Space Construction (12)

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SPACE WATCH (history) · Shuttle and Station · 360° Virtual Tour

View from Space Shuttle Atlantis
NASA – STS110-E-5918 (17 April 2002) — This is one a series of digital still images of the International Space Station (ISS) recorded by the STS-110 crew members on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis following the undocking of the two spacecraft some 247 statute miles above the North Atlantic. Atlantis pulled away from the complex at 1:31 p.m. (CDT). After more than a week of joint operations between the shuttle and station crews, astronaut Stephen N. Frick, pilot, backed Atlantis away to a distance of about 400 feet in front of the station, where he began a 1 1/4 lap flyaround of the ISS, newly equipped with the 27,000 pound S0 (S-zero) truss, visible in this series of images. S0 is the first segment of a truss structure which will ultimately expand the station to the length of a football field.

View from Space Shuttle Endeavour
STS111-373-001 (15 June 2002) — Backdropped by the blackness of space and a blue and white Earth, the International Space Station (ISS) is now separated from the Space Shuttle Endeavour following the undocking of the two spacecraft over western Kazakhstan. Endeavour pulled away from the complex at 9:32 a.m. (CDT) on June 15, 2002.

View from Space Shuttle Endeavour
STS111-708-057 (15 June 2002) — Backdropped by the blackness of space, this close-up view of the International Space Station (ISS) was photographed by a crewmember on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour following the undocking of the two spacecraft over western Kazakhstan. Endeavour pulled away from the complex at 9:32 a.m. (CDT) on June 15, 2002. The S0 (S-zero) Truss with the newly added Mobile Base System (MBS) is visible center frame.

View from Space Shuttle Endeavour
STS111-708-093 (15 June 2002) — Backdropped by a blue and white Earth, the International Space Station (ISS) is now separated from the Space Shuttle Endeavour following the undocking of the two spacecraft over western Kazakhstan. Endeavour pulled away from the complex at 9:32 a.m. (CDT) on June 15, 2002.

Galactic Views (83)

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SPACE WATCH

Black Hole-Powered Jets Plow Into Galaxy

NASA – This composite image of a galaxy illustrates how the intense gravity of a supermassive black hole can be tapped to generate immense power. The image contains X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (blue), optical light obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (gold) and radio waves from the NSF’s Very Large Array (pink).

This multi-wavelength view shows 4C+29.30, a galaxy located some 850 million light years from Earth. The radio emission comes from two jets of particles that are speeding at millions of miles per hour away from a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy. The estimated mass of the black hole is about 100 million times the mass of our Sun. The ends of the jets show larger areas of radio emission located outside the galaxy.

The X-ray data show a different aspect of this galaxy, tracing the location of hot gas. The bright X-rays in the center of the image mark a pool of million-degree gas around the black hole. Some of this material may eventually be consumed by the black hole, and the magnetized, whirlpool of gas near the black hole could in turn, trigger more output to the radio jet.

Most of the low-energy X-rays from the vicinity of the black hole are absorbed by dust and gas, probably in the shape of a giant doughnut around the black hole. This doughnut, or torus blocks all the optical light produced near the black hole, so astronomers refer to this type of source as a hidden or buried black hole. The optical light seen in the image is from the stars in the galaxy.

Respect For Trial & Error, & Success

By Alan Nicol – I’m working on a project with a friend of mine and it strikes me how differently we approach the development of our vision. He finds it simpler and quicker to run calculations and probabilities. I prefer to lie out a scenario and try it to see what happens.

It seems that many prefer to find ways to model the problem or the solution and run simulations to arrive at an answer; the minority will prototype, test, and experiment.

Trial-and-error, experimentation, and testing are important tools for developing new solutions and for innovation or product development. more> http://tinyurl.com/cv4yrso

Carnivorous plant throws out “junk” DNA

R&D – Genes make up about 2% of the human genome. The rest consists of a genetic material known as noncoding DNA, and scientists have spent years puzzling over why this material exists in such voluminous quantities.

The clues lie in the genome of the carnivorous bladderwort plant, Utricularia gibba.

It appears that the plant has been busy deleting noncoding “junk” DNA from its genetic material over many generations, the scientists say. This may explain the difference between bladderworts and junk-heavy species like corn and tobacco—and humans. more> http://tinyurl.com/cf7olxg

The Evolving Interconnect

By Ann Steffora Mutschler – Chip interconnect protocol requirements are evolving as designs move to 20nm and below process geometries, and not always in predictable ways.

The basic concept behind cache is that data is stored closer to processor for faster access. Cache coherence allows copies of that data to be stored in multiple places. But to be coherent, it also has to be updated regularly at all places where it is stored, and that means the interconnects have to keep up with this whole process.

“So suddenly, instead of just talking to memory you’re talking to local memories, and those local memories are talking to other people’s local memories to try and make sure whenever you need something you’ve got the right version,” Drew Wingard, CTO at Sonics said. “That has a big impact on what happens at the interconnect fabric level on these chips.” more> http://tinyurl.com/cf5xgsj