Launch of the PS4 and Xbox One
2012 saw the launch of Nintendo's Wii U – the first of the eighth
generation games consoles.* By late 2013, it is joined by the PS4 and
Xbox One.* These new machines offer major
improvements in graphical power. Both have eight-core CPUs, each clocked at
1.6GHz and based on the 28nm fabrication standard. Using the new "Jaguar"
technology by AMD, this processor architecture gives optimal balance of power
consumption and performance.
Codenamed
"Orbis", the PS4 uses Radeon HD graphics hardware, with 18 compute units
running at 800MHz. Handling screen resolutions of 4000 x 2000 pixels, as well as 3D gaming
in full 1080p,* it has 4GB of ultra-fast GDDR5
memory with 512MB reserved for the OS.
Codenamed
"Durango", the Xbox One features slower DDR3 RAM, but double the volume of the
PS4, with 8GB including 3GB dedicated to the OS. It also has two cores
reserved for customisable apps which can be run in parallel with gameplay.
Both consoles are much closer in design to gaming PCs than their
predecessors, allowing stronger ports to the desktop computer format.*
Tiangong (translated as "Heavenly Palace") is a space
program of the People's Republic of China, with the goal of creating a next
generation space station. It begins with a "space laboratory phase" which consists of three
separate modules for testing and experimental purposes – the first being
launched in 2011, the second in 2013* and the third in 2015.
Tiangong-2,
launched in 2013, is larger and more advanced than its predecessor, with
improved docking abilities. All three of the Tiangong modules can support crews
of three astronauts. They serve as a prelude to the larger and more advanced
space station that begins to take shape from 2020 and is fully
operational by 2022.
The
first test launch of the Falcon Heavy
The Falcon Heavy – the most powerful rocket since the
Saturn V – has its first demonstration flight this year.
Designed to lift satellites or spacecraft into orbit weighing
more than 53 tons, or 117,000 pounds, it has over twice the capacity of the
Space Shuttle and Delta IV Heavy launcher. At full power, its
thrust is equivalent to fifteen 747's.
The rocket
is being developed by SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies
Corporation), one of two private companies that NASA has
contracted to transport cargo to the International Space
Station.
SpaceX's
goals include simultaneously lowering the price of orbital spaceflight
and improving reliability, both by a factor of ten, whilst creating
the first fully reusable orbital launch vehicle. Longer term, the
company intends to design an even more powerful rocket, known as a
"super heavy-lift" vehicle. This would have about three times the
power of a Falcon Heavy, or about 50 percent more than the Saturn
V – enough to carry people to Mars.*
2012 saw the launch of Nintendo's Wii U – the first of the eighth
generation games consoles.* By late 2013, it is joined by the PS4 and
Xbox One.* These new machines offer major
improvements in graphical power. Both have eight-core CPUs, each clocked at
1.6GHz and based on the 28nm fabrication standard. Using the new "Jaguar"
technology by AMD, this processor architecture gives optimal balance of power
consumption and performance.
Codenamed
"Orbis", the PS4 uses Radeon HD graphics hardware, with 18 compute units
running at 800MHz. Handling screen resolutions of 4000 x 2000 pixels, as well as 3D gaming
in full 1080p,* it has 4GB of ultra-fast GDDR5
memory with 512MB reserved for the OS.
Codenamed
"Durango", the Xbox One features slower DDR3 RAM, but double the volume of the
PS4, with 8GB including 3GB dedicated to the OS. It also has two cores
reserved for customisable apps which can be run in parallel with gameplay.
Both consoles are much closer in design to gaming PCs than their
predecessors, allowing stronger ports to the desktop computer format.*
Tiangong (translated as "Heavenly Palace") is a space
program of the People's Republic of China, with the goal of creating a next
generation space station. It begins with a "space laboratory phase" which consists of three
separate modules for testing and experimental purposes – the first being
launched in 2011, the second in 2013* and the third in 2015.
Tiangong-2,
launched in 2013, is larger and more advanced than its predecessor, with
improved docking abilities. All three of the Tiangong modules can support crews
of three astronauts. They serve as a prelude to the larger and more advanced
space station that begins to take shape from 2020 and is fully
operational by 2022.
The
first test launch of the Falcon Heavy
The Falcon Heavy – the most powerful rocket since the
Saturn V – has its first demonstration flight this year.
Designed to lift satellites or spacecraft into orbit weighing
more than 53 tons, or 117,000 pounds, it has over twice the capacity of the
Space Shuttle and Delta IV Heavy launcher. At full power, its
thrust is equivalent to fifteen 747's.
The rocket
is being developed by SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies
Corporation), one of two private companies that NASA has
contracted to transport cargo to the International Space
Station.
SpaceX's
goals include simultaneously lowering the price of orbital spaceflight
and improving reliability, both by a factor of ten, whilst creating
the first fully reusable orbital launch vehicle. Longer term, the
company intends to design an even more powerful rocket, known as a
"super heavy-lift" vehicle. This would have about three times the
power of a Falcon Heavy, or about 50 percent more than the Saturn
V – enough to carry people to Mars.*