Lifeboat Foundation

LIVERMORE (CBS SF) — It sounds like a scene from a Hollywood sci-fi thriller, but researchers from Lawrence Livermore National lab have joined with an Air Force team of technologists to test if a nuclear blast could be used to deflect an earth-threatening asteroid.

Whether it be Bruce Willis and his crew of oil drillers taking on an asteroid as it approaches earth in ‘Armageddon’ or Tia Leoni and her father awaiting a massive tidal wave from an asteroid strike in ‘Deep Impact,’ Hollywood has been fascinated by the threat from space.

Physicists may have just made a major breakthrough in our understanding of the Universe.

Many have asked: Is that a rainbow on Mars? No. Rainbows aren’t possible here. Rainbows are created by light reflected off of round water droplets, but there isn’t enough water here to condense, and it’s too cold for liquid water in the atmosphere. This arc is a lens flare.

For 50 years, AeroVironment has advanced UAV development. Today, the company is a Technology Solutions Provider at the intersection of four future-defining technologies: robotics, sensors, analytics and connectivity. Its culture of experimentation and R&D dates back to its founder, Dr. Paul MacCready Jr., whose achievements earned him the nickname “the father of human-powered flight”. From deploying the world’s most popular sUAS to designing the helicopter that’s en route to fly in Mars’ thin atmosphere, AeroVironment’s collective accomplishments provide a case study of imagination, innovation and collaboration — one that has and will bring effective solutions to frontlines, farms and frontiers, yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Leading the Way: UAS Capabilities – Onward and Upward

From solar-powered aircraft to the first hand-launched small UAS (sUAS) for military reconnaissance, AeroVironment literally launched the era of small aerial vehicles for environmental, commercial and defense purposes. For 35 years, the company has made its UAVs smaller and simpler, yet with multiple and ever-more-innovative functionality.

Are you ready for a little Ingenuity?

NASA will this week make its first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.

Continue reading “Mars Helicopter: How To Follow Online This Week As NASA’s $80 Million ‘Ingenuity’ Drone Attempts A Unique Flight” »

Do not be afraid of what you see. Even though the robotics industry has been making huge progress lately, it hasn’t quite reached the level you see here.

Researchers detected the Cepheus spur, a bridge of massive blue stars, while creating the most accurate map of the galaxy to date.

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has separated from the Perseverance rover on Mars. It’s almost ready to pioneer a new form of space exploration.

On a metal mission to a dead planet.

Information about NASA’s Psyche mission, which will explore a unique metallic asteroid.