Today was a big day for Blue Origin, as the company launched the first human flight on its New Shepard rocket. Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos was on this initial crewed flight, joined by his brother Mark Bezos, an 18-year-old student named Oliver Daemen, and 82-year-old Wally Funk, one of the Mercury 13 and - after today - officially the oldest person to fly to space.
NASA's historic first flight of a helicopter on Mars was celebrated this week by Google's search engine. If you head to Google now and type in "Ingenuity" or "Ingenuity NASA", you'll find yourself on the business end of a fun little animation of sorts. Make sure you're using a Chrome web browser to do it, and it'll most likely work best if you're on a desktop computer.
Did you know that pieces of the original history-making Wright Brothers' "1903 Wright Flyer I" have orbited the Earth and been to moon? Now, NASA collaborated with Carillon Historical Park and the Wright Brothers National Museum to send another piece of the flyer to Mars to take part in another of humanity's historical achievements. The Perseverance rover rolls on Mars now, holding the helicopter craft Ingenuity, onboard which is a piece of the Wright Flyer I's wing fabric.
On February 5, 2021, the China Academy of Space Technology relayed details of Tianwen-1 and its journey to Mars. Per the Fifth Academy of the Aerospace Science and Technology Group noted that the engine ignition of Tianwen-1 "successfully completed the fourth midway correction of the ground fire transfer section to ensure that Mars capture was implemented as planned." This craft also took a lovely photo of the red planet with its grayscale navigation camera.
Today Axiom revealed the first private ISS crew in the history of the world. According to the company, this Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) will be "the start of a new era." In the mix are two Mission Specialists, one Mission Pilot, and one Commander.
The update the game was destined for was released today: Microsoft Flight Simulator now works in virtual reality. This update brings the game out a brand new door, allowing users to transport not just a rectangle of their reality into flight, but their entire audio/visual experience. This update works with a wide variety of VR headsets, starting with (but not limited to) Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
This week Microsoft released an ad spot video with a daydreaming dog. The dog dreams, and the dreams are a delight. The dog's name is Rufus - his owners are all about the Microsoft products, and the dog (like any good dog) dreams of living the life his human lives. That means living inside Minecraft, flying an airplane, and talking on Microsoft Teams.
This week the first commercial spacecraft system in history was officially certified by NASA. This certification is a monumental point of reference in the Commercial Crew Program with SpaceX and their SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon Resilience.
As Boom Supersonic continues efforts to build the world's fastest airliner, they've revealed a sort of proof-of-concept. The Boom Supersonic XB-1 is a "supersonic demonstrator" aircraft. It's also the first independently developed supersonic jet ever made. Boom CEO and founder Blake Scholl reminded us that the company remains steadfast in their aim of "making the world dramatically more accessible."
If you're looking to the Crysis Remastered release to allow the game to continue to be the go-to for jokes about gaming hardware power, get ready for a change. According to one analyst group, the new Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) will be a catalyst for "billions" in sales of new hardware, gaming gear, and upgrades for home gaming PC builds. Could it be? Did Microsoft actually make the new go-to game of games?
Virgin Galactic revealed the interior of their SpaceShip Two vehicle VSS Unity today at a streaming event hosted virtually on YouTube. This spaceship is what Virgin Galactic says is the way of the future, with a cabin design "driven by astronaut experience." That means comfort and usability at the space vehicle's core.
If you've been waiting for Microsoft's latest Flight Simulator release, the time is close at hand. Today the folks that run the development of Microsoft Flight Simulator revealed that they'd reached an important milestone. Alpha 5 was was released this week, on the 9th of July, 2020, and Closed Beta was moved into final testing!