Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Besoz need to get their hands on this space-friendly luggage!

Space tourism is currently a race and a status symbol amongst billionaires but it won’t be long before it becomes the next big travel trend…of course, the ticket costs will be out of this world for most of us, but we can still get the appropriate luggage and daydream! Astroneer is luggage designed keeping in mind the possibility of space travel becoming a popular ‘exotic’ destination in the future. Even if you aren’t going to space, the way bags are handled at the airport might make this NASA-level luggage an investment worth considering.

Travelling in zero gravity at insanely fast speeds already induces so many changes in our bodies despite training and protective suits – can you imagine what would happen to the belongings in your bag? Exoplanet exploration requires luggage that can survive with you. “We didn’t want future travellers to carry a crumpled carrier, with harsh conditions, rugged terrain and differential atmospheric pressure,” said the designer duo and made sure that Astroneer is modular and has no volume constraints – once again, something we on Earth could also use. Astroneer comes with bags of different sizes that can all compactly be packed into one unit. It also has increased liquidity in the environment with the suspension of wheels so that you don’t have to carry your bags even though they might be lighter in outer space, roll with it…literally. The CMF is carefully chosen for the concept to provide visibility in an environment where it is difficult to check the contents inside by giving electric signals to the glass which lets you adjust the transparency of the luggage – this might just be my most favorite feature yet. It also has internal environmental controls to protect your belongings!

So while Richard Branson went to space, he certainly missed out on having the coolest suitcase at baggage claim. Maybe by the time its our turn to take off, we can get an Astroneer in custom colors!

Designers: JooHyung Park and Sunjin Baek

 

SpaceX inspired pen stands on your desk like a mini-replica of the Falcon 9 rocket!

Remember when ‘space pens’ were a rage? They were the only pens that could work in zero gravity and were developed for the express purpose of writing in space. I’m here, however, to talk about another kind of Space Pen. Inspired by the democratization of space travel and how one private company, founded by Elon Musk is leading the charge to make space-travel accessible to all, the Nominal Pen is literally designed to look like a rocket… making it perhaps the most literal take on the ‘space pen’.

The pen’s name comes from the term ‘nominal’, often used for when everything’s going smoothly and according to plan. Designed as a celebration of SpaceX’s recent achievements of being the only private company to send humans to the ISS and bring them back (while even retrieving parts of the spaceship to be reused at a later date – something nobody’s ever done), the Nominal Pen models itself on the Falcon series of rockets (the Falcon 9 Block 5 in particular). The pen comes in a similar light+dark metal finish, featuring four retractable legs that open out, allowing it to stand vertically on its own… after all, it would be quite shameful to have to put a rocket-shaped pen in your pen-stand, right? The Nominal Pen’s retractable legs are operated by a twist-to-open mechanism machined right into the pen’s metal body… while the opposite end of the pen features a magnetic crew-capsule that detaches from the rocket-body! The pen comes in two variants – a matte aluminum, and glossy steel, and an optional Octo-stand to dock your ‘space pen’ on your desk in glorious fashion.

The Nominal Pen’s allure lies in its simple yet effective representation. The Falcon rocket’s relatively cylindrical design carries onto the pen very well, resulting in a piece of stationery that’s beautiful to look at, comfortable to hold… and comes fitted with a Schmidt P950M pressurized refill for a smooth writing experience too. The detachable crew-capsule is, to be very honest, a really addictive fidget-toy too, and reveals a metal surface beneath it which can be custom-engraved with your initials… the closest thing to ‘putting yourself on a rocket’! It would be fairly accurate to say that the Nominal Pen had a pretty successful launch on Kickstarter, and is currently “blasting” past its funding goal.

Oh yes, and it writes in zero-gravity too!

Designer: Mercator London

Click Here to Buy Now: $88 $195 (55% off). Hurry, only 53/150 left!

Nominal – SpaceX Rocket Inspired Rollerball Pen

The Nominal is a precision-engineered desk pen with a playful retracting mechanical legs and magnetic capsule.

Similar to those on the Falcon 9 Rocket, the Nominal has four retracting legs operated by simply twisting the body of the pen – allowing for a soft landing on your desk.

A magnetic Crew Cabin Capsule slides off to reveal a Black Mother of Pearl end cap. Should you wish, this end cap can be engraved with your own Monogram.

Just in case you’re on the next mission, each is fitted with a Schmidt P950M pressurised refill, capable of writing in zero-gravity. But, if you find you are more land-based, we have designed a simple screw mechanism into the base so it can use most other standard refills.

Made of 34 individual components, most of which are CNC-machined to precision in 316L stainless steel and aircraft-grade aluminum.

Nominal Accessories

Aluminum Case.

Octo-stand. The stand can be used with retracting legs in open or closed positions.

Magnetic Cargo Capsule. This also helps to extend the pen body for those who prefer a longer pen.

Nominal Capsule Keyring.

Click Here to Buy Now: $88 $195 (55% off). Hurry, only 53/150 left!

Elon Musk Wants to Put at Least a Million Humans on Mars to Ensure Survival

Humans aren’t a very trustworthy lot, and that’s exactly why we created the concept of insurance. Insurance textbooks usually credit a group of rather daft rice farmers with creating the first insurance policy. These guys would farm all year, and then take their crops to market via the river. The problem was that their boats were narrow and very tippy, and this meant that out of every ten farmers, one would usually lose his whole year’s work in a capsize. Rather than building better boats, the farmers started splitting their crops up. If there were twelve dudes in your village, you’d give a twelfth of your crop to each other farmer. The result was that everybody got to market with most of their crop, and nobody had to bail out the wet dude for a whole year.

Mars file photo 600x337magnify

We do this because we’re too stupid to build a wider boat. The global version of building a wider boat would be taking care of the planet that we live on, but it seems we might be too stupid for that too, given that people seem to prefer buzzwords and pundits to peer-reviewed studies. That’s why Elon Musk wants to put at least a million humans on Mars, in order to ensure the survival of the human race.

Ithink there is a strong humanitarian argument for making life multi-planetary: In order to safeguard the existence of humanity in the event that something catastrophic were to happen, in which case being poor or having a disease would be irrelevant, because humanity would be extinct. It would be like, ‘Good news, the problems of poverty and disease have been solved, but the bad news is there aren’t any humans left.

mars attacks christmas ornamentmagnify

[via Aeon]

NASA to Launch Laser to ISS This Month for Communications Testing

NASA has announced that it is set to send the OPALS – or Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science – device to the ISS. What that means is that NASA is sending a laser up to the ISS that can be used to send messages including HD video back to the Earth with more bandwidth and speed than conventional methods. This is a big deal since the amount of data being sent back to Earth is growing constantly.

nasa lasermagnify

The OPALS device will be able to send data, including video, to Earth in the form of laser transmissions and is likened to upgrading from dial-up to cable at your home. The conventional method used to send data back from the ISS has about 200 to 400 Kbps of bandwidth. The lasercom device will be able to provide up to 50 Mbps of speed.

NASA says that in the future a similar deep space laser device will be able to support transmissions from Mars at up to 1 Gbps. The laser will head to the ISS this week aboard the SpaceX Dragon resupply cargo ship – assuming that the rocket overcomes its current launch delay.

SpaceX’s ‘Grasshopper’ vertical takeoff / vertical landing rocket takes its first small leap (video)

SpaceX's 'Grasshopper' vertical takoff  vertical landing rocket takes its first small hop video

This test-firing may not match the flame of earlier demonstrations, but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted out a brief eight-second video of another setup it's testing, the "Grasshopper" reusable vertical takeoff, vertical landing rocket. While the first hop would've been shamed in any interstellar dunk contest, future tests will range in height from a few hundred feet to two miles. The goal is to eventually create a reusable first stage for its Falcon 9 rocket, able to land safely instead of crashing into the sea and being damaged beyond repair. Hit the more coverage links for a few more details on the project as well as pictures of it at the Texas test site, or check after the break to see the video.

Continue reading SpaceX's 'Grasshopper' vertical takeoff / vertical landing rocket takes its first small leap (video)

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SpaceX's 'Grasshopper' vertical takeoff / vertical landing rocket takes its first small leap (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 00:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceElon Musk (Twitter), yfrog  | Email this | Comments

Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again

Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.

Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again and

All good things come to an end, they say. Thankfully, most bad things do, too. So while the rest of the world of tech is dealing with the fallout, and possible implications of patent law, over here in the wild party that is Alt, we're fist pumping at all the awesome weekly sci-tech fodder. For example, we've got a robo-nose that can sniff out nasties in the air, a 110-million-year-old footprint found in NASA's back yard, and not one, but two space stories to reflect on. There's a hidden joke in there too, come back once you've read through to find it. This is alt-week.

Continue reading Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again

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Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 18:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again

Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days.

Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again and

All good things come to and end, they say. Thankfully, most bad things do, too. So while the rest of the world of tech is dealing with the fallout, and possible implications of patent law, over here in the wild party that is Alt, we're fist pumping at all the awesome weekly sci-tech fodder. For example, we've got a robo-nose that can sniff out nasties in the air, a 110-million-year-old footprint found in NASA's back yard, and not one, but two space stories to reflect on. There's a hidden joke in there too, come back once you've read through to find it. This is alt-week.

Continue reading Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again

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Alt-week 8.25.12: robotic noses, Nodosaurs and Space X launches again originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 18:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Space X successfully test-fires Merlin 1D engine, forgets to buy marshmallows

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SpaceX has added another string to its now weighty bow by successfully test firing the Merlin 1D engine, which will propel future craft into the thermosphere. The 1D is the sequel to the Merlin engines used to convey the DragonX to the International Space Station, with an improved thrust-to-weight ratio that reportedly makes it the most efficient booster engine ever built. It's hoped that the gear will be ready to make the jump to full use in time for the sixth flight of the Falcon 9, currently pencilled in for 2013. If you're the sort who enjoys watching a big pile of fire being pushed into a concrete chamber, you're really gonna love the video after the break.

Continue reading Space X successfully test-fires Merlin 1D engine, forgets to buy marshmallows

Space X successfully test-fires Merlin 1D engine, forgets to buy marshmallows originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Jun 2012 09:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Space X’s Dragon launch… is go! (update: aborted)

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We're crossing our fingers and toes so hard we can barely type and walk, since it looks like the oft-delayed Dragon launch will take place tomorrow. SpaceX founder Elon Musk confirmed that the company had passed final launch review with NASA and that everything was set for the Falcon 9 to lift off at 4:15AM ET on May 19th. The lift-off will be broadcast live from the official website and is on course to be the first private spaceflight to dock and deliver essential supplies to the International Space Station. For our part? We wish the craft (and the ground crew) all the best and hope it's a perfect flight -- we wanna stay in a space hotel sooner rather than later.

Update (05/19): At around 5:06AM ET, Elon Musk tweeted that the launch had been aborted due to high combustion chamber pressure around Engine 5. It won't be leaving for another couple of days.

Continue reading Space X's Dragon launch... is go! (update: aborted)

Space X's Dragon launch... is go! (update: aborted) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 May 2012 10:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceElon Musk (Twitter), Elon Musk (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments