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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightNASA’s Helicopter Totally Flipped Out During Its Sixth Flight on Mars
Ingenuity experienced an “in-flight anomaly” during its sixth flight on the Red Planet, causing it to fly erratically. The helicopter managed to land safely, but the incident served as an unexpected stress test of the system. The sixth test of Ingenuity on May 22, 2021, was supposed to push the helicopter to its limits, but … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightNASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Has Flown on Mars
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter just took its first flight on Mars. It’s the first powered, controlled flight on another planet. Ingenuity completed the flight carrying a small piece of one of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s original aircrafts tucked under its blades, in a nod to the legacy that made this morning’s achievement possible. NASA is hosting … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsDJI’s Upgraded Mavic Air 2S Has a Much Larger Camera Sensor
DJI’s Mavic Air 2 drone already offers a great balance of price and performance, but with the new Mavic Air 2S, DJI is revamping its latest quadcopter with a way bigger camera sensor. By jumping up from the half-inch sensor on the Mavic Air 2 to the new 1-inch sensor on the Mavic Air 2S, … Continued
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Tech NewsTransportationVietnam Lifts Ban on Boeing 737 Max Aircraft
The government of Vietnam has lifted a ban on Boeing 737 Max aircraft, according to Reuters, citing Vietnamese state media. The ban on the planes was put in place following two crashes that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019. The Civil Aviation Authority Of Vietnam originally grounded all Boeing 737 Max planes along with … Continued
By Matt Novak -
ScienceNASA’s Experimental Electric Airplane Edges Closer to Its First Flight
Looking every bit like a winged tube of toothpaste, NASA’s X-57 Maxwell experimental plane sits in a hangar at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The craft is NASA’s first crewed experimental plane in 20 years; it runs solely on electric power, an agency first, and it’s about to undergo high-voltage functional testing in advance … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsRussian Engineers Supersized a Dragonfly With This Over-the-Top Flapping Wing Plane
If even the tiniest bit of turbulence during a flight has you reaching for the barf bag, then you’ll never want to climb aboard this Russian contraption that uses flapping wings to take flight. But it demonstrates that Mother Nature’s designs can be supersized to one day revolutionize air travel. This isn’t the first time … Continued
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Tech NewsU.S. Navy Documents Discuss Creating a ‘Spacetime Modification Weapon’
The U.S. Department of Defense spent close to half a million dollars—at least $466,810—on fringe science research, in the hopes of someday creating an aircraft that bends the laws of physics. That news comes via a new report from the War Zone, which recently acquired DoD documents from a public records request as part of … Continued
By Lucas Ropek -
Tech NewsNew Airbus Blended-Wing Airplane Concept Looks Very Similar to a 1940s Design for a Futuristic Flyer
Earlier this year, Airbus unveiled a sleek new concept aircraft with a blended wing that looked incredibly futuristic. And while it looks like it could have been ripped out of a sci-fi movie from the 2010s, the plane concept also has many elements of retro-futurism. Specifically, the plane looks similar to the proposed Northrop Flying … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsBlasting Airplanes With Lasers Makes It Much Harder For Ice to Stick to Wings
If you’ve ever had to fly during the cold winter months you’ve probably already experienced the hassle of a delayed flight because the aircraft had to be blasted with deicer before take off. But annoying delays are just one of many issues ice build-up on a plane can cause, so researchers have come up with … Continued
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Tech NewsGadgetsGood News, Rich People! Garmin’s New Nav System Will Land Your Private Plane for You
Those worried about the safety of autonomous vehicles might be surprised to hear that most commercial aircraft can already fly and even land themselves. To date, it’s a feature that’s only been available on larger aircraft, but Garmin is now bringing it to smaller private planes with its new Autoland system. Thing is, unlike Garmin’s … Continued
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Tech News35 Injured on Air Canada Flight to Australia After Aircraft Hits ‘Sudden Turbulence’
Dozens of passengers aboard an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Sydney, Australia on Thursday were injured after the aircraft met “un-forecasted and sudden turbulence,” forcing the plane’s pilots to make an emergency landing in Honolulu. A spokesperson for the airline told Gizmodo in a statement by email that an estimated 35 people on flight … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsBoeing Reports Up to 148 Parts for Its Aircraft Were ‘Improperly Manufactured’
Adding to an ever-growing list of Boeing public relations issues, the aircraft manufacturer has informed the Federal Aviation Administration that some of its 737 jets may have “improperly manufactured” wing parts that don’t meet strength and durability standards. The FAA said Sunday that the issue affects some of the slat tracks in Boeing’s Next Generation … Continued
By Catie Keck -
Tech NewsExperimental Plane Shows Supersonic Blasts of Air Could Simplify the Way We Pilot Aircraft
The more moving parts a machine has, the more likely it is to eventually fail. It’s an especially problematic rule of thumb for aircraft given the fact that a mechanical failure during a flight can be catastrophic. To help remedy this, a British aerospace company recently tested a unique plane that replaces its wing’s adjustable … Continued
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Tech NewsPresident Trump Has Some Passive-Aggressive Branding Advice for Boeing
President Donald Trump this morning offered some branding advice for American aircraft manufacturer Boeing. And while the advice wasn’t necessarily bad, it was strangely passive-aggressive. “What do I know about branding, maybe nothing (but I did become President!), but if I were Boeing, I would FIX the Boeing 737 MAX, add some additional great features, … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsFlights on Five Airlines Delayed Nationwide Due to Computer Outage
At least five airlines are experiencing delays this morning due to a computer problem. Early reports indicate that Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska, and JetBlue all experienced the same outage, which has reportedly been fixed. A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines told Gizmodo over email that the outage was caused by “a vendor that services multiple carriers … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech NewsBoeing May Be About to Lose a $5 Billion Order for Its 737 Max Planes
An airline in Indonesia just became the first in the world to try and cancel its order for Boeing’s Max planes in the wake of the two deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia within the past five months. And the move has the potential to cost Boeing billions of dollars. Garuda Indonesia has told Boeing … Continued
By Matt Novak
