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TECHNOLOGY Thursday 31 augusT 2017

Private companies drive ‘new

space race’ at NASA center

By ALEX SANZ commercial companies ing. “It opens up a whole
Associated Press buying into what we’re do- new world of business.”
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ing.” SpaceX, which flies cargo
(AP) — For the first time The public-private partner- missions to the space sta-
since the retirement of the ship is transforming Ken- tion with its Dragon space-
space shuttle in 2011, NASA nedy Space Center into a craft, has modified an old
says it may soon have the multiuser spaceport. NASA shuttle launch pad for its
capability to send astro- is developing the Space Falcon 9 rockets, which the
nauts to the International Launch System and the Ori- company has successfully
Space Station from U.S. soil. on spacecraft for missions reused. It plans to use Drag-
Critical milestones are to deep space, including on 2, a new version of the In this May 17, 2017, file photo, an Amazon Alexa device is
switched on for a demonstration of its use in a ballpark suite
on the horizon for Boeing to Mars, leaving private spacecraft, to send astro- before a Seattle Mariners baseball game in Seattle. Microsoft and
and SpaceX, the space companies to send people nauts to the space station. Amazon are making their Alexa and Cortana voice assistants
agency’s commercial to low Earth orbit. Blue Origin, founded by team up and talk to each other in a new collaboration.
Associated Press

Alexa, Cortana talk

to each other in

Amazon-Microsoft deal

By MATT O’BRIEN while Samsung plans one
AP Technology Writer with Microsoft’s Cortana.
BOSTON (AP) — Alexa, Amazon has little to lose
meet Cortana. from the partnership, and
Microsoft and Amazon are Microsoft’s Cortana —
pairing their voice assistants which has been largely lim-
together in a collaboration ited to laptops — might get
announced Wednesday. discovered by more users
Both companies say that because of it, said Carolina
later this fall, users will be Milanesi, a mobile technol-
able to access Alexa using ogy analyst at Creative
Cortana on Windows 10 Strategies.
This July 14, 2017, photo shows the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in computers and on Android “Cortana might get a little
Cape Canaveral, Florida in Cape Canaveral, Fla. and Apple devices. They’ll bit more out of it because
Associated Press also be able to access Cor- it gets Cortana out of the
tana on Alexa-enabled PC,” she said. “For Cortana
crew partners: Flight tests Boeing is building the CST- Amazon.com founder Jeff devices such as the Ama- to really get to be more im-
of their spacecraft, includ- 100 Starliner, a spacecraft Bezos, is building a rocket zon Echo. portant, it needs to be con-
ing crewed missions, are that will send astronauts to factory; it also plans to Microsoft says the tie-up sistently used every day for
planned for 2018. the space station, in a han- launch its rockets from will allow Alexa customers different tasks.”
That’s launched something gar once used to prepare Cape Canaveral. to get access to Cortana Milanesi said that for Ama-
of a “new space race” at space shuttles for flight. Boeing and United Launch features such as for book- zon especially, which wants
the Kennedy Space Cen- Three Starliners are in pro- Alliance built a crew ac- ing meetings or accessing more people to consider
ter, officials said. duction, including one that cess tower so astronauts work calendars. Cortana Alexa as their first choice,
“We have invested a lot as will fly astronauts next year. can board the Starliner. The users, in turn, can ask Alexa the partnership also might
a center, as a nation into “If Mars is the pinnacle of Atlas V, one of the world’s to switch on smart home be designed to send a
Kennedy Space Center to Mount Everest, low Earth or- most reliable rockets, will devices or shop on Ama- message to customers and
ready us for that next 50 bit is base camp. The com- launch the spacecraft and zon’s website. rivals.
years of spaceflight and mercial companies are the its astronauts. “This is really The use of voice assistants “They both get something
beyond,” said Tom En- sherpas that haul things the Apollo era for the next is growing. Google and out of it, which is mainly
gler, the center’s director there,” said Chris Ferguson, generation,” said Shannon Amazon already have showing Apple and Google
of planning and develop- a former NASA astronaut Coggin, a production inte- smart speakers on the mar- that they’re willing to work
ment. “You see the divi- and director of crew and gration specialist at United ket. Apple has HomePod together to get stronger,”
dends of that now, these mission operations at Boe- Launch Alliance. q coming with its Siri assistant, Milanesi said.q