Resupply mission to ferry a meteor shower camera to the ISS
There’s a lot at stake with Falcon 9’s June 28th launch. SpaceX plans to use the opportunity to test if its rocket can successfully land on a barge, and the ISS crew needs all the supplies Dragon is carrying, including a camera designed to watch meteor showers from inside the station. The device aboard the capsule was actually a backup of the original meteor camera that blew up along with Orbital Sciences’ Antares rocket in 2014. Its creators had to replace some of its cables and hard drives, and it had to be tested thoroughly, but now it’s ready to take its place in the station’s Window Observational Research Facility (WORF).
The camera will sit behind a large window that’s designed especially for the niche and won’t have any effect on image quality. It’s programmed to record recurring major meteor showers in the next two years, though it can also detect unpredicted ones, so long as the window’s protective cover is up. See, the original camera was supposed to come bundled with a shutter actuator system that would have given the ground team control over that cover. Now, the astronauts would have to remove the window shield or place it back manually in between their other tasks. It’s not ideal, since they might be asleep or too busy to lift the covering when the ISS comes across a surprise shower, but they have no other choice.
The ISS crew hopes to have the device up and running in August just in time for the Perseids, which astronaut Ron Garan captured in the picture above back in 2011. More importantly, the scientists are hoping the camera can help them figure out how meteors continue to affect the Earth and how to protect future spacecraft from colliding with ever increasing space debris. By the way, NASA decided on a camera that works indoors, so that it can remain protected from the harsh conditions of outer space. Michael Fortenberry, the meteor camera’s team lead, admitted that they might “not get as much time to take images” without the window actuator, but promised to “still get really good science.”
[Image credit: NASA]
Filed under: Science
Disney banning selfie sticks starting June 30th
Disney may be where dreams come true, but if your dreams involve taking selfies with the aid of an extendable stick, you best start making different plans for your mobile photography. A new report states the world-famous theme parks will start banning selfie sticks beginning next week.
All American theme parks will start enforcing the new rule starting June 30th, with the rest of the world following on July 1st. The news comes courtesy of a leaked internal email, which was later confirmed to the press by Disney.
Why would Disney do this, though? Some of you love selfie sticks, most people hate them, but that is all subjective. You would be right to believe this is about more than the fact selfie sticks are among the most ridiculous things we have seen in our generation. Disney considers these selfie aids a safety hazard.
“We strive to provide a great experience for the entire family, and unfortunately selfie sticks have become a growing safety concern for both our Guests andCast. The use of selfie sticks also compromises our ability to deliver on TheFour Keys: Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency.”
Said memo also includes instructions for the removal and storage of these selfie sticks. The rule is simple: workers have to inform patrons about the rules of the park and then escort them to the lost and found area, where their items can be stored for the remainder of the visit. Park visitors would then get a claim ticket and everyone goes on with their joyful day.
This makes sense as a method for keeping peace at the happiest place on earth, but things get a little weird once you keep reading the internal email. Their “call-to-action” section goes as far as telling cast members to stop (or not start) rides if they notice a selfie stick in use. And if customers refuse to store their selfie sticks during their visit, workers are told to alert security and/or a manager. They are pretty much getting kicked out!
I may not like selfie sticks, but I can definitely tolerate them. Of course, it’s not the smartest thing to be using them during these theme park rides, which can be fast and dangerous. It’s just common sense, but now Disney is making sure no distracted patrons turn these selfie utensils into deadly weapons.
What do you guys think about Disney’s new regulations? Are they doing the right thing, or is it a total exaggeration?
Google App updated to version 4.8, brings code for “Ok Google” Offline [APK Download]
The Google App (formerly Google Search App) was updated yesterday bringing it version 4.8 and with it some neat under the hood changes, laying the way for some future features.
Android Police have performed one of their APK teardowns on the update to reveal just what Google has in store for us with some of the commented out lines of code.
One of which of these features is “OK Google” Offline, which yes you guessed it, will allow full hotword functionality without the need for a data connection. Whilst there’s inevitably limits with what information can be delivered without a data connection, caching and local data will be able to deliver most functionality for the hotword searches.
Strings were found within the Google App that reference Offline voice tips that indicate even without an active internet connection, cards can be displayed indicating what commands can be issued offline. The functions that work offline appear to be limited to making a call sending a text, playing music, and turning on WiFi.
Further functionality includes insecure network warnings that will do just what it says, warn of networks that could be insecure and subject to potential attacks from traffic snooping. It does seem that there will be an override button to connect anyway and ignore the warning.
Additional functionality includes:
– Voice commands for brightness and volume
– Google Cast (disabled for now)
– Maps generated based on a users activity
– Reminders shortcuts
– A few icons that could indicate future baked in functionality
For a full teardown of the APK head on over to the source link, and to grab the updated version of the Google App version 4.8 for yourself, hit the APK download link here.
The post Google App updated to version 4.8, brings code for “Ok Google” Offline [APK Download] appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Asteroid-bound spacecraft gets its first scientific instrument
NASA has begun attaching scientific instruments to the OSIRIS-REx probe, just over a year before it starts making its way to asteroid Bennu. The first instrument to arrive at Lockheed Martin’s HQ is Arizona State University’s microwave-sized device called OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer or OTES. It’s designed switch on shortly after the spacecraft begins its two-year journey to Bennu, and to take the near-Earth asteroid’s temperature every two seconds once it arrives. The instrument, which has undergone development and testing these past few years, will also scan the celestial body’s surface to map minerals and chemicals.
OTES is but one of the five instruments that the team is slated to install aboard the OSIRIS-REx before it takes off in September 2016. There’s also the OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS) built by a team from the University of Arizona, which will use its three cameras to image Bennu as the spacecraft approaches. The Canadian Space Agency, on the other hand, developed the OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA), which will be in charge of producing local and global topographic maps of the asteroid.
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center created the OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS), in order to detect water and organics by measuring infrared and visible light from the NEA. Finally, an MIT and Harvard student-faculty collab’s brainchild called the Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) will map elements on the surface of Bennu. OSIRIS is scheduled to reach its target in 2018, run tests, observe the asteroid and grab a sample to bring back to Earth by 2023. NASA’s hoping the mission can answer some of its questions, including how energy from the sun affects an asteroid’s trajectory — and how life on Earth began.
[Image credit: Symeon Platts/UA]
Filed under: Science
Source: NASA (1), (2), University of Arizona
AIVAnet 