LA "Jetpack Man" Was Probably a Balloon
Long-time Slashdot reader Aighearach shares a report from the BBC: Investigators looking into a series of sightings of a mysterious "jetpack man" flying over Los Angeles say they may in fact have been balloons. The FBI launched an investigation after.....»»
Florida company"s space balloon takes big step toward 1st human flight
The weekend trip was a success for Space Perspective, the company that already has more than 1,800 people waiting for their chance to take balloon rides in a posh capsule up to the edge of space......»»
NASA scientific balloon takes flight with student-built payloads
NASA's Scientific Balloon Program's fifth balloon mission of the 2024 fall campaign took flight Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, from the agency's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The HASP 1.0 (High-Altitude Student Platform).....»»
Audit warns costs for NASA"s new Artemis launcher could balloon to $2.7 billion
NASA's second mobile launcher needed for future missions in the Artemis program is already years late and millions over budget, and NASA's Office of the Inspector General warns it could get even worse......»»
NASA"s EXCITE mission prepared for scientific balloon flight
Scientists and engineers are ready to fly an infrared mission called EXCITE (EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope) to the edge of space......»»
Here"s how Curiosity"s sky crane changed the way NASA explores Mars
Twelve years ago, NASA landed its six-wheeled science lab using a daring new technology that lowers the rover using a robotic jetpack......»»
Apple Vision Pro’s content drought improves with new 3D videos
It's still not the weekly cadence we expected, but it's something. Boundless premieres tonight, taking Vision Pro users on a hot air balloon ride in Turkey......»»
A walking balloon could one day explore Titan—or Earth"s sea floor
Novel ways to move on other celestial bodies always draw the attention of the space exploration community. Here at UT, we've reported on everything from robots that suspend themselves from the walls of Martian caves to robots that hop using jets of l.....»»
XL-Calibur telescope launched to study black holes
Scientists from Washington University in St. Louis have launched a balloon-borne telescope to unlock the secrets of astrophysical black holes and neutron stars, some of the most extreme objects in the universe......»»
Michigan dealership group takes branding to the skies with hot air balloon
A hot air balloon emblazoned with the name of the Kalamazoo, Mich., dealership group dances through Midwest skies every summer......»»
NASA balloons head north of Arctic Circle for long-duration flights
NASA is set to begin launch operations mid-May for the 2024 Sweden Long-Duration Scientific Balloon Campaign. Four stadium-sized, scientific balloons carrying science missions and technology demonstrations are scheduled to lift off from Swedish Space.....»»
Two-dimensional nanomaterial sets expansion record
It is a common hack to stretch a balloon out to make it easier to inflate. When the balloon stretches, the width crosswise shrinks to the size of a string. Noah Stocek, a Ph.D. student collaborating with Western physicist Giovanni Fanchini, has devel.....»»
Microsoft opens a crack in console gaming’s decades-old walled garden
Competing marketplaces like the Epic Games Store could show up on Xbox in the future. Enlarge / Will the fragile Xbox balloon pop if that cage is opened? (credit: Aurich Lawson / Getty Images) Since the days of the NES,.....»»
Test flights on tap for Space Perspective’s luxury high-altitude balloon
This Florida-based startup wants to fly thousands of customers up to 100,000 feet. Enlarge / Space Perspective's first test capsule, Excelsior, has a diameter of approximately 16 feet (4.9 meters). (credit: Space Perspective).....»»
Why the Polar Vortex Is Bad for Balloon Artists
Leave a balloon out in the cold and it’ll shrink and look pathetic. Sorry, but that’s the law—the ideal gas law......»»
8 skydivers jump off hot air balloon before plunge kills four aboard, officials say
8 skydivers jump off hot air balloon before plunge kills four aboard, officials say.....»»
Pancake stack of radioactivity-sensitive films captures most accurate picture of star"s gamma ray beam
A pancake stack of radioactivity-sensitive films carried through the sky by a balloon was able to take the world's most accurate picture of a neutron star's gamma ray beam. To achieve this, Kobe University researchers combined the oldest method of ca.....»»
NASA"s GUSTO prepares to map space between the stars
On a vast ice sheet in Antarctica, scientists and engineers are preparing a NASA experiment called GUSTO to explore the universe on a balloon. GUSTO will launch from the Ross Ice Shelf, near the U.S. National Science Foundation's McMurdo Station rese.....»»
Quinoa research punctures 100-year-old theory of odd little "water balloons"
Quinoa and many other extremely resilient plants are covered with strange balloon-like "bladders" that for 127 years were believed to be responsible for protecting them from drought and salt......»»
Using recovery capsules to prevent loss of data from balloon-based telescopes
An international team of astrophysicists, aerospace engineers and balloonists has found that data recovery capsules are a viable means of ensuring data integrity in the event of loss of flight capabilities or communications abilities in balloon-based.....»»
2023 ozone hole ranks 16th largest, NASA and NOAA researchers find
The 2023 Antarctic ozone hole reached its maximum size on Sept. 21, according to annual satellite and balloon-based measurements made by NASA and NOAA. At 10 million square miles, or 26 million square kilometers, the hole ranked as the 12th largest s.....»»