For everything from family to computers…
Windows/Mac/Linux: LibreOffice, the open source, free alternative to Microsoft Office, just got a big update that adds in a ton of new features alongside a new cloud version you can install on your own server.
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The windows in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner are awesome. You can electronically dim them for five different levels of sunlight and visibility. That’s so much better than the typical airplane window shade option of blinding or blocked out. But the coolest thing about Dreamliner windows are how huge they are, like vertical…
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In Rocket League you slam around a Thunderdome-style pitch in hot rally cars while trying to smash a gigantic "rocket ball" into a goal… Basically, it’s the perfect marriage of soccer and demolition derby. Now imagine bringing that into the real world with these new tiny replicas of the digital autos from the hit game itself.
Collectible toys that tie-in to video games are hot, with properties like Activision’s Skylanders, Nintendo’s Amiibo and Disney’s Infinity selling well with consumers.
The initial run of 12 digital racing cars from Rocket League will go on sale this spring, each packaged in a tiny little "rocket ball," which doubles as a soccer ball in the game.
The cute little toy line is based on the Original Minis series from Zag Toys, and some will come with special codes redeemable for in-game cosmetic upgrades for the digital autos. To play with one of these analog toy cars, you’ll just place it on the floor, pull back, and let fly — just like the little cars we all played with as kids.
Check out this gif to see for yourself.
Cute, right? The first Rocket League racers coming to the toy line are named Octane, Dominus, Masamune, Hotshot, Grog, X-Devil, Merc, and Backfire, with four other as yet unnamed variants vying for your dollar. If you’re waiting for even more Rocket League mini car fun, VentureBeat says that Zag is on it.
Via: VentureBeat
Source: RocketLeague
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Boeing may have pushed the Starliner’s first trip to the ISS back to 2018, but we’re sure to get more details about the space taxi between now and then. Reuters reports the spacecraft will pack more than 600 3D-printed parts thanks to Boeing’s recent deal with Oxford Performance Materials. Printed with a plastic called PEKK, the parts are expected to perform well under the stress of spaceflight and extreme temperatures.
What’s more, the material offers both weight and cost savings for parts that are typically made out of metal and other plastics. Oxford says PEKK is strong as strong as aluminum, but it weighs "significantly" less. The company says its plastic is also fire and radiation resistant in addition to being able to withstand temperatures that range from minus 300 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Boeing will use the PEKK material for components in a number of areas, including brackets for the propulsion system and parts for the air revitalization system.
Boeing is currently constructing three Starliner capsules under a $4.2 billion contract from NASA. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is also building a space taxi capsule with its $2.6 contract with the US space agency. While Boeing expects to launch a test flight in June 2018 with a manned mission to follow in August, SpaceX also eyes a 2018 launch for its Dragon capsule. Of course, when Boeing sends a Starliner into space, its crew will be outfitted with fancy new spacesuits.
Source: Reuters
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A draft of a forthcoming GAO report raises concerns about turbopumps in the Falcon 9’s Merlin engines.
SpaceX
A draft of an Congressional report into NASA’s commercial crew program has found technical problems with both SpaceX and Boeing’s efforts to provide transport to the International Space Station. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, the forthcoming report from the US Government Accountability Office focuses most closely on issues with turbopumps in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
The newspaper says the report has found a “pattern of problems” with the turbine blades within the turbopumps, which deliver rocket fuel into the combustion chamber of the Merlin rocket engine. Some of the components used in the turbopumps are prone to cracks, the government investigators say, and may require a redesign before NASA allows the Falcon 9 booster to be used for crewed flights. NASA has been briefed on the report’s findings, and the agency’s acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, told the newspaper that he thinks “we know how to fix them.â€
AÂ spokesman for SpaceX, John Taylor, said the company already has a plan in place to fix the potential cracking issue. “We have qualified our engines to be robust to turbine wheel cracks,” Taylor said. “However, we are modifying the design to avoid them altogether. This will be part of the final design iteration on Falcon 9.” This final variant of the Falcon 9 booster, named Block 5, is being designed for optimal safety and easier return for potential reuse. According to company founder Elon Musk, it could fly by the end of this year.
The new report also cites other problems with the commercial crew development efforts by SpaceX and Boeing. The latter company, for example, may be having difficulty with ensuring the reliability of its parachute systems to bring crews safely back to a land-based landing. Both companies are also struggling to meet NASA’s mission requirement for a loss-of-crew probability of 1-in-270.
NASA has previously acknowledged that this issue, citing the challenge of dealing with micrometeoroid and orbital debris. During a NASA Advisory Council meeting late in 2016, the director of the commercial crew program, Kathy Leuders, said the companies were looking at options such as an on-orbit inspection to ensure the spacecraft were safe to fly back through Earth’s atmosphere. “There’s really not anything more from a design perspective that will make it better,” she said. “At some point you have to fly, there’s only so much shielding will accomplish.”
Boeing has set a “no earlier than†date of August 2018 for its first crewed test flight as part of the commercial crew program, and SpaceX has targeted May 2018. The new GAO report is consistent with schedule concerns raised previously about the viability of those dates. According to an unofficial Ars analysis published in late January, even a single crewed test flight in 2018 by either company appears unlikely. Operational flights appear unlikely before mid-2019.
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