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    • Showing only topics in ~space with the tag "technology". Back to normal view / Search all groups

    2. SpaceNews goes hard-core paywall

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      As of July 1st, all articles are behind a paywall. This includes all historical articles (going back decades, apparently), including any and all InternetArchive copies -- so RIP every Wikipedia...

      As of July 1st, all articles are behind a paywall. This includes all historical articles (going back decades, apparently), including any and all InternetArchive copies -- so RIP every Wikipedia link that has ever referenced them as a source. A free-registration option gets you access to 3 articles per month. A proper subscription is $230/year.

      A freelance journalist who has been published with them in the past had this to say about it, which I thought was enlightening and, well, thoughtful.

      On SpaceNews going paywalled, and the broader disregard for archiving in journalism.

      I reviewed his stuff a bit, and I like his writing, so I added his RSS link to my feed (while simultaneously deleting my SpaceNews link), and on a whim--because he has his email right there on his "About" page, I emailed him to tell him that I liked his article and I just replaced SpaceNews with him.

      Like, an hour later, I received a response from him, reminding me that he focuses primarily on the Moon, and that he loves RSS and is happy to hear people still use it.

      And it was so refreshing to connect--almost directly--with an actual human being writing news.

      Just thought I'd share.

      Oh, I also want to comment on that price ... $230/year is--IMHO--wildly overpriced. But almost immediately, it also occurred to me that they probably lost more readership going from $0/year to $1/year, than going from $1 to $230 so, you know, business-wise, I suppose it's not exactly a horrible decision.

      But I'd like to hear other people's opinions on that price, too.

      19 votes

    19. NASA newest solar sail system launched (2024-04-23)

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      If this tech interests you keep an eye out for June/July when they expect to deploy the sail. Rocket Lab’s Electron blasted off at 6:32 p.m. ET on April 23, successfully delivering both payloads...

      If this tech interests you keep an eye out for June/July when they expect to deploy the sail.

      Rocket Lab’s Electron blasted off at 6:32 p.m. ET on April 23, successfully delivering both payloads to low Earth orbit. - Gizmodo

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      After a busy initial flight phase, which will last about two months and includes subsystems checkout, the microwave oven-sized CubeSat will deploy its reflective solar sail. The weeks-long test consists of a series of pointing maneuvers to demonstrate orbit raising and lowering, using only the pressure of sunlight acting on the sail. - NASA

      https://www.nasa.gov/mission/acs3/

      14 votes