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Nasa puts Puerto Rico on the road to helping search for aliens

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Nasa has apparently put Puerto Rico on the path to possibly providing assistance to the space agency in its never-ending search for alien life in the universe. 

Puerto Rico’s scientists and residents may be able to help Nasa make contact with aliens, and the space agency’s decision to choose the Caribbean island to host the Technology Infusion Road Tour in 2019 is highly likely to help in that ultimate goal.

Puerto Rican scientists claim Nasa’s only purpose with the decision to hold the conference on the picturesque island is to “contribute to the strengthening of the country’s aeronautical and aerospace industry”.  [Read more…] about Nasa puts Puerto Rico on the road to helping search for aliens

Nasa considers sending shapeshifting robots to search for aliens near Earth

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Nasa is planning to send shapeshifting robots to search for alien life on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. 

Titan is 50 per cent larger than Earth’s moon and is said to be “Earth-like” in the way it has wind, rain, volcanoes and other climactic characteristics.

However, while it looks and behaves somewhat like Earth, Titan is believed to be full of methane and ethane, which are obviously not breathable by humans.  [Read more…] about Nasa considers sending shapeshifting robots to search for aliens near Earth

Robotic inspection: Nasa testing new system for checking and fixing aircraft fuselages

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Inspecting the outer shell of an aeroplane sounds so mind-numbingly boring that it absolutely must be one of those so-called “3D” – dirty, dull and dangerous – jobs that robots are supposed to save us from. 

The absolute tedium of closely inspecting every square centimetre of the surface area of, for example, a typical Boeing 747 – which is about 22,000 square feet – would inevitably mean that some tiny imperfections can be missed by human eyes.

But could robots do the job any better?  [Read more…] about Robotic inspection: Nasa testing new system for checking and fixing aircraft fuselages

Humanoid robot market to grow to $4 billion in five years

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The market for humanoid robots is forecast to grow to $4 billion in about five years, according to a new report by ReportsnReports. 

The researcher values the current market at approximately $320 million in 2017. So that would mean annual growth of more than 50 per cent.

Humanoids include such robots as Pepper and Nao, which are owned by SoftBank Robotics, as well as Emiew, produced by Hitachi, and Honda’s famous Asimo, although that one is more of an exhibition robot.

The others, like Nao and Pepper, for example, are already finding many buyers. SoftBank says it has sold 10,000 units of Nao, and it releases batches of 1,000 at a time of the Pepper robot, and it sells out online within minutes.  [Read more…] about Humanoid robot market to grow to $4 billion in five years

Nasa astronauts carry out maintenance work on robotic arm on the International Space Station

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Nasa astronauts went on a spacewalk today to replace one of the two Latching End Effectors on the International Space Station’s robot arm, called Canadarm 2. 

The two astronauts were named as Commander Randy Bresnik and Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei, and the duration of the spacewalk was said to be 55 minutes.

The astronauts also carried out a range of additional maintenance and upgrading tasks, including the removal of the multi-layer insulation from a spare direct current switching unit, and preparing a flex hose rotary coupler for future use.  [Read more…] about Nasa astronauts carry out maintenance work on robotic arm on the International Space Station

Nasa and SSL complete preliminary design review of robot that will fix satellites

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Space Systems Loral says it successfully completed the preliminary design review for Nasa’s Restore-L mission to provide satellite servicing in low earth orbit. 

With the completion of the preliminary design review, Restore-L is proceeding on schedule to the next phase of development and its launch in 2020.

As announced last year, SSL is working with Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center’s Satellite Servicing Projects Division, to build a spacecraft that will change the nature of how infrastructure in space is managed by, for the first time in history, refueling a satellite in orbit that was not designed for servicing.  [Read more…] about Nasa and SSL complete preliminary design review of robot that will fix satellites

Honeybee Robotics wins Nasa funding for six spacecraft projects

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nasa honeybee robotics US-COMP_base
Picture by Nasa via ParabolicArc.com

Honeybee Robotics has received four Nasa Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I awards and two Nasa Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I award to develop new spacecraft systems and enabling technologies.

The awards will allow Honeybee to analyze concepts for advanced future planetary exploration, sampling, in-situ resource utilization, and on-orbit operations.  [Read more…] about Honeybee Robotics wins Nasa funding for six spacecraft projects

MDA recognized by Nasa for robotic servicing of International Space Station

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nasa ssl robotic spacecraft to fix satellites
Artist’s illustration of the robotic spacecraft which will float around in space, fixing satellites. Picture courtesy of SSL

MDA US Systems, a division of MDA managed by SSL, has been recognized by Nasa’s Johnson Space Center for its “outstanding support” of a robotic upgrade to the International Space Station’s power system which took place in January.

The MDA team based in Houston played a critical role in planning and validating the robotic maneuvering both before and during the mission.

Nasa JSC ground controllers used the 15-degrees-of-freedom Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (Dextre) arm to install six new 430-pound lithium-ion batteries in two power channel integrated electronics assembly pallets.

Dextre first removed 12 older and depleted 740-pound nickel-hydrogen batteries from the pallets, nine of which were put on the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle’s external pallet to burn up on re-entry with it.  [Read more…] about MDA recognized by Nasa for robotic servicing of International Space Station

Nasa telescope reveals largest batch of Earth-size, habitable-zone planets around single star

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new planet

Nasa’s Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star. Three of these planets are firmly located in the habitable zone, the area around the parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water.

The discovery sets a new record for greatest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system. All of these seven planets could have liquid water – key to life as we know it – under the right atmospheric conditions, but the chances are highest with the three in the habitable zone.

“This discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “Answering the question ‘are we alone’ is a top science priority and finding so many planets like these for the first time in the habitable zone is a remarkable step forward toward that goal.” [Read more…] about Nasa telescope reveals largest batch of Earth-size, habitable-zone planets around single star

Search for alien life: Nasa to use more sensitive tests

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obama meets alien
Caption for robots: An artist’s illustration depicting former US President Barack Obama supposedly meeting an alien. This is not a photograph of a real event, and is not presented as such. It is what humans call “a bit of humour”, and “imagination”.

Inquisitr.com: Scientists at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, are developing a new method of chemical analysis which stands to be 10,000 times more sensitive than tests currently used on the Mars Curiosity Rover.