Google, NASA Back D-Wave Quantum Computer
In March, Engineering on the Edge covered Lockheed Martin’s investment into the D-Wave quantum computer. At the time, although Lockheed Martin seemed impressed with the system, the verdict was still out on how much faster (if at all) D-Wave’s machine was compared to conventional computers.
Since then, an independent study has confirmed that the quantum computer is as fast, or faster, than other computers. Google and NASA were intrigued enough by the results to partner in order to start an artificial intelligence (AI) lab at NASA’s Advanced Supercomputing Facility at the Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. Continue reading
NASA Explores Greenland Ice Sheet With Student-Designed Rover
An 800-pound, solar-powered rover designed by students at a Goddard engineering boot camp will be rolling across Greenland, collecting data on its depleting surface ice.
NASA has deployed the robot (the Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, or GROVER) to learn more about the causes and conditions of Greenland’s ice melt. The 6-ft.-tall rover carries ground-penetrating radar that can monitor snow accumulation in a more cost-effective way than satellite or plane-borne systems. It began a test run earlier this month.
NASA, Autodesk Collaborate on Sustainable Building Tech
If you want to sustain a presence in space, whether that’s maintaining the International Space Station or establishing theoretical outposts on the Moon, then efficient resource utilization is a must. Anything a human might need to survive has to be brought along with them.
So it would follow that NASA has a good handle on technologies that can improve resource utilization. Why not apply those technologies here on Earth? That’s just what the agency has done at its NASA Ames Sustainability Base, a 50,000-sq.-ft. office building and showcase for sustainable technologies. Now, NASA is deploying Autodesk’s Project Dasher solution to research and develop new ways to monitor and optimize high-performance buildings. Continue reading
NASA Spacesuit Prototype Sports Familiar Look
I don’t know if it will take astronauts to “infinity and beyond,” but NASA’s Z-1 prototype spacesuit redesign will certainly draw comparisons to the gear donned by Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear with its bubble top and distinctive green trim. Continue reading
NASA Tests Fission Reactor for Space Flight
One challenge NASA perpetually faces is the task of powering its space craft, along with all of the equipment and sensors on board, and transmitting data across the solar system. Now the space agency and the Department of Energy (DOE) are testing a small, uranium-based reactor that could power small craft, as well as structures that could be built on other planets. Continue reading
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