Click to read about SpaceX’s historic rocket landing, Facebook’s 10 year plan, autonomous trucks, and more. Image from Karl Mondon. 

By Lauren Yang 

Video from SpaceX.

1. SpaceX’s landing: one small landing for rocket scientists, one huge leap for mankind
SpaceX, a reusable rocket launching company, successfully landed its Falcon 9 rocket on April 8, marking a huge milestone for the space industry. After four previous failed launches, the rocket landed fully intact and safely on a drone ship (a floating platform at sea). This landing opens the door to drastically lower-priced space missions, since rockets will no longer need to be made from scratch — they can be reused. Read more here and here.
 

2. Kepler’s emergency mode activated
NASA’s space hunting spacecraft, Kepler, was unintentionally switched into emergency mode from April 8 – 11. Scientists were alarmed because emergency mode puts the craft in “the lowest operational mode and is fuel intensive, [meaning it uses large amounts of fuel],” NASA’s website said. Fortunately, NASA was able to restore the probe back to normal operation. The probe, which has already discovered around 5,000 exoplanets, was in the middle of centering itself in the Milky Way for another observation mission. Read more here. 

3. Facebook figures out its future
At F8, a tech conference attended by developers, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, announced his plan for the next three, five, and ten years, outlining the future for the giant social media company. The corporation will be focusing around Facebook’s current features for the next three years, products in five years, and long term initiatives in ten years. Numerous new features were released at the conference, including chat bots, live video, and 360º video. Read more here.  

4. New project holds promise for space exploration
What do Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg all have in common? They’re all on board with a new initiative called the Breakthrough Starshot project. This project hopes to use lasers to propel small probes into space for planetary exploration purposes. There is a lot to consider in this ambitious project — the probes will need to be blasted at 20% the speed of light in order to reach its destination, Alpha Centauri. Read more here.
 

5. Driverless trucks pave the road for autonomous vehicles
A team of six semi-driverless trucks achieved a huge milestone for autonomous vehicles — the fleet completed a long-distance drive across Europe on April 8. Each “truck platoon”, or group of trucks, is comprised of a lead truck whose speed and route is matched by the following trucks. This accomplishment opens the door to more efficient transport and less traffic. Read more here.