Orbit

Jupiter And Saturn Played Pong With Uranus

New simulations suggest that Jupiter and Saturn may have played a bit of planet Pong with Uranus. That is, Uranus got in Saturn’s orbit so it was tossed to Jupiter’s orbit and then tossed back and forth until it finally settled. The back and forth game of planet Pong happened three times (and probably lasted…

Happy 50th Birthday to Sputnik 5, Proof That Space Travel Is Survivable (And Adorable)

Fifty years ago today, the Soviet Union launched the Korabl-Sputnik 2 spacecraft—known as Sputnik 5 in the west—carrying two dogs named Belka and Strelka, along with mice, rats and flies into space. More surprising? Everyone came back alive. The success of Sputnik 5 came at a time when space didn’t seem particularly welcoming to anything…

The Job With the Best View In the World

I don’t know if these guys are used to this already—my gut feeling is that they are not—but I do know that just watching this part of the video makes me giddy every single time. This is STS-132 Commander Ken Ham and his five crew members chatting, relaxing, and staring in awe at the views…

The Future Of Short Fiction Publishing: Pay Per Story?

The iPad and other devices may have revolutionized the short story publishing market, judging from a new announcement by Orbit Books. The genre publisher, whose authors include Iain M. Banks and Gail Carriger, is going to start publishing its authors’s short fiction electronically — but Orbit’s not going the Tor route, where stories are posted…

Orbit Looks Like a Brain-Liquifying Rollercoaster

It looks like a vomit-inducing, brain-liquifying rollercoaster, but sadly it’s a new London landmark to be built by steel conglomerate ArcelorMittal for the Olympic Park. Called the Orbit, is almost as tall as the Great Pyramid of Giza. It will be ready for the London Olympic Games in 2012. [Dezeen]

Remainders – The Things We Didn’t Post: Long and Winding Road Edition

In today’s Remainders: journeys. The Xof1 solar-powered saucer car readies for a trek across a Canadian ice road; analysts rain on the Verizon iPhone rumor parade; Google Buzz headaches reach the White House; planetary orbits, visualized and musicalized; and more. •The last we heard of the Xof1 solar powered car, its flying-saucer shape was getting…

The Prettiest Way To Learn About Satellites

This Is Real Art, a company that aims to “bridge the gap between design and advertising,” recently completed a series of animated videos on the subject of satellites. They’re the perfect combination: the subject matter is geeky, the animation gorgeous. The series, which was produced for European satellite maker Astra, covers every aspect of the…

The Earth’s Satellites, Visualized By Nation

As data visualization has become more popular, bad infographics have started to crop up more and more frequently. Thankfully, we can always rely on Michael Paukner to make very, very good ones. Here he shows the satellites orbiting our planet. Russia, as you might expect, has a whole lot of satellites that are no longer…

Altec Lansing Orbit Speaker Drops the Batteries, Grows a USB Tail

Some interestingly sideways gadget evolution from Altec Lansing today: The ultraportable Orbit speaker, which originally called for a child’s fistful of batteries, is now powered directly over USB. Which is great, for some people. https://gizmodo.com/altec-lansing-sends-ultra-portable-speakers-into-orbit-298420 In gaining a USB cable, used for both audio input and power, the neatly-kickstanded OrbitUSB loses its batteries, and by…

Kirk and Sulu’s Orbital Dive May Not be Far Off

Thus far, orbital skydiving has been the province of Star Trek and Starship Troopers, but new technological advances that deal with the heat of reentry could make orbital skydiving the next extreme sport. One of the current barriers to orbital skydiving is protecting the diver from the extreme heat of reentering the Earth’s atmosphere. But…

How much do graphic novels and science fiction overlap? Apparently, enough for publishing giant Hachette Group to fold its graphic novel imprint, Yen, into its science fiction imprint, Orbit. The resulting fusion will be known as Orbit, and will be run by Orbit founder Tim Holman. Neither label will shrink, and in fact Orbit is…

Korea Reveals its First Orbit-Capable Rocket

Seems like rockets are in the news a lot recently, and now South Korea has joined in by unveiling its first space launch vehicle, cunningly named the KSLV-1. Looking pretty much like rockets do, it’ll be capable of putting Korea’s first satellite—a “Science and Technology” one—into orbit, and the 7.7m-long upper stage has just been…

SpaceX Falcon Video Shows How Simple a 10-Minute Ride to Orbit Is

This is the on-rocket video of SpaceX’s successful Falcon 1 launch. The Earth gets smaller, the sky gets darker, the engines burn cleanly, all systems remain nominal, and 10 minutes later the little rocket that finally could is in orbit…as simply as that. Check out the jubilant cheers from the SpaceX team at about 2:40…

Altec Lansing’s Redesigned Speakers and iPod Docks Get Retro, Manly Look

I must say I’m digging Altec Lansing’s new design approach with their consumer audio gear. In these Expressionist Bass speakers and new inMotion iPod docks, we see A-L ditching white plastic tubes and glossy piano-black slabs in favor of vaguely retro, almost steampunk industrial designs with big screws, black, chrome and brown color schemes, prominent…

Europe Kicks Off Saturday Night With A Rocket Launch

Europeans sure know how to celebrate a Saturday night! While I spent the good part of Happy Hour knocking back shots, our cousins from across the ocean shot a satellite up into space. The Giove-B satellite, a demonstrator that will test key technologies needed in satellite navigation systems, ascended to the heavens at 22:16 GMT.…

Orbit Design Keeps Your Remote Handy

Losing your remote is a daily occurrence, but with this orbit remote from Chloe Fung, you’ll have to lose your arm to misplace this. The remote, worn as a bracelet, has the buttons placed around the edge so you can rotate it to find what you want to do. Interesting design, yes, but ultimately pretty…

Altec Lansing Sends Ultra Portable Speakers Into Orbit

Altec Lansing’s release today of five new speaker systems brought about another line of ultra portable speakers, branded Orbit. Simply designed and weighing only 8oz, the iMT207 Orbit-M and iM207 Orbit-MP3 offers Altec Lansing’s Fusion360 technology; which produces a full 360-degree sound field. The iMT207 Orbit-M is mobile phone specific with a 3.5mm stereo connection…

Who Needs Superman? Slingatron Slingshots Stuff Into Space

This Slingatron is the greatest thing we can think of to free up Superman’s time for other things, like courting Lois or getting drunk and being a dick. Instead of spending $10,000 per pound to send stuff into space with traditional rockets, this Slingatron design is like a centrifuge that spins things around until they…