Monday, July 30th, 2012
by Jason Taetsch
Could we all have our own drones one day? Following the successful test of civilian drones by CAE and Aeronautics, the Canadian government is considering removing restrictions placed on UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) for non-military purposes.
Tuesday, July 24th, 2012
By Jason Taetsch
The summer movie season is often filled with films portraying masked heroes on missions to save the world. These films will likely be seen by millions of people all over the globe. Unfortunately, much less attention will be paid to a real-life team of individuals who have, in fact, actually set out to save the planet. Read more.
Thursday, July 19th, 2012
by AJ Plunkett
In less than two weeks, NASA hopes to gently plop a car-sized roving laboratory onto Mars. With Canada’s help, it hopes to explore whether Earth’s ‘red’ neighbour ever had — or could have — life on it.
Thursday, July 19th, 2012
by AJ Plunkett
Remember the first time you saw a multifunction tool and thought, “This is great!? It’s like a Transformer!” Now imagine if that multifunction tool was robotic, and that its tools were also robotic multifunction tools.
Well, meet Dextre. Read more.
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012
UNOSAT and UrtheCast have teamed up to apply the world’s first ever high definition, streaming video platform of planet Earth to support humanitarian emergencies, environmental monitoring and capacity development to the benefit of vulnerable communities worldwide.
The live video feed cameras will be mounted on the International Space Station later this year while UNOSAT is already working with partner UrtheCast, who fathered the idea, to ensure high definition video – below 1 m resolution – is acquired and utilised in crisis situations for the benefit of developing countries, UN sister organizations, international organizations, NGOs and others. Read more.
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012
Monitoring conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region; observation of the drought crisis across the horn of Africa; continued evaluation of Haiti’s earthquake response. It is conflict regions like these that UrtheCast has agreed to image in support of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
UrtheCast is pleased to announce the signing of an innovative agreement with the UNITAR’s Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). As a part of this agreement, UrtheCast will provide Earth imagery data for the purpose of monitoring humanitarian relief efforts across the globe. This contract will fulfill a key piece of UrtheCast’s vision – a vision that involves leveraging data from the world’s first high-definition (HD) video of Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). Read more.
This article originally appeared in the SpaceNews.com website on Tuesday, July 17th, 2012
By Debra Werner, SpaceNews.com
UrtheCast, the Canadian firm that plans to offer a live video stream from the international space station, has signed an agreement with the United Nations’ Institute for Training and Research to provide high-resolution imagery to assist the agency’s humanitarian relief work.
Since 2003, the Institute for Training and Research has provided maps and data derived from satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles and photographers on the ground to various UN agencies, member states and nongovernmental organizations, including the Red Cross, through the UN’s Operational Satellite Applications Program (UNOSAT). “Detailed live video from the international space station will enhance our current suite of remote sensing information sources,” UNOSAT senior specialist Einar Bjorgo said by email. “The video camera also can be focused by the international space station’s onboard crew on particular areas, for example, dynamic flood situations or villages where landslides have been reported.” Read more.
Monday, July 16th, 2012
By AJ Plunkett
That key ingredient to our understanding of the universe? Scientists believe they’ve confirmed its existence. Read more.
This article originally appeared in the Globe and Mail on Monday, July 16th, 2012
By SEAN SILCOFF,Globe and Mail
Click here to watch the video interview.
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Urthecast has contracted the U.K.’s government-owned Rutherford Appleton Laboratories to build two cameras and Richmond, B.C.-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. to build the associated hardware. The equipment is expected to be delivered later this year. Read more.
Thursday, July 12th, 2012
by AJ Plunkett
When a Senate subcommittee held its recent hearing on the future of commercial spaceflight in the United States, there were no dissenters before the panel. Even a representative of the Government Accountability Office — whose mission it is to focus a critical eye on government operations and spending — told senators that the future of the industry is now.
It was a low-key event, but the stakes were high. Federal action could have a critical impact on whether the United States remains competitive in an emerging world marketplace, according to GAO testimony. Not surprisingly, one of the biggest cheerleaders was Michael Lopez-Alegria, the president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Read more.