mars

3D printing has captured the imaginations of just about anyone who knows what it is -- even NASA, apparently.

The space agency is using a similar technology to create precise metal parts for its next heavy-lift rocket, which it hopes will eventually help take humans to Mars.

The method is called selective laser melting, or SLM, but it's not quite the same as printing up a sweet "Star Wars" chess set out of extruded plastic. It's more of a cross between 3D printing and some high-end, defense-grade awesome tech.… Read more

It's as if you've just strolled up to Curiosity on the surface of Mars and surprised the rover as -- convinced that everyone at Mission Control is on a coffee break -- it's decided to ditch the scientific research for a bit and build a martian sand castle instead.

One of the latest Curiosity images posted by NASA is a stunning self-portrait made up of 55 high-rez images taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager. The base of Mount Sharp serves as a dramatic backdrop, swooping up toward the right, and in front of the rover, you can see four hand-size holes in the ground where Curiosity had just started building its sand castle gathered scoops of martian dirt for analysis. The scoop site is poetically named "Rocknest."… Read more

Felix Baumgartner hasn't stopped leaping.

The man who chose to risk his life on behalf of mankind and a caffeinated drink, wants you to know that sending little machines to Mars is a pointless exercise.

Yes, you might have thought that the famed sky-leaper would be in favor of any sort of spatial exploration.

But, no. In an interview with the Telegraph he made it clear that the Mars money could be spent more wisely.… Read more

Perhaps the Red Planet isn't quite so red as we thought. NASA's Curiosity rover has been digging up some unusual bits in the soil of Mars. A couple weeks ago, the rover found a strange bright object which later turned out to be a part of the rover itself. Now we have a new mystery object to contend with.

Curiosity took a few scoops of Martian soil from a patch called "Rocknest." That activity uncovered a bright particle in the pit it created. Unlike the earlier object, NASA has confirmed the new piece is of Martian origin. There are others like it scattered around.… Read more

It looks like the latest Mars mystery has been solved. Dashing the hopes of the many people who thought the Curiosity rover had located their lost keys or earrings, NASA has decided that a strange, bright object found on the surface is actually a piece of plastic.

According to a NASA status report, "The rover team's assessment is that the bright object is something from the rover, not Martian material. It appears to be a shred of plastic material, likely benign, but it has not been definitively identified."… Read more

Much like a toddler in a sandbox, the Curiosity rover has been busy scooping up the Martian soil lately. All that digging around was brought to a halt by the discovery of a small, bright object. NASA is currently trying to sort out what it is.

According to NASA, "Curiosity's first scooping activity appeared to go well on October 7. Subsequently, the rover team decided to refrain from using the rover's robotic arm on October 8 due to the detection of a bright object on the ground that might be a piece from the rover."… Read more

After creeping about 500 yards across the rocky floor of Gale Crater on the way to an intriguing intersection of different terrain types, the Mars Curiosity rover is pausing for a few weeks near fine-grained sand dunes to scoop up soil and run it through the vehicle's sample acquisition system to clean out any lingering traces of Earth's environment.

After three such "rinse and repeat" cycles, a scoop on the end of the rover's robot arm will deposit small samples into a pair of sophisticated laboratory instruments, the Chemistry and Mineralogy experiment, or CheMin, and … Read more

I know that some people adore Foursquare.

They have a dominant need to become the mayor of their local laundromat and fishmonger.

However, others feel safer when others don't know where they are. Indeed, last night I saw several attendees of Oracle OpenWorld wandering around a part of San Francisco's North Beach and entering places from which I feel confident they would not have checked-in.

NASA's Mars rover, Curiosity, has no fears however.

It is unconcerned about broadcasting its precise whereabouts. It has no worries that by doing so it might be vulnerable to a Mars attack.… Read more