VerticalTakeoffAndLanding
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DARPA trying again to develop a high-speed VTOL aircraft
If at first your unmanned aerial vehicles don't succeed... try, try again? After a series of unsuccessful tests with the Boeing X-50 Dragonfly and Groen Heliplane, the US government is once again trying to develop a high-speed, vertical takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft. DARPA just announced the VTOL X-Plane program, a 52-month, $130 million project with one mission: to build an aircraft that can exceed 300 knots, achieve a hover efficiency of 75 percent or better, and hit a cruise lift-to-drag ratio of 10 or more. In layman's terms, such an aircraft would be faster than a traditional helicopter, but still have better hover efficiency than a modern high-speed 'copter. Sounds like a sensible idea, right? The thing is, DARPA doesn't know yet how such a thing would look: for now, the agency is merely soliciting proposals, with a particular emphasis on smaller, non-traditional companies nimble enough to develop products quickly. So if you've got any good ideas, may as well head on over to the source link, we guess, and try your luck.
SpaceX's 'Grasshopper' vertical takeoff / vertical landing rocket takes its first small leap (video)
This test-firing may not match the flame of earlier demonstrations, but SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted out a brief eight-second video of another setup it's testing, the "Grasshopper" reusable vertical takeoff, vertical landing rocket. While the first hop would've been shamed in any interstellar dunk contest, future tests will range in height from a few hundred feet to two miles. The goal is to eventually create a reusable first stage for its Falcon 9 rocket, able to land safely instead of crashing into the sea and being damaged beyond repair. Hit the more coverage links for a few more details on the project as well as pictures of it at the Texas test site, or check after the break to see the video.
US Army breaking up with A160 Hummingbird drone-copter, says it's too high maintenance
It's not me, it's you. The US Army's dalliance with Boeing's A160 Hummingbird drone got one step closer to Splitsville after the military branch issued a stop-work order for the project. Initially scheduled to see action in Afghanistan starting this July, the chopper-drone turned plenty of heads thanks to a DARPA-developed Argus-IS imaging system with a 1.8-gigapixel camera capable of spying on ground targets from 20,000 feet. The honeymoon period between the Army and the A160 is apparently over, however, thanks to a host of issues. These included wiring problems as well as excessive vibration that caused an A160 to crash earlier this year due to a transmission mount failure. The problems not only increased risk and caused delays, but also led program costs to helicopter out of control -- a big no-no given Uncle Sam's recent belt-tightening. In the meantime, the Army is reportedly checking out the K-MAX, though it's important to note that this unmanned chopper specializes in cargo and doesn't have the A160's eyes.
GENIE rocket system does smooth VTOL, lateral flight, cheap trips to Mars (video)
NASA can't just park up in the middle of space and rely on Robotnaut 2 for its entertainment. Actually, it probably can, but at some point the urge to explore new worlds will become too strong to resist. That's when it'll need a suborbital rocket guidance system like the GENIE ("Guidance Embedded Navigator Integration Environment"), which transforms a flood of sensory data into reliable and autonomous maneuvers. Fortunately, the system's economics make a whole lot more sense than its name, which is why NASA is depending on technology like this to control the next generation of affordable and reusable space craft. The test flight shown after the break can only boost GENIE's chances: it took a Xombie rocket up to 160 feet and then made it fly laterally for another 160 feet before landing with a degree of swagger that makes the previous flight in 2010 look plain rickety.
US Army's A160 Hummingbird drone-copter to don 1.8 gigapixel camera
Starting in July of 2012, the United States Army will deploy three Boeing A160 Hummingbird drones to Afghanistan as part of a one-year trial program. Unlike the Predator drones already in combat, the A160 is a rotor-based aircraft capable of vertical take-offs and landings. What's more, the craft will be affixed with the DARPA-developed ARGUS-IS imaging system -- which boasts a 1.8 gigapixel camera the Army says can "track people and vehicles from altitudes above 20,000 feet." The A160 Hummingbird platform will provide the Army with the ability and flexibility to: take off and land without a runway; fly for twelve hours or more without refueling; and monitor up to 65 enemies of the State simultaneously. Test flights of the unmanned chopper are scheduled for early 2012 in Arizona, but residents hoping to get a glimpse of the A160 in action best have great eyesight -- the ARGUS-IS system can see targets from almost 25 miles down range. Oh, and don't forget to smile when you look up. You want to look your best for the eye in the sky, right?
