Dark5 – Page 11

New Navy LRASM Missile Can Plan Its Own Attack

The new LRASM missile can plan its own maneuvers around enemy defenses and can also work with other LRASMs to attack cooperatively in a swarm.

America’s primary anti-ship missile, the Harpoon, has been in service now for close to 40 years and the Navy has been very reluctant to evolve when it comes to its anti-ship capabilities. Times are changing, with China’s Navy on the rise and Russia flexing its muscle, the Cold War staple just won’t do. Enter Lockheed’s Long Range Anti-Ship Missile to save the day.

The Harpoon was once the ‘gold standard’ of anti-ship cruise missiles, but its subsonic flight profile, limited range, less than stealthy design, and relatively simple targeting and navigation methodology have left it as almost an afterthought in the Navy’s quiver. Sure, it is still able to strike ships at sea, but its ability to safely do so against an advanced foe with anti-access capabilities and advanced defenses is highly questionable. Lockheed’s LRASM program began in 2009 in hopes of righting this wrong and was originally part of a two-pronged anti-ship missile procurement concept.

This two-prong next generation anti-ship missile approach saw the development of the LRASM-A, the subsonic, low-flying and stealthy weapon that is still in development today. The other was the LRASM-B, a high-altitude supersonic, ramjet powered anti-ship missile, similar to the Russian Brahmos supersonic anti-ship missile. LRASM-B was cancelled in 2012 under tightening defense budgets, with DARPA focusing on the lower risk and more pressing LRASM-A concept.

LRASM is a cousin of Lockheed’s stealthy JASSM cruise missile and is aiming to replace and expand the mission of both the AGM-84 aircraft-launched and RGM-84 ship-launched Harpoon. The video above depicts generally how LRASM works and some of the capabilities it brings to the table. In it you will see its most prominent feature is that it will “intelligently” sense and avoid hostile threats via an on-board passive radio frequency and threat warning receiver. Additionally, LRASM is equipped with an on-board data-link, advanced artificial intelligence software, low probability of intercept radar, imaging infrared sensor and an inertial navigation system with embedded GPS. All of this is tied to the sneaky missile’s autopilot and cutting-edge computing core.

Watch the Orion Spacecraft’s First Test Launch Live

The flight test will send the uncrewed Orion spacecraft 3,600 miles from Earth to test critical systems for the challenges of deep space missions.

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

The December flight test will send the uncrewed Orion spacecraft 3,600 miles from Earth on a two-orbit flight to test critical systems for the challenges of deep space missions.

During the 4.5-hour flight, Orion will travel farther than any crewed spacecraft has gone in more than 40 years, before reentering Earth’s atmosphere at speeds near 20,000 mph and generating temperatures up to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Orion will land in the Pacific Ocean where the U.S. Navy and NASA’s Ground Systems Development and Operations Program will recover the spacecraft.

The Orion Flight Test will evaluate launch and high speed re-entry systems such as avionics, attitude control, parachutes and the heat shield. In the future, Orion will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). More powerful than any rocket ever built, SLS will be capable of sending humans to deep space destinations such as an asteroid and eventually Mars.

Animation of NASA’s Orion Capsule Test Flight

Strapped aboard a Delta 4 Heavy, the next generation spacecraft will reach altitudes man-rated ships haven’t gone since the Apollo era. This animation breaks down the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) from launch to splashdown.

NASA didn’t completely dump the idea of manned extra-terrestrial flight. It just needed some space. Before the agency resumes its manned missions sometime in 2021, NASA will need somewhere to put the astronauts. A new generation of reusable spacecraft, capable of zipping beyond the current limits. Something like the Orion Capsule.

Officially dubbed the Orion MPCV (Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle), this craft is specifically built to travel far, far beyond Low Earth Orbit—like the Moon, Mars, or even deep space—then return safely home. NASA plans to use a fleet of these spacecraft for just about everything, from routine supply runs to the ISS to dropping a crew on a passing asteroid. Developed by Lockheed Martin Space Systems—coincidentally, also the builders of the Delta IV rocket that the Orion rides—the spacecraft is comprised of three primary subsystems.

Launch Abort System

NASA is dead serious about preventing another Challenger disaster. As such, the uppermost section of the Orion is dedicated to the launch abort system (LAS). This tower is designed to instantly detach and rocket the crew capsule to safety if something goes awry during liftoff. It also helps shield the crew from heat and pressure changes during the rise to orbit before popping off and falling back to Earth once the MPCV reaches altitude. Fun fact: the rocket-powered abort motor the LAS uses to separate is actually more powerful than the one employed to shoot John Glenn into orbit back in 1962.

Crew Module

If you are an astronaut aboard the Orion, this is where you want to be. The crew module sits between the LAS and the Service Module (aka the engine and life-support). Constructed of an aluminum-lithium alloy, it can hold up to six crew members along with all their scientific equipment and matched luggage.

It offers a range of improvements over previous capsules including a better-designed cockpit, more-powerful computers, indoor plumbing, and an emergency auto-docking feature. The glass cockpit is actually the same one that Honeywell designed for the Boeing 787. It takes over the repetitive monitoring tasks that Apollo crews used to have to continually check themselves. The auto-dock feature is exactly what it sounds like. Once in orbit, the on-board computers will autonomously rendezvous with other spacecraft rather than rely on humans to do it. However, the most exciting new feature—for the astronauts at least—is the inclusion of a “relief tube” in the capsule. Rather than crap in a plastic bag, as the Apollo guys did, the Orion will use a more discreet and sanitary system originally developed aboard Skylab.

Opposed to the Space Shuttles, with were each used over and over, the Orion crew module is only slightly reusable. Each one is expected to withstand ten flights before being retired. And, interestingly, the crew module has no landing gear—it is a water landing or nothing for the Orion.

Service Module

The service module is where the magic happens. Magic, meaning, the technologies that keep astronauts from freezing/exploding in the dark void. The service module is built of the same aluminum-lithium alloy as the Crew Module. It controls in-flight propulsion—generated by a “7500-pound thrust, pressure-fed, regeneratively cooled, storable bi-propellant, rocket engine made by Aerojet” according to NASA—and provides water and breathable air for the crew as well as prevents the control systems from freezing. It even has unpressurized cargo space for equipment and unlucky stowaways. And, while the LAS pops off just after liftoff, the Service Module remains connected to the Crew Module until the orbiter is ready to begin reentry.

In another American first, the Service Module will incorporate deployable solar panels to capture solar energy while in flight, much like the Mars Landers’ UltraFlex wings. This integration eliminates the need to carry heavy, unreliable fuel cells and all the necessary bits and pieces to use the fuel, which makes the Orion lighter and more agile.

The Big Test

All of these systems are currently coming together at the Kennedy Space Center ahead of a critical test flight scheduled for early 2014. Orion is expected to take off from Space Launch Complex 37, orbit the Earth twice at an altitude of over 3,600 miles—that’s fifteen times LEO—before reentering the atmosphere at 25,000 MPH splashing down somewhere in the Pacific. This, of course, will be an unmanned test flight.

“This flight test is a challenge. It will be difficult. We have a lot of confidence in our design, but we are certain that we will find out things we do not know,” Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer told the Orlando Sentinel. “Having the opportunity to do that early in our development is invaluable, because it will allow us to make adjustments now and address them much more efficiently than if we find changes are needed later. Our measure of success for this test will be in how we apply all of those lessons as we move forward.”

In addition, this flight will also put 10 other critical subsystems through their paces—including the parachute deployment system and the life support software. If the flight is sucessful, NASA may be putting more people on the Moon and reviving the aerospace industry by 2021. If it fails, well, that’s $375 million down the drain. [Physorg – NASA – NYC Aviation – The Orlando Sentinel]

Cell Phone GPS and an Airplane

Fun fact: Commerce Department regulations on self-guided missile technology keep GPS receivers from reporting speeds greater than 999 MPH.

Generally, using a GPS on a plane should do no harm to the plane or the security on board, since the GPS device does only receive data and not send anything itself. Because it doesn’t send, it has no way of interfering with instruments in the cockpit.

Secondly, GPS is also used up front in cockpits, so it is a save and common technology used in aviation every day. Many airline pilots use their own devices in the cockpit or allow passengers they know to place theirs in the cockpit. However, some airlines prohibit GPS on board of their planes.

Fun fact: Commerce Department regulations on self-guided missile technology keep GPS receivers from reporting speeds greater than 999 MPH, or altitudes in excess of 60,000 feet. As this is higher than Mount Everest, and nearly 20,000 feet higher than airline cruise altitudes, you won’t see it on your typical commute.

Sound Sculpting lets you Feel 3D Haptic Holograms

Feeling is believing. A system that uses sound waves to project “haptic holograms” into mid-air – letting you touch 3D virtual objects with your bare hands.

Feeling is believing. A system that uses sound waves to project “haptic holograms” into mid-air – letting you touch 3D virtual objects with your bare hands – is poised to bring virtual reality into the physical world.

Adding a sense of touch as well as sight and sound will make it easier to completely immerse yourself in VR. And the ability to feel the shape of virtual objects could let doctors use their hands to examine a lump detected by a CT scan, for example. What’s more, museum visitors could handle virtual replicas of priceless exhibits while the real thing remained safely behind glass.

Ben Long and his colleagues at the University of Bristol, UK, improved on a previous version of their UltraHaptics technology, which projected 2D outlines of map contours above a screen, for example. Now, high-frequency sound waves emitted by an array of tiny speakers create the sensation of touching an invisible, floating object. When the sound hits the hand, the force of the waves exerts pressure on the skin.

To make the jump from outlines to full shapes, the team added a Leap Motionsensor to track the precise position of a user’s hands. Knowing where the hands are in relation to the virtual object means the system can direct ultrasound at the right time and frequency to produce the sensation of touching different parts of the object – the top, say, or the side. This creates the impression that you are exploring the surface of an object as you move your hands around in empty space.

“Without haptics, it’s like you’re in a dream and you cannot feel the environment,” says Sébastien Kuntz of I’m in VR, VR developers in Paris, France. “You can only look at it, you don’t have any feedback.”

So far, the researchers have tested several shapes, including spheres and pyramids. They appear to be gently vibrating in space, says Long. The level of detail in the virtual objects is limited, but using more, smaller, speakers should improve the resolution of what can be projected, says Long. The shapes do not need to be perfect to conjure an immersive experience, though. “Even if there are discrepancies, the brain will bend what it sees and feels to fit the overall picture,” says Kuntz.

The team says it has already been approached by companies interested in developing the technology for commercial applications. The work will be presented at interactive tech conference SIGGRAPH Asia in Shenzhen, China, on 3 December.

Stuart Cupit, technical director at Inition, a design studio in London, is also impressed by the technology. “Touch is a missing element in virtual interfaces today,” he says.

What Is This Strange Space Object? SDSS1133

An international team of researchers analyzing decades of observations has discovered an unusual source of light in a galaxy 90 million light-years away.

The object’s curious properties make it a good match for a supermassive black hole ejected from its home galaxy after merging with another giant black hole. But astronomers can’t yet rule out an alternative possibility. The source, called SDSS1133, may be the remnant of a massive star that erupted for a record period of time before destroying itself in a supernova explosion.

“With the data we have in hand, we can’t yet distinguish between these two scenarios,” said lead researcher Michael Koss, an astronomer at ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. “One exciting discovery made with NASA’s Swift is that the brightness of SDSS1133 has changed little in optical or ultraviolet light for a decade, which is not something typically seen in a young supernova remnant.”

In a study published in the Nov. 21 edition of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Koss and his colleagues report that the source has brightened significantly in visible light during the past six months, a trend that, if maintained, would bolster the black hole interpretation. To analyze the object in greater detail, the team is planning ultraviolet observations with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope in October 2015.

Whatever SDSS1133 is, it’s persistent. The team was able to detect it in astronomical surveys dating back more than 60 years.

An international team of researchers analyzing decades of observations from many facilities, including NASA’s Swift satellite, has discovered an unusual source of light in a galaxy some 90 million light-years away.

The mystery object is part of the dwarf galaxy Markarian 177, located in the bowl of the Big Dipper, a well-known star pattern within the constellation Ursa Major. Although supermassive black holes usually occupy galactic centers, SDSS1133 is located at least 2,600 light-years from its host galaxy’s core.

In June 2013, the researchers obtained high-resolution near-infrared images of the object using the 10-meter Keck II telescope at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. They reveal the emitting region of SDSS1133 is less than 40 light-years across and that the center of Markarian 177 shows evidence of intense star formation and other features indicating a recent disturbance.

“We suspect we’re seeing the aftermath of a merger of two small galaxies and their central black holes,” said co-author Laura Blecha, an Einstein Fellow in the University of Maryland’s Department of Astronomy and a leading theorist in simulating recoils, or “kicks,” in merging black holes. “Astronomers searching for recoiling black holes have been unable to confirm a detection, so finding even one of these sources would be a major discovery.”

The collision and merger of two galaxies disrupts their shapes and results in new episodes of star formation. If each galaxy possesses a central supermassive black hole, they will form a bound binary pair at the center of the merged galaxy before ultimately coalescing themselves.

Merging black holes release a large amount of energy in the form of gravitational radiation, a consequence of Einstein’s theory of gravity. Waves in the fabric of space-time ripple outward in all directions from accelerating masses. If both black holes have equal masses and spins, their merger emits gravitational waves uniformly in all directions. More likely, the black hole masses and spins will be different, leading to lopsided gravitational wave emission that launches the black hole in the opposite direction.

The kick may be strong enough to hurl the black hole entirely out of its home galaxy, fating it to forever drift through intergalactic space. More typically, a kick will send the object into an elongated orbit. Despite its relocation, the ejected black hole will retain any hot gas trapped around it and continue to shine as it moves along its new path until all of the gas is consumed.

If SDSS1133 isn’t a black hole, then it might have been a very unusual type of star known as a Luminous Blue Variable (LBV). These massive stars undergo episodic eruptions that cast large amounts of mass into space long before they explode. Interpreted in this way, SDSS1133 would represent the longest period of LBV eruptions ever observed, followed by a terminal supernova explosion whose light reached Earth in 2001.

The nearest comparison in our galaxy is the massive binary system Eta Carinae, which includes an LBV containing about 90 times the sun’s mass. Between 1838 and 1845, the system underwent an outburst that ejected at least 10 solar masses and made it the second-brightest star in the sky. It then followed up with a smaller eruption in the 1890s.

In this alternative scenario, SDSS1133 must have been in nearly continual eruption from at least 1950 to 2001, when it reached peak brightness and went supernova. The spatial resolution and sensitivity of telescopes prior to 1950 were insufficient to detect the source. But if this was an LBV eruption, the current record shows it to be the longest and most persistent one ever observed. An interaction between the ejected gas and the explosion’s blast wave could explain the object’s steady brightness in the ultraviolet.

Whether it’s a rogue supermassive black hole or the closing act of a rare star, it seems astronomers have never seen the likes of SDSS1133 before.

Electric Soap Film Creates Liquid Motor

Applying an electric field to soap films creates controllable swirling patterns, a technique that could make precise manipulation of liquids easier.

The hypnotising patterns in these swirling soap films aren’t spontaneous: they’re being controlled by the invisible hand of electricity.

By applying an electric field to the suspended liquid, it starts to rotate. Changing the direction of the electric field can alter the direction of flow, and the field’s strength affects the speed of rotation.

“The rotating film is like a motor,” says Reza Shirsavar from the University of Zanjan in Iran and his colleagues, who created the set-up.

Their soap film was made from water, glycerine and detergent, a common recipe used in bubble-blowing mixtures. The rainbow of colours arises from the varying thickness of the soap film on the water.

But beyond stirring up your bubble bath, the technique could be applied to other types of films containing polar molecules. Liquid crystal films, for example, or compounds used to manufacture industrial chemicals, could be controlled in the same way.

Shirsavar’s team says the system could be used as a micro pump, perhaps even controlling the ebb and flow of fluids inside living systems.

The video was presented last week at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics in San Francisco, California.

Police Helicopter Erupts into Spinning Ball of Flames

A police helicopter erupted into a spinning ball of flames after its blades clipped a fire truck in the centre of San Miguel, Chile.

The chopper was attending a car crash early on Sunday morning when it landed at an intersection in the city’s downtown area. Police closed off the street to allow the helicopter to land and assist at a crash caused by a drunk driver which left three police officers seriously injured. When a fire truck made its way into the secure zone it edged too close to the chopper, nicking one of its spinning blades.

All four of the choppers blades were struck off as well as the tail rotor, sending the EC-135 into a death spin. The chopper twisted and twirled around on its metal skids sending sparks off in all directions. The out-of-control chopper then collided with a police car, knocking the cab to the ground where it exploded.

The pilot was left in serious condition with multiple fractures while the other three officers were being treated in hospital, according to Soy Chile.

3.5 Ton Lego Christmas Tree is 32.8 Feet Tall

Watch time lapse of a team of five dedicated builders spending 1,200 hours planning and constructing the mammoth Lego Christmas tree.

Using of a combination of Duplo and Lego bricks, the Aussies have erected a 32.8 foot Lego Christmas tree at the Pitt Street Mall in Sydney. A team of five dedicated builders spent 1,200 hours planning and constructing the mammoth tree which will be on display until December 26th.

As well as being absolutely huge, this display also has some really cool sub-builds like a Christmas Koala, Santa holding a surfboard (it is summer in Australia after all), basketball sized ornaments and a big pile of gifts and a reindeer that was designed by 10-year-old Lego Club member Luke Francis. If that isn’t overwhelming enough, the whole display also lights up!

Drone Captures Post-Apocalyptic Chernobyl

Filmmaker uses a drone to explore Chernobyl 28 years after the catastrophe that turned it into a post-apocalyptic city and has killed 200,000 people since.

Postcards from Pripyat, Chernobyl from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to visit Chernobyl whilst working for CBS News on a ’60 Minutes’ episode which aired on Nov. 23, 2014. Bob Simon is the correspondent. Michael Gavshon and David Levine, producers.

For the full story cbsnews.com/news/chernobyl-the-catastrophe-that-never-ended/

—-> ***Soundtrack ‘Promise land’ by Hannah Miller – licensed on themusicbed.com

Chernobyl is one of the most interesting and dangerous places I’ve been. The nuclear disaster, which happened in 1986 (the year after I was born), had an effect on so many people, including my family when we lived in Italy. The nuclear dust clouds swept westward towards us. The Italian police went round and threw away all the local produce and my mother rushed out to purchase as much tinned milk as possible to feed me, her infant son.

It caused so much distress hundreds of miles away, so I can’t imagine how terrifying it would have been for the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian citizens who were forced to evacuate.

During my stay, I met so many amazing people, one of whom was my guide Yevgen, also known as a ‘Stalker’. We spent the week together exploring Chernobyl and the nearby abandoned city of Pripyat. There was something serene, yet highly disturbing about this place. Time has stood still and there are memories of past happenings floating around us.

Armed with a camera and a dosimeter geiger counter I explored…

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Shot using DJI Phantom 2 (GoPro3+) and Canon 7D