Gizmorama

October 25, 2010
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Good Morning,

Check out the first article for details on NASA's $30
million investment in private lunar data. Plus, I threw
in a really cool video on the science behind the one-punch
knockout at the end of the issue, a must see!

Until Next Time,
Erin

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Email your comments

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NASA to buy private moon data

WASHINGTON - NASA has signed contracts with U.S. six teams
competing to design, build and launch private moon probes to
purchase their lunar data, agency officials say. The six
teams are competing in the Google Lunar X Prize contest to
send low-cost missions to the lunar surface, SPACE.com re-
ported. "The dollar values may be a relatively small contract
by NASA standards, but these contracts send a clear signal
to the investment community that NASA is ready to purchase
lunar data, even from small, entrepreneurial firms," said
William Pomerantz, senior director for space prizes at the
X Prize Foundation. A $30 million prize purse is up for grabs
in the Google competition as teams vie to land a robot on the
lunar surface, have it travel at least 1,650 feet across the
lunar surface, and transmit its data and images back to Earth.
The first team to accomplish that feat by Dec. 31, 2012, will
claim $20 million, with $10 million going to second place,
SPACE.com reported.


Cassini dances with nine Saturn moons

PASADENA, Calif. - NASA's Cassini spacecraft spent a busy
three days capturing images of nine of Saturn's moons, space
agency officials said. Particularly interesting were high-
resolution images of the moons Dione and Rhea, the most de-
tailed since the Voyager spacecraft visited them in the early
1980s, a NASA release said Wednesday. From Oct. 14-17,
Cassini glided past the moons Titan, Polydeuces, Mimas,
Pallene, Telesto, Methone, Aegaeon, Dione and Rhea. Images
were taken of both Saturn's largest moon Titan and one of
its smallest, Pallene, only 3 miles wide. Of the five biggest
moons of Saturn, Dione and Rhea are often considered siblings
because their orbits are close to each other and they exhibit
similar patterns of light reflecting off them. Scientists
say the new high-resolution images of the two show while
parts of Dione are heavily cratered like Rhea, there are
other areas covered by relatively smooth plains that must
have been resurfaced at some point in Dione's past, an event
that seems to be missing from Rhea's geological history. The
Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA,
the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency and is
managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.


Carolina pioneering human waste-to-energy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A North Carolina county's plan to burn
human excrement for electricity is being watched nationwide,
scientists said. Cabarrus County plans to begin burning pro-
cessed waste at its water-treatment plan as early as next
year and the project could be duplicated across the United
States, the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported Sunday. "All
responsible water utilities are contemplating this as part
of their future planning," Robert Rubin, a retired North
Carolina State University professor of biological and agri-
cultural engineering, told the Observer. "We are looking at
these societal byproducts as a resource." The newspaper said
Mecklenburg County was drafting plans for a similar project
authorized by a February court ruling allowing electric
utilities to pay a premium price for waste-generated power.
Cabarrus County has incinerated waste for several years. The
plan calls for a small steam generator to capture the heat
from the burning and use it to generate around 1.5 megawatts
of electricity, the newspaper said.


Video: The Science of a One Punch Knock Out

Is there such a thing as a one hitter quitter? Watch and
learn about how a punches' power isn't all from arm strength.
A punches' power actually starts from your feet, and travels
through your body and into your arms.

http://www.evtv1.com/player.aspx?itemnum=11278

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