| Solar Impulse takes off for Morocco on first sun-powered transcontinental flight May 24th 2012, 19:10  The sun-powered Solar Impulse plane is gradually working up to a trip around the globe, with the most recent benchmark being its first international flight in 2011. Now Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg are taking the jumbo jet-size plane on its first transcontinental journey. The Solar Impulse set off for Morocco today, and its pilots will stop in Madrid along the way. The goal is to complete the 1,554-mile trip by next week, and the big challenge will be crossing cloudy regions like the Pyrenees mountains separating France and Spain. In a 2010 test flight, the Impulse's 12,000 solar cells soaked up enough rays to keep the plane going through the night, but in case something goes wrong this time, the pilots are prepared with parachutes. If all goes well on this trial run, Piccard and Borschberg will be just one step away from their goal of circumnavigating the world in 2014. Solar Impulse takes off for Morocco on first sun-powered transcontinental flight originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 15:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  HuffPost Tech | | Email this | Comments | | Deutsche Telekom chief says T-Mobile USA merger still an option, sweeps full sale off the table May 24th 2012, 18:25  T-Mobile's USA proposed union with AT&T might have gone down in flames, but that isn't precluding the boss of parent company Deutsche Telekom, René Obermann, from exploring tie-ups in the future. He's now telling investors that the company won't "exclude any option" for its US carrier, up to and including mergers with others. Before you worry that your One S might lose its luster through an outside takeover, though, the CEO has said it's "unlikely" that DT will sell T-Mobile outright. There aren't any coded messages about possible merger targets, either, even if rumors of a MetroPCS deal have percolated elsewhere. Most of the present focus is simply on reworking and trimming the company to get it running at full efficiency in the face of some very stiff competition; Carly can keep wearing that T-Mobile magenta for awhile yet. Deutsche Telekom chief says T-Mobile USA merger still an option, sweeps full sale off the table originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 14:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Bloomberg | | Email this | Comments | | Visualized: SpaceX's Dragon is a desolate vision in beige and white May 24th 2012, 18:02  Even if you squint real hard, you won't find Andie, Max or that rogue robot Jinx stowed away in that inner sanctum above. In fact, there are no humans on board Dragon whatsoever, given that this mission -- the first successful private / federal partnership with NASA -- is strictly cargo-only and a test flight to boot. After suffering several launch delays, Elon Musk's pet project finally achieved lift off this past Tuesday, giving space heads reason to exhale, all the while proving to the world that a new era in intergalactic exploration has just begun. En route now to dock with the ISS and deliver its payload, SpaceX's capsule, the interior of which measures 14.4ft (4.4m) by 12ft (3.7m) and is filled with dehydrated astronaut food, clothes, supplies and student science experiments, will spend about one week tethered to that international outpost before crashing into the Pacific on its return trip home. Hit up the source below to gawk at additional shots of this spacecraft's maiden voyage. Visualized: SpaceX's Dragon is a desolate vision in beige and white originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 14:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Space | Email this | Comments | |
