August 28, 1991: The first email is sent from space using a Macintosh Portable and AppleLink software.
Sent by the crew of the Atlantis space shuttle, it reads, “Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here,…send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista, baby,…we’ll be back!”
A rover that recently landed on the surface of Mars uses the same processor that powered the 1998 iMac. NASA built Perseverance around a chip from decades ago because reliability is more important than being cutting edge when the computer is 130 million miles away.
Today was supposed to be the day that NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX sent a manned mission to the International Space Station — the first launch from American soil in nine years, and the first manned rocket launch by a private company.
Instead, due to bad weather, the launch was scrubbed and rescheduled for Saturday afternoon. If it goes off as planned, some striking artwork by Tristan Eaton will accompany astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley into space.
The pieces Eaton made are called “Human Kind” and we are highlighting them for Wallpaper Wednesday.
NASA needs your help on its mission to save the planet’s coral reefs. The US space agency created a new video game for iPhone, iPad and Mac that sets players off on an underwater voyage to map coral reefs around the world.
Dubbed NeMO-Net, NASA’s game uses real 3D imaging data obtained during recent drone flybys in Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and elsewhere. Players set off in their own ship, the Nautilus, and scan the ocean floors identifying and classifying different corals.
Want to know which app to download for everything you need to know about this week’s total solar eclipse? We’ve singled out one of the best options as part of our latest “Awesome Apps” roundup.
We’ve also got a great update to a brilliant iOS fighting game, a story-driven racing title, and a big improvement to ESPN’s app for every sport lover out there. Check out our choices below.
The first video footage of Apple’s self-driving car has already surfaced on the internet, just over a month after the company first received permission to drive on public roads.
Apple’s self-driving car is actually a Lexus RX450h outfitted with sensors powered by Apple’s own autonomous driving software. Video of the car in action reveals Apple’s project is already highway-worthy as the company races to catch up to its competition.
Watch it cruise the road with ease:
Apple has hired Jeff Norris, a former Mission Operations Innovation Office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, to work on augmented reality technology.
In his previous role, Norris worked on new ways to control spacecraft and robots in space using a combination of VR and AR technologies. Norris joined NASA back in 1999.
Apple is tapping into some of the brilliant minds behind NASA’s recent project for its self-driving car concept, according to new documents that unmask some of the scientists on the team.
A new filing from the California DMV reveals the identity of the six drivers listed on Apple’s self-driving permit, some of whom weren’t even known to be working for Cupertino.
Thirty minutes into Apple’s special event last week, one tidbit of information blew my mind.
Onstage, Apple Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams was talking about the Workout app on the new “swim-proof” Apple Watch Series 2 and the effort the company put into advancing the software that makes the fitness device tick. The amount of research deployed, all in the pursuit of updating a segment of an app many Apple Watch wearers will never use, offers a peek into the enormous resources that Apple R&D commands.
It paints Apple, with its enduring emphasis on developing new materials, manufacturing processes and sophisticated software, as a scientific force to be reckoned with — a new NASA for the 21st century.
NASA’s Juno mission is set to arrive at Jupiter on July 4th, so to celebrate the space agency did the most sensible thing it could think of: team up with Apple and Weezer to make awesome videos about space and music.
While Weezer created the patriotic rock anthem “I Love the USA” to mark the occasion, Apple created a hypnotic short film called “Visions of Harmony” that explores the link between space travel and music. The soundtrack for the hypnotic film was created by Nine Inch Nails frontman and Apple VP Trent Reznor and collaborator Atticus Ross.
Watch it below:
