Recently Russian photographers landed in a helicopter on a dangerous trip to get images of volcanoes erupting simultaneously with beautiful lava flow. AirPano is a Moscow based group of photo enthusiasts, dedicated to creating hi-resolution aerial panoramas.

Enjoy this beautiful panoramic view of volcanos erupting in Panoramic View … Links to Apple iPhone and iPad resolutions are on this page …

Using your computer, iPhone or iPad; you can view the Volcano Plosky Tolbachik, Kamchatka, Russia, 2012. Just follow the onscreen instructions after clicking the link above.

Photographers Oleg Gaponyuk and Sergey Semenov were about to begin a photo shoot of hotels in Dubai when they learned about the eruption of their native Plosky (Flat) Tolbachik in Kamchatka. They “lost a fortune on last minute ticket cancellations” and looked up helicopter companies that might take them to the erupting volocano

Read their exciting story as they were accompanied by Stas Sedov, who explains their adventure in detail …

Narrative …

Tolbachik is a volcanic complex on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far east of Russia, just west of Alaska. Tolbachik consists of two volcanoes, Plosky (flat) Tolbachik (3,085 m) and Ostry (sharp) Tolbachik (3,682 m). Ostry is the mountain’s highest point, the entire mountain is often referred to as “Ostry Tolbachik”, not to be confused with Ostry a separate volcano to the north also on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

On November 27, 2012 an eruption started from two fissures of a strombolian type. Basaltic lava flows moving relatively fast and had already flooded some buildings about two miles away. Eruption continued for more than a month, as lava continued to flow from the fissures. Lava flowed up to 12 miles from a line of fissures on the volcano’s southern flank. The eruption continued through January 2, 2013.

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Tolbachik is at the green arrow.

GravityLight: lighting for the developing countries from Therefore on Vimeo.

GravityLight is a revolutionary new approach to storing energy and creating illumination. It takes only 3 seconds to lift the weight which powers GravityLight, creating 30 minutes of light during the descent of the weights. For free — no energy cost. The light device is completely green and clean.

Following the initial inspiration of using gravity, and years of perspiration, engineers have refined the design and the light is now ready for production. Engineers are looking for help to fund the tooling, manufacture and distribution of at least 1000 gravity powered lights. The lights will be gifted to villagers in both Africa and India for regular use. The follow-up research will tell us how well the lights met their needs, and enable engineers to refine the design for a more efficient “MK2″ version.

A stranger twist in the national conversation of preventing gun violence. There is technology that is closer to reality that will bring the capability to print guns with 3D manufacturing printers. Even if the software for gun templates was illegal, how difficult would it be to detect or regulate the distribution of the software to make guns?

Does the future mean guns can be made with 3D material printers? Downloading a gun design to your computer, building it with a three-dimensional printer that uses plastics and other materials, and firing it minutes later is closer to reality. No background checks, no questions asked. Sound far-fetched? It’s not.

3D printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing, is a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital model. 3D printing is achieved using additive processes, where an object is created by laying down successive layers of material. 3D printing is considered distinct when it is compared to traditional machining techniques (subtractive processes) which mostly rely on the removal of material by methods such as lathing, cutting and drilling.

The next Kinko’s.

Forget your tool? Replicate a wrench.

Sixty-five years after becoming the first human to fly faster than the speed of sound in an aircraft, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager, 89, took off from Nellis Air Force Base in an F-15 near Las Vegas and broke the sound barrier at more than 30,000 feet above California’s Mojave Desert at 10:24 a.m. Sunday. He originally broke the record on October 14, 1947 at 10:24 a.m. at the same location. Yeager flew the F-15 as it took off and landed, but Capt. David Vincent of the 65th Aggressor Squadron at Nellis flew the aircraft while breaking the sound barrier.

Meanwhile, Felix Baumgartner is believed to have hit Mach 1.24, or 833.9 mph without flying in an aircraft. In other words, in just his underwear (we know what you’re thinking but we’re not going to write it) and a spacesuit.

Up 2.5 Hours; Down 13:30 (3:30 minutes freefall and 10:00 minutes controlled parachute descent). Excerpts of the mission Sunday when Fearless Felix Baumgartner jumped from the platform of a space capsule that had reached an altitude of 128,100 feet above the Earth. The entire mission was broadcast on LIVE STREAM with over 8 million people watching on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/redbull and http://www.redbullstratos.com

According to preliminary data, Felix Baumgartner became the first person to reach supersonic speed without traveling in a jet or a spacecraft after jumping off a step the size of a skateboard on the space capsule that carried him up to an altitude of 128,100 feet above the Earth’s surface.

Felix Baumgartner landed safely about 1:15 p.m. CDT (12:15 MDT) after breaking records for highest jump, highest manned balloon flight, and possibly the speed of sound (waiting for confirmation of MACH 1 or 768 mph in free fall). Preliminary data suggests that Baumgartner reached Mach 1.24, or 833.9 mph. The record is subject to analysis by The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records.

Over 8 million people watched the event live on YouTube — a record for most concurrent views on YouTube.

2.5 Hours Up; Excerpts of the mission Sunday when Fearless Felix Baumgartner jumped from the platform of a space capsule that had reached an altitude of 128,100 feet above the Earth. The entire mission was broadcast on LIVE STREAM with over 8 million people watching on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/redbull and http://www.redbullstratos.com

Red Bull Stratos is a mission to the edge of space that surpassed human records that have existed for more than 50 years. Supported by a team of experts, Felix Baumgartner undertook a stratospheric balloon flight to more than 120,000 feet / 36,576 meters and made a record-breaking freefall jump to become the first man to break the speed of sound in freefall (an estimated 690 miles / 1,110 kilometers per hour), while delivering valuable data for medical and scientific advancement.

CGI Graphic simulation of Supersonic Freefall. Red Bull mission control reports they’re on a weather hold due to winds at 700ft – the top of our giant balloon. Next update expected soon. Launch not possible before 1:30 EDT/12:30 CDT/11:30 MDT/17:30 GMT.

Felix Baumgartner, 43, took off at 9:30 a.m. MDT (11:30 a.m. EDT/1530 GMT). A giant 30 million-cubic-foot thin plastic helium balloon lifted a space capsule/jumping platform containing the skydiver. Ascent was expected to last about 2.5 to three hours, while the descent is expected to last about 15-20 minutes — with freefall lasting about 5 minutes.

Red Bull Stratos — First Attempt of Parachutist to Break the Sound Barrier
Felix Baumgartner was scheduled to attempt to go supersonic when he jumps from a record altitude of 23 miles (37 km or 120,000 feet) over New Mexico. Following a weather forecast for bad conditions on October 5, 2012 the jump attempt was rescheduled for October 9 2012. The jump finally occurred on Sunday, October 14, 2012. The drop zone or landing zone is in Roswell, New Mexico.

Two previous test jumps were conducted on March 15, 2012 (71,581 feet/Free Fall timed at 00:03:43 with maximum speed of 360 mph) and July 25, 2012 (96,640 feet/Free Fall timed at 00:03:48 with maximum speed of 536 mph).

Felix Baumgartner (born April 20, 1969) is an Austrian skydiver and a BASE jumper. “BASE” is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs). Most BASE jumps are made from less than 600m (2,000 feet).

Baumgartner is renowned for the particularly dangerous nature of the stunts he has performed during his career. In 1999 Baumgartner claimed the world record for the highest parachute jump from a building when he jumped from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Baumgartner set the world record for the lowest BASE jump ever (95 feet), from a hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. The height to the head of the statue is 130 feet. The statue stands on top of the Corcovoado mountain at 2,300 feet.

The record to be beaten is a 102,800-foot jump that lasted 00:04:36 before opening his parachute.

Christ the Redeemer.

See also …
redbullstratos.com
Baumgartner served in the Austrian military where he practiced parachute jumping, including training missions landing on small target zones.

Red Bull Stratos is a mission to the edge of space that will try to surpass human limits that have existed for more than 50 years. Supported by a team of experts, Felix Baumgartner will undertake a stratospheric balloon flight to more than 120,000 feet / 36,576 meters and make a record-breaking freefall jump in the attempt to become the first man to break the speed of sound in freefall (an estimated 690 miles / 1,110 kilometers per hour), while delivering valuable data for medical and scientific advancement.

CGI Graphic simulation of Supersonic Freefall.

Felix Baumgartner, 43, took off at 9:30 a.m. MDT (11:30 a.m. EDT/1530 GMT). A giant 30 million-cubic-foot thin plastic helium balloon lifted a space capsule/jumping platform containing the skydiver. Ascent was expected to last about 2.5 to three hours, while the descent was expected to last about 15-20 minutes — with freefall lasting about 5 minutes.

Over 8 million people watched the event live on YouTube — a record for most concurrent views on YouTube.

Red Bull Stratos — First Attempt of Parachutist to Break the Sound Barrier
Felix Baumgartner is scheduled to attempt to go supersonic when he jumps from a record altitude of 23 miles (37 km or 120,000 feet) over New Mexico. Following a weather forecast for bad contitions on October 5, 2012 the jump attempt was rescheduled for October 9 2012. The drop zone or landing zone is in Roswell, New Mexico.

Two previous test jumps were conducted on March 15, 2012 (71,581 feet/Free Fall timed at 00:03:43 with maximum speed of 360 mph) and July 25, 2012 (96,640 feet/Free Fall timed at 00:03:48 with maximum speed of 536 mph).

Felix Baumgartner (born April 20, 1969) is an Austrian skydiver and a BASE jumper. “BASE” is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs). Most BASE jumps are made from less than 600m (2,000 feet).

Baumgartner is renowned for the particularly dangerous nature of the stunts he has performed during his career. In 1999 Baumgartner claimed the world record for the highest parachute jump from a building when he jumped from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Baumgartner set the world record for the lowest BASE jump ever (95 feet), from a hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. The height to the head of the statue is 130 feet. The statue stands on top of the Corcovoado mountain at 2,300 feet.

The record to be beaten is a 102,800-foot jump that lasted 00:04:36 before opening his parachute.

See also …
redbullstratos.com
Baumgartner served in the Austrian military where he practiced parachute jumping, including training missions landing on small target zones.

CGI Graphic simulation of Supersonic Freefall. Red Bull mission control reports they’re on a weather hold due to winds at 700ft – the top of our giant balloon. Next update expected soon. Launch not possible before 1:30 EDT/12:30 CDT/11:30 MDT/17:30 GMT.

Felix Baumgartner, 43, took off at 9:30 a.m. MDT (11:30 a.m. EDT/1530 GMT). A giant 30 million-cubic-foot thin plastic helium balloon lifted a space capsule/jumping platform containing the skydiver. Ascent is expected to last about 2.5 to three hours, while the descent is expected to last about 15-20 minutes — with freefall lasting about 5 minutes.

Red Bull Stratos — First Attempt of Parachutist to Break the Sound Barrier
Felix Baumgartner is scheduled to attempt to go supersonic when he jumps from a record altitude of 23 miles (37 km or 120,000 feet) over New Mexico. Following a weather forecast for bad contitions on October 5, 2012 the jump attempt was rescheduled for October 9 2012. The drop zone or landing zone is in Roswell, New Mexico.

Two previous test jumps were conducted on March 15, 2012 (71,581 feet/Free Fall timed at 00:03:43 with maximum speed of 360 mph) and July 25, 2012 (96,640 feet/Free Fall timed at 00:03:48 with maximum speed of 536 mph).

Felix Baumgartner (born April 20, 1969) is an Austrian skydiver and a BASE jumper. “BASE” is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs). Most BASE jumps are made from less than 600m (2,000 feet).

Baumgartner is renowned for the particularly dangerous nature of the stunts he has performed during his career. In 1999 Baumgartner claimed the world record for the highest parachute jump from a building when he jumped from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Baumgartner set the world record for the lowest BASE jump ever (95 feet), from a hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. The height to the head of the statue is 130 feet. The statue stands on top of the Corcovoado mountain at 2,300 feet.

The record to be beaten is a 102,800-foot jump that lasted 00:04:36 before opening his parachute.

See also …
redbullstratos.com
Baumgartner served in the Austrian military where he practiced parachute jumping, including training missions landing on small target zones.

UPDATE: Postponed again because of wind.

Red Bull Stratos — First Attempt of Parachutist to Break the Sound Barrier
Felix Baumgartner is scheduled to attempt to go supersonic when he jumps from a record altitude of 23 miles (37 km or 120,000 feet) over New Mexico. Following a weather forecast for bad contitions on October 5, 2012 the jump attempt was rescheduled for October 9 2012. The drop zone or landing zone is in Roswell, New Mexico.

Two previous test jumps were conducted on March 15, 2012 (71,581 feet/Free Fall timed at 00:03:43 with maximum speed of 360 mph) and July 25, 2012 (96,640 feet/Free Fall timed at 00:03:48 with maximum speed of 536 mph).

Felix Baumgartner (born April 20, 1969) is an Austrian skydiver and a BASE jumper. “BASE” is an acronym that stands for four categories of fixed objects from which one can jump: buildings, antennas, spans (bridges), and earth (cliffs). Most BASE jumps are made from less than 600m (2,000 feet).

Baumgartner is renowned for the particularly dangerous nature of the stunts he has performed during his career. In 1999 Baumgartner claimed the world record for the highest parachute jump from a building when he jumped from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Baumgartner set the world record for the lowest BASE jump ever (95 feet), from a hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. The height to the head of the statue is 130 feet. The statue stands on top of the Corcovoado mountain at 2,300 feet.

See also …
redbullstratos.com
Baumgartner served in the Austrian military where he practiced parachute jumping, including training missions landing on small target zones.

DARPA’s Cheetah robot—already the fastest legged robot in history—just broke its own land speed record of 18 miles per hour (mph). In the process, Cheetah also surpassed another very fast mover: Usain Bolt. According to the International Association of Athletics Federations, Bolt set the world speed record for a human in 2009 when he reached a peak speed of 27.78 mph for a 20-meter split during the 100-meter sprint. Cheetah was recently clocked at 28.3 mph for a 20-meter split. The Cheetah had a slight advantage over Bolt as it ran on a treadmill, the equivalent of a 28.3 mph tail wind, but most of the power Cheetah used was to swing its legs fast enough, not to propel itself forward.

Cheetah is being developed and tested under DARPA’s Maximum Mobility and Manipulation (M3) program by Boston Dynamics. The increase in speed since results were last reported in March 2012 is due to improved control algorithms and a more powerful pump.

DARPA’s intent with the Cheetah bot and its other robotics programs is to attempt to understand and engineer into robots certain core capabilities that living organisms have refined over millennia of evolution: efficient locomotion, manipulation of objects and adaptability to environments. By drawing inspiration from nature, DARPA gains technological building blocks that create possibilities for a whole range of robots suited to future Department of Defense missions.

Look for a robot next year named ‘Wildcat’ that will be tested on outdoor terrain.

Animal speeds?
The real Cheetah of Africa and parts of the Middle East is known to be the fastest land animal at 68 to 74 mph with an acceleration of 0 to over 62 mph in three seconds.

Hares or jackrabbits are able to run up to 45 mph.

Greyhounds are known to reach a full speed of about 43 mph.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technologies used by the military. DARPA has been responsible for funding the development of many technologies which have had a major effect on the world, including computer networking hypertext link technology, which is an important precursor to the graphical user interface used on computers and Internet devices.

Boston Dynamics is also famous for their all-terrain four-legged robot mule or ‘BigDog’.

For more information on Cheetah and DARPA’s other robotics programs, visit: http://go.usa.gov/rVqk.

To get the latest DARPA news, photos and videos, follow us on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/darpa.

SOURCE: DARPAtv

Get updates from The Cardinal ALL NEWS FEEDS on Facebook. Just ‘LIKE’ the ‘Arlington Cardinal Page (become a fan of our page). The updates cover all posts and sub-category posts from The Cardinal — Arlingtoncardinal.com. You can also limit feeds to specific categories. See all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages at Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …

Discovery departed just after sunrise and arrived in the Washington, D.C. area around 10 a.m. Discovery was displayed with a 45-minute flyover in multiple circles around the Capitol, White House, the Mall and much of the Potomac River while in the piggyback configuration on a modified Boeing 747. A NASA T-38 chase plane was dwarfed by the Boeing 747.

After arriving at Dulles International Airport, the space shuttle Discovery will be moved on April 19 to the nearby Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center for permanent public display.

NASA VIDEO: Space shuttle Discovery was lifted and placed atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility mate/demate device in the early morning hours of April 15 in preparation for its ride to Washington Dulles International Airport on April 17.

Washington Times Video: The Space Shuttle Discovery Lands at Washington Dulles International Airport on Tuesday, April 17, 2012.

Washington Times Video: Touchdown at Dulles.

The anticipation and excitement of Space Shuttle Discovery’s final flight – a landing atop a 747 at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC / Chantilly, VA near Sully.

NASA Video: The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ferrying orbiter Discovery performs a flyby at Dulles International Airport on Apr. 17 following its journey from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Want to be an astronaut? Follow the advice of Dr. Anna Fisher — the first mother to fly in space:

Dr. Anna Fisher pulled a boy named Ethan out of the crowd. He was dressed up as a NASA pilot. Fisher asked him if he wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up. Ethan answered, “Yes.” A reporter asked Fisher, “Any advice for Ethan, an aspiring astronaut?” Fisher replied, “Study Russian.”

Mythbuster host Jamie Hyneman: “There will be no cannons fired in this area — at least by us – again.”

Dublin, California (formerly, Amador and Dougherty’s Station) is a suburban city of the East San Francisco Bay region of Alameda County, California. The city is named after the city of Dublin, Ireland.

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Extraordinary Partnership with Space Adventures and World Renowned Space Agencies Ignites Students’ Passion for Science, Space, and Technology

YouTube and Lenovo, in cooperation with Space Adventures and space agencies including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), today announced YouTube Space Lab, a worldwide initiative that challenges 14-18 year-old students to design a science experiment that can be performed in space. The two winning experiments will be conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and live streamed on YouTube. Space Lab is part of YouTube’s larger commitment to highlighting and providing access to the wealth of educational content available on YouTube as well as Lenovo’s focus on equipping students with 21st century skills via information technology.

A prestigious panel of scientists, astronauts, and educators, including renowned professor Stephen Hawking, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s Associate Administrator of Education and former Astronaut Leland Melvin, ESA Astronaut Frank De Winne, JAXA Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and Cirque du Soleil’s founder Guy Laliberté, will judge the entries with input from the YouTube community. Students in two age categories, 14-16 years old and 17-18 years old, either alone or in groups of up to three, may submit a YouTube video describing their experiment to YouTube.com/SpaceLab.

Six regional finalists will gather in Washington, D.C., in March 2012 to experience a ZERO-G flight and receive other prizes. From them, two global winners, one from each age group, will be announced and later have their experiments performed 250 miles above Earth and live streamed on YouTube. Additionally, the global winners will get to choose a unique space experience as a prize: either a trip to Tanegashima Island, Japan, to watch their experiment blast off in a rocket bound for the ISS, or once they are 18 years old, a one-of-a-kind astronaut training experience in Star City, Russia, the training center for Russian cosmonauts.

Space Lab is one component of YouTube’s broader educational offering, including YouTube.com/EDU, home to a wealth of high-quality educational videos from educators of all subjects and levels; YouTube.com/Teachers, a resource providing teachers with guidance on how to effectively incorporate video into their classrooms; and YouTube for Schools, a new pilot program aimed at making YouTube accessible in more schools.

“As a company committed to the next generation of scientists, YouTube launched Space Lab to allow ordinary students the extraordinary opportunity of having their experiment carried out in space,” said Zahaan Bharmal, Google’s Head of Marketing Operations, Europe, Middle East, and Africa and the man behind the idea for Space Lab. “The Space Lab channel will serve as a home base on YouTube for creating, sharing, and discovering the best space and science-related videos in the world. Our goal is to encourage students to explore the world of science, earthbound and beyond, by first accessing YouTube, and ultimately space.”

As the leading PC supplier to students of all ages,# Lenovo enhances learning inside and outside the classroom via PC and tablet technology solutions as well as by spearheading progressive education research led by Lenovo’s research arm, the Education Research Initiative (ERI). Current ERI projects include the Student Global Leadership Initiative, in which students from five countries collaborate virtually using Lenovo tablets to help solve the earth’s energy issues; equipping teachers with the skills to use technology innovatively at the Bastow Institute, the world’s premier training facility for primary and secondary school teachers; and collaboration with ETS, the world’s leading provider of educational testing, on combating students’ summertime “brain drain” by using ThinkPad laptops to measure whether frequent, low-stakes testing improves knowledge retention for students over their summer break.

“We’ve worked with educators around the world for more than 20 years to empower teaching and learning with innovative technology products that connect classrooms digitally with the global knowledge economy,” said Mike Schmedlen, Director of Worldwide Education at Lenovo. “Space Lab complements our commitment to education by giving teachers everywhere an unprecedented opportunity to spark students’ creativity and learning, and together help unlock some of the mysteries of the universe.”

Details and timeline:
Students may submit a two-minute video now through Dec. 7, 2011. The video can be as simple as an explanation on a blackboard or the demonstration of a mock-up in the classroom. Every video must, however, explain the following:
Experiment Question: The scientific question the entrant wants to test.
Hypothesis: An educated guess at answering the experiment question.
Method: A simple explanation of the methods used to conduct the experiment testing the hypothesis in microgravity.
Results: The expected results of the experiment.
Entrants may submit up to three experiments in one of two scientific disciplines — either biological or physical sciences. Submissions will be grouped by region (the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific).The top 60 finalists (10 from each of the two age groups, 20 total per each of the three regions) will be announced on Jan. 3, 2011, at which time judging and public voting will begin on YouTube. Six regional winners (one from each age group, from each of the three regions) will then be selected to fly to the U.S. where the global winners (two individuals/teams chosen from the regional winners, one in each age category) will be announced in March 2012.

In addition to the trip to the U.S., the two global winners/teams will have their experiment live streamed from space, take a ZERO-G flight, receive a Lenovo IdeaPad laptop and have the choice of one of two trips: a trip to Tokyo, Japan, to tour the JAXA facilities and watch the rocket containing their experiment take off in 2012, or, once they are 18 years old, they can choose to embark on a one-of-a-kind astronaut training experience in Star City, Russia, the training facility for Russian cosmonauts. The training will include many of the same training classes and simulations that turn regular people into real astronauts as well as a VIP tour of Moscow, and personalized souvenirs including a spaceflight suit, and more.

The remaining four regional winners will also receive a trip to the U.S., a ZERO-G flight, and a Lenovo IdeaPad laptop.

Space-Inspired Tablet
Lenovo ThinkPad laptops have played a critical role aboard dozens of NASA space shuttle missions since 1995 and are currently used by astronauts in critical operations onboard the International Space Station. To commemorate Lenovo technology’s role in space exploration and Space Lab, Lenovo today is introducing a Space Lab Special Edition ThinkPad Tablet for space enthusiasts. The astronaut-inspired package includes a 32 GB ThinkPad Tablet pre-loaded with space and education-related apps, an International Space Station mission badge, Space Lab sticker, sling bag and noise-canceling headphones sold via www.lenovo.com/spacelab.

“Humanity’s future relies on moving beyond Earth. As long as we are confined to one planet, the existence of our species will always be in question.

Realizing this goal will require an entrepreneurial spirit and a new generation of scientists and astronauts. YouTube Space Lab is a wonderful initiative that will help inspire young minds around the world to take a greater interest in science and the future of space exploration.”
- Professor Stephen Hawking, YouTube Space Lab judge.

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity was launched November 26, 2011 at 10:02 EST. The MSL is scheduled to land on Mars at Gale Crater between August 6 and August 20, 2012. The super-size rover Curiosity will help assess Mars’ habitability. Curiosity’s primary mission objective is to determine whether Mars is or was an environment able to support life. The mission is not searching for life forms. It will also analyze samples scooped up from the soil and drilled from rocks.

Curiosity is five times as large, and carries more than ten times the mass of scientific instruments as the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit or Opportunity. The MSL rover Curiosity was launched by an Atlas V 541 rocket and is expected to operate for at least one Martian year (668 Martian sols/686 Earth days) as it explores with greater range than any previous Mars rover. A sol is the term used by planetary astronomers to define the duration of a solar day on Mars. A mean Martian solar day, or “sol”, is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds on earth.

Mars Science Laboratory mission cost is about US$2.5 billion and is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Mars exploration is a long-term effort that includes robotic exploration of Mars. The MSL project is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of California Institute of Technology for NASA.

Kīlauea, on the island of Hawaii, is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet, and is regarded by the USGS as the most dangerous volcano in the U.S.

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Juno is a NASA New Frontiers mission to the planet Jupiter, and was originally proposed at a cost of approximately US$700 million (FY03) for a June 2009 launch. NASA budgetary restrictions resulted in Juno being re-scheduled to its August 2011 launch on board an Atlas V rocket in the 551 configuration — one of the heaviest payload configurations. As of June 2011, the mission was projected to cost $1.1 billion over its life.

Juno is set to study Jupiter’s composition, gravity field, magnetic field, and polar magnetosphere while in polar orbit. Juno will also search for clues about how Jupiter formed, including whether the planet has a rocky core. Juno is also set to study the amount of water present within the deep atmosphere of Jupiter, and how mass is distributed within the planet. Juno will also study Jupiter’s deep winds, which can reach speeds of 370 mph.

The Juno mission is set to conclude in October 2017, after 33 orbits around Jupiter. The probe will be de-orbited to crash into Jupiter.

Spooky? September 9, 2009 also happens to be the 252nd day of the year (2 + 5 +2 = 9).

Attention Numerologists:
09:09 09/09/09 — the last set of repeating, single-digit dates that we’ll see for almost a century (until January 1, 2101), or a millennium, January 1, 3001.

Apple iTunes version 9.0 was announced on 09/09/09.

Other cool number dates:

COMING UP …
10/10/10
11/11/11
12/12/12

IN DAYS PAST …
08/08/08 — Day One, 2008 Summer Olympics in China, ringing in at 8 p.m. on 08/08/08.

07/07/07

06/06/06

05/05/05

04/04/04

03/03/03

02/02/02

01/01/01 — JAN 01 2001 – A black monolith measuring approximately 9 feet tall appears in Seattle, Washington’s Magnuson Park, placed by an anonymous artist in reference to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

01/23/45
02/04/06
04/06/08

More nine stuff …
9 x 3 = 27, and 2 + 7 = 9

Multiply nine by any two, three or four-digit number and the sums of those digits will also break down to nine. For example: 9×62 = 558; 5+5+8=18; 1+8=9.

9 x 2 = 18 (1 + 8 = 9)
9 x 3 = 27 (2 + 7 = 9)
9 x 4 = 36 (3 + 6 = 9)
9 x 5 = 45 (4 + 5 = 9)
9 x 6 = 54 (5 + 4 = 9)
…

Multiply nine by any two, three or four-digit number and the sums of those digits will also break down to nine.

9 x 62 = 558; 5 + 5 + 8 = 18; 1 + 8 = 9
9 x 25 = 225; 2 + 2 + 5 = 9
9 x 555 = 4995; 4 + 9 + 5 + 9 = 27; 2 + 7 = 9

Don’t forget for time resources, check Arlingtoncards.com/time …

Mirror concentrate the light of the sun about 80 times, heating a fluid oil to about 700

Panel experts included Google founder Larry Page; genome pioneer Dr. Craig Venter; and inventor of optical character recognition, text-to-speech synthesis and speech recognition technology — Ray Kurzweil.

Kurzweil predicted “that we will have both the hardware and the software to achieve human level artificial intelligence with the broad suppleness of human intelligence including our emotional intelligence by 2029.”

Humans and machines would eventually merge, by means of devices embedded in people’s bodies to keep them healthy and improve their intelligence, predicted Mr Kurzweil.

Kurzweil also predicted …
“We’ll have intelligent nanobots go into our brains through the capillaries and interact directly with our biological neurons.” Nanobots will “make us smarter, remember things better and automatically go into full emergent virtual reality environments through the nervous system.”

More …
American Association for the Advancement of Science