Year in review: Entrepreneurs, NASA shoot for the moon

Science

Entrepreneurs, NASA shoot for the moon

By Stefanie Olsen
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Published: December 14, 2007, 4:00 AM PST

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At the intersection of science and technology, 2007 was overrun by robots and space adventures.

NASA was in the spotlight this year, as scientists around the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of space flight. In the 1950s, Russia's Sputnik satellite kicked off the space race, the formation of NASA, and some of the technologies that touch our lives every day. That reflection brought on questions about the future of space exploration and NASA itself--will we find other life in the universe in the next 50 years?

Meanwhile, the space agency developed future robotic and manned missions into space, including exploring asteroids and sending astronauts back to the moon by 2020. And NASA plans to test-fly the space shuttle replacement, Orion, as early as fall 2008. Robotic space probes like New Horizons, a craft that's due to arrive at Pluto by the summer of 2015, also rendered new discoveries about the solar system's largest planet, Jupiter.

The private space industry also got further off the ground this year. Private space companies including Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Robert Bigelow's Bigelow Aerospace, and Elon Musk's Space X all pulled off successful tests of their space vehicles. And tourist companies like Peter Diamandis' Space Adventures kept selling multimillion-dollar tickets to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.

NASA supported these and other experiments in the private sector. Among other prize competitions, NASA sponsored the Personal Air Vehicle Challenge, a contest to build and fly an efficient so-called air car, and the $2 million Lunar Lander Challenge, a race to build and fly a lunar rover. Next year, someone might actually win the lunar challenge, but contestants now can opt to compete in the privately funded Google Lunar X Prize.

The year's highlight in the field of robotics was clearly the DARPA Urban Challenge, the third in a series of robot car races sponsored by the defense department. Carnegie Mellon University, which raced a modified Land Rover, won the $2 million prize for first place, performing the cleanest and fastest, driving on roughly 60 miles of urban terrain. It was a milestone in the development of autonomous vehicles.

Scientists and futurists also thought about the road ahead for artificial intelligence and the potential for machines to one day outthink humans. In the meantime, iRobot and other start-ups plan to keep developing robots that can help people with everyday chores--and maybe a few scientific breakthroughs.

2007 Highlights

DARPA race pushes robotics forward

The Urban Challenge's competitive drama seeds the idea in people's minds that self-driving cars are possible.
Photos: DARPA Challenge

November 5, 2007

X Prize Cup rocket competition flames out

The only team competing failed to complete more than two flights, leaving the challenge unmet for another year.
Photos: X Prize rocket contest, expo

October 29, 2007

more highlights below

How NASA helped invent Silicon Valley

Technologies developed for planes and rockets have led to some of the most important commercial innovations to come out of California's heartland of the tech industry.

October 2, 2007

Celebrating 50 years in space

The space race started with a little thing called Sputnik. Since then, the heavens have only gotten more crowded. In this multipart series, we take a look at the state of space exploration 50 years on.
Scientists ponder next 50 years of space exploration

October 2, 2007

Private industry moves to take over space race

The space race taking shape in the private sector today is due in large part to boyhood dreams of astronauts.

October 1, 2007

Photos: Robots in action

Rapid advances in robot development are leading to a whole new generation of tools and toys.

March 16, 2007

Google offers $30 million to land on the moon

The search giant, known for supporting science projects, backs a private robotic race to the moon.
Photos: Touting the Google Lunar X Prize

September 13, 2007

Coming to grips with intelligent machines

Technologists head to San Francisco to discuss the benefits and risks of AI and how to deal with computers that are smarter than humans.

September 7, 2007

Can personal aircraft beat gridlock?

NASA thinks so, and it's offering prize money for teams heading to the skies in a contest starting Saturday.

August 4, 2007

NASA to test-fly Orion spacecraft next fall

Space agency says it's making great progress on the successor to the space shuttle, which could ultimately take astronauts back to the moon.
Images: Orion prepares for moon landing

August 1, 2007

The pit crews behind DARPA's robot race

From MIT professors to high school dropouts, humans are the driving force as the urban challenge draws closer.
Photos: Teams tune up for Urban Challenge

June 5, 2007

NASA scoops up details on Jupiter flyby

NASA releases details about its robotic flyby, which rendered rare glimpses of the solar system's biggest planet and one of its moons.
Images: New findings from Jupiter

October 9, 2007