Wow. After spending the last few days telling us that its New Shepard rocket was almost certainly going to be destroyed in today’s in-flight launch escape test, Blue Origin surprised everybody—even itself—with a clean landing of both booster and crew capsule.
The Curiosity and NASA’s other Mars rovers had to look for wide-open and flat landing locations to be on the safe side. Mars 2020, however, will have a camera-based navigation system capable of assessing terrains and reacting to potential hazards on the fly, allowing the rover to touch down on complex surfaces its predecessors have yet to explore. That camera is officially called Lander Vision System (LVS), and NASA has recently begun testing its capabilities. The space agency placed it aboard the flight test of an experimental rocket built by Masten Space Systems, a California-based aerospace startup. To be precise, LVS flew as part of a landing technology dubbed the Autonomous Descent and Ascent Powered-flight Testbed.
LVS guides a spacecraft’s landing by taking pictures of what’s directly below it as it descends. It then compares what it sees to its onboard map, detecting its precise location and determining whether it’s in danger of, say, smashing against a boulder or landing too close to a cliff. If it detects anything that could jeopardize the rover’s safety, the system steers it towards somewhere that’s safer to land.
By the end of the test flight, LVS was successfully able to guide Masten’s rocket back to the ground. Andrew Johnson, who serves as the project’s principal investigator, said they were able to "show a closed loop pinpoint landing demo that eliminated any technical concerns with flying the Lander Vision System on Mars 2020" during the test. By starting its journey from locations its older siblings weren’t able to go to, Mars 2020 would be able to beam back new data and photos of the red planet more interesting than what we’re used to seeing today.
Amazon keeps piling on the Prime perks: on the heels of adding gaming bonuses via Twitch Prime recently, the company has launched a new benefit for readers called Amazon Prime Reading. The service for US Prime members will give them unlimited access to over a thousand Kindle books, magazines, comics, and other reading material at no extra cost.
Some of the included titles are The Hobbit, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, When I’m Gone, The Complete Peanuts Collection Vol. 1, and Transformers: Robots in Disguise Vol. 1. Members can also flip through current issues of magazines including National Geographic Traveler, People, and Sports Illustrated without having subscriptions to those publications.
Current Prime members now have Prime Reading included in their $99 yearly membership, and all new members who sign up will get access to it too. Also, you don’t need a Kindle or Amazon Fire device to make use of Prime Reading: all included titles are available via the Android and iOS Kindle apps. Prime Reading adds to Amazon’s list of book perks for Prime members, which includes Kindle Unlimited, the $10 per month subscription service that provides access to over one million titles, and the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library, which lets members borrow one e-book a month from a wider pool of books.
It appears the Prime Reading library is smaller and different than that of Kindle Unlimited, so it may end up being a good way for Prime users to test out Amazon’s extra reading services. It’s possible that some customers may be encouraged to sign up for Kindle Unlimited after checking out Prime Reading—but on the flip side, current Kindle Unlimited customers may stop paying the extra $10 per month if they prefer Prime Reading’s selection.
Man Builds Real-Life Power Fist from Fallout 4 [Video]
Youtuber “Jairus of All†inspired himself from Fallout 4 to create a real life version of the game’s power fist, a pneumatic-powered punching device that can even crush concrete blocks! Watch as he punches through coconuts, concrete blocks, soda cans and watermelons.
Finally the long awaited Powerfist V1.0 !!!! The first, real life, portable, functioning, actual Powerfist in action! IRL! I hope you enjoy it!
European teenagers might be the luckiest in the world.
The European Union is debating whether to give teenagers a rail pass worth 407 euros ($456) when they turn 18, a free gift that would allow them to travel the continent for up to a month.
“We admire the boldness and the level of ambition and we are ready to explore [the plan] further,” Violeta Bulc, the EU’s top transport official, said Tuesday in European Parliament.
Bulc cautioned that more work needs to be done on the proposal, but suggested the EU start with a pilot scheme.
A month-long Interrail pass gives its holder the ability to make unlimited journeys anywhere on the continent — from Athens to Aberdeen and Lisbon to Helsinki. It’s a popular way for teenagers to spend their summer.
Supporters say the program would allow Europe’s youngsters to explore and make friends across the continent. This, they suggest, could lead to more support for the EU.
“The mobility of young people is essential in promoting a sense of belonging to Europe,” advocates write in their official proposal. “Such a program would give all young people, regardless of their social or educational background, the opportunity to discover Europe’s diversity.”
The desire to stoke enthusiasm about the EU comes at a time of political turmoil. High unemployment rates in multiple EU countries have left many young people without jobs, and the U.K.’s decision to leave the bloc has shaken Brussels.
Meanwhile, populist anti-European parties are on the rise and the union faces the biggest migration crisis in its history.
The free train travel scheme is not the first attempt to convince youngsters of the benefits of the union.
The highly successful exchange program Erasmus allows students to spend one or two semesters at a university in one of the 34 countries participating in the program. They’re even given a small scholarship to help cover living and travel costs.
More than 270,000 students spent time abroad under the program in the 2013-2014 academic year.
CNNMoney (London) First published October 5, 2016: 10:01 AM ET
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