Building a Computer - Software

        Continuing on from Friday's blog, here is the software side. If your system is stable and boots up into the BIOS, find an operating system - easiest to get is Windows (for a nice $100-ish bucks (+ or - $50-ish)), but you can get Linux for free. (You can read up on how to install those OSes online.) And there you have it. Install whatever software you like on your new computer (get AVG free for Windows for anti-virus protection) and enjoy!

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The Trip to Mars #1: The Rocket

        Going to Mars has been a dream of mankind ever since the beginning of the Space Age, but technology has always been a roadblock for us. Now, as the Mars mission ramps up, these technological challenges are slowly being conquered. This week - the Rocket.
        Only a couple rockets in the history of space flight have been powerful enough to propel humans beyond the exosphere, so, NASA is designing a new rocket to get us beyond the moon. This Space Launch System is the beginning of humanity's 2nd foray onto the Moon and our 1st mission to Mars. The SLS is going to be the most powerful rocket ever built, with the Block 2 version weighing 6.5 million pounds and able to provide 9.2 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.
        The SLS has 4 stages, the first of which is a Atlas V Rocket. This holds the fuel and oxygen tanks that feed an engine for the ascent and powers the spacecraft into Earth orbit. the first stage also includes solid rocket booster engines to give the rocket some extra kick while ascending. The 2nd stage has the Centaur module. This module includes the 2nd stage  fuel and oxidizer and the vehicle's "brains". It burns twice, the first time to get the spacecraft into low Earth orbit and then again to accelerate the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and on its way towards Mars.
        Check back next time for the second issue of The Trip to Mars!

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Building a computer - Hardware

        Many teens require a computer for homework, but many nice laptops cost upwards of 600+ dollars. What I did was build my own computer. For the $600 I spent on the parts, it operates very well compared to other desktops and laptops of higher price.
        This all started when opportunity struck and I took a Kirkwood Summer Class on building computers, which, as my very surprised mom found out, we got to take the computer that we built home with us at the end. But this computer fell far short of my hopes of an epic gaming computer, so, naturally, I wanted more. Thus, I set out on my quest for a better computer
        After several days of research spread over a year to find the best parts within my budget range, I ordered the parts, which included an AMD central processing unit (CPU), MSI motherboard, NZXT computer case, a graphics card, 2 terabyte hard drive, Blu-ray DVD drive, CPU heatsink, and power supply. It took about a week for the parts to arrive, which at that point I began putting them together.
        If you know what you are doing, putting it together is relatively easy. However, if this is your first time building one, some steps may be difficult.
        First, unpack the components and arrange them as you see fit. Be careful of electrostatic discharges that could interfere with the operations of the various parts. Unpack the computer tower/case first, followed by the motherboard and power supply. Before installing the motherboard, install the power supply in the case. The cords coming out of it should be going into the case, not out. Its 3-prong connector and fan should be facing out. Next, attach the CPU mount points to the motherboard with the screws and CPU brackets that came with the motherboard (or, albeit rarely, the CPU), keeping in mind the type of CPU you will be using. After you complete that, open up the CPU box and extract the CPU (and if it came with one, its heatsink). If it didn't come with a heatsink, you could buy a regular fan cooled one, or a super efficient, liquid cooled heatsink. I bought a regular one because if I bought the liquid cooled one, it would have been quite a bit more expensive.
        To attach the CPU and heatsink to the motherboard, carefully move the CPU's thin (easily bendable!!!) gold connectors into position onto the big square on the motherboard with all the holes in it. MAKE SURE THE HOLES LINE UP WITH THE PINS!!!!!!!! I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, because if you don't put it in correctly, the pins will bend, and they are VERY difficult to straighten. Trust me, I have done this before (I actually screwed up one of these pins while tinkering with an older computer, which fortunately was broken when I took it apart). After the CPU is installed correctly, the heatsink can be installed. Although you might want to follow the instructions (if there were any the came with)(especially for liquid cooled ones), the gist is put it on top of the CPU (don't worry about the possible grey goo on the contact surface, that's just the thermal conductive paste they put on there to ensure fast and efficient heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink) and lock it in place.
        Next, install the motherboard, CPU, and heatsink combination into the tower. There should have been motherboard mounting screws that came with either the tower or motherboard. Find those screws, figure out what size your motherboard is (the "form factor" as us techies call it)(ATX, MicroATX, MiniATX, etc, etc, etc, the list goes on and on and on), and match that size to the screw configuration in the case/tower. Line up the holes on the motherboard with the holes inside the case and insert the screws. There you go! You have the motherboard, CPU, and heatsink installed!
        Next come the smaller things. Now you ca install the RAM (Random Access Memory) onto the motherboard. There should be 4 long slots on the motherboard. That's where the RAM cartridges go. Push them in there until they click, and sometimes they have to go a certain way, so don't force them. After that's done, you can install the hard drive and BD/DVD/CD drive. the Blu-ray drive or other DVD/CD disk drive can go on the uppermost 5.25" slot that has an opening to the outside. the hard drive should go in a lower, smaller slot (3.25") with its peripherals facing towards you, or so that they are accessible. After these 2+ items are in place, use the SATA cables included to connect both the hard drive and DVD drive to the motherboard's SATA inputs. At this time you can connect any extra things like extra RAM, graphics cards, or other miscellaneous things to the motherboard.
        After everything is installed on the motherboard, connect the hard drive(s), DVD drive, fans, and motherboard to the power supply by plugging in the correct connectors on the power supply's cables to the power peripherals on the corresponding components. Also connect, if necessary, the fans to the motherboard.
        Close the case up and plug in the power cord to the power supply. Flip the switch on the power supply and the computer comes to life. Or not. If there is a problem at this point, unplug the computer, open the case up again, and double check each component. The problem might be as simple as a disconnected/not fully connected power cord or cable. If the problem doesn't show itself after a look-see, you might have a more serious problem, such as a incompatible component or faulty piece of hardware. If so, try reattaching things. This might fix the problem. If it doesn't happen on a second power-up, take your assembly to a local computer repair shop and see if they can run a system/component test and figure out which piece of hardware is faulty. Consult with the professional and discuss what you can do, because it's late and I don't want to elaborate on it.
        Well, the hardware phase of the process is complete. The much shorter software side of this will be on my Saturday blog post.


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SpaceX's Reusable Rockets

        SpaceX has taken up the role of space shuttles and Russian rockets in supplying the International Space Station with supplies and equipment. They are also sending satellites into space for numerous agencies, soon including the military. Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO, has revolutionized the private space industry with his Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon capsules. However, in recent months, they have been pioneering a reusable and landable rocket, the first ever. They have been successful landing on solid ground, but failed when trying to land on a drone ship, due to a failure on one of the landing legs to lock. But this is still a big step forward for spaceflight in general, reducing the cost of each mission by reusing rockets instead of having to build a new one for every mission.















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The Future of the Car: Faster, Smarter, Sleeker, Cheaper, and Printable Supercars

       Imagine a future where instead of buying a car, you print and assemble it in your own home. The Divergent Blade is an example of that future. Assembled completely from 3D-printed "nodes" and a optional carbon fiber skin, the Divergent Blade radically reduces the materials, energy use, pollution, and cost of car manufacturing. This supercar is the first of its kind, combining a large power to weight ratio   (2 times better than that of the Bugatti Veryon) and an acceleration of 0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds, faster than that of the McLaren P1.
       Divergent says that its node-based chassis ecosystem could just as easily be used to build a pickup truck as a sports coupe. It's not hard to imagine those hypothetical start-ups using the simplified building-block chassis method to quickly design vehicles of all different sizes and styles.
       The body on the prototype is carbon fiber, but could be made out of metal plates or really anything due to the body not being a structure. These could be made for less than $1,000.
       Divergent outsourced the guts of his car instead of building their own, buying a custom gasoline and compressed natural gas engine from another manufacturer. The engine is small— four cylinders and 700 horsepower—but in such a light vehicle, it delivers supercar performance and is light on emissions. They estimate that it has less than half the carbon footprint of the Tesla Model S.                      However, before these cars can come into public use, Divergent must prove that their cars can conform to strict automotive safety standards.

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The Next Era of Warfare: Next-Gen Planes

       As America's air fleet ages, new tech comes along, requiring those at the Pentagon to find new ways to incorporate those technologies or make them obsolete by building better planes. However, to maintain air superiority, sometimes one has to stay 2, 3 or 5 steps ahead of competitors. These net-generation planes will allow America to do just that.

F-35

        The most known plane in this list, the F-35, is the most advanced 5th Generation fighter in the world. Developed by Lockheed Martin, it will eventually be supporting every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. A major issue of the F-35 project has been the cost. At 150 million a pop and suspicions that it wouldn't perform out in the field, the military was cautious to spend large amounts of money to develop and obtain these new Joint Strike Fighters. Although the price is currently very high, once mass production begins the price per unit will decrease.  The original idea of the F-35 was to build the same air frame, mass-produce it, and put different components into it. And when people compare it to the F-22 or other, different planes that are better than it in certain areas, remember that it was built as a multirole fighter, able to support troops on the ground, be 2nd only to the F-22 in air-to-air engagements, and be deployed as carrier aircraft. The results were the F-35A, F-35B and F-35C , which would be similar to the extent that they could have the same fuselage, but still so different that that they would be able to be used in different branches of the US military. The F-35A was built as a normal fighter aircraft but with stealth and top modern radar systems, to be sold to other countries (currently sold to Turkey and Australia, to among others). The F-35B was created as a stealth STOVL (Short takeoffs, vertical landings), to be used by the Marines so it could take off and land from short runways and preliminary bases in foreign countries and on their amphibious assault ships. Finally, the F-35C was built to perform from aircraft carriers with its CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) feature and larger wings.

        The F-35 was designed as a 5th generation stealth multirole strike fighter to maintain America's air dominance over the next three decades.

X-47B/C
        The second next-gen plane on this list is actually a drone. Built by Northrop Grumman, this drone is a semi-autonomous unmanned air combat vehicle designed for carrier-based operations. It is currently able to land on an aircraft carrier autonomously, operate with manned aircraft, and autonomously refuel while in the air.

It has was awarded with the 57th Annual Laureate Award for “extraordinary achievements” in aeronautics and propulsion hosted by Aviation Week. On April 9th of 2014, the National Aeronautic Association selected Northrop Grumman, the United States Navy, and the X-47B's development team as the joint recipients of the 2013 Collier Trophy for excellence in aeronautic technology. Future development of this project is into the X-47C, a larger version for the Navy's UCLASS project.

SR-72
        The SR-71 was the fastest air-breathing jet ever made, and for a long time nothing could catch it. However, with advances in radar and other military technologies, its advantages waned, eventually becoming obsolete and retiring in 1999. But now, as regional threats grow and portable surface-to-air missiles evolve, engineers must again set out to build the fastest military jet on the planet. This time, it will take the form of a 4,000-mile-per-hour reconnaissance drone with strike capability. Known as the SR-72, the aircraft will evade assault, take spy photos, and attack targets at speeds of up to Mach 6. That’s twice as fast as its predecessor.
        However, the technology that would make these things possible hasn't been created yet. Skunkworks, the makers of the original SR-71, has been designing the SR-72 for the last seven years. It will require a hybrid propulsion system that combines a conventional, off-the-shelf turbo jet that can take the plane from runway to Mach 3 with a hypersonic ramjet/scramjet that will push it the rest of the way. Its body will have to withstand the extreme heat of hypersonic flight, when air friction alone could melt steel. Its bombs will have to hit targets possibly 80,000 feet below while traveling at Mach 6. The calculations alone would take a supercomputer, which would have to be small and light enough to fit in the plane and durable enough to operate at high speeds and extreme temperatures. This alone would take a surge in computer design. Lockheed says the craft could be deployed by 2030. Once it is, the plane’s ability to cover one mile per second means it could reach any location on any continent in an hour—not that you’ll see it coming.

All of these aircraft are pushing the boundaries of what planes can do, whether it be in speed, technology, or AI.

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References:
Popular Science magazine + Website
Department of Defense