Day: October 5, 2017

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) was only supposed to stay attached to the ISS for two years. It’s been performing well enough in its technological demonstration, however, that NASA now wants to extend its stint for three more years. Astronauts aboard the ISS installed BEAM in early 2016 as an experiment, with the intention of regularly checking its integrity, conducting radiation shielding experiments and collecting microbial air and surface samples from within its confines. The results of those tests prove that the module is tough enough to survive the harsh conditions of outer space for far longer than its original lifespan.

While Bigelow Aerospace ultimately wants its expandable habitat to serve as living quarters, it’s way too early to expect astronauts to live inside the module. BEAM will instead serve as storage space to hold up to 130 cargo transfer bags used to transport supplies from a spacecraft to the station.

Its new role will free up space inside the ISS for more experiments. It will also allow NASA to learn more about modular habitats’ structural integrity, thermal stability and resistance to space debris, radiation and microbial growth. The extended experimental period could bring us closer to the independent inflatable stations Bigelow Aerospace wants to send to low-Earth orbit.

Based on the procurement filing NASA submitted, the new contract will overlap with the older one and will begin later this year. By the end of the new three-year contract, the agency could choose to extend it for one more year or to finally jettison and allow it to burn as it enters our planet’s atmosphere.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: NASA, Federal Business Opportunities

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Russia’s digital warfare campaign isn’t limited to targeting distant servers. The Wall Street Journal has learned that Russian hackers are targeting individual NATO soldiers near, such as those deployed to Poland and the Baltic states. The intruders are compromising phones or Facebook accounts, in some cases grabbing data from handsets and erasing contacts. And while the Russian government has historically denied involvement in any hacking campaign, officials have little doubt that it’s behind the attacks.

Western forces note that the efforts are not only very well-coordinated, but that the equipment involved is likely too sophisticated for criminals. A probe spotted a portable antenna used to compromise phones, for example, while drones are also part of the campaign. Even the way soldiers learn of the hacks hints at an official Russian campaign: American soldiers have had strangers (likely Russian agents) come up to them mentioning details of their personal lives.

It’s relatively easy to defeat these campaigns. In response to one incident, soldiers pulled SIM cards from their phones and were barred from going online beyond specific, locked-down hotspots. Estonian recruits are barred from using smartphones during operations.

How serious are these breaches, though? Given that the attacks have done very little damage or are harvesting info that’s already public, officials believe they’re primarily intended as a form of intimidation: we’re watching you. They may also be a way of finding out whether or not troop levels at a given base are larger than NATO claimed on the record. The concern, as you might suspect, is that there may be a time where these hacks deal serious damage. A hacked phone might serve as a Trojan horse if it connects to a secure network, for starters. Either way, the discoveries could have armies rethinking their smartphone policies to eliminate even the slightest risk of hacking attempts on the front lines.

Source: Wall Street Journal

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Google packed the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL full of the latest in most smartphone tech, but one area they are ahead of everyone is in the SIM card department. The Pixel 2 phones include an eSIM, which is an embedded SIM that lets you quickly connect to a carrier without having to pop open your phone to slide in a SIM card and take whatever steps necessary to acquire said SIM.

Why is that important? It’s important because an eSIM allows a carrier to activate your phone without the need to head into a store and get a SIM card. Of course, carriers would have to support this idea and almost none of them do. At this time, the only carrier that works with the Pixel 2 eSIM is Project Fi, which is Google’s own service.

If you buy a Pixel 2 from the Google Store or Project Fi, you’ll be able to walk-through the setup to Project Fi during the first boot if you want. That means you can sign-up for new service and join Project Fi or active your current subscription without having to open up the phone. That’s pretty cool, right?

Google says that they are piloting eSIM and hope to share their findings with industry partners. Because in the end, wouldn’t it be great if you could just buy a phone and activate it without the extra step of having to order a SIM or head into a carrier store? Yes x1000.

// Google

Pixel 2 Phones Use eSIM, so They Won’t Even Need a SIM on Project Fi is a post from: Droid Life

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