It looks as though there has been yet another giant leap for mankind in recent times as the Crew Dragon made its way to the International Space Station. The pace flight became the first commercial crew program onboard a SpaceX rocket. The future of commercial space travel seems to be just around the corner.

Liftoff

Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken (Crew Dragon) boarded the SpaceX-powered rocket to the International Space Station while many on Earth watched the sky from below. The SpaceX launch was the first Space Shuttle launch from American soil since 2011. The two astronauts have been in space before, although this is the first time they are making the voyage together. Hurley was the pilot of the last Space Shuttle journey back in 2011.

Hanging Around

The astronauts have docked with the ISS and are expected to spend several weeks on board the station. The expedition aboard the ISS will continue, with Hurley and Behnken staying for as little as 30 days, or as long as 119 days. The astronauts are expected to splash back down in the North Atlantic no later than September 23.

Teaming Up With SpaceX

The cost of putting people into space was so astronomical for NASA that the organization simply stopped doing it. That hasn’t stopped Americans going into space, but it has been costly to get them there.

Recently NASA bought seats on the Russian Soyuz rockets at the cost of $80 million per astronaut. Thanks to this new arrangement with SpaceX and the Commercial Crew Program, NASA can put astronauts in space for a third of the cost.

Elon Musk has been at the forefront of getting SpaceX off the ground, and his hard work appears to be finally paying off. Not only will this launch be a personal triumph for Musk, but it will also change the way NASA and American astronauts visit space forever.

The concept of wireless charging doesn’t facilitate much, apart from allowing a device to be charged without a plugged-in cable. But the true over-the-air wireless charging technology has been a far-fetched reality, until the recent announcement of Ossia. In a partnership with Archos, Ossia is about to release a series of first gadgets with over-air wireless charging technology, hitting the market next year.

The Technology

Five years ago at the CES 2016, Ossia first turned the heads of the audiences by demonstrating their revolutionary Cota Real Wireless Power technology, which allows a device to start charging instantly, once it enters in the proximity of a wireless power transmitter. The common wireless charging is more convenient than fussing with a cable, but it needs the devices to be essentially abandoned for a few hours until completely recharged. But according to Ossia’s Cota promises, the power transmitter can be installed anywhere, and simply walking into that room will be enough for your smartphone to immediately start charging on its own, irrespective of active users in that time. More conveniently, the transmitters can be disguised or hidden anywhere, like behind furniture or ceiling tiles.

The Devices

The first collection of Cota-compatible gadgets are finally out of the box. Though the French company Archos is not a common household name in the country, this is an important step for Ossia to steer the future of this innovative technology in the right direction. There are four devices, which will be available for now. While the indoor wireless camera can be installed anywhere, without the concern of its battery life, the smart tracker will start recharging automatically upon returning home. There is also an auto-recharge temperature and air-quality display device. The smart-watch can be worn indefinitely all day and night, to track both daytime activities and sleep behaviors. Cost, exact availability, and the final designs are not finalized yet, outside of the estimated time allotment of 2022.