Does intelligent life exist outside the Universe?
We are hardwired to project human qualities onto what we see as intelligence
Continue Reading
Updated: Adding Third-Party Libraries to Unreal Engine : NASA's SPICE Toolkit (Part 5)
We integrated NASA’s SPICE library with Unreal Engine 5, into MaxQ Spaceflight Toolkit, and Unreal Engine 5 Plugin. Let’s solve some space flight and orbital mechanics type problems - in Blueprints!! (Updated 1 July 2022)
Continue Reading
MaxQ Spaceflight Toolkit Released to Unreal Engine Marketplace
MaxQ Spaceflight Toolkit for Unreal Engine 5 has been released to the Unreal Engine Marketplace.
Continue Reading
ASAT Code Tutorial 4: Call a SatCat REST API from Unreal Engine 5
Unreal Engine’s HTTP and JSON modules make it ultra-easy to send requests over Http. Learn how to make your own Live 3D visualization of space debris orbiting Earth, by querying a Satellite Catalog REST API.
Continue Reading
ASAT Code Tutorial 3: Build a Node.js Server, query a SatCat for weapons test debris data
Today you’ll develop a Node.js server that displays a list of satellite collision alerts. The server will serve alert-list web pages, and also expose a REST API other websites can use. That sounds like a lot, so let’s get going!
Continue Reading
ASAT Code Tutorial 2: Process SatCat data yourself in a C# Application
Learn how to develop a C# application that analyzes live satellite orbit data. We’ll also get and process lists of collision near-miss alerts. And, we’ll take a look at data for debris created by Anti-Satellite weapons testing. So, who’s the biggest orbital debris polluter? You’ll have the power to check it yourself.
Continue Reading
ASAT Code Tutorial 1: Read SatCat data with cURL
Use cURL to investigate orbital debris created by anti-satellite weapons testing.
Continue Reading
Defense: We need clean Anti-Satellite Weapons! Part 2: Intro to Asat Code Tutorials
In the first post of this series, I made the point that “dirty” Anti-Satellite Weapons are unusable in limited conflicts. Now it’s time to lead you through writing code to programmatically find ASAT test debris and collision alerts. You’ll do this using cURL, C#, Node.js, and Unreal Engine C++ - your demand shall be the command.
Continue Reading
Epic Games just made your flight simulator obsolete. Sorta.
So, you’re developing a Spaceflight Simulator. How’s a little help with atmospheric flight sound? Good? You’re in luck: Epic Games creates Project Antoinette Flight Simulation Tools, teams up with ArcGIS, Cesium, and others. How useful will it be?
Continue Reading
Job Openings at JPL/NASA: SPICE 2.0!
JPL is looking for a “Solar System Geometry Development Engineer” and “Software Engineer for Small-body Ephemeris Development” to work on NAIF SPICE 2.0, as well as an “Engineering Applications Software Engineer III” to work on Mars Projects.
Continue Reading
U.S. Supreme Court strikes down Second Law of Thermodynamics
“No fundamental arrow of time”, court rules, in stunning rejection of entropy.
Continue Reading
These are the Best Places to Search for Habitable Exomoons
Our Solar System contains eight planets and more than 200 moons. The large majority of those moons have no chance of being habitable, but some of them—Europa and Enceladus, for example—are strong candidates in the search for life. Is it the same in other solar systems?
Continue Reading
Pop Culture for Scientists and Engineers: May 2022
Fearlessly enter conversations with the TikTok generation and offer your own take on A$AP Rocky’s relationship with Rihanna that will leave your audience STUNNED. Here’s what you need to know.
Continue Reading
Defense: We need clean Anti-Satellite Weapons! (Part 1)
Direct Ascent Anti-Satellite Missiles are debris-generating sledgehammers. Would we actually ever use them in a conflict?
Continue Reading
They Did It! Rocket Lab Uses Copter to Catch (and Release) a Rocket
Rocket Lab has just joined SpaceX in the club of space companies that can launch an orbital-class rocket booster and bring it back alive.
Continue Reading
Now, We can Finally Compare Webb to Other Infrared Observatories
The images released by the James Webb Space Telescope team last week aren’t officially ‘first light’ images from the new telescope, but in a way, it feels like they are. These stunning views provide the initial indications of just how powerful JWST will be, and just how much infrared astronomy is about to improve.
Continue Reading
Spatial Rebasing: An Unreal Engine Odyssey
Taming the coordinate system in galactic scale space games. (Also, will LWC fix everything?)
Continue Reading
Adding Third-Party Libraries to Unreal Engine : NASA's SPICE Toolkit (Part 1)
How do we integrate a 3rd party library with Unreal Engine 5? In this epic 5 part series we will marry a REAL rocket science library, NASA’s SPICE Toolkit, to Unreal Engine 5. So, buckle up, spacekateers!
Continue Reading
Adding Third-Party Libraries to Unreal Engine : NASA's SPICE Toolkit (Part 2)
We are integrating a 3rd party library with Unreal Engine 5. What are our options?
Continue Reading
Adding Third-Party Libraries to Unreal Engine : NASA's SPICE Toolkit (Part 3)
We are integrating a 3rd party library with Unreal Engine 5. How do we integrate the library into the build?
Continue Reading
Adding Third-Party Libraries to Unreal Engine : NASA's SPICE Toolkit (Part 4)
We are integrating NASA’s SPICE library with Unreal Engine 5. How do we expose SPICE functionality to our app/game (C++/Blueprints)?
Continue Reading
Prepare Yourself: New Engineering Images from JWST Will Blow Your Mind
If the phrase “My god, it’s full of stars” was ever appropriate, it’s today, because of these new images from the James Webb Space Telescope. These are ‘just’ engineering images, mind you, but they are incredible. The number of stars and galaxies visible in each image is just remarkable, not to mention the crisp clarity in the fields of view.
Continue Reading