Lifeboat Foundation

The United States Air Force signed a deal with SpaceX valued at around $28 million in 2018, to assess the Starlink network’s performance on military platforms. The Air Force is actively experimenting with how space-based internet could enhance Multi-Domain Operations (MDO). These operations require moving vast quantities of data between the five domains of warfare: ground, sea, sky, outer space, and cyberspace. The military needs a reliable communication system at all times to protect and defend the country from potential threats. The assessment of Starlink will offer the military insight on whether it should purchase Starlink service long-term.

U.S. Air Force Chief for Acquisition Dr. Will Roper, who serves as the principal adviser for technology research and development, met with reporters to discuss a live-fire military exercise that took place early this month, Investors news reports. During the conference, Roper shared SpaceX’s Starlink network was tested during the live-fire exercise as part of the military’s Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS). – “What I’ve seen from Starlink has been impressive and positive,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “They’re cleverly engineered satellites cleverly deployed. So, there’s a lot to learn from how they’re designed and I think that there’s a lot we can learn from them.”

Roper shared that the Air Force connected Starlink to a “variety of air and terrestrial assets”. Starlink terminals are hooked to the cockpit of a Boeing (BA) KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft to assess the network’s performance while the airplanes fly.

Part of my series countering common misconceptions in space journalism.

This blog is a follow on to my original post on Starlink. Starlink is an emerging high performance satellite-based internet routing network developed by SpaceX. Its ultimate purpose is to become the de-facto internet backbone provider, connect billions more people to the internet, and revolutionize access to space.

Continue reading “Starlink packet routing” »

If you want your vehicle to last long past your final payment, get one that can go the distance.

A research and development lab of the Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies in the southern city of Dongguan caught fire, producing large clouds of thick grey smoke. Locals caught the incident on camera.

The videos show plumes of smoke coming from the building’s top floors, and largely obscuring the sky above the facility. According to the local fire department, the flammable sound-absorbing cotton which the facility was using may be the main source of the blaze.

🚨 #BREAKING – A #Huawei research laboratory burns in 🔥 #Dongguanpic.twitter.com/BGqR7Hmz0J — ISCResearch (@ISCResearch) September 25, 2020

The Expedition 63 crew will stay in the Russian segment’s Zvezda service module during a cabin air leak test this weekend.

As part of ongoing work to isolate the source of a slight increase above the standard cabin air leak rate, the Expedition 63 crew will once again spend the weekend inside the station’s Russian segment. All the space station hatches will be closed this weekend so mission controllers can again monitor the air pressure in each module with the goal of localizing the source of the increased rate. The test presents no safety concern for the crew. Commander Chris Cassidy and his crewmates Ivan Vagner and Anatoly Ivanishin will stay in the Zvezda service module from Friday night into Monday morning.

The crew will spend Friday gathering items for the weekend isolation before closing hatches throughout the station at the conclusion of their crew work day.

Continue reading “More Leak Checks as Crew Spends Weekend in Russian Segment” »

At our Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, teams are testing tools and developing training approaches for lunar surface operations and moonwalks NASA Astronauts will conduct during Artemis missions. 🌙

This Friday, watch live as we speak with astronauts conducting the training underwater! Stay tuned for details on how to watch.

This giant 60-foot ‘Gundam’ robot has made its first test moves — look at the size of it! 😲 🤖.

Mitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells, generating energy that supports life. A giant molecular proton pump, called complex I, is crucial: It sets in motion a chain of reactions, creating a proton gradient that powers the generation of ATP, the cell’s fuel. Despite complex I’s central role, the mechanism by which it transports protons across the membrane has so far been unknown. Now, Leonid Sazanov and his group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) have solved the mystery of how complex I works: Conformational changes in the protein combined with electrostatic waves move protons into the mitochondrial matrix. This is the result of a study published today in Science.

Complex I is the first enzyme in the respiratory chain, a series of protein complexes in the inner mitochondrial membrane. The respiratory chain is responsible for most of the cell’s energy production. In this chain, three membrane proteins set up a gradient of protons, moving them from the cell’s cytoplasm into the mitochondrial inner space, called the matrix. The energy for this process comes mostly from the electron transfer between NADH molecules, derived from the food we eat, and oxygen that we breathe. ATP synthase, the last protein in the chain, then uses this proton gradient to generate ATP.

Complex I is remarkable not only because of its central role in life, but also for its sheer size: with a molecular weight of 1 Megadalton, the eukaryotic complex I is one of the biggest membrane proteins. Its size also makes complex I hard to study. In 2016, Sazanov and his group were the first to solve the structure of mammalian complex I, following on their 2013 structure of a simpler bacterial enzyme. But the mechanism by which complex I moves protons across the membrane has remained controversial. “One idea was that a part of complex I works like a piston, to open and close channels through which protons travel”, explains Sazanov. “Another idea was that residues at the center of complex I act as a driver. It turns out that an even more unusual mechanism is at work.”

As earth becomes less habitable due to the climate emergency, The Astroland Agency are working out how humans could colonize Mars by 2035. Before the pandemic, we spent time with them to learn how that would work.

About VICE:
The Definitive Guide To Enlightening Information. From every corner of the planet, our immersive, caustic, ground-breaking and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet and other subjects that don’t even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world you never knew existed. Welcome to VICE.

Continue reading “This is What Mars Colonies Could Be Like in 2035” »