An Atlas V rocket successfully launched the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter into space in 2005 (Source: NASA) CST-100 rendezvous with a Bigelow Aerospace space station. (Source: Boeing) When a hole is created, one must fill in that abyss and rather quickly. ...
First SOFIA Missions Completed
The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, or SOFIA, successfully completed three planned scientific missions in phase one of the program, remaining airborne for ten hours on November 30, 2010 followed by additional overnight flights on the evenings of December 2nd ...
MIT Delivers Green Airplane Designs to NASA
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, working in conjunction with Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation and Pratt & Whitney recently presented two designs for greener airplanes to NASA. The result of a contract awarded in 2008, the ...
Airborne Laser Fire Control Test
US Missile Defense personnel at Edwards Air Force Base in California have successfully tested the Lockheed Martin Beam Control/Fire Control system in conjunction with the High Energy Laser mounted on a modified Boeing 747-400F airplane. Together, these components form the ...
First Hydrogen Powered Manned Flight
For the first time in aviation history, Boeing flew a manned airplane powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Although unmanned fuel-cell based aircrafts were flown in the past, this manned flight is an important milestone in aircraft engineering, as fuel-cell vehicles ...
Boeing Tests Avenger Solid State Laser Weapon
In late September 2007, Boeing successfully tested a 1kw solid state laser weapon mounted on a converted Avenger anti aircraft vehicle in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. The laser successfully destroyed several unexploded mortar shells from a safe distance and was also ...
Hummingbird Unmanned Rotorcraft
Boeing recently completed a test flight of a new unmanned helicopter currently under development for the U.S. Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Special Operations Command. The new drone will be able to perform long range high ...
Airborne Laser Milestone
On October 27th, 2006, The Boeing Company announced that its Airborne Laser (ABL) project had just moved a step closer to operational status, now anticipated in 2008. The modified Boeing 747-400F, equipped with several advanced laser technologies, is designed to ...
The X-48B Preparing for First Flight
Boeing Phantom Works, NASA, and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory are preparing a new scaled-down version of a remote-controlled blended wing body (BWB) aircraft dubbed X-48B for flight tests early next year. The large wing shaped prototype was build ...
ABRAcadabra – AirBorne ReArming
The technology for rearming aircraft with weapons in midair might soon be a reality. This revolutionary technology would enable combat missions, currently requiring dozens of aircraft, to be performed by very few, and to carry out numerous missions by unmanned ...