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<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="9337633" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="acuity-insurance">Acuity Insurance</keyword> flag, located in <keyword id="567797" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wisconsin">Wisconsin</keyword>, was ripped in half after a thunderstorm.</li><li>It is measured at 70' by 140' and weighs 340 pounds.</li><li>Severe thunderstorms hit several portions of the state, knocking out power for over 31,000 homes.</li></ul><p>The world's largest free-flying American flag was torn in half after severe thunderstorms in Wisconsin on Tuesday evening, according to an image obtained by WTMJ-TV.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.acuity.com/about/flagpole">Acuity Insurance</a> flag, located in the company's headquarters in Sheboygan, is measured at 70' by 140', and weighs 340 pounds. It is nearly 100-feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, according to Acuity Insurance's website.</p><p>Constructing the flagpole in the area, where temperatures can reach below zero-degrees, was also a feat in of itself — over 500 gallons of paint were used to layer the 420,000 pound pole, and 680 cubic yards of concrete were applied for its foundation.</p><p>On its base, a memorial is featured that includes the name of the county's residents who died while serving in the military.</p><p>"We proudly fly this flag because we are blessed to live and work in the United States of America," Acuity Insurance CEO Ben Salzmann said on the company website.</p><p>On Tuesday, <a href="https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2020/06/02/wisconsin-weather-severe-thunderstorms-expected-tuesday-night/3129253001/">severe thunderstorms</a> hit several portions of the state, knocking out power for over 31,000 homes. The National Weather Service issued a thunderstorm watch until midnight as weather forecasters shifted their timetables for when they expected the storm to hit.</p>

The world's largest free-flying American flag has been ripped in half after a thunderstorm

It appears that the commercial <keyword id="6354474" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Drone">drone</keyword> aficionado is as of now exhausted with the mediocrity of aerial filming and has found an all the more energizing use for the high-flying piece of gear – <keyword id="3654383" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Drone-surfing">drone surfing</keyword>.<br />
<br />
Drone surfing is the perfect game for those that live close water, have adequate surfing/wakeboarding aptitudes, and thousands of dollars to blow.<br />
<br />
The general population behind the US-based drone company <keyword id="3654385" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Freefly">Freefly</keyword> are in charge of the obviously amazing video, which includes their $18,000 Alta 8 model that is intended to take up to 9kg (20lb) of weight.<br />
<br />
In the event that this is as genuine as it looks, it could unquestionably be a game that gadget fans and wakeboarders alike can sink their teeth into.<br />
<br />
Ideally, it won't be long until this turns into a major event at the Olympics.

Drone Surfing is here!<b></b>

<ul><li><strong><keyword id="6358096" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="snapchat" source="Orion">Snapchat</keyword> has introduced a <keyword id="1768790" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mini-drone" source="Orion">mini drone</keyword> dubbed as <keyword id="1850082" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="pixy" source="Orion">Pixy</keyword>.</strong></li><li><strong>Pixy will allow you to effortlessly capture videos.</strong></li><li><strong>The mini drone is currently available in the United States and France.</strong></li></ul>Snapchat is a popular photo and video sharing platform which allows you to share your precious moments with your friends and family. A lot of people use devices like selfie sticks and tripods to get the best picture to post it as a story or send it to others in chat.<br /><br />Snap Inc. has announced a new device that will take your videos to the next level. During the <keyword id="7499217" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="snap-partner-summit" source="Orion">Snap Partner Summit</keyword> 2022, the company introduced Pixy, a mini drone and its second hardware product after Spectacles.<br /><br />“Today, we’re taking the power and magic of the Snap Camera to new heights. We’re introducing Pixy, your friendly flying camera. It’s a pocket-sized, free-flying sidekick that’s a fit for adventures big and small,” Snap said in a <a href="https://newsroom.snap.com/sps2022close">blog post</a>.<br /><br /><div type="image" title="Pixy" msid="91181777" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Pixy&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br />Pixy is a small drone that weighs just 101 grams and can take off right from your hand with the tap of a button. The drone does not require any remote or a controller to be operated. It flies in a predetermined path and offers you various options – float, orbit around you or follow your lead.<br /><br />Once you are done capturing your memories, you can place your hand below Pixy and it will land on your palm. The device does not come with an SD card, instead it transfers the videos to Snapchat Memories. You can then use the tools, lenses and sounds available to edit the videos and share them as stories, chats or on any other platform.<br /><br />Pixy comes with a rechargeable battery and it can complete 5 to 8 flights on a single charge.<br /><cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Pixy price and availability" comment="subhead" text="Pixy price and availability"><span data-til="noop">Pixy price and availability</span></cmsannotation><br />Pixy is priced at $229.99 (₹17,590 approx.) and is currently available in the United States and France.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/realme-gt-neo-3-realme-pad-mini-and-buds-q2s-launched-in-india-specs-price-and-everything-you-need-to-know/articleshow/91172955.cms">Realme GT Neo 3, Realme Pad Mini and Buds Q2s launched in India – specs, price and everything you need to know</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/oneplus-10r-5g-vs-realme-gt-2-price-specs-and-features-compared/slidelist/91170853.cms">OnePlus 10R 5G vs Realme GT 2 – price, specs and features compared</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/elon-musk-suggested-firing-workers-and-working-with-influencers-to-boost-twitters-bottom-line-reports/articleshow/91179007.cms"><strong>Elon Musk suggested firing workers and working with influencers to boost Twitter's bottom line: reports</strong></a><br />

Pixy is a mini drone from Snap that can follow you to record your videos

<ul class="summary-list"><li>UK-based <keyword id="11895441" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="space" source="Orion">Space</keyword> <keyword id="11896019" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="entertainment" source="Orion">Entertainment</keyword> Enterprise signed a deal to launch the first entertainment <keyword id="12998562" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="studio" source="Orion">studio</keyword> in space.</li><li>The <keyword id="12060330" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="iss" source="Orion">ISS</keyword> module is intended for creatives who want to film in low-orbit, micro-gravity environments.</li></ul><p>The film industry is quite literally reaching new heights, with the forthcoming launch of the world's first entertainment studio and multi-purpose arena in space.</p><p>Elena and Dmitry Lesnevsky, producers on an upcoming <keyword id="11922280" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tom-cruise" source="Orion">Tom Cruise</keyword> movie set in space, announced on Thursday that they signed a deal to build a fully operational movie studio connected to the International Space Station. The 20-foot-wide studio, dubbed Space Entertainment Enterprise-1 (SEE-1), is slated to launch December 2024 and will be the world's first functional entertainment and content studio in space.</p><p>SEE-1 will be developed in partnership with Huston-based space infrastructure developer, <keyword id="12998561" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="axiom" source="Orion">Axiom</keyword> Space, the company behind the world's first commercial space station, Axiom Station. Once it's ready for launch, the studio will dock with Axiom Station, which is currently attached to the ISS.</p><p>According to Axiom, the module will be able to support <keyword id="22637" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="production" source="Orion">production</keyword>, broadcast, and live-streaming for film, television, music, and sports projects.</p><p>"Adding a dedicated entertainment venue to Axiom Station's commercial capabilities in the form of SEE-1 will expand the station's utility as a platform for a global user base and highlight the range of opportunities the new space economy offers," Axiom president and CEO Michael Suffredini said in a statement.</p><p>The Levenskys' U.K. studio confirmed <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/20/tom-cruise-movie-producers-sign-axiom-deal-for-space-production-studio.html">to CNBC</a> it is currently in production on the Tom Cruise-led film, though it is not clear whether Cruise will wait for the debut of the SEE-1 studio to shoot. </p><div type="image" title="axiom interior space module" height="1875" width="2500" msid="89026426" hostid="261"></div><p><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-selects-first-commercial-destination-module-for-international-space-station/">NASA previously granted Axiom a $140 million contract</a> to attach its habitable module to the International Space Station. The company will eventually detach Axiom Station before the ISS retires, at which point it will become a free-flying space station.</p><p>The Lesnevskys plans on producing their own content from the SEE-1 module, but also said they plan to open up the habitable space station for use by other entertainment companies.</p><p>While the Cruise-led space movie currently remains untitled, the project is not tied to the actor's blockbuster "Mission Impossible" franchise, <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/05/tom-cruise-movie-shot-in-outer-space-elon-musk-spacex-unprecedented-in-hollywood-1202925849/">Deadline reported</a>. The budget for the film is estimated to be a whopping $200 million, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15073568/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_1">according to IMDB Pro</a>.</p><p>Cruise, whose projects are known for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I720xCnnPUY">pushing the limits in production and stunt filming capabilities</a>, <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/news/universal-circling-tom-cruise-doug-liman-film-to-shoot-in-space-exclusive-1234713658/">announced in 2020 he was working with Elon Musk's SpaceX and NASA</a> to shoot the first narrative feature onboard the ISS.</p>

Producers on a Tom Cruise film set in space are planning to launch the world's first movie studio connected to the International Space Station

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters/Mario Anzuoni</span></p><p class="caption">Former New England Patriots football player Rob Gronkowski, skier Lindsey Vonn and others react as they get slimed during the Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Sports Awards 2019 in Santa Monica, California, U.S. July 11, 2019.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Slime will be delivered to the International Space Station via SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket to promote STEM-related interest in elementary and middle school students though educational videos and digital content.</li><li>Crew members will conduct experiments "to spark an interest in microgravity research and help students learn about STEM topics such as fluid flow and materials engineering."</li><li>The Falcon 9 rocket will carry 5,500 other experiments and supplies on board, including an Adidas soccer ball to study the aerodynamics of free-flying soccer balls in microgravity.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.</a></li></ul><p>Over the years, Nickelodeon slime has come in contact with celebrities, musicians, and athletes here on Earth - and soon, it will reach astronauts in outer space.</p><p><a href="https://www.issnationallab.org/press-releases/spacex-crs-18-mission-overview/?fbclid=IwAR0Mw28AsznscCRWzrAqpvVy-Q9-_nnpwibPGW91a3MRmDQfBHLJebbTm1I">According to a press release</a> published earlier this month, the green substance will be delivered to the International Space Station to promote STEM-related interest in elementary and middle school students though educational videos and digital content.</p><p>Crew members will conduct experiments "to spark an interest in microgravity research and help students learn about STEM topics such as fluid flow and materials engineering," according to the press release. The experiments will reveal the effects of microgravity on slime, which is a non-Newtonian fluid - a material that can change its viscosity or resistance to flow.</p><p>The slime, alongside 5,500 other experiments and supplies, will be aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9, which is set to launch at 6:24 pm ET on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It will be the SpaceX's 18th cargo resupply <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2019/07/20/spacex-crs-18-launch-now-targeted-for-wednesday-july-24/">mission</a> to the space station for NASA thus far.</p><p>"We're going to slime a couple of astronauts and put it through a couple demonstrations," Andrew Machles, a vice president of public affairs at Viacom, which owns Nickelodeon, told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/23/tech/spacex-nickelodeon-slime/index.html?utm_term=image&amp;utm_source=twCNN&amp;utm_content=2019-07-24T00%3A40%3A06&amp;utm_medium=social">CNN</a>.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.insider.com/heres-what-was-really-in-nickelodeon-slime-secret-ingredients-double-dare-marc-summers-nick-2017-6">Here's what Nickelodeon slime is made of - according to 'Double Dare' host Marc Summers</a></em></p><p>The educational content could be made public as soon as September via Nickelodeon's television and online streaming, Machles said.</p><p>While the Falcon 9 will carry other scientific experiments on board, such as <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7976">cell cultures</a>, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8023">microbial growths</a>, and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7992">lab rats</a>, the rocket has another unlikely passenger: an Adidas soccer ball.</p><p><span>"Observing and measuring the motion of soccer balls in microgravity improves understanding of the general behavior of free-flying objects," NASA told CNN. "This could contribute to better design and use of free-flying objects such as small robots in spacecraft."</span></p><p>ISS crew members will investigate the aerodynamics of free-flying soccer balls in microgravity by measuring "the spin speed, wobble, and spin axis of balls with different shapes and textures and compare the data to Earth-based experiments," according to the press release.</p><p>"Current aerodynamic research on soccer balls uses wind tunnel experiments to link aerodynamic forces and surface characteristics," the press release stated. "With microgravity, some of the physical constraints of wind tunnel experiments are removed, providing the opportunity for new data to fill in the gaps in knowledge of spherical aerodynamics."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-survive-alligator-attack-2018-4">How to survive an alligator attack</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

SpaceX is sending Nickelodeon slime, an Adidas soccer ball, and 5,500 other experiments and supplies to space

<br /> In a bid to monitor our planet better, the US space <keyword id="6360409" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="NASA">NASA</keyword> is bringing in a number of Earth-observing instruments to the <keyword id="6382020" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="International-Space-Station">International Space Station</keyword> (ISS) that will eventually leverage the orbital laboratory's unique vantage point in space.<br />
<br />
According to NASA, the launch of its ocean winds sensor to the ISS this month will start a new era of Earth observation.<br />
The researchers also revealed that six NASA Earth science instruments will be mounted to the space station before the end of the decade. This will enable scientists to study our changing planet.<br />
<br />
Scheduled to be launched this month, the first NASA Earth-observing instrument called ISS-RapidScat will monitor ocean winds for climate research as well as weather predictions and hurricane monitoring.<br />
<br />
The second instrument, planned for December launch, is called the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS). The laser instrument will measure clouds and the location and distribution of airborne particles such as pollution, mineral dust, smoke and other particulates in the atmosphere. CATS will follow ISS-RapidScat on the fifth SpaceX space station resupply flight.<br />
<br /> "We're seeing the space station come into its own as an Earth-observing platform. It has a different orbit than other Earth remote sensing platforms. It's closer to Earth, and it sees Earth at different times of day with a different schedule. That offers opportunities that complement other Earth-sensing instruments in orbit today," said <keyword id="2484787" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Julie-Robinson">Julie Robinson</keyword>, chief scientist for the International Space Station Programme at NASA's <keyword id="2510728" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Johnson-Space-Centre-in-Houston">Johnson Space Centre in Houston</keyword>.<br />
<br />
The space station-based instruments join a fleet of 17 NASA Earth-observing missions currently providing data on the dynamic and complex Earth system.<br />
<br />
ISS-RapidScat and CATS follow the February launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory, a joint mission with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.<br />
<br />
In order to gather data from all parts of the planet, most of the agency's free-flying, Earth-observing satellites orbit the planet over the poles at altitudes higher than 400 miles. Although the space station does not pass over Earth's polar regions, its 240-mile-high orbit does offer logistical and scientific advantages.<br />
<br />
Notably, two additional NASA Earth science instruments are scheduled to launch to the station in 2016.<br />
(Image: Wikipedia)<br />

NASA To
Transform International Space Station Into Earth-observing Platform

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>Astronauts locked inside the International Space Station (ISS) are about to get some new robotic friends: three autonomous cubes that will float around and record their every move.</p><p>The free-flying robots are called <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astrobee">Astrobees</a>, and they might prowl around the ISS, film astronaut activities, power new <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> experiments, and help NASA locate lost items by the end of 2017.</p><p>"We want this thing to be able to fly around inside the space station without the crew having to supervise it," Chris Provencher, Astrobee's project manager at NASA Ames Research Center, said in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbBQONITclk">a video</a>.</p><p>The team at Ames in California has toiled for years to design and build its Astrobees. But they won't be the first floating robots to work alongside astronauts inside the ISS.</p><p>The plan is for the Astrobees to replace three aging, orb-shaped devices called <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/spheres/home">SPHERES</a> - short for Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites - which arrived at the space station in 2006.</p><h2>A replacement for MIT's 'Star Wars' drones</h2><p>Students at MIT came up with the idea for SPHERES in 1999.</p><p>That's when their professor asked them to build a copy of the Jedi-training drone (called a remote) from the movie "Star Wars", <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/spheres/spheres-faq">according to NASA</a>.</p><p>MIT's real-life, sensor-laden drones don't shoot stinging laser beams to improve a padawan's lightsaber skills. However, they do use compressed gases to move around in zero-gravity, and astronauts can control them from a laptop aboard the ISS.</p><p>Researchers have devised dozens of experiments for the robots, which can fly in formation and don special attachments.</p><p>Over the past decade, in fact, the SPHERES program has led to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/spheres/spheres-publication-list-0">more than 100 different academic studies</a>. Some tested software to help satellites to avoid smacking into each other in space, while others investigated ways to build large telescopes out of a bunch of small, autonomous robots.</p><p>But going on their 11th year in space, the red, blue, and orange bots seem increasingly old and obsolete, says writer Evan Ackerman in a recent <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/space-robots/how-nasa-astrobee-robot-is-bringing-useful-autonomy-to-the-iss">feature story at IEEE Spectrum</a>.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>For one, SPHERES robots don't have any cameras to record and stream video back to Earth.</p><p>That's a problem in space because there are so few people to help film activities, yet it's vital to record experiments and educational events. NASA would rather have its astronauts stay focused on performing experiments instead of handling a camera.</p><p>Mission controllers at Johnson Space Center in Houston also want to raise their "situational awareness" of the crew - another way of saying they want better ways to spy on their precious human cargo.</p><p>"Right now when they want to see inside the space station, there are some camcorders set up, but those are in fixed locations," Provencher said. "This would really empower them to get the view that they want by being able to fly this robot around with an HD camera and see what they need to see."</p><p>Checking air quality, keeping track of loud sounds, logging fresh shipments of cargo, and locating lost objects in the floating laboratory is also boring and time-consuming work for astronauts, so Astrobee will be loaded with sensors and an RFID scanner to track inventory.</p><p>"There are thousands of pieces of equipment on the space station that have to be tracked and you have to know where it is," Provencher said.</p><h2>'A Roomba for space'</h2><p>To get around in zero-gravity, Astrobee has a central fan that sucks in and slightly compresses air.</p><p>When it's ready to move the robot will direct that air out one or more of 12 nozzles. Like so many tiny jets, that should generate plenty of force to push and steer each cube toward its destination,</p><p>In its autonomous mode, Astrobees will navigate using an internal 3D map of the space station. But mission controllers can also steer the miniature spacecraft from Earth.</p><p>When NASA wants to park a robot and film something, for instance, Astrobee can fold out a robotic arm and grab a pole, as <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/video/robotics/military-robots/astrobee-nasa-newest-robot-for-the-international-space-station">a video by Ackerman</a> shows. Companies can also develop their own "appendages" for Astrobee, says Provencher, which will lock into modular attachment points.</p><p>Each rig will use lithium-ion batteries that can power up to a few hours of flying and filming at a time. When an Astrobee's juice runs low, an Astrobee will automatically navigate itself to a dock for recharging via the space station's solar panels.</p><p>"When we described what it'd be like, people thought of a bee buzzing around inside the space station, staying busy. So that's where the name Astrobee came from," Provencher said. But "sometimes we call it the Roomba for space," he said.</p><p>NASA expects to launch its three Astrobee bots to the ISS sometime after September 2017 but before October 2018.</p><div><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:43%"></div></div><div><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:62%"></div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/caliburger-using-burger-flipping-robots-flippy-2017-3">CaliBurger plans on using these burger-flipping robots</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="pnbjI5YTE6hQZ-X6w-xxwj27GM1fHjwy" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

NASA will soon launch cube-shaped robots to spy on astronauts

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Since 2011,&#xa0;NASA has&#xa0;been using crowdsourcing to help them solve some of the problems that crop up on the International Space Station (ISS), from coming up with solutions to the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/bio-inspired-orion-compact-crew-exercise-system-challenge" target="_blank">difficulties of astronauts exercising in space</a>, and the risks of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/galactic-cosmic-ray-theoretical-challenge" target="_blank">Galactic Cosmic Ray exposure</a>.<p>These crowd-sourced projects, framed as challenges, draw people from all over the world.&#xa0;To date, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/coeci/ntl" target="_blank">a dozen platforms exist to host the challenges</a>, including a site called Freelancer.com, whose <a href="https://www.freelancer.com/contest/nasa" target="_blank">latest challenge involves designing a robotic arm</a> for a new generation of free-flying robots on the ISS.</p><p><a href="https://ti.arc.nasa.gov/tech/asr/intelligent-robotics/astrobee/" target="_blank">The robot, called&#xa0;the Astrobee</a>, will fly around the ISS and is designed to help the astronauts develop technologies for use in zero-gravity, such as&#xa0;how they do their routine chores. It can now&#xa0;take on research, housekeeping, and monitoring duties without astronaut supervision.</p><p>The challenges on&#xa0;Freelancer have&#xa0;awards of $3,500 or less. Other platforms run challenges which award&#xa0;much larger sums of money, but the unifying idea is that anyone from anywhere can get involved and help out. Joe Griston from Freelancer told Business Insider that a recent contest involved designing a new patch and logo for a department within NASA. A couple from Australia won the prize.</p><h2>'Somebody that can solve your very difficult problem often doesn't have traditional experience'</h2><p>Steve Radar, who looks after the Centre of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) at NASA, has been with the organisation for 20 years.&#xa0;The duel role of the CoECI is&#xa0;to work both internally at NASA to try and get projects crowdsourced, and then also working with&#xa0;other agencies like the Department of Energy, Homeland Security, or IRS to help them understand how they can also use these tools.</p><p>He has seen from the get-go&#xa0;how NASA can solve problems and create&#xa0;new, innovative projects thanks to the intelligence and expertise made available by crowdsourcing.</p><p>"If you have large crowds of hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people in communities, that you actually have within those communities some very valuable high skill folks," Radar told Business Insider. "The idea is somebody that can solve your very difficult problem often doesn't have traditional experience."</p><p>In fact, a main reason why crowdsourcing works so well is that a lot of the time, solutions are found by people who don't have the same area of expertise as the problem.&#xa0;</p><p>"If it was a chemistry problem, and you put it out there, most of the time it's not a chemist who&#xa0;solves that problem," Radar said.&#xa0;"That's a pretty big deal, because that's really why industry has started using these methods, because the normal research and development approach is to put&#xa0;five chemists in a lab and have them work the research."</p><h2>NASA has some really difficult and technical challenges to solve</h2><p>This&#xa0;makes sense when you're dealing with space exploration. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-poop-challenge" target="_blank">The 'Space Poop Challenge' on HeroX</a>, for example, has a prize of $30,000 and so far around 80 participants. The goal is to find a way of solving the issues with the fact that astronauts may have to be encased in a space suit for 3 or 4 days at a time.&#xa0;</p><p>According to Radar, the challenges where they often find effective answers is when they ask for solutions to really specific problems, which taps into&#xa0;people's&#xa0;deep expertise or skill.&#xa0;</p><p>For example, <a href="https://www.topcoder.com/tag/nasa/" target="_blank">many algorithm challenges are run on Topcoder</a>, in which teams look for a way to increase performance of a robot, device or program.&#xa0;Out of the million or so users on the platform, around 400,000 are data scientists, all of which have the potential to come up with the right idea.</p><p>"What you're doing is you're taking this group of high-skilled folks that know how to do algorithms, and you're actually homing in on the absolute best, because you're doing it as a competition," Radar said. "We've had very good results in getting really complex algorithms done, either created, or they can run significantly faster or more accurately."</p><p>One example was with <a href="https://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/R2/" target="_blank">the Robonaut project</a>, which is the robot astronaught that&#xa0;resides on the International Space Station. Radar calls it&#xa0;a "development test-bed" as it is one of the few robots built that will not interfere with a human's work if they are working right next to it. Instead, it&#xa0;will back off.&#xa0;</p><p>The Robonaut team wanted to try and find a better way for the vision system to recognise tools in different lighting conditions, and through crowdsourcing they found someone who had figured&#xa0;out a way to do it.</p><p><strong>Here's Robonaut in action on its&#xa0;first trip to&#xa0;the International Space Station:</strong></p><p><div></div></p><p>One thing that Radar thinks is great about crowdsourcing is that it gets the public engaged with the exploration of space. NASA has always been open about what they're doing in space, but by involving regular people in their projects, many people are fulfilling their dreams.&#xa0;</p><p>"The&#xa0;people who participate in projects&#xa0;write amazing quotes back to us about how this has been their dream to work as part of NASA, and even though it's a small part, this has just been fantastic," Radar said.&#xa0;</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photo-series-reveals-true-proportions-huge-objects-2016-11">These size comparisons show the true scale of enormous things</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="c1eWVnNzE6EEyJweXWOcYHRM1Gff7evr" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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