fresh eye
Space Suits l Honda Humanoid l Photo Landscape l Virgin Galactic l Red Planet l
Magazine
Future edition
Issue 8. August 2016 Photography Lifestyle Culture
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14 Contents fresh eye
l Suit up
Spacewear innovation. l NASA program
Project space. l Mirrorless
The Hasselblad X1D. l Asimo
Honda’s humanoid. l Landscapes
Viewfinder visions.
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l Virgin Galactic
Aspiration Branson.
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l Planet Red
Image making from another world.
Cover image: Impression of future humanoid.
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Re-entry
Space suits re-energized.
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ost people are content to sit and marvel at what daredevil Felix Baumgartner achieved when he jumped to Earth from nearly 39km up. Not digital artist, dfacto, however. The insane stunt merely got him thinking about the possibilities for suit designs to take such a feat even further. This is what he came up with (opposite). A pretty incredible re-entry suit. It’s futuristic and looks unbelievably cool but not sure we’d volunteer for testing one. Meanwhile, Nasa have released three concept versions of their new Z-2 spacesuit (right). l Z-2 The Z-2 features some key improvements over the Z-1 spacesuit, hich as named one of Time Magazine’s best inventions. The upper torso makes it more durable and the suits uses materials designed to function ell in the vacuum of space. The newly selected cover layer which sports electroluminescent iring and a stark, futurist look will provide services beyond mere aesthetics. The cover layer of a non-flight suit still performs an important function in groundbased testing. The cover protects the lower layers and technical details from abrasion and snags during testing say Nasa officials. On suits used for spacewalks the cover layer many importnt functions like protection from micrometeorite strikes, extreme tempreatures and radiation.
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Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand. - NEIL ARMSTRONG
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NASA Program
NASA’s missions, programs and projects are ensuring the United States will remain the world’s leader in space exploration and scientific discovery for years to come, hile making critical advances in aerospace, technology development and aeronautics. Spacecraft in Orbit around mighty Jupiter. After an almost five-year journey to the solar system’s largest planet, NASA’s Juno spacecraft successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit during a 35 minute engine burn. Non-toxic fuel technology development. NASA is putting together a mission for next year, called the Green Propellant Infusion Mission, that will substitute non- toxic fuels in place of the highly toxic hydrazine commonly used. 2016 climate trend and impact. NASA climate experts study trends in global tempreatures and Arctic sea ice. Research is now underway to better understand their impacts. Mission to Mars. Orion completed its first test flight and development continues on the SLS rocket that can send Orion to Mars. A booster for the most powerful rocket in the world NASA’s Space Launch System successfully fired up for it’s second qualification ground test at Orbital ATK’s test facilities in Promontory, Utah. International Space Station coverage. In September 2016 NASA will bring its online audience inside the world of human spaceflight as never before, from itd Johnson Space Center in Houston - home to NASA’s astronaut corps, the storied mission control and several human spaceflight programs.
On the edge of forever.
l NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration. l NASA was strted in 1958 as part of the United States government. l NASA is in an independant government agency responsible for aviation and spaceflight. l The International Space Station travels at a speed of 5 miles per second and orbits the Earth every 90 minutes. l It took an astounding 136 space flights on seven different types of launch vehicles to build it.
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ISS is the symbol of the end of the Cold War and international understanding. Above left: NASA space station. Above: NASA astranaut at work. Left: Artist’s impression of the Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser crew transport space plane docked to the International Space Station. Image: Sierra Nevada.
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Hasselblad X1D
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The future is mirrorless.
t less than half the weight of a conventional digital medium format camera, the mirrorless X1D is a game changer in the world of photography. Inspired by our iconic design heritage, the camera is ergonomic and compact, offering a handling experience unlike any other. Handmade in Sweden, the X1D combines Scandinavian sensibility with beautiful performance. The high-resolution rear LCD offers touch control for all aspects of the camera’s features.
The elegant icon-based user interface speeds access to customisation options along with intuitive playback functions such as swipe and pinch to zoom. The camera also boasts a 2.4 MP electronic viewfinder for bright, crisp viewing even under difficult lighting conditions. By opting for a mirrorless design, we were able to take our 50MP CMOS sensor and pack it into a footprint smaller than most full frame 35mm cameras. For the very first time, photographers have a camera that is no larger than a small format rangefinder, but offers the quality that only Hasselblad medium format can give. The X1D can capture up to 14 stops of dynamic range, allowing for unprecedented detail – from the deepest shadows to the brightest highlights. The new lens range. To enhance the entirely new camera design Hasselblad have produced a new range of autofocus lenses specifically engineered to match the high resolution capability of the X1D. The superb new XCD lenses deliver edge-to-edge sharpness in a compact form to elegantly match the slim build of the body. Existing H System users also have the flexibility to use their existing lenses with the X1D by the way of an optional adapter.
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Aiming to prove that medium format doesn’t have to be big.
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www.buckitt.co.uk
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Technology
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The power of dreams The world’s most advanced humanoid robot.
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ntroduced on 21 October 2000, ASIMO, an acronym for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility, is a humanoid robot designed and developed by Honda. At 130 cm tall and 50 kg, ASIMO was designed to operate in real-world environments, with the ability to walk or run on two feet at speeds of up to 6 kilometres per hour. It’s development enables it to change its actions depending on what happens around it - such as moving out of a person’s way and do complex sign language. Purpose. Asimo is eventually intended to help people in various situations of need, such as the elderly, or those in disaster zones. It can not yet be bought in shops. Parts of the technology developed by Honda for the Asimo project have been used to help clean-up efforts at the stricken Japanese nuclear plant Fukushima. Upgrades have focused on making Asimo better understand the world around itself. The new artificial intelligence included the ability to be able to distinguish different voices in a room, even when multiple people are talking
at the same time. But some question the viability of Honda’s plans, and whether we are likely to see humanoid robots in our lives any time soon. “It’s great to see the results of research in human-robot interaction that Honda is doing, but the reality is that Asimo needs to be a lot cheaper before it’s a household robot,” said Andra Keay, managing director of Silicon Valley Robotics and a columnist for Robohub. Impact and technologies. Honda’s work with ASIMO led to further research on Walking Assist™ devices that resulted in innovations such as the Stride Management Assist and the Bodyweight Support Assist. In honor of ASIMO’s 10th anniversary in November 2010, Honda developed an application for the iPhone and Android smartphones called “Run with ASIMO.” Users learn about the development of ASIMO by virtually walking the robot through the steps of a race and then sharing their lap times on Twitter and Facebook. www.asimo.honda.com
Asimo represents years of research in many scientific fields like mathematics, physics and anatomy.
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Celebrating The Landscape A discipline where some photographers are willing to wait hours to capture the optimum moment. Fresheye finds a sublime collection of luscuious landscapes.
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Photography
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Charlie Waite - ‘A Landscape image cuts across all political and national boundaries, it transcends the contraints of language and culture.’
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Charlie Waite
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Charlie Waite - An English landscape photographer, noted for his “painterly� approach in using light and shade.
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Charlie Waite -
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also noted for his square format images using a 6x6 Hasselblad.
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Alex Maclean
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Alex MacLean - Pilot and photographer has flown his plane over much of the United States documenting the landscape.
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Alex MacLean - Trained as an architect, he has portrayed the history and evolution of the land from vast agricultural patterns to city grids, recording changes brought about by human intervention and natural processes
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MacLean is the author of eleven books including, Up on the Roof: New York’s Hidden Skyline Spaces (2012)
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Joe Cornish
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Joe Cornish - a British photographer noted for his large format landscapes. Born in Exeter, Devon, England, Cornish has produced a significant body of work for the National Trust. He works mainly with 5x4 cameras.
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Joe Cornish - “I hope my photographs are an authentic expression of what open landscape and natural beauty mean to me.�
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“I also want my work to stand as a reminder of what we may lose; for the erosion of space, biodiversity and wildlife habitat in our countryside is an issue of concern for us all.�
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International Drone Photography Contest. 1st Prize Winner Category Places: Above the mist by Ricardo Matiello
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2nd Prize Winner Category Nature: La Jolla by K Dilliard
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1st Prize Winner Category Nature: Snorkeling with sharks by Tahitiflyshoot
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2nd Prize Winner Category Places: Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandie, France, by Jeremie Eloy
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3rd Prize Winner Category Places: Tulip fileds by Anders@andersa.com
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3rd Prize Winner Category Nature: Lost island, Tahaa, French Polynesia, by Marama Photo Video
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To boldy go The entrepreneurial spirit goes Virgin Galactic.
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he commercial space race began a decade ago, following a move away from manned space flight by Nasa and the European Space Agency – Richard Branson is far from the only headline-grabbing billionaire in the hunt. His rivals include Paypal and Tesla founder Elon Musk and his firm, SpaceX; Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who launched his space travel venture Vulcan Aerospace last year; and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, whose company Blue Origin has this year completed two successful test flights of its passenger ship, New Shepard. Branson’s space tourism ambitions were undimmed by the original flagship accident at around 50,000ft on 31 October 2014 . Work continued on the second spaceship, part of a planned fleet of five. The original SpaceShipTwo was built by Virgin Galactic’s project partner Scaled Composites, but the new craft and those to come are being constructed by The Spaceship Company (TSC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Virgin
Galactic, which had already taken over manufacturing responsibilities when the accident took place. Ambition Branson said it was “pretty cool to be taking people to space”, but also outlined several potential future projects for Virgin Galactic, including: high-speed point-to-point travel; helping to construct a replacement for the soon-to-be-defunct International Space Station; and protecting the Earth from large asteroids hurtling its way. Later, he went on, “We’d like to join the race for space exploration.” Prospective astronauts include Angelina Jolie, Tom Hanks, Justin Bieber and astrophysicist Stephen Hawking –who sent a recorded message to help in the naming ceremony for the craft. However, at least two dozen customers requested refunds following the accident in 2014. Branson and his three children are expected to be on SpaceShipTwo’s maiden commercial flight.
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“To have three or four people who are fairly entrepreneurial competing with each other means we’ll be able to open up space at a fraction of the price that governments have been able to do so in the past,”
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“When we are confident we can safely carry our customers to space, we will start doing so. We feel incredibly honoured that our earliest paying customers already number more than the total number of humans who have ever been to space.”
Branson’s Virgin Group and Aabar Investments, run by the government of Abu Dhabi, have together invested more than £350m in Virgin Galactic, which is already diversifying from space tourism into cargo, building a space launcher, LauncherOne, for small satellites. Yet the firm’s stated focus has always been to usher in a new era of tourism for those willing and wealthy enough to pay up to $250,000 (£150,000) for the privilege. Since its 2004 founding, some 700 customers are believed to have signed up to experience a flight to around 62 miles, where they would enjoy several minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth.
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SpaceShipTwo, named VSS Unity, shares the same fundamental design as its predecessor, but has seen an evolution in safety measures.
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Planet Red Mars mysteries exposed.
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fter centuries of speculation, the first close-up photos of Mars were finally beamed back to earth 51 years ago, marking a huge space travel breakthrough. In the summer of 1965 the world finally got some answers to the many questions posed about that mysterious red dot on the horizon. This was the year that Mariner 4 became the first successful flyby mission to Mars, gaining historic ground where other attempts had failed by capturing the first images of the planet on 15th July 1965 - 51 years ago that New Horizons made its closest approach to Pluto ever, marking the “end of an era” in Solar System exploration. The jubilation was similar to that witnessed after the Pluto flyby, but the technology available was very different. And those back at base were so excited when they realised the Mariner 4 camera was working, that they couldn’t wait the few hours it would take for the completed image to be processed. However, after the initial euphoria at this feat of technological wizardry, the photos themselves were a bit of a disappointment. Because Mars looked very similar to the moon. Rather than showing the images of an older earth-type planet that people had come
to expect, complete with lakes, valleys and mountains, the photos were full of moon-like craters. Was there life? Crucially, Mariner 9 managed to photograph all of Mars’ surface and provided proof of a much more dynamic planet. After Mariner 9, the next step was obvious: touchdown on the planet’s surface. All the information collected in the 50 years since the first photos were taken has led scientists to believe that there has been water on Mars in the past - like this photo of a residual icecap. In 2011, an analysis by the University of Arizona of a series of images of a crater concluded that movement on the surface - a so-called “warm season” feature - might be evidence of salty liquid water active on Mars today. New research suggested that salty liquid water could be present close to the planet’s surface. Go see. When it comes to photos, you can now take your pick: Google has mapped the entire planet , while a new Nasa app lets you explore the surface of Mars from your phone. www.google.com/mars
Image taken during NASA’s 1997 Pathfinder mission to Mars.
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iPhone 6 Campaign. Photographer - Brendan Ă“. Copenhagen, Denmark.