Tag: Space

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We have been fantasizing about an alternative to “bell-shaped” space engines for 70 years. Now we are close to having a


Since the beginning of the space age, engineers have banged their heads over and over again against the same problem: the technical impossibility of building an engine that would be both efficient in the atmosphere and in a vacuum.

So much so, that we only managed to fix it by mounting two-stage rockets: one with nozzles for the atmospheric phase and another optimized for outer space. The “middle” thing is a matter of brute force.

Is it inefficient? Yes Do we have another option? Not at the beginning.

“In principle”? Well yes, because for more than 70 years there has been no shortage of experts who thought that the solution lay in something very simple: form. As Darren Orf pointed out a few months ago, “whether it’s the German V-2 rocket, NASA’s legendary Saturn V or SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, all rocket engines share a common attribute: their exhaust nozzles are bell-shaped. “. But what if they didn’t have it?

Essentially, the function of a nozzle is to direct the flow of gases in the direction that interests us. It seems obvious, but it’s key. Above all, because the mixture of propellants at very high temperatures generates a lot of force, but the movement of the gases is (to a large extent) random. The conventional nozzle has proven very effective in converting all that randomness into a “jet” efficient enough to put the rocket into the air. The question is, then, how do we do without it.

That’s where the ‘aerospike’ comes in: a type of engine that “would maintain its aerodynamic efficiency over a wide range of altitudes” by changing precisely the shape in question. That is, the gases are launched “along the outer face of a wedge-shaped solid volume” (the spike) and the result would also efficiently reduce this randomness.

It sounds good, very good. At the end of the day, all of this that we have explained would translate into being able to reduce the total weight of the ship and, in the process, increase the useful load. The problem? That doesn’t work.

The eternal promise of space exploration. It is true that NASA tested a prototype in the 1990s, but the result has always been the same: the different companies or agencies that have opted for the aerospike have ended up signing checks that they have not been able to pay.

And what has changed that we are talking about this? Germany has passed. In April, Berlin awarded a military contract to Polaris, a start-up dedicated to this type of technology, to investigate the possibilities of using such an engine in a space plane. The news now is that Polaris has just completed the first series of test flights of one of the key prototypes.

We are talking about 15 tests between the end of August and the beginning of September. And it is true that the MIRA-light (which is what the prototype is called) measures only two and a half meters long and is very far from what we are looking for; but the sensations are good and that has caught the attention of many people.

Does that mean we will (finally!) have an aerospike engine? At this point in the game, the most reasonable thing is to think that no, that there is a lot of work ahead and that, even in the best of all possible worlds, its effects are not going to be immediate. However, innovation in the world of engines is excellent news (and even more so if the tests go well)

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Deal : Unistellar introduces the Odyssey smart space telescope


With smart telescopes from Unistellar, even laypeople can quickly achieve success in space observation. With the Unistellar Odyssey, a particularly versatile model is now appearing.

Planets, stars and galaxies: countless celestial bodies in space are waiting to be observed. However, this is not exactly easy for laypeople, as observing with conventional telescopes often requires prior knowledge and practice. It should be easier with automatic telescopes, such as those offered by Unistellar with the eVscope 2 and eQuinox 2. This means that even complete astronomy beginners can quickly achieve success – thanks to a smart app and automatic alignment. At CES 2024 (January 9th to 12th in Las Vegas, USA), the French manufacturer is now presenting the Unistellar Odyssey, a new flagship model that promises even greater convenience.

Reflector telescope without tricky adjustment

The new Unistellar Odyssey differs externally from its two previous models. Because with a weight of 4 kilograms and dimensions of around 43x20x13 centimeters, it is only half as heavy and only half as big as the eVscope 2 and eQuinox 2. Unistellar also wants to have improved the interior. The Unistellar Odyssey is said to be the first reflecting telescope that does not require regular manual readjustment of its mirrors. According to Unistellar, this is made possible by special optics developed in cooperation with Nikon, the Nikon High Precision Optics. Another advantage of the new Odyssey automatic telescope: Thanks to a new multi-depth technology and automatic focus, the Odyssey is intended to provide detailed images when observing nearby planets as well as distant galaxies and up to 150 million stars are visible make. This means that detailed images of Jupiter’s large red spot can be taken without changing the set-up, but the spiral arms of the vortex galaxy, 23 million light-years away, can also be observed. Thanks to a smart app, the celestial body to be discovered should always be just a few clicks away.

Into space via app

Because the free Unistellar app is the control center of the smart Unistellar telescopes. Users connect their smartphone or tablet to the Odyssey via a WiFi signal and activate the automatic alignment. Afterwards, countless celestial objects can be selected from a catalog and automatically controlled and focused by the telescope. The Unistellar star hunter determines where to point its lens based on the user’s GPS position and the current time. Using the app, users also observe the telescope’s current camera image and, if desired, take pictures of the observed celestial object and save them on the telescope’s device memory. The application also provides more detailed information about planets, stars and galaxies and suggests celestial objects to observe.

Price and availability

The Unistellar Odyssey is now available at a price of 2,499 euros. The smart space telescope is also available in a Pro version for 3,999 euros, which has an electronic eyepiece from Nikon. Stars and galaxies can therefore be observed not only via the tablet or smartphone, but also directly on the telescope. The Odyssey Pro will also soon be available in an eye-catching “Red Edition”. Its price is 4,499 euros.

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Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 announces its closed beta and opens registrations so you can sign up


The world of Warhammer 40,000 is a marvel within video games. With great video games in its catalog, we are now waiting for Space Marine 2which promises to be one of the most brutal titles that have come from the hand of this universe of dark science fiction.

No date yet but scheduled to be released in the winter of this year, Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 promises to bring us a cooperative campaign with great detail and loads of visceral action all over. Now, entering the final stretch of her development, Saber is ready to let us try it out.

Warhammer 40K Closed Beta: Space Marine 2

Without having yet revealed the date on which these test sessions will take place, Focus Home Interactive has already opened registrations for the beta of the game. Doing it is the easiest thing in the world, and it is that you only have to go to the company’s website, register your beta tester account and sign up for Space Marine 2 test.

The “bad” part of this is that we are still missing the most important piece of information: beta dates. Without revealing them, it is clear that we will soon be able to test the title if it hopes to reach its goal of being released this winter. On the other hand, being a closed beta It may be that, even if you sign up, you will not get to participate. Still, it’s worth trying. Who knows, you might be one of the first to play one of the most brutal titles this year.

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Merlin and Raptor: the highly reusable rocket engines that made SpaceX a space benchmark

Size issues. But by launching reusable rockets, having smaller engines is part of success. That was Elon Musk and SpaceX’s strategy, from the already veteran Merlin engines to the newer Raptor engines, which are expected to be used in the Starship Super Heavy, the ship that aims to reach Mars.

The first test of the Merlin 1A took place in 2006. An engine made of polymers reinforced with carbon fibers which in its first test failed miserably. A year later, it was used in Falcon 1, kicking off the first private launch of liquid-fueled vehicles to orbit the Earth. Since then, these Merlin engines have accompanied SpaceX in its conquest of space.

Elon Musk believes that the launch of a modern rocket is based on use a large number of motors at the same time, controlled at the same time, which allow the thrust to be varied in real time and with a key advantage: reliability. Because if one of the engines fails, the rest stays.

From the failed “Merlin 1A” to the new Falcon 9 “empty Merlin 1D”

Merlin engines are Designed for recovery and rescue at sea. These reusable engines were designed by SpaceX for use in the Falcon 1, Falcon 9, and Falcon Heavy.

It cannot be said that the first versions of Merlin engines are successful. The Merlin 1A was only used once on the Falcon 1. While the Merlin 1B, an improved version with a 1,860 kW turbine was to be used on the Falcon 9 Heavy, but its use was discontinued at profit of the Merlin 1C.

At the end of 2007, SpaceX continued its engine development with the Merlin 1C version. At this point it had a regeneratively cooled nozzle and combustion chamber. But it was not until 2011 that the version of the engine that served as the basis was finally obtained of the main versions of Space X.


1D Merlin engine.

The Merlin 1D was first used in 2013 and in 2017 the company celebrated having produced the 400th in this series. Then, these Merlin engines had been started more than 440 times on orbital missions and more than 5,600 times in tests and launches, thus reaffirming its value as a reusable engine. Together, these engines have been running for over 400,000 seconds, enough power to launch 3,600 tonnes into space, which equates to the weight of 7 ISS.

Use of Merlin engines RP-1, a petroleum derivative similar to kerosene and liquid oxygen as materials to produce rocket propulsion.

The Falcon 9 takes its name from the nine Merlin engines used.

According to the technical data of the Falcon 9, which takes its name from the nine Merlin engines used, these engines have a thrust of 650 kN, a Specific vacuum pulse 311s and a 63.5 ton rise in sea level. Design details for the Merlin 1D engine were not openly shared by SpaceX, but the company said the Falcon 9 was « the world’s most powerful operational rocket. , by a factor of two ”.

In November 2013, Elon Musk explained that the engine was running at 85% of its potential and that these numbers could be improved. The result came with the Falcon 9 v1.1, which in addition to changing the placement of the nine engines, has evolved into the Merlin 1D empty.

Falcon 9 v1.0 (left) vs Falcon 9 v1.1 with Merlin 1D Vacuum engines (right).

The latest Merlin 1D vacuum motors have a pushing capacity 80 tons, with a specific impulse of 348 seconds. After several years of use, according to daily astronaut data, these Merlin engines are 99.9% reliable and can be reused for about 10 flights. However, last March, one of the Merlin 1D engines had problems. The first since 2012. For this reason, SpaceX and NASA have decided to launch an investigation.

The cost of these 1D Merlin is less than a million dollars. A very economical quantity which corresponds to the objective of putting many rockets into orbit. However, Elon Musk’s plans go further (literally) and for his larger rockets they have a different set of engines.

Raptor, the new generation of SpaceX engines

With a height of 68 meters and up to 3,300 tons of fuel, the Super Heavy is billed as a rocket quite far from the Falcon 9. And for this reason, it also has another series of engines, the Raptors. While the Starship plans to integrate seven, the Super Heavy will add 37 Raptor engines, powered by methane and oxygen, in an attempt to achieve its ambitious goal of reaching Mars.

At 90%, the Raptor engines are already able to deliver twice the horsepower of the Merlin 1D, although the cost is also double. As described by EveryDay Astronaut, the raptor engine has a boost higher than any other rocket except the space shuttle, with the additional cost of 70 times less in power.

The Raptor engine is intended for « the next generation of SpaceX launchers, designed for the exploration and colonization of Mars, » said Elon Musk in 2013 when development of this new series of engines began. Slightly larger, but also more powerful and reusable.

The design requires at least 170 metric tons of force. The engine reached a chamber pressure of 172 mT and 257 bar with a hot propellant, which means 10% to 20% more with deep cryonics.

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 7 février 2019

During testing at the Texas site, the Raptor engine achieved a 172 ton boost, although still under 200 tons, which Elon Musk says is enough to energize the Starship or Super Heavy.

Size comparison. Via Reddit

“There is no other rocket engine capable of producing as much energy from methane and liquid oxygen as the Raptor engine,” said Tim Dodd, expert behind the chain for Everyday Astronaut. “And the idea is to make it more reusable. Something that will definitely help their business strategy if they can make it fly over and over again. According to SpaceX, these Raptor engines are designed to be reused up to 1000 times.

In SamaGame | COVID-19 and Major Space Agencies: How the Pandemic Affected the Space Race

Source: Engadget

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If you were planning to buy Baldur’s Gate 3, you better have a good SSD hard drive and plenty of free space ready.


Baldur’s Gate 3 has all the necessary ingredients to be one of the best games of 2023 and one of the most outstanding RPGs on the international scene For a long time. Although it is still a bit early to talk about, it is what one can infer seeing everything that Larian Studios has prepared as well as the time they have dedicated to the project. Also, of course, it is very related to what we have already seen in, for example, early access.

What many may not like is that, since it was announced, the game has had to toughen its requirements in order to respond adequately. This has caused us to need larger components. Unfortunately, it is not the only thing that will require us. If we take a look at the game’s official Steam page, we can see – and this has been known for a long time – that we will need 150 GB of storage on an SSD hard drive. Nevertheless, in the end it will be somewhat less: 122 GB. At least that’s how Larian Studios has reported it through an official statement.

Larian Studios confirms that the game will occupy 122 GB of SSD

Despite this, it continues to be an important space, which it will force us to have a fairly important SSD storage hard drive. It is not nonsense, since in the case of many users it could occupy up to a quarter of the storage of their systems. At least it seems so if we review the latest Steam reviews.

Today, the usual measurements of the SSD that we can find in many computers are 256 GB, 500 GB or, failing that, 1 TB. For those who have the latter, Baldur’s Gate 3 will be no problem, but for the first two it can be somewhat more complicated to manage. In many cases, there will be players who are forced to delete other games in order to have only the new Larian.

However, this is not a situation that only occurred with Baldur’s Gate 3. More of the same will happen with Starfield and other releases like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order did too. Thus, it seems that the new standards of the video game industry will require us to have more space than ever if we want to continue enjoying its virtues.


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TUTORIAL : How to make space in Infinite Craft


Space is vast and mysterious, but it’s just another element of the free browser game Infinite Craft. This guide will show you how to create Space from scratch in the game.

How to get space in Infinite Craft

Space can be created in Infinite Craft by combining Newspaper and rocket together. Players just starting out won’t have these items and will need to do both to get space.

Newsprint manufacturing is the most complex ingredient in the process, as it requires several steps of combining a few specific items. The simple recipe is to combine Paperboy and Paperbut here is the complete 16-step process for getting log.

First of all, you must ensure that Fish:

  • Water + Water = Lake
  • Lake + Lake = Ocean
  • Ocean + Water = Fish

Second, you must have Rock:

  • Fire + Fire = Volcano
  • Volcano + Fire = Lava
  • Water + Lava = Stone

You will also need a Surfer For later in the process:

  • Water + Wind = Wave

  • Plant + Plant = Tree
  • Wave + Tree = Surfboard
  • Surfboard + Ocean = Surfer

Combine the fish and stone with other ingredients to make paper, then combine it with the surfer to get Newspaper:

  • Fish + Stone = Fossil
  • Fossil + Earth = Oil
  • Oil + Fire = Fuel
  • Tree + Fuel = Paper
  • Paper + Surfer = Paperboy
  • Paperboy + Paper = Newspaper

Fortunately, the Rocket is much simpler with its recipe and only requires two steps. Here’s how to make a rocket with the last part of the space recipe:

  • Fuel + Fire = Engine
  • Engine + Engine = Rocket
  • Rocket + Newspaper = Space

Read also : Can you respec character stats in Palworld? -Answer

Endless crafting recipes that require space

Space can be used to discover other things, but don’t be surprised if all results are space related. Here are some of the Recipes that require space:

  • Space + Car = Spaceship
  • Space + Electricity = Star
  • Space + Lake = Moon
  • Space + Ocean = Universe
  • Space + Paperboy = Alien
  • Space + Rain = Meteor

To learn more about Infinite Craft, check out our guide on how to craft electricity to expand your recipe possibilities.


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Steps to Free up Hard Drive Space on Macbooks

Are you struggling with hard drive space on a Macbook? Macs are great in how they perform in addition to their reliability. However, some users are frustrated with the lack of available storage on a hard drive.

This frustration usually stems from a lack of data management experience. Tendencies to hoard files on a computer can get out of control, and it is important to understand that you need to be more careful and take a different file management approach.

This article provides solutions on how Macbook users can clear up space on their hard drives. Create a proper file management strategy by taking the steps below.

Step #1 – Delete Unnecessary Applications

Look at your list of applications and see which of them can be removed. It is not efficient to keep apps you no longer need, especially when looking to free up disk space.

It is also possible that some of your applications are running in the background and consuming system resources. Reducing the number of applications would also free up system resources and improve computer performance in addition to freeing up disk space.

Step #2 – Get Rid of Temporary Junk

Buy cleanup utility software and use it to regularly remove junk files, like old system backups and app extensions. The sheer number of temporary files is a hindrance to the system’s performance. And since these files are invisible and can be accessed by changing the system’s settings, having a cleanup utility tool that automatically does the work is a more efficient option.

Removing junk data regularly will give you more free drive space and enhance the overall performance of the Macbook.

Step #3 – Scan for Malware

Check your computer for potential malware. A virus may be eating away drive space without you even realizing what is happening. If you notice fewer gigabytes of free space every time you check the hard drive status, the chances are that a cybersecurity threat is behind the problem.

Scan the system and eliminate any infected files. If the problem repeats itself in the future, get a better antivirus, and change your browsing habits – switch to a virtual private network and avoid clicking on questionable URLs.

Step #4 – Remove App Language Files

Language pack files come with some applications, and it may surprise you how much space language data needs. If an app supports more than 50 languages, then these files can be as large as one gigabyte.

In most cases, people need only the English version, meaning that there is no real reason to keep the other 50 or so language files.

Step #5 – Check Duplicates, Email Attachments, and Downloads

Redundant files like duplicates could also be taking a portion of your hard drive. Make it a priority to get rid of them. And speaking of priorities, download and mail folders might also have more files than you expect. Check these two regularly and delete files that you no longer need.

Step #6 – Transfer Data to Clouds

Dropbox and iCloud offer free storage services. And if you are happy with the services, there is an option to expand available storage and upgrade your plan for a monthly subscription that costs a few dollars.

You can access data in clouds on multiple devices that are synced. Moreover, you can view text documents or pictures directly – there is no need to copy them to a computer. Lastly, Dropbox and iCloud are known for their safety, so you can rest easy knowing that your data is in a good location.

Step #7 – Get External Storage Devices

External storage devices like DVDs and flash sticks are relatively cheap. For example, you can even purchase second-hand flash sticks because they still work and are fine for keeping files. Some people might find transferring data from external storage to computer bothersome. Still, if you want to keep files without deleting them, external storage devices are one of the best options.

Step #8 – Reinstall the Operating System

A fresh start is what your computer and hard drive might need. Reinstalling the operating system can be a bit problematic when you lack experience, but there are plenty of guides for it online. As a last resort, you can ask someone to do the work for you, or take the Mac to a service store and ask the staff there to reinstall the OS for you.

Step #9 – Consume Media on Streaming Services

Streaming services have become the go-to method to consume media. Many different platforms allow people to watch movies, TV shows or listen to music with just a few clicks. And the best part about streaming services is how they eliminate the need to keep large media files on a computer. Therefore, if you subscribe to services like Netflix or Spotify, you can rest easy knowing that there is no need to keep movies, TV shows, or music on your Macbook’s hard drive.