http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/ Engadget Comments for DARPA sets sights on aircraft capable of five-year flight http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2010 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 6th 2008 1:29AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 4:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:35PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
or, my favorite, sky-writing 'We're No. 1' over and over. ]]>Mar 5th 2008 3:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 5:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 5:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 6:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 6th 2008 1:57AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
Solar panels will degrade (though I'm not sure how fast), the motors will wear down, and you just can't dodge birds and meteors forever.]]>Mar 5th 2008 3:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokohama_Kaidashi_Kik%C5%8D]]>Mar 6th 2008 6:30AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 4:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:42PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 4:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
Seems like a bad idea.]]>Mar 5th 2008 7:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 6th 2008 1:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/There. Done.]]>Mar 5th 2008 4:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
Well maybe not mind boggling, but very hard to obtain.]]>Mar 5th 2008 3:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
Of course they could just build a Dirigible. Those would work for years too, with a lot fewer pieces.]]>Mar 5th 2008 6:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 3:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 4:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 4:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 5:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 6th 2008 6:52AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
ZOOLANDER FTW!]]>Mar 5th 2008 4:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 4:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 5:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 5:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
Both the US and the Soviets developed these during the Cold War. They would be the airborne equivalents of nuclear submarines, capable of cruising above Europe for months at a time and raining down death on an enemy long after the destruction of your own airfields and missile launch sites.

Charles Stross explored their use in his horror/alternative-history short story "A Colder War." In reality, the development of ICBMs made them superfluous.]]>Mar 5th 2008 5:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 6:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 6:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 6:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
Also, the article says DARPA has barred nuclear energy from consideration.]]>Mar 5th 2008 7:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 5th 2008 7:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
Mother Russia solve the problem with air-filled balloon and solar-powered air compressor.

I mean really guys, come on. Really? A five year plane? Sure, a satellite costs hells of a lot more, but we have satellites going back to the seventies that are still up and running that will take far better pictures (no turbulence to deal with) and don't cost much to maintain. And like I mentioned above, why not just use a zepplin that hovers at the same altitudes and use compressed air as the source of lift? ]]>Mar 5th 2008 8:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
nobosh.com]]>Mar 5th 2008 9:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
Offeror? Really?

Try "bidder".]]>Mar 5th 2008 10:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/
Helios is the name: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/Photo/Helios/HTML/ED03-0152-4.html
]]>Mar 6th 2008 12:02AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/05/darpa-sets-sights-on-aircraft-capable-of-five-year-flight/Mar 6th 2008 1:27AM