Tag: EXPLORATION

After unveiling his 'Necker Nymph' submersible last year, Richard Branson is taking his underwater adventures to the next level, with 'Virgin Oceanic' -- an initiative to explore the deepest parts of the world's oceans. Over the next two years, Branson hopes to penetrate the deepest points of the world's five oceans with a fleet of high-tech toys, including a one-manned submarine and a ...

James Cameron might not have had the chance to film his famed blockbuster 'Titanic' in three dimensions, but a research team is set to do the next best thing: create a 3-D map of the wreck. On August 18th, an assemblage of scientists, including archaeologists and oceanographers, will embark on an expedition to map the ship's wreckage and debris field in 3-D. Expedition leader David Gallo told ...

Microsoft and NASA have teamed up to bring you and your humble desktop PC some of the highest-resolution images of Mars currently available. Using a combination of satellite imagery and elevation models, Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope project has created an impressively detailed 3-D map of the surface of the Red Planet. The interactive tour, which simulates flying through Martian canyons and ...

It's not much to look at. This photo from the Gemini Observatory in 2008 lacks the "wow" factor of the Hubble Deep Field, but tihs may be just as important. This image, primarily of the star 1RSX J160929.1-210524, is the first confirmed photograph of an extra-solar planet (or exoplanet) orbiting a sun-like star. Normally, exoplanets are detected through indirect methods, such as the ...

King of the World James Cameron has simply become a force for 3-D. According to the AP, James Cameron fought for the inclusion of a 3-D camera on the Mars rover Curiosity, which launches next year. Cameron told the Pasadena Star-News, "[The scientists are] going to answer a lot of really important questions about the previous and potential future habitability of Mars." This is the second ...

When we finally do put humans on Mars, they'll face a major challenge: navigation. When we first poke around on the Moon, the astronauts never let the lander leave their sight. Considering the time and cost of a manned mission to Mars, however, our explorers will be expected to push further out from the landing zone. But, due to the Red Planet's lack of a strong magnetosphere, a compass would be ...

It's kinda embarrassing how little we humans know about the depths of the ocean. Scientists have a better idea of the contours of Mars than the layout of the sea floor. More people have been on the moon than in the deepest sea crevices. Hell, we're even more familiar with the depths of Mariah Carey's closet than we are of Earth's benthos. A new robot, though, is hoping to change all that, with ...

For generations of geeks -- yes, we went to space camp -- NASA was the center of all things science and technology. Dwindling budgets, declining public interest, and a lack of gee whiz tech may be plaguing the agency today, but don't worry, the nerds are still in command. Wired writes about the long-running military tradition, which NASA adopted with a twist, of creating mission patches. We're ...