Technabob » outer space http://technabob.com/blog Cool Gadgets, Gizmos, Games and Weird Science Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:31:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Russia’s Orbital Technologies Wants to Put Space Hotel into Orbit by 2016 http://technabob.com/blog/2011/08/19/orbital-technologies-space-hotel/ http://technabob.com/blog/2011/08/19/orbital-technologies-space-hotel/#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2011 19:27:56 +0000 Shane McGlaun http://technabob.com/blog/?p=64645 We have heard about space hotels before and so far, none of them have come to be. Back in 2009, we talked about one space hotel that was supposed to launch in 2012 but never got off the ground. Now, a Russian company called Orbital Technologies is talking about its own space hotel that will be in orbit by 2016 if all goes well.

space hotel 4

The orbiting hotel will hold seven people in four different cabins with room for a crew in there somewhere. The trip is far from cheap, so only the loaded space geek needs to apply. Visitors will get to the station on a Soyuz rocket, which will take two days and cost £500,000 (~$827,500 USD). Then, the five-day stay on the space hotel will cost another £100,000 (~$165,430). The good news is unlike the ISS, the visitors will get showers with water and good food.

space hotel 3

The food won’t be out of tubes, it will be cooked on Earth. The food will head up on the rocket with the travelers and be heated in the microwave on the station.

space hotel 2

Rooms will be fitted with cameras and binoculars to check out the Earth and other views of space. I think it would be really cool to visit this hotel, but I am betting it will never come to reality.

space hotel 1

[via DailyMail]

]]> http://technabob.com/blog/2011/08/19/orbital-technologies-space-hotel/feed/ 1 Three Lego Minifigs on a Mission to Jupiter http://technabob.com/blog/2011/08/05/lego-minifigs-jupiter-mission/ http://technabob.com/blog/2011/08/05/lego-minifigs-jupiter-mission/#comments Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:25:20 +0000 Hazel Chua http://technabob.com/blog/?p=63008 for a mission…. But in the pretend world that most young boys and girls make up while they’re playing with their minifigs, these three special LEGO dudes might as well be. LEGO has kept the entire project under wraps, but]]> Okay, so they’re not really going to another planet for a mission. But in the pretend world that most young boys and girls make up while they’re playing with their minifigs, these three special LEGO dudes might as well be.

Lego Minifig Jupiter1LEGO has kept the entire project under wraps, but they’ve finally revealed that they were hard at work creating these three special LEGO minifigs and carving them out from blocks of aluminum so that the scientists who are a part of the Juno mission will be able to stash them in the ship.

(Even scientists need some toys in outer space. You’d think manning a whole ship would be enough, but no, these scientists had to go and tell LEGO that they wanted to bring along some minifigs, too. And no, I’m not saying this out of envy. I mean, why would I? NASA scientists have all the fun.)

Lego Minifig Jupiter

The minifigs are LEGO-lized versions of the Roman god Jupiter, his sister Juno, and Italian astronomer Galileo. After the mission, LEGO will be known to have been the toys to travel the farthest.

Each of the figures cost $5,000 (USD) to make, since extra care was put to ensure that they wouldn’t interfere with NASA’s measurements or (God forbid) cause any accidents while on board the ship.

[via Wired via Dvice]

]]> http://technabob.com/blog/2011/08/05/lego-minifigs-jupiter-mission/feed/ 1 R2-D2 Gets a Parking Ticket From an Astronaut http://technabob.com/blog/2010/10/11/r2-d2-parking-ticket-astronaut/ http://technabob.com/blog/2010/10/11/r2-d2-parking-ticket-astronaut/#comments Mon, 11 Oct 2010 15:02:16 +0000 Range http://technabob.com/blog/?p=40837 2001: Space Odyssey. Except for the R2-D2 part – that reminds me of Star Wars…. The lonely astronaut is a sort of]]> This great painting is by Scott Listfield. Scott has got quite a few paintings featuring these lonely astronauts in them. The whole concept reminds me of 2001: Space Odyssey. Except for the R2-D2 part – that reminds me of Star Wars.

101110 rg LonelyAstronaut 01

The lonely astronaut is a sort of leitmotiv that comes up frequently in science-fiction. I remember it being used in Alastair Reynolds‘ Revelation Space series. The Captain of the Nostalgia For Infinity manifests himself as a lonely astronaut. The lonely astronaut concept isn’t new, but Scott has definitely put a unique spin on the theme in his paintings, including this one featuring HAL9000.

101110 rg LonelyAstronaut 02

You can buy originals or prints from Scott via his website. My personal faves include The Parking Ticket with R2D2, 7-Eleven, and a few others.
[via Laughing Squid]

]]> http://technabob.com/blog/2010/10/11/r2-d2-parking-ticket-astronaut/feed/ 0 Custom Dead Space Figure Makes Horror Fun Again http://technabob.com/blog/2008/12/11/custom-dead-space-figure-makes-horror-fun-again/ http://technabob.com/blog/2008/12/11/custom-dead-space-figure-makes-horror-fun-again/#comments Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:35:49 +0000 Alisha K. http://technabob.com/blog/?p=6026 Dead Space. Dead …]]> Real fans don’t buy action figures, whether or not they’re commercially available. Buying things is for wimps. No, the real fan breaks out the paint, dismembers currently-existing figures, and then the real fan makes their own action figures, like Chris Hooton did for the horror game Dead Space.

deadspace tb

Dead Space borrows heavily from other material–most notably, science fiction classic Solaris–so it’s only fitting that Hooton’s custom figure borrowed heavily from another figure. That is, he recycled it from a Cyclops figure (from the Marvel Legends line).

You’ve got to love this little project for the attention to bloody-torsoed detail, if nothing else. Nothing says awesome quite like accuracy.

[Toy News International via Toycutter]

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