It never gets old. My mind never stops being blown. The US Air Force pilots who somehow fly their Thunderbird F-16s so impossibly close like this will never become any less impressive. I wouldn’t even walk this close to another human, let alone touch tails in mid-air.
The unfolding drama between Russia and the Ukraine along the Crimean peninsula is developing, rapidly and unpredictably—certainly not in-sync with the orbits of our overhead surveillance assets. But if we could somehow get a few purpose-built (and presumably rapidly-prototyped) cube sats up there, the US Air Force could place extra eyes in the sky on-demand, and keep a closer watch on what’s happening on the ground. And that’s where Northrop Grumman’s new Modular Space Bus comes in.
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Okay, I know Globemasters are huge, but I’m always stunned when I see how much you can fit inside one of them.
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Like ducks in a row, five C-130 Hercules aircraft lined up before taking off at Yokota Air Base, Japan. That’s one intimidating traffic jam to be in. The picture was taken for the US Air Force by Senior Airman Cody H. Ramirez on their Instagram page.
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I love rocket launches photos, especially when they are as awesome as this photo by Pat Corkery, featured by the US Air Force.
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It’s 2013. Of course Santa Claus has traded in his sleigh and reindeers for a fighter jet. That way he can zip around the world in the coolest rig possible. The US Air Force posted this picture of a pilot in a Santa costume for a bit of holiday cheer. Happy Holidays everybody!
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Forget bombs or the robopocalypse. In our minds, the most fearsome weapon is the one that disables our gadgets. That’s what makes Boeing’s newly tested Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) scarier than most projectiles. The missile bombards targets underneath with microwaves that shut down computers, power systems and just about anything electrical in their path. Thankfully, CHAMP’s invisible payload arrives in discrete bursts and arguably makes it the world’s most advanced (and likely expensive) non-lethal weapon: the prototype can target multiple individual buildings without ever having to detonate and hurt someone. Boeing is still developing CHAMP in a multi-year program and doesn’t have guarantees that it will become military ordnance, which gives us enough time to accept that saving lives is far, far more important than the risk we’ll have to stop fiddling with our technology.
Filed under: Misc
Boeing tests microwave missile that knocks out electronics, represents our worst nightmare (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
I’m watching Battlestar Galactica again, for the third time (it always starts with “let’s just watch the first episode”). Their deck doesn’t look very different from this hangar at the Andersen Air Base, Guam. More »
We’ve seen the Kinect put to use to help you find your groceries, but the sensor’s image processing capabilities have some more safety-minded applications as well. The fine minds at MIT combined the Kinect with a laser range finder and a laptop to create a real-time mapping rig for firefighters and other rescue workers. The prototype, called SLAM (for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) received funding from the US Air Force and the Office of Naval Research, and it stands out among other indoor mapping systems for its focus on human (rather than robot) use and its ability to produce maps without the aid of any outside information, thanks to an on-board processor.
Continue reading MIT’s real-time indoor mapping system uses Kinect, lasers to aid rescue workers
Filed under: Alt
MIT’s real-time indoor mapping system uses Kinect, lasers to aid rescue workers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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After planting a rover firmly on Mars’ surface and testing a new methane-fueled lander, NASA has squeezed in the first test flight of its X-48C hybrid wing-body aircraft. Thanks to its design, which combines those of flying-wing and conventional planes, the X-48 could offer 20 to 30 percent more fuel-efficiency, greater fuel capacity and a quieter ride in its final form than traditional craft. The finished model has a projected range of 11,000 nautical miles and a 240-foot wingspan. As an 8.5 percent scale of the full-sized airplane, the remotely piloted prototype weighs in at 500 pounds with a 20-foot wingspan. During the test, it successfully took to the skies for nine minutes and peaked at an altitude of 5,500 feet — though it’s capable of soaring for 35 minutes and climbing nearly twice as high. Another version of the craft (likely with a human behind the flight stick) is estimated to be at least four years down the road, and the final model isn’t expected to arrive for another decade.
Filed under: Science
NASA’s X-48C hybrid wing-body plane completes first test flight originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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