Posts Tagged: taking

Intuitive Machines is taking its shot at nailing the first commercial moon landing

Houston-based space company Intuitive Machines is gearing up for an actual moonshot at the end of this month, when it’ll try to land a spacecraft named Odysseus on the lunar surface — ideally without it breaking in the process. The mission follows Astrobotic’s unsuccessful attempt in January; that company’s lander, Peregrine, never made it to the moon due to a propellant leak that cut its journey short. Peregrine’s failure means Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission could be the first ever commercial moon landing if it makes it there intact.

Intuitive Machines is hoping to make its landing attempt on February 22, targeting the Malapert A crater near the moon’s south pole for touchdown. This arrival date is dependent on Odysseus, one of the company’s Nova-C class landers, leaving Earth atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sometime between February 14 and February 16. The launch window opens at 12:57AM ET on Wednesday.

Odysseus is the first of three Nova-C landers Intuitive Machines plans to send to the moon this year, all of which will have commercial payloads on board and NASA instruments as contracted under the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. At 14 feet tall (4.3 meters), the lander is roughly the size of a giraffe and can carry about 280 pounds (130kg) of cargo. Its mission, if it nails a soft landing, will be a short but potentially valuable one for informing future excursions to the region, including NASA’s upcoming crewed Artemis missions. Orbiting probes have found evidence of water ice at the lunar south pole, which could be used for astronaut subsistence and even fuel, making it an area of high interest for human exploration.

The lunar southpole
NASA

The solar-powered craft and any functional equipment it’s carrying are only expected to be in working condition for about a week before the onset of lunar night, a 14-day period of frigid darkness that the company says will leave the lander inoperable. But while everything’s up and running, the various instruments will gather data at the surface. NASA awarded Intuitive Machines a $ 77 million contract for the delivery of its payloads back in 2019, and there are six NASA instruments now hitching a ride on Odysseus.

One, the Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA), will “function as a permanent location mark” from its position on the moon after landing to help incoming spacecraft determine their distance from the surface, according to NASA. The lander is also carrying the Navigation Doppler LIDAR for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing (NDL), a sensor that measures velocity and altitude to better guide the descent, and the Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator (LN-1) to support communication and autonomous navigation in future missions.

NASA is also sending instruments to study surface plumes — everything that gets kicked up when the lander touches down — along with radio waves and the effects of space weather. That includes the Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS), which will capture images of these dust plumes, and the Radio wave Observation at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath (ROLSES) instrument.

The rest of the payloads on board Odysseus are commercial. Columbia Sportswear worked with Intuitive Machines to incorporate the brand’s Apollo-inspired Omni-Heat Infinity thermal reflective material, which is being used for this mission to help protect the cryogenic propulsion tank, according to Intuitive Machines. Students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University developed a camera system dubbed the EagleCam that will attempt to separate from the lander before it touches down and snap a picture of the moment from a third-person point of view. EagleCam is also equipped with an experimental dust-removal system.

Intuitive Machines' Odysseus Nova-C lander is pictured in front of an American flag in a dimly lit warehouse room
Intuitive Machines

There are even some Jeff Koons sculptures heading to the moon, which will have physical and NFT counterparts back on Earth. In Koons’ Moon Phase piece, 125 small stainless steel sculptures of the moon at different phases are encased in a clear cube made by 4Space, with the names of important historical figures from around the world listed below each sphere. The International Lunar Observatory Association, based in Hawaii, and Canadensys Aerospace are sending a 1.3-pound dual-camera system called ILO-X, with which they’ll attempt to capture wide and narrow field images of the Milky Way from the moon.

Odysseus is also carrying small discs called “Lunagrams” from Galactic Legacy Labs that contain messages from Earth, including text, images, audio and archives from major databases such as the Arch Mission Foundation and the English-language version of Wikipedia. Similar archival materials were sent to space with Peregrine last month. The information technology company Lonestar plans to demonstrate its Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) by storing data on the lander and transmitting documents ( including the US Declaration of Independence) between Earth and the moon. It’ll follow this up with a prototype mini data center on Intuitive Machines’ next launch.

Now, the pressure is on for the Odysseus Nova-C lander to actually get to the lunar surface safely. This year started off rocky for moon missions, with the failure of Astrobotic’s Peregrine and a descent hiccup that caused JAXA’s SLIM spacecraft to faceplant into the lunar surface (though the latter was miraculously able to resume functions to some degree after a few days). Intuitive Machines will have other chances to get it right if it doesn’t this time — it has multiple missions already booked up — but only one private lander can be “first.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/intuitive-machines-is-taking-its-shot-at-nailing-the-first-commercial-moon-landing-170024349.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

No joke: Twitter is taking away your blue check on April 1, unless you pay

Twitter is about to wind down its legacy verification program, meaning that anyone who has a blue check but isn’t subscribed to Twitter Blue will lose the mark.
Digital Trends

Samsung’s 55-inch Odyssey Ark: Taking gaming monitors to a whole new dimension

2022 has been a great year for monitors. We’ve already gotten the world’s first QD-OLED monitor from Alienware with another on the way from MSI. And earlier this summer, Sony joined the fray with its new Inzone brand of gaming hardware. But now, Samsung is taking things to a whole new level with the Odyssey Ark.

Boasting a huge quantum mini LED panel with a 1000R curve, the Ark delivers an immersive experience with great visuals and surprisingly good sound. Not only does Samsung claim that the Ark is the world’s first 55-inch monitor with a 4K resolution, 165 Hz refresh rate and a 1ms response time, you also get support for HDR 10+ and Dolby Atmos audio. And while the sound on many monitors is often an afterthought (assuming they can even output anything at all), the Ark features a total of six speakers: one in each corner and two woofers in back. And when combined Samsung says the Ark’s speakers were designed to create a dome of sound.

And now, after getting the chance to check this thing out in person, I can say this monitor is unlike anything else on the market. Even compared to other ultrawide displays, the Ark’s dimensions allow it to wrap around you like some sort of high-tech cocoon. Colors are rich and, thanks to its matte finish, you don’t have to worry about reflections ruining your graphics. The monitor also supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro for VRR, so you can get the best performance regardless if you’re gaming on a console or a PC. And while you won’t see pure blacks like you would with an OLED display, Samsung says the Ark’s contrast is 4 times better than its previous-gen monitors.

Meanwhile, to make controlling the Ark easy, Samsung includes not one but two remotes, both of which have built-in solar panels so you don’t have to worry about keeping them charged. The first remote is similar to what you’d get with a TV, but the one that feels a bit more special is the wireless Ark Dial. It lets you quickly change video settings, adjust volume and switch between the monitor’s special display modes. It’s super easy to use, and best of all, it means you don’t have to reach around back and fumble with hidden buttons or a joystick like you do with a lot of rival monitors.

Unlike most displayers this size, the Odyssey Ark supports portrait orientation, which Samsung calls Cockpit mode.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget

The best thing about the Ark is all the modes and features Samsung included to help you get the most out of this giant panel. First, there’s Flex Move Screen, which allows you to adjust the size of your content and move it around, you know, in case you don’t need the Ark’s full 55 inches. There’s also Samsung’s Gaming Hub which supports game streaming platforms like NVIDIA GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming and Google Stadia natively. You even get RGB lighting on the back, not that you can really see it with so muchscreen between you and the rear of the display.

But my favorite thing is the Multi View mode, which lets you have up to three different apps open at once, including the ability to move and resize windows however you like. That means you can game while having a movie and social media on the side, or you can double up by having two games open plus YouTube, or basically anything in between. And if there’s a layout you particularly like, you can save that arrangement so next time, you can open everything up with a single press. The one caveat is that due to a limitation of HDMI, you can only display content from the Ark’s built-in apps and one external device at the same time. So while you can have a console and a PC plugged in at the same time thanks to support for four HDMI ports (all of which are HDMI 2.1), you can’t output content from both simultaneously.

Finally, there’s the Ark’s special move, which is being able to rotate into portrait orientation, or as Samsung calls it, Cockpit mode. You still get support for all of the monitor’s features like Multi View and Flex Move, but now on a display that curves up and over your head. And you know what, it really does feel like you’re sitting in the pilot’s seat on a plane. My only regret is that I wish I could have installed a shoot ‘em up like Ikaruga, so I could really take advantage of the Ark’s verticality in Cockpit mode. And if you want a huge new display but don’t have a ton of desk space, Samsung even includes a VESA wall mount in the box.

That said, starting at $ 3,500, the Odyssey Ark is a big financial commitment for anyone. But if none of the other monitors released this year are big enough for you, Samsung’s new flagship gaming monitor could be the massive centerpiece your home battle station needs.

Pre-orders for the Odyssey Ark start today, and when combined with reservation discounts, potential customers can save up to $ 300 before sales officially go live sometime in early September.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Tribit MoveBuds H1 review: Taking on the sport crowd

Tribit is slowly making their way through all the different categories of headphones and speakers on the market, and next on the list is the MoveBuds H1. These sporty headphones trade away some of the traditional, basic listening experience for something that’s designed to work out as hard as you do. They’re focused much more […]

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How taking your blood pressure is about to be as easy as taking your heart rate

Biometric sensor experts Valencell talks to us about an innovation that will make monitoring our blood pressure as easy as taking our heart rate.
Wearables | Digital Trends

One crucial element stops the Casio Edifice EQB-1100 from taking on a G-Shock

The Casio Edifice EQB-1100’s cool chronograph watch looks makes it a tempting alternative to a connected G-Shock, but can the Bluetooth tech compete?
Wearables | Digital Trends

Flash Player goes away at the end of this year, and it’s taking FarmVille with it

FarmVille was one of the first big Facebook games that really solidified social media’s place in the gaming industry, and it left a huge impact on the market whether you were into it or not. Even if you weren’t playing it, I can guarantee you probably saw at least a few of those FarmVille requests […]

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Billy Mitchell is taking his ‘Donkey Kong’ cheating saga to court

Arcade expert and hot sauce mogul Billy Mitchell made a name for himself by earning record-breaking scores in games like Pac-Man and BurgerTime. Two years ago, de facto scorekeeper Twin Galaxies stripped Mitchell of his Donkey Kong records after conc…
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The Morning After: PewDiePie is taking a break from YouTube in 2020

Welcome back! This week should be less busy, with fewer oblong-shaped gadgets to discuss (we got the new Xbox and talked all about the Mac Pro last week). In the run-up to the holidays, there's simply not as much big tech news. If you're planning to…
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PewDiePie is ‘taking a break’ from YouTube in 2020

One of YouTube's best-known stars is close to taking a hiatus. PewDiePie (aka Felix Kjellberg) has used a video critiquing YouTube's new harassment policy to announce that he's "taking a break" from the site in early 2020. While he said a more deta…
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Realme might be dropping their Android skin and taking a more stock approach

Realme is one of Oppo’s sub-brands, and it’s generally a pretty well-received manufacturer for its excellent hardware relative to the price. But like many of those high-value competitors, the software tends to irritate more users than it entices. It looks like Realme is finally coming to grips with that, and they’re planning to ditch their […]

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Taking a harder look at harassment

There have been a lot of questions over the last few days about our policies on harassment, particularly around two YouTube creators: Carlos Maza and Steven Crowder. These are important issues and we’d like to provide more details and context than is possible in any one string of tweets.

Since YouTube started 14 years ago, we have focused on providing a platform where anyone can broadcast themselves, connect with people, and share their voices and their experiences with the world. This has brought a lot of good — like Jouelzy, who founded the #smartbrowngirl movement to empower women of color, or MatPat, a gaming creator — who, along with his fans and other creators — raised over $ 200,000 to combat mental illness. But it has also created many challenges. One of the most important issues we face is around harassment. We enforce our policies here rigorously and regardless of the creator in question: In the first quarter of 2019, we removed tens of thousands of videos and accounts for violation of our policies on cyberbullying and harassment. We also removed hundreds of millions of comments, many of which were flagged and removed due to harassment.

That said, policies need to keep up with current problems. One particular challenge we face more and more these days is creator-on-creator harassment. It’s an issue that Susan addressed in her latest creator letter. We update our policies on an ongoing basis to make sure they’re current. Just today, we took another step in our fight against hate speech and our responsibility to reduce the spread of harmful borderline content. As mentioned, one of our upcoming projects will reexamine our harassment policy, as well.

As an open platform, we sometimes host opinions and views that many, ourselves included, may find offensive. These could include edgy stand-up comedy routines, a chart-topping song, or a charged political rant — and more. Short moments from these videos spliced together paint a troubling picture. But, individually, they don’t always cross the line.

There are two key policies at play here: harassment and hate speech. For harassment, we look at whether the purpose of the video is to incite harassment, threaten or humiliate an individual; or whether personal information is revealed. We consider the entire video: For example, is it a two-minute video dedicated to going after an individual? A 30-minute video of political speech where different individuals are called out a handful of times? Is it focused on a public or private figure? For hate speech, we look at whether the primary purpose of the video is to incite hatred toward or promote supremacism over a protected group; or whether it seeks to incite violence. To be clear, using racial, homophobic, or sexist epithets on their own would not necessarily violate either of these policies. For example, as noted above, lewd or offensive language is often used in songs and comedic routines. It’s when the primary purpose of the video is hate or harassment. And when videos violate these policies, we remove them.

Not everyone will agree with the calls we make — some will say we haven’t done enough; others will say we’ve gone too far. And, sometimes, a decision to leave an offensive video on the site will look like us defending people who have used their platforms and audiences to bully, demean, marginalize or ignore others. If we were to take all potentially offensive content down, we’d be losing valuable speech — speech that allows people everywhere to raise their voices, tell their stories, question those in power, and participate in the critical cultural and political conversations of our day.

Even if a creator’s content doesn’t violate our community guidelines, we will take a look at the broader context and impact, and if their behavior is egregious and harms the broader community, we may take action. In the case of Crowder’s channel, a thorough review over the weekend found that individually, the flagged videos did not violate our Community Guidelines. However, in the subsequent days, we saw the widespread harm to the YouTube community resulting from the ongoing pattern of egregious behavior, took a deeper look, and made the decision to suspend monetization. In order to be considered for reinstatement, all relevant issues with the channel need to be addressed, including any videos that violate our policies, as well as things like offensive merchandise.

In the coming months, we will be taking a hard look at our harassment policies with an aim to update them — just as we have to so many policies over the years — in consultation with experts, creators, journalists and those who have, themselves, been victims of harassment. We are determined to evolve our policies, and continue to hold our creators and ourselves to a higher standard.

—Chris Dale, YouTube


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Ford is taking its GoRide patient transport service nationwide

Ford has slowly but surely been expanding GoRide's reach ever since it launched the non-emergency medical transportation service. Now, the automaker has revealed its plans to deploy the system to 40 cities nationwide over the next four years after a…
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Verizon ready to turn on 5G, taking customer sign-ups now

Earlier this week Verizon announced they are preparing to turn on their new 5G service on October 1st. For those who are interested in being among the first to get this new service, Verizon has opened up the process to sign-up for their Verizon 5G Home product. There are some limitations for interested consumers, the […]

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Amazon taking heat after Echo recorded, sent private message to contact

Every week I get together with some friends and the host has an Amazon Echo where we meet. Our group has a fun time cracking jokes about Amazon listening in on our conversation (along with various government agencies). The idea that Amazon is listening in may not be so funny after an incident that occurred […]

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Motorola now taking pre-orders for Moto G5S Plus with discount for early adopters

Earlier this summer Motorola announced an addition to their G series of devices, the Moto G5S Plus. The new device was described as a “special edition” of the Moto G5 Plus, but in reality is an upgrade to the former device. That should make it a smartphone worthy of consideration by mid-tier buyers as we […]

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Evernote vs OneNote – Battle of the note taking apps

Among the best note-taking apps, two stand out as the most popular: Evernote and OneNote. They have multiple things in common, but the key to deciding which one to use lies in what makes them different.

The post Evernote vs OneNote – Battle of the note taking apps appeared first on Digital Trends.

Android Army–Digital Trends

Taking selfies with seals really isn’t a good idea, wildlife officials warn

Yes, they do look cute and cuddly. But seals also have powerful jaws that could do you some damage. With that in mind, and to protect the seals themselves, wildlife officials have told visitors to New England beaches to stop taking selfies with the animal.

The post Taking selfies with seals really isn’t a good idea, wildlife officials warn appeared first on Digital Trends.

Mobile–Digital Trends

Why is wireless charging taking so long to arrive? We ask an expert

Wireless charging technology is gaining real traction, but there are still problems to overcome. We take a look at the obstacles to wider adoption and talk to the Wireless Power Consortium’s John Perzow about what’s next for the Qi standard.

The post Why is wireless charging taking so long to arrive? We ask an expert appeared first on Digital Trends.

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