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NASA to Attempt Historic Solar Sail Deployment

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jun 27, 2008 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (54) | comments 12

"Hold your hands out to the sun. What do you feel? Heat, of course. But there's pressure as well – though you've never noticed it, because it's so tiny. Over the area of your hands, it only comes to about a millionth of an ...


NASA Know-How Helps Athletes Rocket Through Water

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Feb 12, 2008 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (8) | comments 1

When a swimsuit manufacturer wanted to create a better fabric for competitive swimmers, it sought out some unlikely experts -- aerospace engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton.


NASA Nanosatellites Catch Ride On Rocket, Demonstrate Technology

NASA Nanosatellites Catch Ride On Rocket, Demonstrate Technology

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Aug 01, 2008 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA will fly two nanosatellites as secondary payloads aboard the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket planned for launch in August or September.


Olympic Swimmers Shattering Records in NASA-Tested Suit

Olympic Swimmers Shattering Records in NASA-Tested Suit

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Aug 18, 2008 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Swimmers from around the world are setting world and Olympic records in Beijing this month and most are doing it wearing a swimsuit made of fabric tested at NASA.


Lead-flapping objects experience less wind resistance than their trailing counterparts

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 10, 2008 | popularity 4 / 5 (25) | comments 1

It is commonly known that racing cars and bicyclists can reduce air resistance by following closely behind a leader, but researchers from New York University and Cornell University have found the opposite is true with flapping ...


Rocketing Through Water

Rocketing Through Water

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Jun 30, 2008 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (16) | comments 3

Swimmers around the world are breaking records this year like never before, including at this week's U.S. Olympic trials. Some attribute it to extensive training as athletes prepare to compete at this summer's ...


GOCE

GOCE satellite achieves drag-free perfection (w/Videos)

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 26, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (19) | comments 11

(PhysOrg.com) -- ESA's gravity mission GOCE has achieved a first in the history of satellite technology. The sophisticated electric propulsion system has shown that it is able to keep the satellite completely ...


White vans goes green: Novel spoiler design reduces fuel consumption

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 10, 2008 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (17) | comments 5

As if the drivers of mini vans and utility vehicles needed any more encouragement to drive fast between jobs, US researchers have designed a new rear spoiler for bluff-backed vehicles that can reduce drag and lift significantly. ...


NASA to Test World's Largest Rocket Parachutes for Ares I

NASA to Test World's Largest Rocket Parachutes for Ares I

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created May 18, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- With Memorial Day just around the corner, NASA plans a spectacular aerial display May 20 of the newly designed parachute recovery system for its Ares I rocket. The centerpieces for the test ...


A Brief History of Solar Sails

A Brief History of Solar Sails

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Aug 01, 2008 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 1

sō’lar sāil, n. - A gossamer material that, when unfurled in the vacuum of space, feels the pressure of sunlight and propelled by said pressure may carry a ship among the stars.


Following the leader can be a drag

Following the leader can be a drag, research shows

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 06, 2008 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (18) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- From the Tour de France to NASCAR, competitors and fans know that speed is only part of the equation. Strategy -- and the ability to use elements like aerodynamic drafting, which makes it ...


GOCE's electric ion propulsion engine switched on

GOCE's electric ion propulsion engine switched on

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 06, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- GOCE's sophisticated electric ion propulsion system has been switched on and confirmed to be operating normally, marking another crucial milestone in the satellite's post-launch commissioning ...


GOCE

GOCE's 'heart' starts beating

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 08, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

GOCE's highly sensitive gradiometer instrument has been switched on and is producing data. Forming the heart of GOCE, the gradiometer is specifically designed to measure Earth's gravity field with unprecedented ...


Dolphin

Dolphins get a lift from delta wing technology

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 26, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

We can only marvel at the way that dolphins, whales and porpoises scythe through water. Their finlike flippers seem perfectly adapted for maximum aquatic agility. However, no one had ever analysed how the animals' ...


In many fungi, reproductive spores are remarkably aerodynamic

Other Sciences / Mathematics

created Dec 23, 2008 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 2

The reproductive spores of many species of fungi have evolved remarkably drag-minimizing shapes, according to new research by mycologists and applied mathematicians at Harvard University.