Tuesday, October 9th, 2012
by Jason Taetsch
Ever since its inception 14 years ago, Google has revealed the secrets of the web to Internet users across the globe. This past week, Brian Mclendon, VP of Google Maps and Earth, announced Google is taking on the secrets of the deep with the first underwater panoramic images from Google Maps. Read more.
Saturday, September 15th, 2012
by AJ Plunkett
Just in time to highlight the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy Space Center, Google Maps partnered with NASA to offer a virtual tour of the famous launch facility…in Street View mode.
Friday, August 24th, 2012
by Jason Taetsch
With the terrestrial economy on unsteady ground, some big-name entrepreneurs are looking to the skies for economic expansion. Read more.
Monday, June 18th, 2012
By AJ Plunkett
It’s neither cheap nor easy to build a robot capable of landing safely on the moon — one capable of roving at least 500 meters and transmitting high-definition images and other data from the lunar surface back to Earth.
Yet there are 26 teams representing 46 localities across the world who think they can do it. They also think they can be the first to get there and claim the $20 million grand prize from the Google Lunar X Prize competition. Read more.
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
April was a busy month for Hollywood director James Cameron. First he made waves with his announcement that he would be visiting the Mariana Trench, one of the deepest parts of the ocean floor. Then, just for good measure, he revealed that he is taking part in a new venture known as Planetary Resources that intends to mine asteroids. Yes, that’s right, asteroids.
While the idea of mining asteroids might have seemed wildly outlandish just a few years ago, thus far the skeptics have remained relatively quiet. Even NASA has come out in support of the venture. Of course, it helps that Planetary Resources has assembled an extremely impressive leadership team. Read more.
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
It’s getting busier in outer space, and a United Nations panel is now calling for stronger regulations on how humans conduct themselves beyond Earth’s boundaries. In particular, the Legal Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space wants to keep an eye on the increased activity of private sector space enterprise.
The call for increased regulation was sent out barely a month before a group of high-profile entrepreneurs — operating under Planetary Resources Inc. – announced their intention to mine asteroids for minerals and other resources. By some estimates, this venture could make the company trillions of dollars.
Planetary Resources’ April 24 announcement was followed, within hours, by the musings of bloggers on the legalities of how such exploration could be done and the issue of celestial ownership. It’s just one type of scenario that the U.N. subcommittee appeared to be trying anticipate after almost two weeks of meetings in late March.
Monday, April 2nd, 2012
Let’s take a break from science fact for a minute to get behind the scenes of a whole new world for the UrtheCast blog — science fiction.
Recently, we decided to pick the brain of Dr. Kevin Grazier, former NASA scientist and science advisor on television programs such as Battlestar Galactica and Eureka, in order to peer further into the world of sci-fi. First off, why exactly does sci-fi (and space in particular) intrigue us so much?
Monday, March 12th, 2012
The weekend leading up to SXSW Interactive doles out enough work, prep, and play to last you a month. So, it’s no surprise that by the time Monday rolls around, hitting the ground running requires more than a bit of fortitude.
As anticipated, the UrtheCast team hit its stride today with a huge response to the debut of our interactive platform. Read more.