Gizmodo: Apollo

12 Examples of Abandoned Space Technology

Sean Fallon — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Looking for a space shuttle to convert into a funky dwelling? Believe it or not, there are quite a few pieces of once cutting edge space technology that have been left to rot. For example: there is a Russian Buran space shuttle lying abandoned in the Arabian desert, a NASA Jet Propulsion Lab sitting in a dusty lot, and the infamous launch pad 34 where the three astronauts aboard Apollo 1 died in a fire that broke out during a test exercise. The folks at OObject have put together a list of these relics along with 9 others that you may find surprising. [OObject]

Letterman's Top Ten Reasons to Watch Battlestar Galactica's New Season

AddyDugdale — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:30:01 EDT

With just two weeks to go before the fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica hits the Sci-Fi Channel, the cast's big hitters appeared on David Letterman last night to give us ten reasons why we should watch the first episode on April 4. Number Six was good, but Saul Tigh, at number five, was even better. Get. Em. Off! [YouTube]

Orion Crew Test Module Timelapse Build

Jesus Diaz — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:00:17 EDT

This timelapse video shows the construction of the first Orion crew module, the spacecraft that will take humanity to the moon and Mars. As you can see, this version is not the full ship, as it lacks all computer, engine and support systems, not to talk about the proton torpedoes and turbolasers. However, the Apollo-style module is the first real tangible part of the Constellation Program, and will play a crucial part in its early development.

This capsule won't leave Earth's atmosphere: it will be used in a 90-second flight to demonstrate the features of the new ship, built using the same concept as the Apollo capsule but on a much larger scale. The Orion is 16.5 feet in diameter, with a mass of 22.7 metric tons, which gives it "two and a half times the volume" inside the Apollo capsule.

Knowing how small Apollo was, it's not going to be the Enterprise flight deck, but it will be able to fit four crew members comfortably starting in 2014, the year in which it will travel to the International Space Station. Six years later, it will go to the moon. [NASA]

iPhone's ApolloIM, the First Native Instant Messenger Gets An Update: Sucks Quite a Lot Less

Jason Chen — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 15:00:13 EDT

Remember the early alpha of the first native iPhone AIM client we wrote about a week ago? It's out of alpha and into beta, and incidentally sucks quite a bit less, which means it's quite usable.

They've gotten rid of problems such as having to hit a key to bring up the keyboard, the editable chat history and the sound/vibration preferences not holding. In short, it's actually quite usable now. You get alerts when the program's in the background, and the whole app's been sped up many times over.

There are still a few things to work out, however.

• No tabbed chatting
• You can't see who IM'ed you unless you scroll down the whole list
• Occasional freezing at sign in
• AIM only (they're adding more IM networks soon)
• Return button doesn't send the message (only inserts a newline)
• Send button too small
• Autocomplete is beneath the words, so it's covered up by the keyboard
• No contact list grouping (doesn't follow the grouping from the server side)
• Occasionally locks up your phone

Once they can get these issues worked out, it's going to be a pretty fantastic AIM client! [Google Code]

Hot or Not? Apollo Video: Skype iPod Dock

Mark Wilson — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 17:54:32 EST

The iA200 Apollo Video by Auvi docks your iPod, plays video on a 7" LCD and features a rear-mounted DECT 6.0 phone for Skype and landline calls.

I don't know about this one. While I didn't see a working model, the larger iPod screen could add incentive to purchasing a dock. But does it really need Skype? Do media and talking on the telephone have anything to do with one another? (And I'm not referring to the iPhone here.)

No pricing yet, look for the Apollo later this year. – Mark Wilson