All posts tagged: aircraft

NASA’s new supersonic X-59 aircraft shows off its dizzying acrobatics in new video

NASA’s new supersonic X-59 aircraft shows off its dizzying acrobatics in new video

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletterđź’ˇ Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. It’s been over a decade since engineers officially got to work on the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST). Designed in collaboration with NASA, Lockheed Martin’s state-of-the-art aircraft is built to fly very high and very fast, all without leaving a telltale sonic boom in its wake. Lockheed finally revealed the X-59 to the public in January 2025 a few years behind schedule, and completed its first subsonic test flight that October.  They’ve been making up for lost time ever since. The X-59 has flown on nine more occasions, most recently on April 14 when it accomplished some of its biggest feats to date while cruising over the Mojave Desert in California. This time around, however, Lockheed was ready to show off the aircraft in action. From the opening maneuvers, it’s clear that a ride in the plane isn’t for the faint of heart. The dizzying ascensions and precise axial turns look uncomfortable even from the distance of a computer …

The New Laser That Can Take Down Aircraft

The New Laser That Can Take Down Aircraft

Published by Daniella Wilson

If you’ve never seen a laser shoot an aircraft out of the sky, the experience can be unsettling. The weapon fits comfortably into the trunk of a car. It makes no noise and emits no light, not even the glowing red beam that’s so familiar from the movies. When a team of Ukrainian soldiers and engineers took me to see their prototype the other day, it seemed easy to use. Almost too easy. The operator set up the laser cannon on the roof of his pickup truck in the middle of an empty field. It resembles a hobbyist’s telescope with some cameras affixed to the sides. For target practice, one of the engineers launched a small drone, and it flew a few hundred yards away from us, hovering in the gauzy winter sky. The laser swiveled as its cameras followed the target. The operator shouted, “Fire!” Within seconds, the drone began to burn as if struck by invisible lightning, then fell to the ground in a fiery arc. The Ukrainian model, known as the Sunray, …

Xpeng is getting serious about selling you an aircraft carrier

Xpeng is getting serious about selling you an aircraft carrier

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Xpeng’s flying car unit Aridge is ramping up its marketing efforts for the new Land Aircraft Carrier designed carry its AeroHT eVTOL “flying car” as it inches closer to production reality. “Born from the cosmos, destined for the city, crafted for the sky,” reads the official copy from Xpeng flying car unit, Aridge (formerly AeroHT). Those words are allegedly the inspiration for the Land Aircraft Carrier’s three new colorways, introduced this week as the Chinese EV brand ramps up marketing efforts and targets a mass production launch for its eVTOL carrier later this year. Dynamic duo The flying car goes in the trunk, via Xpeng. The Xpeng flying car system is a two-part act that consists of a fully electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) flying car and the Land Aircraft Carrier that acts dedicated “mothership” that acts as its transport, garage, and recharge station.  The ground-based part of the flying car system is scheduled for production later this year at a facility Xpeng is calling “the world’s first modern assembly line for flying cars,” …

China Provides Glimpse of Colossal Orbital Aircraft Carrier

China Provides Glimpse of Colossal Orbital Aircraft Carrier

Published by José Betancourt

Last weekend, a China Central Television YouTube channel shared a video showing off some recent developments in autonomous aerial vehicles. There were plenty of quotidian craft on display, like the Wing Loong II Long Range Drone and the Lanying R6000 Tiltrotor — remarkable achievements for a nation barely a century removed from semi-feudal rule to be sure, but not exactly breaking news. One segment of the video, however, showcased a conceptual spacecraft called the Luan Niao, an orbital mothership designed to launch uncrewed fighter drones and “hyper-ballistic missiles” from the edge of space. According to the Telegraph, the Luan Niao design specs point to a behemoth spaceship that would measure nearly 800 feet nose-to-tail and span some 2,244 feet in width. With that size, designers say it could weigh as much as 120,000 tons, with a payload of 88 “Xuan Nu” autonomous fighter drones that operate in the upper limits of the stratosphere. Xuan Nu fighters are also a conceptual spacecraft, a hypothetical 6th generation jet showcased at tech exhibitions to get students and the …

Explosions and aircraft heard over Venezuelan capital: Live updates

Explosions and aircraft heard over Venezuelan capital: Live updates

Published by Sam Flores

CARACAS, Venezuela — Explosions were heard and smoke could be seen rising in multiple locations across Caracas in the early morning Saturday, including at key military facilities, as the government accused the United States of an attack. Aircraft were seen flying over the Venezuelan capital. The government of President Nicolás Maduro accused the United States of carrying out “severe military aggression” in Caracas and in the Venezuelan states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, according to an official government statement posted on social media by the country’s Foreign Ministry. Maduro has declared a state of emergency, according to the statement. Source link

Boeing safety: Ryanair rues ‘minor issues’ with new Boeing aircraft | Business News

Published by Sam Flores

The boss of Ryanair has complained of “minor issues” with new aircraft delivered by Boeing as the US plane manufacturer battles to contain the fallout from its latest safety scare. Michael O’Leary had used an interview with the Financial Times earlier this week to raise concerns about quality control at the US firm in the wake of a mid-air blowout for an Alaska Airlines 737 plane last week. He said on Thursday that while he remained 100% committed to Boeing for its orders, largely due to price comparisons with its rival Airbus, Ryanair had found instances of poor standards in new planes sent from America. Ryanair is Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers and one of Boeing’s largest customers. Thinking of buying a phone? You may want to wait a week – money latest It operates 737 MAX 8 planes and has MAX 10 variants on order but deliveries have taken longer than anticipated and remain behind schedule. The Ireland-based carrier does not have any of the 737 MAX 9 aircraft that is at the …