Google makes it easier to fully turn off Buzz and delete your profile

Sure, there may be all sorts of ways to minimize the spamminess of Google Buzz -- I walked through some of them on this blog a few days ago -- but now there's a fast way to fully disable it. You can delete your profile, remove all the people you follow, disconnect all your other profiles (like Reader), and never see Buzz again. All you have to do is find that little "turn Buzz off" link at the bottom of the Gmail page.

Previously, this just hid Buzz in Gmail. Now, it gives you the option to either hide it or shut it off altogether (even on the mobile version of Google.com). If you ever decide you want to show it or re-enable it, you can just click on "turn Buzz on" in the same location at the bottom of Gmail. When you reactivate Buzz, you'll have to remake your profile and start following people again, although your followers will remain intact.

Google makes it easier to fully turn off Buzz and delete your profile

Windows Mobile 7 is Zune, Mobile Xbox, and Phone in One Chic Package

New mobile OS from Microsoft to launch this holiday season, hardware will be consistently high quality

There's a sort of beautiful symmetry in Microsoft's mobile phone operating system announcement which aired today at the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.  Holiday season 2009 Microsoft unleashed Windows 7, a desktop operating system that turned people's preconceptions upside down and fueled unprecedented sales.  This year it will look to do the same, with the release of Windows Mobile 7.

Forget the talk of delays (okay, so the OS will land almost in 2011), forget all the complaints about the past Windows Mobile operating systems, forget Microsoft's slipping market share; you need to look at Windows Mobile with a fresh set of eyes because it is completely different.

The first surprise is in the base operating system.  The past Windows Mobile operating system code base is about to become officially retired, relegated to some forgotten change management repository.  In its place will be an entirely new mobile phone operating system built atop the existing OS on Microsoft's Zune MP3 players.

In that respect Windows Mobile 7 could be hailed as the long awaited "Zune phone" as it shares much of the look of the Zune, with bright, flat square icons, large text and nary a chiclet in site.  The look provides the first true alternative to the iPhone (competitors like Palm and Google have largely emulated Apple's chiclet grid look) and will likely appeal to many customers.
Microsoft's phone is built around six key hubs -- People, Pictures, Games, Music+Video, Marketplace, and Office -- each a colorful and unique digital playground. 

People will stream updates from Facebook and Windows Live, sort of like a RSS feed on steroids (or the recently unveiled Google Buzz).  Despite the reinvention, people will find scraps of similarity; the Music+Video hub is virtually identical to the software on the Zune HD.  It incorporates a music/video store, a media player, and mild social networking.

Games is another place people will find familiar looks.  Games is essentially Microsoft's long awaited mobile Xbox handheld.  With the iPhone tearing up game sales charts, its clear that this is long overdue.

Marketplace will be Microsoft's rival to the App store.  Here's a surprise -- no past Windows Mobile apps will work on the phone or be in the store.  That's right, unlike some (Palm), Microsoft's OS reinvention includes wiping the slate clean with apps.  That downside is that means less apps and some unhappy developers, the upside is that customers can expect cleaner, fresher applications.  Another slight surprise is that there will be no desktop Syncing other than standard Zune syncing; everything else will be done over the air.

Office and Pictures are much like you'd expect -- a photo gallery, and a promising, improved portable version of Microsoft's Office software. 

Another critical piece of the interface is the browser -- the browser will be a multi-touch version of Internet Explorer.  While it's no shocker that it's not blazing fast given how slow its desktop brethren are, the browser still looks pretty nice.  And you can bet Opera and Mozilla already have faster browsers in the works. 

Email will be handled through a mobile Outlook client that looks to be a fusion of beauty and efficiency in a tight package.  The client has full support for Microsoft Exchange.

Microsoft is opting for an approach somewhere in between Apple's as its past mobile phone approach when it comes to hardware.  Previously it had virtually no restrictions.  Now, it's being choosy. While it still is not designing the phone itself, it has made hardware guidelines extremely strict.  Every phone must meet certain speed requirements, support multitouch, have a Bing button (for quick searching), have an FM radio built in, and meet battery life requirements.  Certain alterations, such as custom skins (like HTC's), are banned.

In short Windows Mobile 7 looks to be another dynamic holiday launch for Microsoft.  Former Microsoft VP Dick Brass (see his recent criticism) better be taking note -- because this new phone OS is arguably the most revolutionary thing to happen to the phone market since the launch of the first iPhone in 2007.  Looks like Apple might finally have a true fight on its hands for the title of trendiest smart phone.

Windows Mobile 7 offers a bright, fresh look that surprisingly bears no resemblance to the iPhone, unlike its competitors.

The new Windows Mobile 7, set to release this holiday season, essentially acts an Xbox handheld, a Zune video/music player, and phone rolled into one. The Music+Video hub looks almost identitcal to the Microsoft's Zune HD software.  (Source: Microsoft)

The phone also offers a clean, rich RSS-like social network feed akin to the new Google Buzz service.  (Source: Microsoft)

DailyTech - Windows Mobile 7 is Zune, Mobile Xbox, and Phone in One Chic Package

U.S. Lab Recreates Violent Big Bang Temperatures, Makes Quark Soup

Conditions have likely not been seen in the last 13.7 billion years

While the Large Hadron Collider's record setting performance in particle collisions is certainly impressive, it's important not to forget about the important contributions that particle physics centers here in the United States are still making.  Fermilab (Batavia, Illinois) was the previous record holder of the highest energy collision and still has a shot at beating the LHC at finding the Higgs boson. 

Another key lab is the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), home to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a slightly different type of collider that impacts larger particles.  Despite being grossly underfunded, both the Brookhaven NL and Fermilab had both offered stunning research contributions in recent years.

Now BNL can add one more to the list -- achieving temperatures likely not seen since the Big Bang.  The lab produced temperatures of 4 trillion degrees Celsius, 250,000 times hotter than the Sun's interior, during collisions of gold atoms hurtling at almost the speed of light.  To give another benchmark, the collision produced internal heat approximately 40 times that at the center of an imploding supernova star.

The collisions produced a stunning "soup" of quarks and gluons.  The analyzed data indicates that record high temperature caused the protons and neutrons of the gold atoms to "melt" into the quarks and gluons that compose them, which then formed a plasma, known as quark gluon plasma (QGP).  This appears to be the first time man has been able to make such a quark soup.

Dr. William F. Brinkman, Director of the DOE Office of Science, states that the results are amazing.  He comments, "This research offers significant insight into the fundamental structure of matter and the early universe, highlighting the merits of long-term investment in large-scale, basic research programs at our national laboratories.  I commend the careful approach RHIC scientists have used to gather detailed evidence for their claim of creating a truly remarkable new form of matter."

The researchers measured the temperature of the QGP using color and light-based heat analysis techniques, the advanced derivatives of similar techniques used in industrial applications.  And there were surprises. 

States Steven Vigdor, Brookhaven’s Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear and Particle Physics, "The temperature inferred from these new measurements at RHIC is considerably higher than the long-established maximum possible temperature attainable without the liberation of quarks and gluons from their normal confinement inside individual protons and neutrons.  However, the quarks and gluons in the matter we see at RHIC behave much more cooperatively than the independent particles initially predicted for QGP."

The biggest challenge in the research, perhaps, was convincing skeptics in the research field that the quark soup was real.  Previously, physicists had predicted that it would have a gas-like form, but results from the BNL, starting in 2005, suggested it was actually a remarkable liquid with no frictional resistance or viscosity. 

The verifications was very challenging; whereas the QGP existed for microseconds after the Big Bang, in the lab it existed for a mere billionth of a trillionth of a second (10^-21 s).  In order to detect what happened in that sliver of time, researchers had to capture the handful of high-energy photons that were thrown off and told exactly how hot the mix got.  The results seem to conclusively indicate that the QGP is indeed a liquid, at least at some temperatures.

Another interesting result was the "symmetry-breaking" behavior observed in the collision bubbles.  In fundamental terms, the phenomena involves the charged particles immersed in the powerful magnetic field within the bubbles moving in directions opposite to what is seen in today's universe.

The results are published in two papers appearing in the journal Physical Review Letters [1] [2].

Following the success, the researchers plan to within a year or two upgrade the RHIC to improve its collision rate and detector capabilities.  Better collisions could reveal other exotic particles like Higgs bosons or their theoretical alternative preons (point particles that some have theorized make up quarks and gluons.

DailyTech - U.S. Lab Recreates Violent Big Bang Temperatures, Makes Quark Soup

Does DPI matter in gaming mice? One mouse-maker says no

We've been talking about gaming mice a little bit in the past few weeks, and one of the ways gamers judge the quality of their mice is by the DPI: dots per inch. You see a high number, and you think you have a good mouse. Does that number mean anything in terms of actual performance?

"The industry has been highly successful in establishing this number as something highly important, when in reality it doesn't really mean all that much," Kim Rom, the CMO of SteelSeries told Ars. SteelSeries makes some of the more respected mice and headsets used by pro gamers; this is a company that knows how to make a performance product.

DPI is a measure of sensitivity, or how little you have to move your mouse to move whatever virtual object you're controlling on the screen, such as your gun in a first-person shooter or your cursor in a real-time strategy game.

"Technology has progressed to a level where you can move your mouse, say, one inch on your desk, and your cursor will move 2 or 3 times your screen length. That sounds impressive for sure, but where is the real value in that?" Rom asked. "That doesn't make you more precise or accurate; I would argue that it does exactly the opposite. A higher DPI in a mouse doesn't offer a lot of value, and it is not a benchmark for how precise or awesome the mouse is. It's simply a measure of sensitivity."

Rom's argument is a simple one: go to a tournament where professional players are in the running for serious money. These are people with something real at stake, who know how to choose their equipment and settings for maximum performance. "Ninety percent of the expert gamers there will be using a DPI value between 800 to 1,600," he said. If you paid some serious money for your gaming mouse, check out its stats: it's likely it can do some multiple of 1,600 at maximum sensitivity.

"And just to round off my DPI rant... DPI is short for Dots Per Inch," Rom said. "Think about that for a second, then tell me where on your computer you have dots? I see pixels on my screen. They look square to me. Not only has the industry succeeded in establishing the sensitivity of a mouse as the most important feature of the product, it has done so by using a term that is technically incorrect. Isn't that amazing?"

We asked Rom where competitor's products go wrong, and we couldn't get a solid answer. "I would really hate to say that other companies go wrong. I think there are a lot of great products on the market; obviously someone made those. The way we think [about] and approach our products is a little different compared to other companies... We are hardware purists—we believe in function first, technology second." We'll be putting some SteelSeries gear to the test very soon, but it was refreshing to hear another take on gaming mice, one that isn't driven by having a larger number on the box.

Does DPI matter in gaming mice? One mouse-maker says no

The wireless keyboard you won't have to recharge until 2013

Here's a first: a mouse and keyboard combo with "up to" three years of battery life. Dang. The Logitech Wireless Desktop MK710 uses the 2.4GHz band (thank goodness, no Bluetooth), transmitting your input via that ultra-small Logitech unifying receiver.

The keyboard has a cushy palm rest and concave "Incurve" keys, and the laser mouse has that wonderful hyperfast scrolling that we adore in the Logitech MX 1000 and other Logitech mice. If that claimed "up to" three-year battery life is for real, this could be the desktop set to get by the time it arrives for sale in April, even at its relatively steep $100 price.

Via Logitech press release

The wireless keyboard you won't have to recharge until 2013 | DVICE

Your new ISP? Google launches 1Gbps fiber-to-the-home trial

People have wondered for years what Google might be up to with all that dark fiber it had bought up around the country. Now, we may have an answer: delivery of open-access, fiber-to-the-home Internet service at speeds of 1Gbps. That's right: 1Gbps.

Google has just announced a trial run of its new scheme, and it's asking city, county, or state officials to let it know if they're interested in a pilot project. In its initial phase, the fiber optic network will serve anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 people.

As for the speeds, they make cable's DOCSIS 3.0 and Verizon's FiOS look like also-rans. Google promises 1Gbps home connections, which have previously been the province of boutique builders like Paxio in San Francisco.

The goal is to use the system as a high-speed testbed for next generation apps and deployment techniques. "We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it's creating new bandwidth-intensive 'killer apps' and services, or other uses we can't yet imagine," said Google's announcement. "We'll test new ways to build fiber networks; to help inform, and support deployments elsewhere, we'll share key lessons learned with the world."

Perhaps the best part of the announcement was the "open access" bit. Other countries like the UK (through OpenReach) and Australia are working on fiber networks that will be maintained by one entity, but open to all ISPs. "We'll operate an 'open access' network," said Google, "giving users the choice of multiple service providers. And consistent with our past advocacy, we'll manage our network in an open, nondiscriminatory, and transparent way."

It's hard to know how far the company plans to take this. Running a national fiber backbone is one thing; getting out in the streets, digging trenches, and wiring homes is another. As Verizon's FiOS project has shown, stringing fiber to the home can be hugely expensive.

Google stresses that this is an experiment, and it may simply be used as a proof-of-concept and a data-gathering project. Still, it can't help but put at least mild pressure on other ISPs. Once people recognize that 1Gbps are available in the real world today at a "competitive price" (Google's words), they're going to take a look at their own speed/price tier and start asking some hard questions.

Sascha Meinrath of the New America Foundation praised the plan, and said that Google's actions showed the soon-to-be-released National Broadband Plan needs to think big.

"The Recovery Act committed $7.2 billion in broadband investment defining high-speed access at most 5Mbps, while Australia is investing $31 billion in an 100Mbps effort. When you break it down per capita, Australia is outspending the US 60 to 1. Google is sending a shot across the bow—we need to set far higher standards here in the United States. Our national broadband plan must take this into account and our leadership needs to stop shying away from the challenge."

If you're a government official or an interested citizen, you can put your community on Google's list by signing up online by March 26.

Your new ISP? Google launches 1Gbps fiber-to-the-home trial

Google's big announcement: Google Buzz is sharing, Gmail-style

This morning, Google finally pulled back the curtain on its rumored social networking product. It's called Google Buzz, and it's being billed as "a Google approach to sharing," in the same way Gmail was "a Google approach to email." In the 15-minute demo of Buzz, Google hit on 5 key features, plus an overview of the mobile version of Buzz.

Google Buzz will begin rolling out to the general public in just a few minutes, although it might take a few days before it's accessible to all users. Meawhile, you can check out the video announcement of Buzz.

Here are the five main features of the desktop version of Buzz, which will be built right into Gmail:

1. Auto-following
You don't need to build a new social graph from scratch on Buzz. It uses your Gmail social network, and automatically adds the people you email and chat with most often.

2. Rich, fast sharing
Buzz pulls in content your friends share on Flickr, Picasa, Twitter, Google Reader and YouTube, even if you don't use those sites. There's a special focus on video and photos, with a custom photo viewer that lets you navigate galleries in full screen. When you share a link, Buzz fetches the headlines and photos from the post you're sharing. The keyboard shortcuts you already use in Gmail all work the same way in your buzz stream.

3. Public and private sharing
Privacy settings allow you to share publicly (quickly indexed by Google, of course), privately, and with custom groups.

4. Inbox Integration
Buzz makes sure you don't miss new comments on the stuff you share. You don't get new email when someone comments, but your Buzz comments show up along with your email in your inbox. The comments show up in real time. Also, Buzz borrows Twitter's convention of @replies. You can type @ and a username and Buzz will autocomplete your contact and deliver your message to that user's Buzz.

5. Just the Good Stuff
Buzz has a recommendation system that brings in shared items from friends of friends, and learns from your feedback. You can collapse the stuff you don't care about, to make the filter better in the future. At the same time, if someone you're following posts something you don't care about, you can collapse that, too. Google says that Buzz will only get better at filtering over time, like Gmail has.

Plus, mobile features:

The mobile interface for Buzz goes beyond Gmail, and uses location as an additional tool to find relevant shared stuff. You can use Buzz from an Android phone or iPhone just by going to Google.com, and there's also a new web app at buzz.google.com. Clicking on the Buzz icon at Google.com will convert your latitude and longitude into a place name, so you can post a geotagged Buzz.
Buzz is also going to be integrated into place pages in Google Maps, so you can read people's comments about a location. Buzz will also have a "nearby" option, so you can see Buzz items from people near you, instead of just people you follow. Geotagged posts will now show up as word-bubble icons on Google maps, too.

Google's big announcement: Google Buzz is sharing, Gmail-style

LEGO Universe Beta Signups Open

Developer NetDevil has opened beta registration for LEGO Universe (PC), providing the opportunity to help test the block-buster MMO before it launches sometime this year.

While some signups are a rather detailed affair, this one is relatively simple--after signing in with a LEGO ID, one simply states if they have no, some, or much experience testing online games. Of course, not everyone will be chosen to participate; " You have now joined our bravest heroes so be ready to answer the call, you might get chosen to battle," declares the site after you've signed up.

No word as to when the beta will kick off, though with the game due later this year, expect it sooner than later.

LEGO Universe Beta Signups Open - Shacknews

Windows 7 eclipses Vista on Steam, 64-bit dominating 32-bit

We already know that Windows 7 is growing faster than Vista was when it was released, but how fast are gamers adopting it? Pretty darn quickly, according to January 2010 data from Steam, the leader of the digital distribution market. Last month, the percentage of users on Windows 7 eclipsed the number of users on Windows Vista. Windows XP is still leading the pack, but it is under the 50 percent mark:

Data source: Steam

It's also worth noting that Windows 7 is the first version of Windows where gamers are adopting 64-bit faster than 32-bit. In fact, there are more users on Windows 7 64-bit than any other flavor of Windows, except for Windows XP 32-bit. Overall, XP dropped 2.63 percent from the previous month, Vista dropped 2.8 percent, and Windows 7 gained 5.47 percent. At this rate, we would expect Windows 7 to take the crown before the end of the year.

Each month, Steam collects and compiles data about the hardware and software its customers are using so that game developers can ensure they are making good decisions about what technology should take priority in their support plans. If you're wondering, Intel is still beating AMD and NVIDIA is still beating ATI. To check out more details and the rest of the statistics, which are primarily hardware-based, head over to the link below.

Further reading

• Steam Hardware Survey: January 2010 (store.steampowered.com)

Windows 7 eclipses Vista on Steam, 64-bit dominating 32-bit

1080p streaming video coming to Netflix, but will it matter?

Netflix fans, your streaming video service is just about to accommodate higher HDTV resolution in glorious 1080p. It's unclear exactly when this 1080p streaming with 5.1 surround sound will be rolled out — Netflix says it will be sometime "later this year."

You'll need more bandwidth to handle the higher resolution, probably exceeding the 7 to 10 Mbps required to stream the company's 720p HD content on the Roku box, TiVo, the Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Let's hope Netflix has a better compression scheme up its sleeve for this 1080p trick, supported by Microsoft Silverlight 1080p streaming introduced last March.

All that additional resolution won't mean much unless Netflix can stream more than just a measly 6% of its movies in HD, as it does now. That's lame — even Netflix's own PR flack calls it "underwhelming." Beyond that, there's the problem of bandwidth-stingy Internet service providers, many of whom also sell pay-per-view movies on cable, balking at opening up their pipes for a competitor's 1080p content.

1080p streaming video coming to Netflix, but will it matter? | DVICE

Space Shuttle Endeavour 'Go' for Sunday Launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA's space shuttle Endeavour is ready for its Sunday launch to the International Space Station – a planned predawn liftoff that is expected to be the last time an orbiter lifts off in darkness.

The weather forecast is pristine for Endeavour's upcoming launch from a seaside pad here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff is set for 4:39 a.m. EST (0939 GMT), with an 80 percent chance of good weather.

"We're in really good shape," said Mike Moses, NASA's shuttle integration manager, in a morning briefing. "Everybody is ready to go."

Endeavour's launch is the first of NASA's five

final shuttle missions before the space agency retires its aging, three-orbiter fleet later this year.

The shuttle will launch six astronauts on a 13-day mission to deliver a new room and observation portal to the International Space Station.  It is the last major assembly job for the $100 billion space station, which has been under construction since 1998.

"Every launch is a little bittersweet because it's one closer to the end," Moses said. 

The new room, called Tranquility, will house station robotic arm controls, life support systems and exercise gear. It will also include the Cupola, a new seven-window observation portal launching on Endeavour that promises to give astronauts stunning views of the Earth and space.

Sunday's predawn launch is also expected to be the last time a space shuttle will blast off in darkness. Weather permitting, it is expected to be visible from much of the eastern United States.

SPACE.com -- Space Shuttle Endeavour 'Go' for Sunday Launch

Microsoft's SideWinder X4 Keyboard is a Ghostbuster

The Microsoft SideWinder X4 gaming keyboard was announced today, and it includes a host of gamer-friendly features. The press release touts the device's "anti-ghosting" technology as its primary selling-point.

"We know that ghosting can be a problem for gamers, so we wanted to develop a way to eliminate this issue and improve the overall gaming experience," explained Steven Bathiche, research manager of the Applied Sciences Group at Microsoft. The SideWinder X4 also has some other gamer-centric functionality, such as macro recording, mode and profile switching, and adjustable backlighting.

Microsoft's SideWinder X4 Keyboard

In a common phenomenon called "ghosting," standard keyboard architecture typically records keystrokes in such a way that not all of the keys will always register properly when certain groups of them are pressed simultaneously. The SideWinder X4 reportedly eliminates this problem by giving each button a dedicated input. The X4 "ain't afraid of no ghost," allowing gamers to press up to twenty-six buttons at a time.

The SideWinder X4 Keyboard will be available for pre-order on Amazon.com later this week, and launches in March for the estimated retail price of $59.95.

Microsoft's SideWinder X4 Keyboard is a Ghostbuster - Shacknews

NASA reboots, focuses on cheaper, sustainable exploration

Last October, NASA received a committee report that called existing planning "unsustainable." The agency couldn't even budget the money to deorbit the International Space Station as planned in 2016—itself a waste of the construction costs—and the vehicles needed for its planned return to the moon wouldn't be ready by the 2030s... "if ever," in the committee's words. So today, NASA administrator Charles Bolden announced a new five-year budget plan that significantly changes the nation's spaceflight priorities.

A completely revamped human program

The biggest decision in the new budget is the end of the Constellation program, which included the Orion crew vehicle and Ares launch vehicles, which merged the Apollo approach to orbit with technology developed for the shuttle. At current budget levels, the full development of these systems would take us well into the 2020s even if completed on schedule, and arrive after the planned appearance of private-sector equivalents. Political opposition to this decision, which will mean the loss of jobs in a number of states, is already present, and many questions in the press conference that accompanied the announcement focused on this issue.

NASA staff members defended the decision when questioned about the development money already spent. "The fact that we poured $9 billion into an unexecutable program does not mean that we should pour another $50 billion after it," said one, "that's what i'd tell taxpayers." Another argued that this did not mean a fundamental change for NASA, saying "We're not canceling our commitment to explore space; we're canceling Constellation."

Part of that commitment will involve a reprieve for the International Space Station. Instead of being deorbited in the middle of this decade, the ISS will be treated like a national laboratory, and used to pursue research on materials and long-term human habitation in space through at least 2020, with additional construction, including new infrastructure, planned beyond the end of the shuttle program. The budget also includes money for an extension of the shuttle through 2011, which will allow for the inevitable launch delays in its remaining five missions.

The remaining construction, crew exchange, and servicing will be provided by both international partners and private companies if all goes as planned. The NASA administrators argue that this doesn't represent a radical departure, as both the agency and military largely rely on commercial launch vehicles for getting hardware into space. The only change is that we may now be relying on them for manned missions, although a few companies are already in work on manned launches. $50 million in stimulus money is already allocated to private companies to support development work, and NASA appears to be considering contests like the X-Prize.

With the new vision, NASA will shift focus to the R&D that will be needed to create a sustainable human exploration program. Over the next five years, a total of roughly $14 billion will be spent on three main programs. More than half of this amount will go to the development of technology for cheaper, extended-range space flight. This includes in-orbit fuel depots, closed-loop life support systems, and automated rendezvous and docking technology. The goal here is clearly to develop the ability to assemble a platform for long-range human space travel from multiple unmanned launch vehicles.

Another $3 billion will go towards the development of heavy-lift engines and propellants. As of the previous plan, development of heavy lift vehicles didn't get any money until 2016, so this is being presented as an acceleration of this capability. Finally, NASA will begin to develop what they term "robotic precursor missions," starting with a robotic, teleoperated Moon rover. The ultimate goal is to develop a robotic resource processing capability designed for the Moon and asteroids. If the equipment is launched successfully, it will begin prepositioning supplies that can be used by any manned follow-on missions.

Another planned expenditure that may ultimately lower launch costs will be a major overhaul of the Kennedy Space Center. The modernization, funded to the tune of $2 billion is intended to improve the efficiency of both manned and unmanned launches.

Business as usual for unmanned work

Although the manned program has been in turmoil, NASA's unmanned programs have been very successful, so it's no surprise that there were no surprises there. NASA will work with the DOE to restart plutonium production for use in power long-distance unmanned vehicles. Money is in place to to launch the Mars Science Laboratory rover in the fall of 2011, and they have the funds to give the James Webb Space Telescope a 70 percent chance of launching in 2014. The Juno probe, which will orbit Jupiter, is also on track.

The big news for near-Earth missions is that NASA will try again with the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, which will provide fine-grained monitoring of carbon fluxes from space, allowing us to monitor sources and sinks of greenhouse gasses. The first OCO failed to reach orbit, and nothing else of the same caliber is planned by any other space agency, so the decision to build a second and "refly" it, in NASA parlance, is very good news for geoscience.

The OCO will be joined by Glory, which will track aerosols and black soot (items that can alter the climate, but are poorly monitored) and two other environmental monitoring satellites. These will join 15 Earth-observing systems currently in orbit. As per existing policy, all the data obtained by these systems will be made available to any government or private organization that wishes to use them.

Programs for the identification of near earth objects, which could obviate all worries about climate change were they to become on-Earth objects, will receive another $16 million a year.

The big picture

Since the dawn of the space age, NASA has been the only way for a human to get to space from within the US. Its problems with the shuttle and work on the ISS have forced it to rely on international partners for manned launch capabilities in recent years, and the Constellation program wouldn't have been ready to supplement Russian launches for several years, even in the most optimistic plans. Despite all that, the new strategy represents an enormous break from tradition: NASA is out of the business of putting people into low-earth orbit, and doesn't see getting back in to it.

The Agency now sees its role as doing interesting things with people once they get there, hence its emphasis on in-orbit construction, heavy lift capabilities, and resource harvesting hardware. Given budgetary constraints and the real issues with the Constellation program, none of that is necessarily unreasonable.

But it's also a frightening step into the unknown. The commercial companies that NASA will be relying on haven't yet launched any crew-capable hardware. The heavy lift and orbital assembly technology will be developed without a sweeping vision to support it ("Maybe we'll go to an asteroid at some point" really doesn't cut it in the vision department). It's a program that may make a lot of sense, but it's not a program that will inspire until some of the details get filled in.

NASA reboots, focuses on cheaper, sustainable exploration