DARPA Archives - Universe Today

MIT Claims they are Programming Humanoid Robots to help Explore Mars. But we all Know It’s Cylons!

21 Oct , 2016 by Matt Williams

MIT and other institutions are programming NASA’s R5 robot to help astronauts explore Mars and other worlds beyond!

Boulder Extraction and Robotic Arm Mechanisms For NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission Start Rigorous Testing at NASA Goddard

27 Oct , 2015 by Ken Kremer

NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, MD – Rigorous testing has begun on the advanced robotic arm and boulder extraction mechanisms that are key components of the unmanned probe at the heart of NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM) now under development to pluck a multi-ton boulder off a near-Earth asteroid so that astronauts visiting later […]

Here’s a Better Use for Fighter Jets: Launching Satellites

13 Feb , 2015 by Matt Williams

For decades, the human race has been deploying satellites into orbit. And in all that time, the method has remained the same – a satellite is placed aboard a booster rocket which is then launched from a limited number of fixed ground facilities with limited slots available. This process not only requires a month or […]

DARPA’s Experimental Space Plane XS-1 Starts Development

15 Jul , 2014 by Nancy Atkinson

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking to develop a fully-reusable unmanned spaceplane, and they are now ready to start working their proposed Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1). The agency has put together a “special forces” of sorts in the space industry, awarding prime contracts for the first phase of development to a combination of […]

X-51 Waverider ‘Scramjet’ Test Flight Fails

15 Aug , 2012 by Nancy Atkinson

[/caption] A highly anticipated test flight of the X-51A Waverider scramjet ended abruptly after the experimental aircraft suffered a control failure and broke apart during an attempt to fly at six times the speed of sound. The test flight took place off the coast of California and the X-51A was dropped from a B-52 bomber, […]

DARPA Moving Ahead with Building Zombie Frankensatellites

26 Jul , 2012 by Nancy Atkinson

Caption: Phoenix satellite concept. Credit: DARPA “Alien” meets “Bride of Frankenstein” and “Night of the Living Dead?” Straight from a possible sci-fi/horror movie mashup, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) wants to harvest components from dead, non-working “zombie” satellites to build new ones in space, all done remotely via a grasping, mechanical arm. The […]

Top Secret Air Force Mini Shuttle lands after Record-Setting Stay in Space

17 Jun , 2012 by Ken Kremer

Image Caption: 2nd X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Successfully Completes 1st Flight by landing at Vandernberg AFB, Calif., on June 16, 2012. The record setting mission lasted 469 days in earth orbit. Designed to be launched like a satellite and land like an airplane, the second X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, built by Boeing for the United […]

100 Year Starship Project Has a New Leader

11 Jan , 2012 by Paul Scott Anderson

[/caption] You may have heard by now about the 100 Year Starship project, a new research initiative to develop the technology required to send a manned mission to another star. The project is jointly sponsored by NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It will take that long just to make such a […]

Beam Me Up, Obama: Conspiracy Theory Claims President Teleported to Mars

4 Jan , 2012 by Jason Major

[/caption] Forget 2012 prophecies, Mayan calendars and lurking planets that go only by the name “X”… there’s an even kookier conspiracy theory in town, and it has to do with our nation’s fearless leader and his teenage teleportation adventures on Mars. Yes, you read that right. It seems that two government employees and self-professed time-travelers […]

DARPA’s New Spy Satellite Could Provide Real-Time Video From Anywhere on Earth

20 Dec , 2011 by Nancy Atkinson

[/caption] “It sees you when you’re sleeping and knows when you’re awake” could be the theme song for a new spy satellite being developed by DARPA. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s latest proof-of-concept project is called the Membrane Optical Imager for Real-Time Exploitation (MOIRE), and would provide real-time images and video of any place […]

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