NASA to launch CYGNSS hurricane tracking constellation from the belly of Orbital ATK’s Pegasus aeroplane

By tech2 News Staff /  12 Dec 2016 , 14:56

NASA is launching a constellation of eight satellites to better monitor hurricanes. The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) is a flock of eight micro-satellites, which which will improve weather forecasts for the intensity of cyclones. Although forecasts of hurricanes have improved by 50 percent since the 1990s, there has been little progress when it comes to correctly predicting their intensities.

A CYGNSS craft being prepared in a lab. Image: NASA

The CYGNSS constellation will scrutinise the regions beneath the eyewall, as well as the inner rainbands of hurricanes. Both measurements are possible for the first time from space because of the CYGNSS flock. Frank Peri, director of the Earth Systems Science Program Office (ESSPO), based at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, says “This mission will help us get a better idea of the intensity of tropical cyclones.”

The launch for the CYGNSS constellation is not a regular rocket launch. Instead of being a passenger on board a rocket that lifts off a launchpad, the rocket with the payload will be launched in mid air from the belly of Orbital ATK’s Pegasus aircraft, at an altitude of 39,000 feet. The rocket will free fall for five seconds, before firing in the air, and re-orienting itself upwards towards space. Three stages of the rocket will fire and fall away, before the CYGNSS constellation is released into orbit. The Pegasus is the world’s first privately developed launch vehicle.

There is a 40 percent chance that the launch could be delayed because of bad weather. If that happens, the launch will be postponed by one day, with a 20 percent chance of disruption by bad weather. The launch coverage will begin Live on NASA TV and can be seen here from 5:30 PM, IST, today.

Apple’s Eddy Cue talks future of TV; calls them ‘Glorified VCRs’ that need a reinvention

Image: Reuters

By tech2 News Staff /  21 Oct 2016 , 18:07

Apple’s senior VP of software and services Eddy Cue clearly does not like the current state of TV. At Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit, in a conversation with HBO CEO Richard Plepler, Cue called TVs nothing more than glorified VCRs.

Pressing on the need to for TVs to be reinvented, Cue said, “You live with a glorified VCR. You’re still setting things to record. There are 900 channels, but there’s nothing to watch.” While Cue acknowledged that there was great stuff to watch, the TV interface is what was making it more difficult, specially when it came to finding content.

“The ways you interface with TV are pretty brain dead,” said Cue. Of course he maintained that Apple TV with its App Store and Siri provide a better solution. He mentioned the example of HBO Now, which has around 1 million subscribers on Apple devices. He said that HBO Now provides a better navigational experience than cable box or satellite.

Cue hinted that Apple and HBO were two companies that were ‘at the beginning’ of their relationship. He suggested that TV will continue to evolve over the years.

Talking on competition from rivals such as Amazon and Netflix, Cue said that Apple was in a very competitive position in both music and video streaming as it hosts these services on its own platform.

Apple isn’t getting all the love in the TV streaming arena from all the major players though, thanks to Cue’s hard nosed tactics. Time Warner, Disney are just some of the TV networks which aren’t bowing down to Apple’s demands.