planet

Overcast on GJ 1214b! The Hubble Space Telescope has recently discovered a mass of clouds in the atmosphere of an exoplanet, located 40 light-years from Earth. We must study the astronomers of the University of Chicago led by Laura Kreidberg and Jacob Bean.

The objective of Hubble turned to the GJ 1214b, a planet type super-Earth that is distinguished by its extremely dense atmosphere. But thanks to the data provided, it is found that the atmosphere is actually a cluster of clouds that could reveal information about the composition and the surface of the exoplanet. To do this, the researchers are based on near-infrared light captured images. In the end, the team spent eleven months of work and analysis to reach that conclusion.

This study represents a step towards the identification of a potentially habitable exoplanet. The researchers now hope that the successor to Hubble will shed more light their lanterns in their quest for knowledge.

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Capture asteroid: NASA tests its new spacesuits

Of course, NASA has already imagined its astronauts Buzz Lightyear , it seems that this new spacesuit is not best suited for its mission to capture asteroid. That is why the U.S. space agency has developed another model, currently being tested in the laboratory.

It is in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, the prototypes are tested by astronauts. It is an improved version of the iconic spacesuit ACES, recognizable by its bright and used since 1994 orange color. This new combination should allow them to move easily inside and outside the spacecraft Orion. Furthermore, it will be less bulky and more flexible to the depth of the space explorations. The goal is to gain mobility while making it easier for astronauts.

Note that NASA plans to capture an asteroid before then put it in orbit around the moon to investigate. The pressure suit will be worn by astronauts in charge of his field study, scheduled for 2025.

Test new spacesuits

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The rovers of the future according to ESA

If space exploration is often synonymous with the rovers, the European Space Agency gives us a glimpse of what could be the robot explorers of tomorrow. Through these concepts, ESA imagine multifunction rovers who, in addition to their main mission, the astronauts also attend to their task.

The ESA has therefore devised a scenario involving these machines in action on the moon. To optimize the exploration, rover proceed by laser scanning the ground to collect data and detect a difficult terrain. To overcome these difficulties, it is equipped with versatile wheel that can be deployed and become better legs to climb the slopes, like an insect. Further, these tabs also serve as arm to collect samples of rock. Apart from the rovers, the space agency plans to other modules as a service robot and a robotic carriage that will transport materials and equipment to the lunar base.

ESA has already developed several prototypes for most of these concepts, especially with its rover equipped with multifunction wheel.

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Voyager 1 has officially left our solar system

NASA confirmed Friday that the probe launched in 1977 was now "in the cosmic ocean among the stars."

As the ship Star Trek , the U.S. probe Voyager 1 is now flying off the edge of the solar system, in the dark and cold (- 200 ° C) for a trip to the rest of the galaxy to last millions of years ... Information, long heralded as imminent, suddenly is formalized since NASA has announced , Friday, Sept. 13, by a sober and thunderous "It is done", launched by Ed Stone, head of mission in the U.S. space agency.

FIRST HUMAN OBJECT IN OUTER SPACE

According to measurements published by the scientific journal Science , confirmed by NASA, Voyager 1, launched in September 1977 with on board a range of sounds and images, would be thirty-six years later to nearly 21 billion kilometers Sun. Specifically, the probe is out of the border zone of the solar system, which is called "heliopause", to August 25, 2012, becoming the first man-made object to reach outer space. 
"We have a Voyager instrument to measure the ion density, plasma around, says Ed Stone. In March 2012, there was a giant eruption of the sun finally reached Voyager 1 in April 2013 by then vibrate the plasma around the probe, creating oscillations according to a particular pattern which corresponds to the interstellar space ".

BETWEEN "HISTORIC STEP" AND SKEPTICISM

The announcement, of course, which delighted the scientific community, since, as said John Grunsfeld, head of NASA's science missions, it confirms "one of the most significant technological achievements in the annals of the history of science. " It opens "a new era of exploration," said Ed Stone still, who does not hesitate to say, in a telephone press conference, that "humanity has taken a historic step in entering interstellar space "...
However, the information raises as much skepticism in the great family of astrophysicists, where many equate to a coup communication NASA astrophysicist and its flagship, now 77 years old.
Some believe that the limits of the solar system, for once, were never really clear, and it is not possible to declare as certainly they were taken. While for others, however, nothing new under the sun ... if you dare say the sensational information is not necessarily a new ... Two studies from other data, which was published last in August, had already arrived at the same conclusion without NASA at the time, had reacted. They have been based on the sudden significant decrease in particles from the solar system in the statements issued by Voyager 1, and a net increase of galactic radiation.

RUDIMENTARY TECHNOLOGY

The Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 (which should also leave the solar system, around 2016) probes were launched in 1977, one month apart, in opposite directions. Their life was not to exceed five years, the time to reveal information about the two giant planets: Jupiter (passed in March 1979), and Saturn and its rings (taken in November 1980).
But they are still in good working condition, advancing more than 60,000 km / hour. Technologically, they have measurement instruments that now seem rudimentary. Their onboard computers have 240,000 times less memory than any iPhone. Their transmitter is also very limited: 23 watts of power does not exceed that of a lamp refrigerator ... And even if the battery has run out plutonium in the 2020s, nothing seems to stop their long journey.
It will nevertheless still time for traveling is in the vicinity of other stars: about 40 000 years. Such as Star Trek , it is indeed a very long journey in progress ...

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