NASA Space Crash Explained
NASA finally has an explanation for a crash that took place between a robotic NASA spacecraft and an orbiting satellite. The DART spacecraft was attempting to demonstrate the simplicity and accuracy of "Autonomous Rendezvous Technology" when it crashed into a defunct Pentagon satellite last year. NASA previously concluded that DART had depleted its fuel reserves and was unable to avoid the collision, but they now know that DART's main navigation sensor assumed it was flying away from the satellite rather than violently into it. The $110 million failure has left DART and the satellite in orbit, although they will eventually burn up when they reenter the atmosphere. $110 million lost because a sensor got confused. I think it's finally time to reinstate monkey and dog astronauts, not only because they could easily solve a basic problem like this, but also because the idea that our skies could be littered with the carcasses of dead monkeys is one that I find extremely comforting. No wait, not comforting. Horrifying.
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See the guy in the picture? He calls that lovedoll his wife. Don't be that guy. According to a recent study, 9% of people would be willing to have sex with a robot. And not like, to win a bunch of money if they survive the affair, they're just straight-up willing to bang a ... / Continue →
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Jerks at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a robotic snake that can wrap itself around objects when thrown at them. Cool, here -- grab a hold of this volcano. The idea is to create a robot capable of slithering into tight spaces, perhaps for scouting or search-and-r... / Continue →
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Because building our future killers is all the rage right now, this is a video of a quadrocopter fitted with a 3-D printed claw modeled after an eagle's so it can grab things in flight. You know, things like YOUR HEAD. Then drop you from really high up. Like my high school p... / Continue →
