The Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) experiment is a testbed consisting of three 8-inch-diameter (200 mm) miniaturized satellites that can operate in a variety of environments, including inside the International Space Station (ISS). The MIT Space Systems Laboratory developed the experiment to provide the Air Force and NASA with a long term, replenishable, and upgradable testbed for formation flight. It will be used to validate high risk control, metrology, and autonomy technologies. The technologies are critical to the operation of distributed satellite and docking missions such as TechSat21, Starlight, Terrestrial Planet Finder, and Orbital Express. The SPHERES concept was inspired by the Training Remotes from Star Wars.[1]
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Description [link]
To approximate the dynamics presented by these missions, the testbed consists of three miniaturized satellites, microsatellites or "spheres," which can control their relative positions and orientations, and is operable on a 2-D laboratory platform, NASA's KC-135, and the International Space Station. The testbed is being developed jointly by the MIT Space Systems Laboratory and Aurora Flight Sciences (Formerly Payload Systems, inc.), with funding from the Department of Defense and several NASA centers.
The battery-powered, 8-inch-diameter (200 mm) satellites fly within the ISS cabin using carbon dioxide to fuel 12 thrusters.[2]
Timeline [link]
Three SPHERES vehicles were delivered to the International Space Station. The first vehicle, along with a limited supply of consumables and support equipment, arrived at the station aboard Progress flight ISS-21P, and single-vehicle tests and experiments began on May 18, 2006. The second vehicle arrived with a much larger supply of consumables aboard Space Shuttle flight STS-121. The final vehicle and consumable supply were delivered to the station on Space Shuttle flight STS-116.
On April 27, 2007, ISS Expedition 15 flight engineer Sunita Williams performed a series of test flights with the satellites.[2]
See also [link]
- AERCam Sprint
- Artificial intelligence
- Microgravity
- Robotics
- Electromagnetic Formation Flight (EMFF)
- Scientific research on the ISS
References [link]
- ^ NASA - Droids on the ISS
- ^ a b "International Space Station Status Report: SS07-23". NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/apr/HQ_SS0723_station_status.html.
External links [link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: SPHERES |
https://wn.com/SPHERES
Life (Diamonds in the Dark)
"'Life (Diamonds in the Dark)" is a song by Swedish DJ and producer John Dahlbäck featuring Swedish recording artist Agnes. Dahlbäck originally released the instrumental version of the song called "Life" in February 2012, but later got Swedish singer Agnes to sing the vocals on the re-release. In an interview with American magazine "Billboard" Dahlbäck commented on the co-operation with Agnes; "“She’s one of the biggest pop stars in Sweden, so for me it was a big honor to have her on the track. This may not be what she’d do normally, but she’s very happy with the result.”
The song is released together with three remixes that will accompany the February 25 release. Dahlback selected remixes from Australian upstarts Feenixpawl, fellow Swedish DJs Lunde Bros., and Canadian electro-house artist Lazy Rich.
Track listings
(Released: February 25, 2013)
Life (Sly and the Family Stone album)
Life is the third studio album by funk/soul band Sly and the Family Stone, released in September 1968 on Epic/CBS Records.
Music
Unlike its predecessor, Dance to the Music, Life was not a commercial success, although it has received mostly positive reviews from music critics over the years. Many of its songs, including "M'Lady", "Fun", "Love City", as well as the title track, became popular staples in the Family Stone's live show. A middle ground between the fiery A Whole New Thing and the more commercial Dance to the Music, Life features very little use of studio effects, and is instead more driven by frontman Sly Stone's compositions. Topics for the album's songs include the dating scene ("Dynamite!", "Chicken", "M'Lady"), groupies ("Jane is a Groupee"), and "plastic" (or "fake") people (the Beatlesque "Plastic Jim"). Of particular note is that the Family Stone's main themes of unity and integration are explored here in several songs ("Fun", "Harmony", "Life", and "Love City"). The next Family Stone LP, Stand!, would focus almost exclusively on these topics.
Life (Our Lady Peace song)
"Life" is a song by Canadian rock group Our Lady Peace. It was the second single released from their fourth studio album, Spiritual Machines and the most successful from that album. The song was nominated for "Best Single" at the 2002 Juno Awards, losing to Nickelback's "How You Remind Me".
Song information
This song like the rest on the album, was partially inspired by Ray Kurzweil's book The Age of Spiritual Machines. While directly following the track "In Repair" on the studio album, on the band's 2006 compilation album, A Decade, the track is immediately preceded by a spoken excerpt by Ray Kurzweil titled "R.K. Jack" that was recorded during the Spiritual Machines sessions and previously unreleased.
Kurzweil narration (R.K. Jack)
The band has performed "Life" live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn. The song can also be briefly heard in Trailer Park Boys: Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys in which J-Roc remixes the "do do do" part with his own rap.
Search for extraterrestrial intelligence
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for the scientific search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. For example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other worlds.
There are great challenges in searching the universe for signs of intelligent life, including their identification and interpretation. As various SETI projects have progressed, some have criticized early claims by researchers as being too "euphoric".
Scientific investigation of the potential phenomenon began shortly after the advent of radio in the early 1900s. Focused international efforts to answer a variety of scientific questions have been going on since the 1980s. In 2015, Stephen Hawking and Russian billionaire Yuri Milner announced a well-funded effort, called the Breakthrough Initiatives to expand efforts to search for extraterrestrial life.
History of SETI
Early work
As early as 1896, Nikola Tesla suggested that an extreme version of his wireless electrical transmission system could be used to contact beings on Mars. In 1899 while conducting experiments at his Colorado Springs experimental station, he thought he had detected a signal from the planet since an odd repetitive static signal seemed to cut off when Mars set in the night sky. Analysis of Tesla's research has ranged from suggestions that Tesla detected nothing, he simply was misunderstanding the new technology he was working with, to claims that Tesla may have been observing signals from Marconi's European radio experiments and even that he could have picked up naturally occurring Jovian plasma torus signals. In the early 1900s, Guglielmo Marconi, Lord Kelvin, and David Peck Todd also stated their belief that radio could be used to contact Martians, with Marconi stating that his stations had also picked up potential Martian signals.
Seti Zone
Seti (Nepali: सेती अञ्चल
Listen ) is one of the fourteen zones located in the Far-Western Development Region of Nepal.
Seti is divided into five districts:
Dhangadhi in the Terai is the major city of Seti Zone, headquarters are in Dipayal-Silgadhi.
