solar system – SomeGadgetGuy

With 5 days to go on their IndieGoGo, Solar Roadways has shattered their $1 million funding goal by a solid $300,000.

The crowdfunding campaign was to help kick start manufacturing for the first round of this new roadway construction process which incorporates solar cells and LED lights into hexagonal tiles that can be used to replace sidewalks, driveways, and streets. The cells are protected by a tempered glass which is durable enough to handle vehicles up to 15 tons.

The main benefit of this kind of retrofit is it takes ground that’s already dedicated for one purpose to generate electricity. It’s a futuristic idea, that every piece of passive asphalt and cement could instead be generating power. Other solar farm proposals might need large areas of land, which means pushing them farther away from populated areas.

There’s still time left to contribute to the campaign, with some fun perks for donating. If you’d like more info on the Solar Roadways project, we’ve got their pitch video below.

There’s something kind of amazing that Voyager 1 is not only the first man made craft to leave the confines of our solar system, but that NASA believes it will continue to function, sending data to back to us until around 2025.

Voyager 1 has been in operation for 36 years, and has traveled more than 16 Billion miles during that time. From John Grunsfeld, NASA’s associate administrator for science in Washington:

“Voyager has boldly gone where no probe has gone before, marking one of the most significant technological achievements in the annals of the history of science, and adding a new chapter in human scientific dreams and endeavors. Perhaps some future deep space explorers will catch up with Voyager, our first interstellar envoy, and reflect on how this intrepid spacecraft helped enable their journey.”

Perhaps even more amazing, the entire operations budget for the Voyager program, including both Voyager 1 & 2 spacecrafts has been less than $1 Billion. Not a bad bang for buck from a research perspective.

For more info on the Voyager program: http://www.nasa.gov/voyager

Read a Reddit AMA with the Voyager scientists and engineers: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1m9wke/were_scientists_and_engineers_on_nasas_voyager/

And some day, maybe in the late 23rd century, after the Klingons report a strange disturbance featuring a humongous space craft, and we’re all wearing pastel jumpsuits, we’ll know what’s up…

Full NASA Press Release after the jump. SCIENCE!

Continue reading “NASA’s Voyager 1 Leaves Our Solar System For Interstellar Space. V’Ger to return in 2273.”