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Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

India introduces $35 tablet

Here's one for the books. The Indian government late last week unveiled a concept tablet computer set to sell for a mere 1,500 rupees, or about $35 USD. Whats even more surprising is that the price could drop even further for a device that features touchscreen capabilities and solar power options. The gadget, developed by the elite Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science, is part of a push to give students a better education and technical skills needed to boost India's economic growth.

Since this is not out in the market yet, here are other recommended low cost laptops:

Apple iBook G3 800mhz 256MB 30GB CDROM 12.1'' w/ Original Airport (WIFI)

Dell Latitude D800 Laptop Computer System Centrino/Pentium M Processor Wireless XP Pro

Compaq EVO N610C

Monday, August 2, 2010

NASA’s Constellation Program

Based largely on existing technologies – was based on a vision of returning astronauts back to the Moon by 2020. However, the program was over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation due to a failure to invest in critical new technologies. Using a broad range of criteria an independent review panel determined that even if fully funded, NASA’s program to repeat many of the achievements of the Apollo era, 50 years later, was the least attractive approach to space exploration as compared to potential alternatives. Furthermore, NASA’s attempts to pursue its moon goals, while inadequate to that task, had drawn funding away from other NASA programs, including robotic space exploration, science, and Earth observations.

On February 1, 2010, President Barack Obama announced a proposal to cancel the program, effective with the U.S. 2011 fiscal year budget but later announced changes to the proposal in a major space policy speech at Kennedy Space Center on April 15, 2010.

source:factsheetdepartment_nasa;

Recommended reading

Lunar Outpost (NASA): Moon, NASA, United States Congress, Neil Armstrong, Lunar Architecture (NASA), Vision for Space Exploration, Exploration Systems Architecture Study, Constellation Program.

2008 NASA Technical Reports on the Moon and Mars Human Exploration Program, Constellation, Ares Launch Vehicles, Orion Spacecraft (CD-ROM)

Constellation Program: Human spaceflight, NASA, Exploration Systems Architecture Study, Vision for Space Exploration, NASA Authorization Act of 2005, Spacecraft, ... Space Shuttle, Astronaut, Moon, Mars, Ares I

Recommended viewing

60 Minutes - A Bigger Leap For Mankind (April 6, 2008)

About the Space Shuttle

The NASA Space Shuttle program, officially called the Space Transportation System (STS), has been the United States’ official means of launching man into outer space for the purpose of exploration since its inception in the late 1960’s by President Richard Nixon.

The final design of the space shuttle, which is still used today, was designed to carry between five and seven astronauts, and was to be used for approximately 100 launches, or 10 years by the program. The first completed, fully functional NASA space shuttle was the Columbia, which made her debut at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 25, 1979. Columbia was launched for the first time on April 12, 1981. Other space shuttles to follow included Challenger in 1982, Discovery in 1983, Atlantis in 1985 and Endeavour in 1991.

Challenger was lost when it exploded during ascent on January 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts aboard. Seventeen years later on February 1, 2003, the Columbia space shuttle was destroyed when it disintegrated during reentry, again killing all seven crew members on board. Space shuttles still in active use by NASA today include Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour. Enterprise, Pathfinder, and Explorer are all full-scale replicas of other active space shuttles, but were built for display and test flights only, and have never actually entered orbit.

Recommended reading:

Space Shuttle: The History of the National Space Transportation System The First 100 Missions, 3rd Edition

Space Shuttle Operator's Manual, Revised Edition

The Space Shuttle: A Photographic History

Recommended viewing:

Big Space Shuttle

History of the Space Shuttle

HDNet World Report - Shuttle Discovery's Historic Mission [Blu-ray]

NASA hopeful, but not confident, about ailing Mars rover

NASA's aging Spirit Mars rover, stuck in loose soil and forced to endure the harsh Martian winter with reduced solar power, has not phoned home since March 22. Officials warned Friday that "a miracle" may be needed to restore the rover to limited operation.

No longer mobile, Spirit was unable to orient itself to maximize solar-power levels before the onset of its fourth winter on Mars. Engineers expected the rover to put itself into electronic hibernation, suspending communications and conserving power to warm and recharge its batteries and to run an internal clock.

Recommended reading: