Aerospace

The firefighting team bat t l ing the recent California wildfires got a helping hand from Ikhana, a Predator B UAV from General Atomics in San Diego (www.ga.com) and modified by NASA with an IR imager

The A160T Hummingbird, an unmanned helicopter from Boeing, recently set a flight endurance record when it stayed aloft for 12.1 hr.

Researchers at Purdue University working with the U.S. Air Force have developed wireless sensors strong enough to survive inside operating jet engines where temperatures can climb to 572°F.

The blended-wing-body concept could change the face of transport aircraft and airliners.

A backpack-sized unmanned aerial vehicle from Honeywell will likely use a 60-cc engine designed and built by RCV Engines Ltd., Brighton, U.K. (rcvengines.com).

Rocket belts have been around since 1953 but you’re still taking the bus?

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. and Livermore, Calif., hope to produce military Jet Propellant 8 (JP-8) fuel from plants, including microalgae, for the U.S. and NATO.

Developments debuted at the Paris Air Show put airliners on a track toward flying more passengers while using less fuel.

Look for Marine One, the world's most technologically advanced helicopter, to land on the South Lawn of the White House in late 2009.

Flocks of unmanned paragliders steer themselves through dangerous missions using innovative servoactuators.

Boeing researchers and their European partners plan flight tests of a manned airplane powered only by a fuel cell and lightweight batteries.

Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a prototype satellite engine that uses less fuel to carry loads into space.

The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) hopes to use high-altitude, long-endurance UAVs to protect commercial aircraft from attacks during takeoffs and landings at major U.S. airports.

Will ducted fans bring flying cars closer to reality?

A team led by aerospace researcher Anthony Colozza, a researcher with Analex Corp., in Fairfax Va., and NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Oh., have been working on designs for a plane that will fly like a bird.