Ultima Thule, Chang’e 4 & Chandrayaan 2 – 1-11-2019
https://tomeoftrovius.com/2019/01/11/ultima-thule-change-4-chandrayaan-2-1-11-2019/
Ultima Thule, the by now famous Kuiper Belt Object, has now been officially discovered and explored becoming the most distant object in space to have been directly observed with space probes. Waves of celebration emanated from the control room across the internet to even Brian May of Queen. I’m not kidding with that one, watch the music they produced below. We already have a small amount of information about Ultima Thule due to the download speeds across space. They’re reportedly somewhere between 1-2 kB/s, well below your average internet download or upload speeds. What we have so far are a few important pieces of information. Firstly, the most important question on everyone’s minds, is UT one or two bodies?
The accomplishments keep flowing. After launching China has successfully landed on the dark side of the Moon with their Chang’e 4 lander, the first lander to ever achieve this. Named after Chang’e, the ancient Chinese Goddess of the Moon, the Chang’e 4 officially landed on the Moon January 3, 2019. The name is a bit misleading since the supposed dark side does have light but doesn’t ace the Earth. Chang’e landed in the Von Kármán crater within the South Pole-Aitken Basin near the south pole of the Moon. Fun fact: the Aitken Basin is the largest impact crater in our Solar System at 2,500 km in diameter. Around half a day after Chang’e 4 landed it’s rover, Yutu-2, began moving. Yutu was the pet white rabbit of Chang’e. The mission’s main objective is to analyze the geology of the Moon so that it can be understood further. Chang’e will also be taking photos and monitoring solar wind. This mission also involves a communications satellite, Queqiao, behind the Moon because radio signals are difficult to receive on the dark side. Thus, they need to first transmit to Queqiao and then go back to either the lander and rover or China back on Earth.
Hypervsn Holograms!, Virgin Galactic, Voyager 2 – 1-11-2019
https://tomeoftrovius.com/2019/01/11/hypervsn-holograms-virgin-galactic-voyager-2-1-11-2019/
Holograms have been a long time staple of science fiction for their usefulness in communications and understanding when viewing models. How about advertising? Blade Runner took a noticeable aesthetic in doing so but the London-based company kino-mo has their own style. As stated, kino-mo uses their hologram technology, called Hypervsn, to display astounding advertisements in mid-air through stunning designs which move and rotate in beautiful symmetry. Show off your latest product or hype up a recent sale in a fantastic mid-air presentation which catches everyone’s eyes. The potential for the technology is endless but can easily be wielded by an expert artist or design team to create their ideal ad. Each Hypervsn resembles.....
McDonald’s across Erie, PA are receiving upgrades and renovations with kiosks as well as staff booms since the kiosks generate more orders to fill simultaneously. This has been an expected response to having more kiosks so don’t fear for your job (mostly) since they’ll probably move you to the kitchen.
The company Planetary Resources made waves when it launched, announcing their intention to become a major player in the asteroid mining business. The idea is to utilize minerals found throughout the Solar System instead of solely being dependent on Earth, opening new markets ready for the taking. However, they’ve experienced serious funding difficulties, Luxembourg sold their stake in the company and a New York blockchain company called ConsenSys recently acquired their assets.
Virgin Galactic, after much delay and anticipation, has flown a sub-orbital flight with WhiteKnightTwo releasing SpaceShipTwo which achieved the feat. VG have been another company promising sub-orbital tourism to high-paying clients. It has however not been easy....
Ready for Glass next week
https://tomeoftrovius.com/2018/12/26/upcoming-films/
I've updated my article on automation
https://tomeoftrovius.com/2017/09/26/automation/