In celebration of the Kennedy Space Center’s 50th birthday, Google Maps has teamed up with NASA to give curious children, enthusiasts, and space lovers alike, a virtual trip down the launch pad of space exploration. Compiled of 6,000 panoramic views of the facilities, the Street View of the Kennedy Space Center is the largest special collection of Street View imagery to date.
Kicking off this week’s must-have apps roundup is an incredible word processor called UX Write, which makes working with large, complex documents on the go a breeze. You’ll also find Simpsons Comics, the latest app from comiXology that brings Bongo’s Simpsons library to iOS; a wonderful app from NASA that allows you to get up close and personal with the spacecraft used to explore our solar system, and more.
The downside to buying a new Mac with a 2880 x 1800 display is that it’s not easy to find content that matches such a high resolution. All of your old Charlize Theron wallpapers you found on Google Images are going to look blurry and pixelated and just awful.
Fortunately for you, we’ve put together a gallery of high-resolution NASA images that look terrific on the new MacBook Pro’s Retina display.
Becoming an astronaut is every boy’s dream. Who doesn’t want to walk on the moon? Unfortunately that dream fades away for the vast majority of us when we grow up and realize NASA doesn’t employ overweight college dropouts. That’s when we take up blogging.
But thanks to an upcoming iOS app, we can all pop on a white suit and moon boots and dance with the satellites.
Earlier today, the Space Shuttle Discovery took its final flight on the back of a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Washington, D.C. where it will go on display in the Smithsonian.
As it flew over the U.S. capitol, Instagram user Adam Wells took this totally sweet shot of the Discovery being piggy-backed to her final home at the Smithsonian’s Air & Space facility in Chantilly, Virginia. Beautiful.
[via ObamaPacman]
You know all about the new iPad’s retina display and how ridiculously gorgeous pictures and retina graphics look on the shiny new screen, but what about video? The 1080p resolution of HD videos is great and all that, but the new iPad has a 2048p resolution, which means even if you’re watching a high-def video there are still a lot of pixels that aren’t utilized to their full potential. We wanted to know what video will look like on our new tablet once ultra-hd videos become more popular, and even though 2048p clips are scare, we found five videos that showcase just how awesome online videos are going to look on the new iPad really soon.
We’re two weeks away from launch day, the day Angry Birds boldly goes where no bird has gone before. I’m of course talking about Angry Birds Space, Rovio’s next Angry Bird iteration which looks to turn the series upside down. To prepare us for the challenges of launching a projectile in a weightless environment while compensating for the gravity fields of neighboring planetary bodies, NASA astronaut Dan Pettit gives us a quick physics lesson while aboard the International Space Station.
Hey kids, NASA needs your help. And your iPhone.
Up until now, the Angry Birds have stayed terrestrial, pushing their beaks no higher than the cumulus clouds in their squawking, feather-strewn war against the evil Pig Armada.
That’s about to change. The Angry Birds are going to outer space. No, Rovio’s not doing a sci-fi themed Angry Birds sequel, although that’s not a shabby idea: NASA is sending some iPads to the International Space Station, along with an Angry Bird plush toy.
The Space Shuttle Atlantis just took off from Cape Canaveral, launching into outer space in what will be the last launch of NASA’s historic shuttle fleet. Aboard the shuttle are not only the crew of astronauts and the hopes and dreams of hundreds of millions of Americans, but a very special payload: two custom, zero-G iPhone 4s.
Our roundup of must-have iOS apps from this week includes Camera+ – quite possibly the best, and certainly the most popular, photography application for the iPhone. It’s so good that it has replaced Apple’s official Camera app on my iPhone’s home screen, and is now my go-to application for snapping all my photos
Also to feature is Readlines – an application that makes great use of your iOS device while it’s sat in its dock on your desk, and turns an otherwise boring blank screen in to a big, bold stream of random headlines from your Google Reader RSS feeds.
Tap Forms Database on your iPhone means you can forget sifting through every piece of paper in your home to find your insurance details when you need to make a claim, or panicking because you’ve forgotten your PIN at the ATM when you need some cash – it’s now with you wherever you go.
Find out more about the applications above and check out the rest of this week’s must-haves, including HubbleSite and Inception: App Edition, after the break!
HubbleSite – (Free) iPhone – Education
Today’s must-have iOS application is HubbleSite, the online home of NASA’s Hubble space telescope. For over 20 years Hubble has orbited the Earth, beaming home images of celestial splendour; now you have access to the world’s most remarkable Hubble images at your fingertips, to enjoy on your iPhone anytime, anywhere.
Cast your eye over a vast collection of spectacular sights from the Hubble archives and vote for the images that you find the to be the most astounding. Download a selection of wallpapers for your device, all of which have been chosen and edited to deliver beautiful results on the iPhone & iPod touch with a Retina display. Read a compilation of amazing facts about the Hubble telescope’s history and the scientific discoveries it has revealed, from the age of the universe to the mysterious force known as ‘dark energy’ – all within the official Hubble iOS app.
For anyone interested in space and the universe around us, HubbleSite should be the next application you download from the App Store.