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Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Skywatch: Crowded space
A little over 240 years ago, birds were the only things that could fly above the ground untethered without eventually falling. That all changed in 1783 when Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes made the first successful hot-air balloon flight over Paris. Just think about what must have been going through their heads when they saw the Earth from above. No humans had ever had a bird's-eye view like that before and lived to tell about it! It took until 1903 for the next major aviation feat to be accomplished when the Wright brothers flew the first airplane in the skies just south of Kitty Hawk, N.C. Fifty-four years later, the Soviet Union put the first human-made satellite, Sputnik 1, in orbit around the Earth, and four years after that, the Russians launched the first human-occupied satellite, Vostok 1, with astronaut Yuri Gagarin aboard. Since that time over 11,000 satellites have been launched into orbit, with and without people aboard. Many of those satellites have long since burned up in the Earth's atmosphere because of orbital decay. Others, mainly occupied by humans, have successfully re-entered the atmosphere to either land on the ground or splash down in the ocean. There is a fantastic website, that tracks objects in the sky. If you go to their search engine and type in Vanguard 1, you can see that it is in the first position of one of the first U.S. satellites launched in 1958 and is still in orbit 67 years later! When you explore N2YO, you can get orbital data on thousands in orbit. However, many of those satellites have stopped functioning, and many are actually spent rocket stages that boosted satellites into orbit. It's crowded above the Earth, but there's still a lot of room left. The really cool thing is that stargazers can see many of these satellites. If you're intently studying the night sky looking for constellations and observing with binoculars or a telescope, it's hard to go more than a half-hour without seeing a satellite zipping along. Most satellites move from west to east, but some are in polar orbits. The best time to see them is in the early evening for a couple of hours after evening twilight or a couple of hours before the start of morning twilight. That's because satellites have to reflect sunlight to be visible. Even if satellites had huge spotlights mounted on them, you'd never see them. They're just too high up. Just before morning twilight, and for a little while after evening twilight, there's no direct sunlight available to us on the ground, but high in space there's still enough sunlight to bathe satellites, sending secondhand sunshine our way. During the middle of the night the sun is entirely behind the Earth, so all satellites pass over in total darkness. By far, the easiest satellite to spot is the International Space Station. It's as bright as a jetliner passing over. Because of that many people see it all the time and figure it's a jet. Its first component or module was launched in 1998, and the station was completed in 2011. It's longer than a football field! What makes it so bright are the eight solar panels that are over 100 feet long and nearly 40 feet wide! They bounce a heck of a lot of secondhand sunshine our way! The ISS orbits the Earth about every 90 minutes, traveling at almost 5 miles a second. It moves in a general direction from west to east across the dome of the sky. The ISS doesn't pass over the same location each orbit. That's because of the nature of its orbit and the fact that Earth is rotating. There can be stretches of nights when it doesn't pass over at all. That's why you need to have an app or a website that will let you know where and when to look. Some apps will even alert you when the ISS is expected to pass over your location on Earth. My favorite website for keeping up with the travels of the ISS is With Heavens-Above all you have to do is configure it for your location with their massive database. Among many of its features, it'll provide a schedule for ISS flyovers and even a sky map to track it. You can also find out when other bright satellites will be passing over. My favorite free app for tracking the ISS is ISS Tracker. Allow that app to know your location, and you're good to go. Depending on where it's crossing your sky, the ISS can take up to around five minutes to pass. It resembles a super bright star. Depending on when you're watching it, in the early morning or early evening, it can suddenly disappear in the sky as it enters the Earth's shadow, or it can pop into view coming out of the shadow in the early morning. As much fun as it can be to observe satellites in the night sky, I'm afraid that in the future the skies may become too crowded. I'm worried that it's already beginning to happen. In particular I'm referring to Starlink satellites launched by the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, otherwise known as SpaceX, a private space transportation enterprise founded in 2002 by South African native Elon Musk. Starlink satellites can provide much more available access to the internet throughout the world, even in remote areas. Already, there are hundreds and hundreds of Starlinks in orbit, and it's very easy to see them, sometimes in groups or lines, especially after they are first launched. As it is with the International Space Station, you can keep up with all of them on the Heavens-Above website, as well as other sites and apps. The big fear is that the natural beauty of the night sky could be ruined with too many satellites. Earth-based astronomical observations, both done by professionals and by amateur astronomers, are going to be interfered with significantly. I believe, and so do many others, that there must be some international regulations to keep this from happening. I can tell you as an astrophotographer that it's getting tougher and tougher to get time-exposure images that aren't marred by satellite streaks. Watching satellites is a lot of fun but let's not get the heavens too congested! Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of 'Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,' published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at mikewlynch@ Skywatch: Dippers and bears flying high Skywatch: A crow, a cup and a water snake Skywatch: The two brightest stars, and a guest star Skywatch: Celestial twins proudly sharing Orion's shoulders Skywatch: Out with the hunter. In with the Lion.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Duck Fire Department investigates house fire on Four Seasons Lane
DUCK, N.C. (WAVY) — The Duck Fire Department is investigating a house fire on Four Seasons Lane that occurred overnight on Saturday. Crews were dispatched to a structure fire in the 100 block of Four Seasons Lane at approximately 12:45 a.m. Upon arrival, they observed a home heavily engulfed in flames. The occupants were able to safely evacuate the structure, but officials did not say how many people were displaced. The fire department thanked their mutual aid partners from Kitty Hawk, Southern Shores, Corolla, Dare County EMS and the Duck Police Department for their assistance during the operation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lunar Data Center Achieves First Success En Route To The Moon
Lonestar's Freedom Data Center Payload successfully meets all of its technical and commercial milestones in CisLunar Space ahead of Historic Moon Landing ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., March 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Lonestar Data Holdings has reached a historic milestone with the successful commercial test and operation of its data center en route to the Moon marking a pivotal step in establishing the first-ever commercial lunar data center as a new layer of critical resilient data center infrastructure serving the world. Since launching on the 26th February, Lonestar's Freedom data center payload has traveled over 300,000 kilometers and has now entered Lunar Orbit traveling to the Moon on Intuitive Machines' Athena Lunar Lander. En route to the Moon in CisLunar space , Lonestar's data center payload successfully completed a series of critical commercial operational tests, proving the viability, functionality, communication, and resilience of its data center technology in space. Notable achievements include: Successful test of data storage and Disaster Recovery for its Government and Enterprise customers. Here Lonestar executed file uploads, downloads, data encryption, decryption, authentication, and in-space data manipulation for its customers. Lonestar's payload successfully executed edge processing tasks in space, including data handling for Valkyrie AI, the Exploration Institute, and other key customers. Lonestar's payload successfully demonstrated its in-space endurance with all of its power, temperature, CPU memory, and telemetry readings remaining stable, demonstrating the survivability of Lonestar's technology in the harsh environment of space at both upper and lower operational limits. Lonestar's first commercial lunar data center is designed to provide secure, resilient, and independent storage for mission-critical data beyond Earth. It has now successfully demonstrated this for its key customers. Next Up: Preparing for Lunar Surface Operations With its data center successfully proven for in-space functionality, Lonestar is preparing for the next phase of its mission: lunar surface operations. When Athena lands as planned no earlier than March 6, Lonestar's technology will undergo additional tests on the Moon's surface, further validating its ability to store and process data in one of the most extreme environments known to humanity. A Historic Step for Data Storage in Space "Harnessing space as a resource for business, innovation, and long-term sustainability is key to driving the growth of the new space economy. At Space Florida, we are committed to advancing infrastructure and fostering partnerships that ensure Florida remains the premier hub for interplanetary commerce," said Rob Long, president and CEO of Space Florida. "Congratulations to our partners at Lonestar on another successful test mission to the Moon." "This is our Kitty Hawk moment. This is where the future begins for this new resilient layer of critical global infrastructure serving us all down here on Earth. This is an extraordinary moment for Lonestar and for the future of secure global data storage," said Chris Stott, CEO of Lonestar Data Holdings. "By proving that our technology can operate in space, we are one step closer to establishing the Lunar L1 Lagrange Point and the Moon as the ultimate off-Earth storage and data resiliency solutions. We are thrilled with the results so far and eagerly anticipate the next phase of this groundbreaking mission." Leveraging Earth's largest satellite, the Moon, and the space around it to ensure secure data storage with, data sovereignty, security, resiliency and redundancy will become increasingly vital. Lonestar is committed to pioneering lunar-based edge computing and storage solutions, ensuring that critical digital assets can be preserved independent of Earth-based infrastructure. With its successful milestones en route to the Moon, Lonestar is now poised to make history as the first company to operate a commercial data center on the lunar surface. About Lonestar Data Holdings Lonestar Data Holdings is a pioneering data center company utilizing space technology to provide a critical layer of resilient secure and compliant data center infrastructure to support a layer of secure, off-Earth data storage and computing solutions. By leveraging Cislunar orbits and the Moon's stable environment, Lonestar is developing a new paradigm for data sovereignty, security, and resilience for governments, corporations, and future space missions. Lonestar's mission is Resiliency as a Service (RaaS) for premium global secure data storage. To do this Lonestar is backing up terrestrial data centers and their premium customers via an independent space-based data storage and communications network . Lonestar has been founded by a proven team of experts from the Cloud and Space verticals to pioneer a future for data at the edge for all of us. Our mission is to apply abundance thinking and exponential technologies to the endless possibilities of lunar data storage for humanity and in so doing to the exploration of the Moon and beyond. Lonestar offers Global Backup, Global Refresh, and Global Restore. Lonestar's vision is fueled by remarkable investors led by Scout Ventures, 2 Future Holdings, Seldor Capital, the Veteran Fund. Irongate Global Capital, Atypical Ventures, Kittyhawk Ventures, and Backswing February 2024, Lonestar successfully tested its first data center from the Moon and in Cislunar space. Stay tuned for our next steps and giant leaps. Lonestar is committed to a carbon negative future. For more information about Lonestar Data Holdings Inc. and the Freedom Payload mission, please visit View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Lonestar Data Holdings Inc. 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Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
This So-Called Flying Car Sure Seems Like A Miserable Way To Travel
New video surfaced this week of Alef Aeronautics new Model Zero A "flying car" taking off, hovering over a Chevrolet Suburban, and touching down again on the other side. While the non-car media is hailing this as a "world's first" flying car, I hesitate to actually call this thing a flying car because it barely flies, it's barely a car and flying cars aren't a thing. Alef CEO and co-founder Jim Dukhovny has been endeavoring for an entire decade to build this half-assed contraption, and says it will reach production later this year, you know, if nothing goes wrong. "If everything goes right, if we have enough funds, if the legislation does not get worse, we plan to start production of the first one by the end of 2025," is what Dukhovny told a CNBC reporter back in April. Everything about this machine seems supremely sketchy. Judging from how loud it is, to how floaty and uncontrolled it looks in the air to how small and narrow the wheels are, it is a high level of bad idea to sign up for by getting in one of these. At the car-hopping test Dukhovny told a reporter from the Independent "...this drive and flight test represents an important proof of technology in a real-world city environment. We hope it will be a moment similar to the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk video, proving to humanity that new transportation is possible." In fairness, the Model Zero A looks about as stable and capable as the Wright Flyer was 112 years ago. This video (below) is less a demonstration of human ingenuity and more what seems to be a Silicon Valley grift to raise more funds for Alef to keep working on this flimsy vaporware piece of crap. The Model Zero A is a very small and lightweight pod for one person with a quartet of really big, really loud drone propellers under the bodywork. The drone rotors can't lift a ton of weight, so passenger capacity is limited to just 250 pounds. The company says it has over 3,000 pre-orders for the $300,000 electric drone with vaguely car-shaped bodywork. As a car the Model Zero A can allegedly do 198 miles on a full battery, but as an aircraft you can cut that figure in half. The company will begin working on a more fiscally responsible version in the coming years, which it calls Model Z, allegedly for just $35,000. I'll believe that when I see it. Read more: GM Hopes A Clutch Pedal Is Enough To Make Enthusiasts Buy EVs The Model Zero A prototype owes its questionably automobile-shaped aesthetics to its ability to "fly." Each of the Model Zero's rotors are hidden under the car's mesh-and-skirts bodywork, which allows for air to pass through the upper structure of the car, and the solid vertical surfaces acting as a shroud for the rotors. Alef says that the car is designed to be driven most of the time, then operate as an eVTOL when you need to jump over a traffic jam. "We're building the solution to the issues of modern congestion," claims the Alef website. The car is sized to drive in a regular lane and park in a regular parking space or garage. How that plastic skirting along the bottom is supposed to hold up under doing regular car things is anyone's guess. I'm a big fan of automakers trying to figure out how to build more efficient and super-lightweight commuter electric vehicles with 200 miles of range, but when they added the fans to make the car fly, they lost me. The whole idea of eVTOLs scares the crap out of me, and Alef doesn't do anything different enough to alleviate my fears. Not only do I not want a car that can fly, I don't want other people to have them either. The amount of poorly trained drivers on the road is already too high, you're going to give them the power of flight, too? The idea that a thousand pounds of spinning blades and carbon fiber can just drop out of the sky while I'm minding my own business sitting in traffic sounds like a nightmare. And on top of that, the thing sounds like a swarm of angry bees when you fire up the rotors. Don't give Americans access to this kind of machine, it will only end in death. Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
World's first flying car hops over vehicle in public test
A US startup has demonstrated an airborne vehicle that it claims to be the world's first flying car. Alef Aeronautics released a video of its Model Zero prototype flying over a parked car on a public road in California, marking the first real-world test of the design concept. 'This drive and flight test represents an important proof of technology in a real-world city environment,' said Alef Aeronautics chief executive Jim Dukhovny. 'We hope it will be a moment similar to the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk video, proving to humanity that new transportation is possible.' Most 'flying car' startups use a similar design to quadcopter drones, with external rotor blades setting them apart from current road-going cars. Others have adopted fold-down wings, which require a lot of space to take off. The Alef Model Zero has a more conventional automotive design, which hides the rotor blades within the chassis of the car. The startup said its 100 per cent electric car has a driving range of 320 kilometres and a flight range of around 160km. Founded in 2015 – the same year flying cars were envisioned in the 1989 sci-fi film Back to the Future Part II – Alef Aeronautics hopes to eventually produce a vehicle that is 'affordable for most people, not just the rich'. The company has already secured more than 3,300 pre-orders for its Model A vehicle, which is expected to enter production later this year. A manufacturing agreement to fulfil these orders has already been reached with PUCARA Aero and MYC, a joint venture that has produced aviation-grade parts for Airbus and Boeing. Prices for Alef's Model A start at around $300,000 (£237,000), though a second flying car dubbed the Model Z is expected to cost around $35,000. 'Designed to drive on the street, take off vertically when needed and fly overhead above traffic, we're building the solution to the issues of modern congestion,' the company's website states. 'It fits into a regular driving lane and conforms to all traffic regulatory conditions. Alef flying car fits into a regular parking space and inside a regular-sized garage.' Sign in to access your portfolio
