flight - SlashGear

After Super Guppy dropoff, Orion reaches Plum Brook Station pre-Artemis I

Chris Burns | Nov 26, 2019

NASA's Super Guppy aircraft landed this week in Ohio to drop off NASA's newest Moon capsule. This Orion capsule is part of the Artemis I mission with an aim for the surface of our close lunar relative. This Orion spacecraft is currently arriving at NASA's Plum Brook Station where it'll be going through a series of tests before it reaches its next stage of preparedness for its flight to our Earth's Moon.

Study shows how a fly lands on a ceiling (with slo-mo video)

Chris Burns | Oct 24, 2019

Today we're looking at how a fly lands upside-down - up on a ceiling - courtesy of a study published this week in the AAAS's Science Advances. Inverted landing is something a fly takes for granted - largely because, as it would appear in this study, most of this process takes place in a fraction of a second. The findings in this paper show an expanded understanding of the various biomechanical, sensory, and neural processes that take place when a fly attempts to land on a ceiling. This data could lead to fantastic future applications - let's take a look at why.

Porsche Boeing team making an electric flying car

Chris Burns | Oct 10, 2019

Today Porsche and Boeing entered into a partnership for the future of urban air mobility and "the extension of urban traffic into airspace." Sort of like Back to the Future 2, or The Fifth Element, or Blade Runner - or any number of other sci-fi stories - this partnership is about the "Premium Urban Air Mobility Market."

NASA space sensor tech could light a rocket under smartphones

Chris Burns | Feb 15, 2019

Technologist Mahmooda Sultana created the design for a nanomaterial-based detector platform. Because of her work, combined with a next-gen 3D printing program, a new generation in computing may be about to emerge. It all centers on the 2-inch by 3-inch device able to detect minute concentrations of gases, vapor, atmospheric pressure, and temperature.

Alaska Airlines wants you to wear a VR headset while you fly

Eric Abent | Sep 24, 2018

Generally speaking, air travel is a pretty dull affair that is nonetheless a reality of life for a lot of people. Alaska Airlines announced today that is has a new way for some flyers to pass the time while they're in the air, as it has outfitted some of cross-country routes with VR headsets. More specifically, Allosky headsets from SkyLights will allow Alaska Airlines passengers to watch some immersive VR movies and short films as they fly.

Airline seat size rule request dismissed again by FAA

Chris Davies | Jul 3, 2018

The FAA has refused to force airlines to offer more legroom, rejecting calls for legal minimums and dismissing concerns that cramped seating in cabins could present an evacuation risk. The Federal Aviation Administration had been forced to reconsider regulatory requirements for airplane seating, after a judge ruled in favor of a consumer group in a lawsuit last year.

British Airways suffers major system failure, cancels numerous flights

Adam Westlake | May 27, 2017

British Airways is having a bad start to this holiday weekend. The airline has announced that its computer systems are having problems around the globe due to a "major IT system failure," and as a result it's had to cancel a number of flights departing from the UK, as well as hundreds more being delayed.

Richard Browning becomes Iron Man with jet-powered suit

JC Torres | Apr 3, 2017

Of all the "fictional" technologies that enable personal flight, Iron Man's suit is the hardest, and most dangerous, to pull off. Flying with a jetpack is no longer science fiction, and even a hoverboard has made substantial progress. But a jet-powered suit? Hardly. That never discouraged British inventor Richard Browning from trying. And his dedication, and perhaps insanity, has finally paid off. He has become the real-world equivalent of Iron Man by donning a suit that, in practice, puts mini airplane engines on his arms and legs.

Obi the parrotlet wears goggles and flies through lasers for science

Shane McGlaun | Dec 6, 2016

Scientists at Stanford University have trained a Parrotlet called Obi to wear some pretty rad goggles and fly through laser sheets in an effort to test models that predict the lift generated by flying animals. The purpose of this experiment is to help develop better flying robots in the future. Obi wears those cool goggles to protect his bird eyes from the laser beams he is flying through.

Airlander 10 helium-filled airship makes first flight

Shane McGlaun | Aug 18, 2016

The Airlander 10 is a massive flying airship said to be the world's largest aircraft. The giant airship took to the skies for the first time this week with a short flight over an airfield in the UK. Airlander 10 is massive at 302-feet long and its maiden flight happened at Cardington airfield about 45 miles north of London.

Solar Impulse plane lands in New York, completing US leg of global flight

Adam Westlake | Jun 11, 2016

Solar Impulse 2, which we've written about several times before, is a small, single pilot, solar-powered aircraft making a slow-but-steady flight around the world in order to prove the potential of renewable energy. The plane arrived in New York City in the early hours of Saturday morning, seeing the project complete the US leg of its journey, and celebrating with an iconic flyby of the Statue of Liberty.

World Record for farthest hoverboard flight measures 7,388-feet

Shane McGlaun | May 2, 2016

Franky Zapata has grabbed a new Guinness World Record title for the farthest hoverboard flight ever recorded. Zapata went 7,388-feet absolutely destroying the previous record held by Catalin Alexandru Duru of 905-feet, 2-inches set last year. These records are for actual hoverboards that fly, not for the small two-wheeled contraptions that burst into flames frequently.