Tag Archives: nasa
Solar + Cloud Computing: Google’s Project Loon
We call it the cloud and cloud computing—the use of servers distributed across the world to backup documents and data, host websites, and all manner of information. But now Google is taking WiFi sky high, actually using balloons to keep WiFi antennas aloft and solar panels to power the antennas. The Internet giant has launched [...]
NASA’s Sustainability Base: Open for Business
NASA’s “Sustainability Base” is open for business, setting the bar for green federal buildings by exceeding LEED-Platinum and making use of the same closed loop processes used in space travel. Designed by pre-eminent green architect Bill McDonough, known for cradle-to-cradle solutions, the new building is designed to showcase NASA’s culture of innovation by adapting many of its technologies to [...]
Out of this World: International Space Station Solar
Chris Hadfield, commander of the International Space Station (ISS), is noted for sharing some spectacular pictures of the place we call home. Browsing through his pictures – you can follow him at @Cmdr_Hadfield – you wouldn’t be hard pressed to find one recurring subject in his album: solar panels. Once upon a time, space stations and [...]
WTF? NASA Claims Nuclear Power Saves Lives
Have the dangers of nuclear power been overhyped? If former NASA scientist and climate activist James Hansen is to be believed, the use of nuclear power over the past few decades has actually saved lives. A recently-published paper by two researchers at NASA‘s Goddard Institute of Space Studies has run the numbers and found that, despite [...]
NASA’s 13,000 Foot Solar Sail
NASA is preparing to test a massive solar sail called the Sunjammer in space. The sail, developed by California company L’Garde, will be launched into space folded up into a square the size of a dishwasher before unfurling to 13,000 square feet. “NASA has experimented with smaller solar sails in the past,” said spokesman David [...]
Solar Power Stars in Newest NASA Video
Today’s solar video gives a pretty awesome visual reminder of the immense energy produced by the sun. Watch for the scale-drawing of the earth appearing at 1:06. Eruptive events on the Sun can be wildly different. Some come just with a solar flare, some with an additional ejection of solar material called a coronal mass [...]
We Need Future Energy Now!
“Leopards and elephants often wander in…”says the manager of a tea plantation in India, left in the dark without electricity after the near total collapse of India’s electric grid. Trains stopped, miners were stuck underground, traffic lights went out, and homes and businesses were left without electricity. It was the world’s largest blackout, affecting more [...]
NASA’s Airborne Wind Power System
Benjamin Franklin uncovered ground-breaking facts about the nature of electricity and lightening by flying a kite in 1752. Two and half centuries hence, NASA is using the lowly kite yet again albeit this time the purpose of the experiment is to change the way the world approaches wind turbines and sustainable energy generation. Wind-borne power [...]
NASA: Looking for New Solar Arrays to Power Spacecraft
Space was one of the first applicable uses for photovoltaics, but arrays have typically been small, enough to power the needs To meet the needs of future space travel NASA is looking to the sun. This week it released a request for proposals (RFP) for photovoltaic array systems that will enable space electric propulsion systems [...]
NASA to Put Largest Solar Sail into Space
With the launch of IKAROS, Japan was the first country to experiment successfully with solar sail technology to be used in the interplanetary space. Realizing the immense potential of solar sail technology and its future application for a more economical power solutions, NASA has undertaken to take a few steps further for transforming space communication, [...]
NASA Launches Green Flight Challenge
NASA is offering a $1.6 million prize – the largest ever offered in aviation to help the industry advance by using efficiency and zero carbon energy sources. A competition next month will test the flight efficiency limits of airplanes powered by low-carbon fuels and batteries. The NASA and the nonprofit Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation are holding the Green [...]
The Business of Measuring Climate Change
Have you ever wondered exactly how scientists track climate change andthe warming of the world at a global level? Estimating the overallsurface temperature of the Earth isn’t easy when you have to account for seasonal variations across six continents and four oceans. It requirescompiling data from satellites positioned high up in the atmosphere andfrom hundreds [...]