Aerospace138 articles archived since 1845

Scanning Ancient Civilizations from the Skies

An aerial laser scan of more than 800 square miles of Guatemalan jungle revealed Maya buildings, canals, roads and bridges. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Method of Making Oxygen from Water in Zero Gravity Raises Hope for Long-Distance Space Travel

One of the main challenges with long-distance space flight is transporting enough oxygen for astronauts to breathe and enough fuel to power complex electronics

Should We Always Trust What We See in Satellite Images?

People need to understand the technology’s limitations to avoid misinterpreting what they see

Here's What's Needed for Self-Flying Taxis and Delivery Drones to Really Take Off

Whether carting pizzas or passengers, small autonomous aircraft like the ones Amazon, Uber and others are testing need sophisticated traffic management to prevent collisions

Can Artificial Intelligence Help Find Alien Intelligence?

Scientists are considering whether AI could help us search for alien intelligence in ways we haven’t even thought of yet

Russia’s New Nukes Are Similar to a Risky Project the U.S. Abandoned

The U.S. Air Force’s Project Pluto sought to create nuclear-powered cruise missiles, but was terminated decades ago after second thoughts over the dangers

Air Force Tracks Final Frontier

General Jay Raymond, Commander of Air Force Space Command, talks about keeping watch over space and cyber.  

Jet Fuel from Sugarcane? It’s Not a Flight of Fancy

Researchers have found that engineered sugarcane could yield more than 2,500 liters of bio-jet fuel per acre of land

Here’s How Drones Do (and Don’t) Threaten Passenger Aircraft

Quadcopter crashes with a helicopter and plane—the first-ever in the U.S. and Canada, respectively—show that such encounters are no longer hypothetical

Nearby Exoplanets Invigorate the Search for E.T.

SETI pioneer Jill Tarter and Berkeley researcher Dan Werthimer talk about how the discovery of nearby exoplanets is inspiring new efforts to gain info about these galactic neighbors.    ...

Could Samaritan Drone Aircraft Help Hurricane Harvey Rescuers?

Drone pilots say they can save lives, but emergency responders want them grounded

Climate Change Could Get You Bumped from a Future Flight

Major airports will see more frequent takeoff weight restrictions in the coming decades due to increasingly common hot temperatures

Trump's Air Traffic Privatization Scheme Could Trigger Tech Improvements

The move is politically risky, but could bypass bureaucratic impediments to much-needed modernization

What Went Wrong with the F-35, Lockheed Martin's Joint Strike Fighter?

The F-35 was billed as a fighter jet that could do almost everything the U.S. military desired but has turned out to be one of the greatest boondoggles in recent military purchasing history...

Air Travel Exposes You to Radiation--How Much Health Risk Comes with It?

This past April business traveler Tom Stuker became the world’s most frequent flyer, logging 18 million miles of air travel on United Airlines over the last 14 years

Are Advanced Biofuels for Airplanes Ready for Takeoff?

Industry is working on new aircraft fuels that reduce greenhouse gas emissions

NASA Technology Fights Flight Delays

A new air traffic control system could ensure that you spend less time flying the crowded skies

Forget Flying Cars: Passenger Drones May Be Hovering Soon at a Location Near You

Self-piloting quadcopters make more sense than an airplane–automobile hybrid—but safety and logistics problems remain

Jupiter Moon to Be Searched for Life

If anything's alive on the ice-covered ocean world of Europa, a future NASA mission hopes to find it.  

Aviation in 1917: The State of the Industry and Science