The world’s biggest cargo aircraft, The Antonov An-225 Mriya at the Hostomel Airfield.

New images have shown the destruction to what was the world’s largest cargo plane, the Antonov An-225, following Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

At 84-meters long and 175 metric tons without fuel and cargo, the aircraft was the longest and heaviest operational plane in the world. It had a maximum take-off weight of 640 tons. The aircraft was incredibly popular with aviation enthusiasts and people often visited airports to see its scheduled arrivals and departures. It was also a symbol of national pride for Ukraine.

The unique plane, which completed its first flight in 1988, was ruined after Russian missiles attacked the Hostomel Airfield on the fringes of Kyiv. It was destroyed on or about Feb. 27, 2022.

Ukrainian forces regained control of the airfield on April 2 following a large-scale Russian withdrawal along the Kyiv axis. It’s unclear what will happen to the wreckage now.

The AN-225 was sometimes drafted in to help airlift aid during crises in other countries. In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake it delivered relief supplies to the neighboring Dominican Republic. During the early days of the Covid pandemic it was used to transport medical supplies to affected areas.

Its popularity in the aviation world meant it often drew large crowds wherever it went, particularly when it made star appearances at air shows.

Some of its fans took to social media on Sunday to express their dismay at claims of the aircraft's destruction. "Mriya - You will always be remembered!" wrote aviation blogger Sam Chui on Twitter.

To this day, Mriya remains the heaviest aircraft ever built. Powered by six turbofan engines, she has a maximum payload weight of 250 tonnes, which can be carried inside or on its back. It boasts the largest wingspan of any airplane in operational service.

Only one An-225 was ever built by the Kiev-based Antonov company, which came up with the design. It first took flight in 1988 and has been in service ever since.

Engineers fly first-ever plane with no moving parts

Since the first airplane took flight over 100 years ago, virtually every aircraft in the sky has flown with the help of moving parts such as propellers, turbine blades, and fans, which are powered by the combustion of fossil fuels or by battery packs that produce a persistent, whining buzz.

Now MIT engineers have built and flown the first-ever plane with no moving parts. Instead of propellers or turbines, the light aircraft is powered by an "ionic wind" -- a silent but mighty flow of ions that is produced aboard the plane, and that generates enough thrust to propel the plane over a sustained, steady flight.

Unlike turbine-powered planes, the aircraft does not depend on fossil fuels to fly. And unlike propeller-driven drones, the new design is completely silent.

"This is the first-ever sustained flight of a plane with no moving parts in the propulsion system," says Steven Barrett, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. "This has potentially opened new and unexplored possibilities for aircraft which are quieter, mechanically simpler, and do not emit combustion emissions."

He expects that in the near-term, such ion wind propulsion systems could be used to fly less noisy drones. Further out, he envisions ion propulsion paired with more conventional combustion systems to create more fuel-efficient, hybrid passenger planes and other large aircraft.

Barrett and his team at MIT have published their results in the journal Nature.

Hobby crafts

Barrett says the inspiration for the team's ion plane comes partly from the movie and television series, "Star Trek," which he watched avidly as a kid. He was particularly drawn to the futuristic shuttlecrafts that effortlessly skimmed through the air, with seemingly no moving parts and hardly any noise or exhaust.

"This made me think, in the long-term future, planes shouldn't have propellers and turbines," Barrett says. "They should be more like the shuttles in 'Star Trek,' that have just a blue glow and silently glide."

About nine years ago, Barrett started looking for ways to design a propulsion system for planes with no moving parts. He eventually came upon "ionic wind," also known as electroaerodynamic thrust -- a physical principle that was first identified in the 1920s and describes a wind, or thrust, that can be produced when a current is passed between a thin and a thick electrode. If enough voltage is applied, the air in between the electrodes can produce enough thrust to propel a small aircraft.

For years, electroaerodynamic thrust has mostly been a hobbyist's project, and designs have for the most part been limited to small, desktop "lifters" tethered to large voltage supplies that create just enough wind for a small craft to hover briefly in the air. It was largely assumed that it would be impossible to produce enough ionic wind to propel a larger aircraft over a sustained flight.

"It was a sleepless night in a hotel when I was jet-lagged, and I was thinking about this and started searching for ways it could be done," he recalls. "I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations and found that, yes, it might become a viable propulsion system," Barrett says. "And it turned out it needed many years of work to get from that to a first test flight."

Ions take flight

The team's final design resembles a large, lightweight glider. The aircraft, which weighs about 5 pounds and has a 5-meter wingspan, carries an array of thin wires, which are strung like horizontal fencing along and beneath the front end of the plane's wing. The wires act as positively charged electrodes, while similarly arranged thicker wires, running along the back end of the plane's wing, serve as negative electrodes.

The fuselage of the plane holds a stack of lithium-polymer batteries. Barrett's ion plane team included members of Professor David Perreault's Power Electronics Research Group in the Research Laboratory of Electronics, who designed a power supply that would convert the batteries' output to a sufficiently high voltage to propel the plane. In this way, the batteries supply electricity at 40,000 volts to positively charge the wires via a lightweight power converter.

Once the wires are energized, they act to attract and strip away negatively charged electrons from the surrounding air molecules, like a giant magnet attracting iron filings. The air molecules that are left behind are newly ionized, and are in turn attracted to the negatively charged electrodes at the back of the plane.

As the newly formed cloud of ions flows toward the negatively charged wires, each ion collides millions of times with other air molecules, creating a thrust that propels the aircraft forward.

The team, which also included Lincoln Laboratory staff Thomas Sebastian and Mark Woolston, flew the plane in multiple test flights across the gymnasium in MIT's duPont Athletic Center -- the largest indoor space they could find to perform their experiments. The team flew the plane a distance of 60 meters (the maximum distance within the gym) and found the plane produced enough ionic thrust to sustain flight the entire time. They repeated the flight 10 times, with similar performance.

"This was the simplest possible plane we could design that could prove the concept that an ion plane could fly," Barrett says. "It's still some way away from an aircraft that could perform a useful mission. It needs to be more efficient, fly for longer, and fly outside."

Barrett's team is working on increasing the efficiency of their design, to produce more ionic wind with less voltage. The researchers are also hoping to increase the design's thrust density -- the amount of thrust generated per unit area. Currently, flying the team's lightweight plane requires a large area of electrodes, which essentially makes up the plane's propulsion system. Ideally, Barrett would like to design an aircraft with no visible propulsion system or separate controls surfaces such as rudders and elevators.

"It took a long time to get here," Barrett says. "Going from the basic principle to something that actually flies was a long journey of characterizing the physics, then coming up with the design and making it work. Now the possibilities for this kind of propulsion system are viable."

This research was supported, in part, by MIT Lincoln Laboratory Autonomous Systems Line, the Professor Amar G. Bose Research Grant, and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART). The work was also funded through the Charles Stark Draper and Leonardo career development chairs at MIT.

The Antonov An-225, the largest airplane ever built, being unveiled in Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, 1988.

With a maximum takeoff weight of 640 tonnes (705 short tons), the An-225 held several records, including heaviest aircraft ever built and largest wingspan of any aircraft in operational service.

The aircraft was destroyed in the Battle of Antonov Airport during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The dream did not die. Slava Ukraini!

The "California Condor" has the largest wingspan of any in North America and often mistaken for a small airplane When in flight via /r/Awwducational https://ift.tt/2HZqLQS https://ift.tt/2Fi6QcL

Boeing’s Foldable Wing-Tip Gets Go-Ahead

U.S. regulators have approved a Buck Rogers makeover of Boeing Co.’s revamped 777 jetliner that will allow the tips of its massive wings to fold upward after landing so the plane can park at existing airport gates.

The new wings, the largest ever created by the Chicago-based planemaker, are taking shape as Boeing builds the first of its 777X jetliners in a factory north of Seattle. They will be the most distinctive-feature for the hulking jets, the first twin-engine models built to haul more than 400 travelers.

Once the new planes touch down, the tips of the wings will rotate until they’re pointed skyward, which will make it the only commercial jet in widespread use with such a hinged design. A set of locking mechanisms will make it impossible for them to retract while airborne, according to the company.

Because commercial aircraft design standards didn’t envision a foldable wingspan, U.S. regulators had to craft them from scratch. Those “ special conditions” were approved Friday by the Federal Aviation Administration, according to federal documents.

The Boeing plane’s chief project engineer, Terry Beezhold, called it “this beautiful wing” in a recent video made by the company. “This airplane actually will be the most efficient twin-jet ever developed in commercial history,” Beezhold said.

Instead of aluminum, Boeing will make the new wings out of carbon-fiber composites, which are stronger and lighter than the metal they replace. That technology helps enable the company to extend the width of the wings by 23 feet (7 meters), or 11 percent beyond the existing 212 feet.

But the wing also created a new problem: The current 777s barely fit into the standard airport gate for long-range, widebody aircraft. The wider wing on the new 777-8 and 777-9 planes would require airports to build new gates to accommodate the plane’s increased size.

“For that reason, we developed the folding wingtip, so that in flight we can enjoy this very long, efficient span, but it will be able to operate at any airport, any gate, that today’s 777 can service,” Beezhold said.

Boeing didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the FAA’s action.

The 777’s new wing will make it the company’s widest, passing the 747-8, according to Boeing documents.

Airbus SE’s double-decker A380, the largest passenger jetliner, has a wing that’s 262 feet wide. Its size required some airports to build special gates where it could load passengers.

The FAA approval for the 777-8 and 777-9 came as Boeing is already assembling the first wings for the new models. The process is delayed because building structural ribs for the wings “has taken longer than expected up front,” program chief Kevin Bartelson told Aviation Week. Bartelson said the company expects to get the process back on schedule by this summer.

The hinge on the wing created a host of potential safety issues, the FAA said. In particular, several planes have crashed in recent decades when pilots accidentally tried to take off without properly configuring movable panels on wings called flaps. The same thing could happen with the new wingtips, according to the FAA.

One of the conditions the FAA imposed is that Boeing must have multiple automatic warning systems to ensure pilots won’t ever try lifting off without the wingtips fully extended.

The agency also said Boeing must demonstrate that the wingtips could never be accidentally unlocked during flight and that “no force or torque can unlatch or unlock the mechanisms.”

Among the 10 conditions set by FAA, the wings must also be able to withstand wind gusts as high as 75 miles (120 kilometers) an hour on the ground. The agency even set requirements for how to replace the normal lights at the tips of the wings.

The post Boeing’s Foldable Wing-Tip Gets Go-Ahead appeared first on Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East.

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World's largest airplane flies for first time The world's largest airplane, developed by aerospace venture Stratolaunch, flew into the air on Saturday for its first flight test. The #aircraft has a world-record wingspan and it is wider than any airplane on the planet. https://www.instagram.com/p/BwPrjYiJ7tQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=3a8grcme3d3q

The world's largest plane just flew for the first time After years of development in the desert north of Los Angeles, a gigantic, six-engined mega jet with the wingspan of an American football field flew Saturday morning for the first time. "We finally did it," said Stratolaunch Systems CEO Jean Floyd at a news conference from the hangar at Mojave Air & Space Port. "It was an emotional moment to watch this bird take flight." Stratolaunch, the company founded in 2011 by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, conducted the first test flight of the world's largest plane. * "I had imagined this moment for years, but I had never imagined it without Paul standing next to me," Floyd said, adding that he whispered a private "thank-you" to Allen as the plane took flight. Allen died last October at age 65 from complications related to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In simple terms, the Stratolaunch aircraft is a giant flying launch pad, designed to hurtle satellites into low Earth orbit. It aims to offer the military, private companies and even NASA itself a more economical way to get into space. The company's business model calls for getting satellites into space "as easy as booking an airline flight." Test pilot Evan Thomas flew the jet to speeds of about 173 mph, climbing as high as 15,000 feet before returning smoothly and safely back, after a nearly two-and-a-half-hour flight. "For the most part, the plane flew as predicted," said Thomas, a former F-16 Air Force fighter pilot. "It was overall fantastic. I honestly could not have hoped for more on a first flight, especially of an airplane of this complexity and this uniqueness."The aircraft's wingspan measures 385 feet -- wider than any airplane on the planet. From tip to tail, it's 238 feet long. It weighs half a million pounds. It's so big, it has two cockpits, one in each fuselage (but only one is used to fly the plane.) "It's the world's biggest airplane. It's so huge, it seems like it shouldn't be able to fly," Jack Beyer, an aerospace and launch photographer for NASASpaceFlight.com, told CNN on Thursday. Crd: CNN https://www.instagram.com/p/BwNhOA5B42v/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=n895xvvedwrl

Here’s how to make the most of the Grand Canyon

Awe-inspiring. Majestic. Mesmerising. Mind-blowing. However you choose to describe the Grand Canyon, mere words don’t seem enough to convey the wow factor of this amazing natural spectacle.

One of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Grand Canyon this year celebrates the centenary of its designation as a National Park.

Planning is essential to experience the Grand Canyon. After all, there are three different areas to visit — the North, South and West Rims — and they are many miles apart.

Tourists must plan their visit as there are three different areas to see – the North, South and West Rims – and they are many miles apart

First, you need to pick the rim that you favour, as each has individual attractions and it’s not a simple task to hop from one side to the other. 

The South and North Rims may be just ten miles apart as the crow flies, but driving between them involves a journey of 215 miles and takes almost five hours.

South Rim: The people’s favourite

The South Rim is the most popular because it features the iconic views many consider to be the ‘true Grand Canyon’ and is the most accessible of the three rims.

About six million people a year make the five-hour drive from Phoenix, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; and St George, Utah; or the 90-minute trip from regional airports.

Open all year, the South Rim offers accommodation in hotels, lodges, cabins or campsites either at the Grand Canyon Village in the National Park itself, or in the nearby towns of Tusayan and Williams, where there are properties and restaurants to suit all pockets.

Top five ways to explore the South Rim

The South Rim is the most popular because it features the iconic views many consider to be the ‘true Grand Canyon’ 

1. A scenic helicopter flight is worth every cent of the sky-high fare. I took the Canyon Spirit tour with Maverick Helicopters, a 50-minute, stomach-flipping flight from the South Rim. Priced from £238, visit FlyMaverick.com

2. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip to join a mule train from the South Rim down giddily narrow and steep switchbacks for a one or two-night stay at Phantom Ranch on the canyon floor.

The trek is highly oversubscribed and only ten riders selected by lottery can saddle up at any one time. I opted for the easier-to-book Vista mule ride along the rim. Priced £114 pp for a half-day or from £477 pp overnight (or £840 for two), visit grandcanyonlodges.com.

3. The three-hour Hermit Road guided cycling tour ends at Hermit’s Rest, one of the buildings designed by Mary Jane Colter for early tourists in 1914. Priced £52 for adults, £37 for children, book at Bright Angel Bicycles & Cafe at Mather Point or bikegrandcanyon.com.

4. You don’t need an open-top, 4×4 with an entertaining driver relating amusing anecdotes to navigate the scenic Desert View Drive along the South Rim’s panoramic lookouts but it does add to the adventure.

Priced £92 per adult, £83 per child, the fare includes National Park entrance fees and a free IMAX ticket for the film Grand Canyon The Hidden Secrets. Visit pinkjeeptours.com.

5. The Trail of Time between Verkamp’s Visitor Centre and Yavapai Point and Geology Museum is stroller and wheelchair friendly. Walk below as well as around the rim as looking up provides a whole new perspective.

Even a short descent to the aptly-named Ooh Aah Point on the South Kaibab Trail will give you a flavour.

For Grand Canyon South Rim adventures visit nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/index.htm.

West rim: Dice with vertigo

Grand Canyon West’s biggest draw is the Glass Skywalk which juts out 70ft over the edge of the rim like a giant horseshoe

If you’re based in Las Vegas, then Grand Canyon West is closest (130 miles) and attracts the second largest number of visitors — one million per annum.

Top three ways to explore Grand Canyon West

1. The biggest draw is the Glass Skywalk which juts out 70ft over the edge of the rim like a giant horseshoe. Those brave enough can ‘walk the sky’ on the see-through glass balcony suspended 4,000ft above the Canyon floor.

2. Tour the Native American Village at Eagle Point.

3. Try cowboy skills such as the mechanical bull at Hualapai Ranch, or soar on the zip line 500ft above a canyon at 40mph.

Other Grand Canyon West adventures include airplane and helicopter flights; Hualapai River Runners, white-water rafting and pontoon tours. See grandcanyonwest.com.

North rim: spot a mountain lion

Natural wonder: The North Rim is best suited to those who want to escape the crowds and heat and have the chance of spotting bears or fiery autumn shades

The North Rim is best suited to those who want to escape the crowds and heat and have the chance of spotting bears or fiery autumn shades.

Only seen by 10 per cent of all Grand Canyon visitors, it’s definitely the road less travelled and for good reason as it closes from mid-October to mid-May due to snow-fall.

The nearest regional airports are St George in Utah (currently closed until the end of September) and Page, Arizona, (both about three hours away), while it’s a six-hour drive from Las Vegas and even further from Salt Lake City or Phoenix.

Top three ways to explore the North Rim

1. North Rim Scenic Drive is a 23-mile route encompassing the best viewpoints from Point Imperial and Bright Angel Point to Cape Royal.

2. Best for nature, the more remote North Rim is easier for spotting wildlife such as bears and mountain lions or rare birds like the California Condor, with its 9ft 6in wingspan.

3. The North Rim’s higher elevation means it is cooler and more peaceful for hiking, cycling and mule treks under the pretty Ponderosa Pines. Far away from light pollution, it’s ideal for star gazing.

Other North Rim activities include snow-shoeing and cross-country skiing in winter, at your own risk.

In summer, reservations for the Grand Canyon Lodge and campsite are essential (nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/north-rim.htm).

Do: Wear layers, a hat and sunscreen plus carry water and snacks. Visit in spring or autumn when it’s cooler and not as crowded as summer.

Don’t: Feed the wild squirrels and chipmunks — they will bite and frequently do. Drop litter or throw ‘lucky’ coins.

TRAVEL FACTS

Audley Travel (audleytravel.com/USA, 01993 838 755) offers a 15-day tour of the Western USA that incorporates a three-night visit to the Grand Canyon from £3,155 pp (based on two sharing) and includes flights, car rental, accommodation and activities. American Airlines (aa.com) has launched a new, year-round daily flight from London in partnership with British Airways. Fly return from £479 pp in Economy; £903 pp in Premium Economy or in Business Class from £4,250 pp return.

The post Here’s how to make the most of the Grand Canyon appeared first on Tripstations.

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Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Drops a Rocket From an Airplane

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Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit Drops a Rocket From an Airplane

Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit on Wednesday released a rocket from the wing of a modified Boeing 747 jetliner in mid-air in a key test of its high-altitude launch system for satellites, the company said.

In the penultimate mission before Virgin Orbit offers commercial satellite launch services, the 70-foot (21.34 m) LauncherOne rocket cleanly separated from the jetliner at roughly 35,000 feet, the company said.

The rocket, loaded with water and antifreeze to simulate the weight of fuel, crashed as planned into the Mojave Desert as the jetliner, nicknamed Cosmic Girl, continued on its flight path.

Dan Hart, chief executive officer of Virgin Orbit, told Reuters the test was a “capstone” event on the company’s path to making orbital satellite placement “almost routine.”

“This test puts us into a pre-launch posture,” Hart said. Assembly of Virgin’s first commercial rocket will finish this month, and the company plans to launch test satellites into orbit this summer, he said.

Competition is fierce among Virgin Orbit, Firefly and US-New Zealand company Rocket Lab, which are designing smaller or non-traditional systems to inject smaller satellites into orbit and meet growing demand.

Virgin Orbit has fallen slightly behind Rocket Lab, which has already completed six orbital launches, though Virgin Orbit says its rocket can haul about twice the weight.

Buying stratolaunch? Hart said acquisitions or mergers could play a role in Virgin Orbit’s growth strategy and did not rule out buying assets of Stratolaunch.

Stratolaunch designed a larger aircraft-and-rocket combo system, but Reuters reported the company is shutting operations while looking to sell its assets including the world’s largest airplane by wingspan.

“We’ve had discussions in the past, but there’s not a lot of activity there at the moment,” the Virgin Orbit executive said.

Virgin Orbit’s subsidiary VOX Space LLC is selling launches using the same mid-air launch system to the U.S. military, with a first mission slated for early next year.

‘Launch at anytime’ Virgin Orbit said last month it plans to bring its satellite launch system to Japan in partnership with airline operator ANA Holdings, which will provide maintenance and possibly aircraft.

That launch location will join other sites including the United States, Guam and United Kingdom, which Virgin Orbit says will provide satellite makers and governments more flexibility.

High-altitude launches, Hart said, allow satellites to be placed in their intended orbit more efficiently and minimize weather-related cancellations.

“The responsiveness of an air-launch platform is unparalleled,” he said. “We can launch at any time, to any orbit (Earth or Moon) and from anywhere in the world.”

Hart said there are many other benefits of launching rockets from a traditional airplane. Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Girl takes off from a runway, so there is no launch pad maintenance and the company is not competing for time slots to schedule missions.

© Thomson Reuters 2019

#News

Branson's Virgin Orbit strikes nearer to industrial satellite tv for pc launch

http://tinyurl.com/y52xorr4 SEATTLE (Reuters) – Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit on Wednesday launched a rocket from the wing of a modified Boeing 747 jetliner in mid-air in a key take a look at of its high-altitude launch system for satellites, the corporate mentioned. Virgin Orbit’s chief engineer Kevin Sagis kisses the tip of a take a look at rocket beneath the wing of a modified Boeing 747 jetliner previous to its takeoff and drop take a look at of its high-altitude launch system for satellites from Mojave, California, U.S. July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake Within the penultimate mission earlier than Virgin Orbit provides industrial satellite tv for pc launch companies, the 70-foot (21.34 m) LauncherOne rocket cleanly separated from the jetliner at roughly 35,000 toes, the corporate mentioned. The rocket, loaded with water and antifreeze to simulate the load of gasoline, crashed as deliberate into the Mojave Desert because the jetliner, nicknamed Cosmic Woman, continued on its flight path. Dan Hart, chief government officer of Virgin Orbit, informed Reuters the take a look at was a “capstone” occasion on the corporate’s path to creating orbital satellite tv for pc placement “nearly routine.” “This take a look at places us right into a pre-launch posture,” Hart mentioned. Meeting of Virgin’s first industrial rocket will end this month, and the corporate plans to launch take a look at satellites into orbit this summer season, he mentioned. Competitors is fierce amongst Virgin Orbit, Firefly and U.S.-New Zealand firm Rocket Lab, that are designing smaller or non-traditional methods to inject smaller satellites into orbit and meet rising demand. Virgin Orbit has fallen barely behind Rocket Lab, which has already accomplished six orbital launches, although Virgin Orbit says its rocket can haul about twice the load. BUYING STRATOLAUNCH? Hart mentioned acquisitions or mergers may play a job in Virgin Orbit’s development technique and didn’t rule out shopping for belongings of Stratolaunch. Stratolaunch designed a bigger aircraft-and-rocket combo system, however Reuters reported the corporate is shutting operations whereas seeking to promote its belongings together with the world’s largest airplane by wingspan. “We’ve had discussions previously, however there’s not numerous exercise there in the intervening time,” the Virgin Orbit government mentioned. Virgin Orbit’s subsidiary VOX Area LLC is promoting launches utilizing the identical mid-air launch system to the U.S. navy, with a primary mission slated for early subsequent 12 months. ‘LAUNCH AT ANYTIME’ Virgin Orbit mentioned final month it plans to carry its satellite tv for pc launch system to Japan in partnership with airline operator ANA Holdings Inc, which is able to present upkeep and probably plane. That launch location will be a part of different websites together with the US, Guam and United Kingdom, which Virgin Orbit says will present satellite tv for pc makers and governments extra flexibility. Slideshow (17 Photographs) Excessive-altitude launches, Hart mentioned, enable satellites to be positioned of their supposed orbit extra effectively and decrease weather-related cancellations. “The responsiveness of an air-launch platform is unparalleled,” he mentioned. “We will launch at any time, to any orbit (Earth or Moon) and from wherever on the planet.” Hart mentioned there are a lot of different advantages of launching rockets from a standard airplane. Virgin Orbit’s Cosmic Woman takes off from a runway, so there isn’t any launch pad upkeep and the corporate shouldn’t be competing for time slots to schedule missions. Enhancing by Cynthia Osterman and Alistair Bell Our Requirements:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Source link

World's largest airplane flies for first time

World’s largest airplane flies for first time

World’s largest airplane flies for first time

The world’s largest airplane, developed by aerospace venture Stratolaunch, flew into the air on Saturday for its first flight test. The #aircraft has a world-record wingspan and it is wider than any airplane on the planet.

World’s largest airplane flies for first time

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The world’s largest plane by wingspan successfully flew for the first time

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After years of development in the desert north of Los Angeles, a gigantic, six-engined mega jet with the wingspan of an American football field flew Saturday morning for the first time.

“We finally did it,” said Stratolaunch Systems CEO Jean Floyd at a news conference from the hangar at Mojave Air & Space Port. “It was an emotional moment to watch this bird take flight.”

Stratolaunch, the company founded in 2011 by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, conducted the first test flight of the world’s largest plane.

“I had imagined this moment for years, but I had never imagined it without Paul standing next to me,” Floyd said, adding that he whispered a private “thank-you” to Allen as the plane took flight.

Allen died last October at age 65 from complications related to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

In simple terms, the Stratolaunch aircraft is a giant flying launch pad, designed to hurtle satellites into low Earth orbit. It aims to offer the military, private companies and even NASA itself a more economical way to get into space.

The company’s business model calls for getting satellites into space “as easy as booking an airline flight.”

Test pilot Evan Thomas flew the jet to speeds of about 173 mph, climbing as high as 15,000 feet before returning smoothly and safely back, after a nearly two-and-a-half-hour flight.

“For the most part, the plane flew as predicted,” said Thomas, a former F-16 Air Force fighter pilot.

“It was overall fantastic. I honestly could not have hoped for more on a first flight, especially of an airplane of this complexity and this uniqueness.”

After years of development in the desert north of Los Angeles, a gigantic, six-engined megajet with the wingspan of an American football field has yet to answer a key question: Will it fly?

The aircraft’s wingspan measures 385 feet — wider than any airplane on the planet. From tip to tail, it’s 238 feet long. It weighs half a million pounds. It’s so big, it has two cockpits, one in each fuselage (but only one is used to fly the plane.)

“It’s the world’s biggest airplane. It’s so huge, it seems like it shouldn’t be able to fly,” Jack Beyer, an aerospace and launch photographer for NASASpaceFlight.com, told CNN on Thursday.

He’s excited to witness the beginnings of the space industry’s rising trend: using jets to launch satellites.

Dozens of photographers, industry bloggers and aerospace enthusiasts gathered this week to glimpse the unique twin-fuselage plane.

“People are interested in the first flight of Stratolaunch because they want to see the future,” Beyer said. “It’s the same reason why people tune in each year to watch the Apple keynotes. People want to see what’s next.”

A jet, carrying a rocket, carrying a satellite

Here’s how Stratolaunch is supposed to work once the plane is fully tested and certified: The jet, carrying a rocket loaded with a satellite, will take off from Mojave and climb to an altitude of 35,000 feet. There, pilots will launch the rocket from the plane on a trajectory toward space.

The plane then will land safety back at Mojave, while the rocket carries the satellite into an orbit ranging from about 300 miles to 1,200 miles above Earth. The rocket deploys the satellite before eventually falling back to Earth, burning up in the sky like a meteor.

Although the cost of the airplane hasn’t been made public, other details are known.

To make it both strong and lightweight, Stratolaunch is made largely of carbon fiber material instead of aluminum.

To save money on designing new engines and landing gear, the jet is powered by six Pratt & Whitney engines, which were originally designed for Boeing 747s. Its landing gear, which includes a mind-boggling 28 wheels, was also first designed for 747s.

Satellites in low Earth orbit can provide communications and broadband internet connectivity to remote areas on the ground. They can conduct valuable Earth observation and surveillance. The market for commercial satellite launch services is growing rapidly and is expected to reach $7 billion by 2024, according to Global Market Insights.

Putting small satellites into space via airplanes also promises to be cheaper than traditional rocket launches because it eliminates the need for launch pads and all the pricey equipment and infrastructure surrounding a traditional rocket launch.

It also can save on fuel costs, because the plane burns less fuel than a traditional rocket when it blasts off from Earth.

Other benefits: Bad weather won’t be as much of a problem. Storms can delay a traditional rocket launch, but a jet could simply take off and fly over bad weather — or around it — and then launch the satellite.

Launches could take place more frequently and within a faster time frame. No more waiting in line for a slot to open up on a spacecraft blasting off from a traditional terrestrial launch pad.

Competition from Richard Branson

Though Stratolaunch has only flown once, it’s already facing competition from billionaire Richard Branson and his Virgin Orbit company. Its LauncherOne service wants to fling rockets carrying satellites into orbit from a customized Boeing 747-400 — which, unlike Stratolaunch, is a proven aircraft.

Virgin Orbit plans to conduct its first launch at Mojave Air & Space Port sometime “in the middle of the year.”

“We are well on our way towards providing new launch opportunities for small satellites that have waited too long for their ride to space,” Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart said Wednesday in a statement.

What’s next

Stratolaunch’s first flight presents the company with a new set of hoops to jump through before it can start doing business. Pilots will have to test fly the jet many more times before it can be checked and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.

If all goes as planned, Stratolaunch said the plane is expected to launch its first satellite sometime next year.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/04/15/the-worlds-largest-plane-by-wingspan-successfully-flew-for-the-first-time/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/04/15/the-worlds-largest-plane-by-wingspan-successfully-flew-for-the-first-time/

Giant Tortoise Feared Extinct Reappears After 113 Years

The Fernandina giant tortoise, which has not been seen alive since 1906, has been spotted on its namesake island in the Galápagos, says the government of Ecuador.

The tortoise herself may be over 100 years old, according to a statement released Wednesday by Ecuador’s ministry of the environment.

The Fernandina tortoise, native to the Galápagos Islands, is considered critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and some feared it might be extinct.

The tortoise was found by park ranger Jeffeys Malaga and tortoise preservation expert Washington Tapia, members of the Giant Tortoise Restoration Initiative (GTRI). The collaborative project between Galápagos National Park and the Galápagos Conservancy, an American nonprofit, aims to breed tortoises in captivity and reintroduce them to islands where the animals have become endangered or entirely absent.

A sighting of the species from an airplane was reported in 2009, but it was never confirmed to be a Fernandina giant tortoise. The GTRI discovery marks the first confirmed sighting of the animal since 1906.

The team transferred the tortoise by boat to a breeding center on nearby Santa Cruz Island, and will search for possible mates for her.

Malaga and Tapia found some promising evidence that she may not be the sole survivor of her kind. The pair observed tortoise feces on Fernandina Island that could have been left by other individuals of the species, which is known scientifically as Chelonoidis phantasticus.

“This encourages us to strengthen our search plans to find other tortoises, which will allow us to start a breeding program in captivity to recover this species,” said Danny Rueda, director of the Galapagos National Park, in a statement.

In a weird case of zoological kismet, another “giant” species long feared extinct also showed up this year—Wallace’s giant bee ( Megachile pluto).

Read More: An African Black Leopard Has Been Captured in Stunning Rare Photographs

Last seen in 1981 by entomologist Adam Messer, this Indonesian insect is the world’s largest known bee species. The wingspan of the female can reach 2.5 inches, though the male is only half as big.

Deforestation has resulted in major losses of the bee’s native habitat in the lowland forests of the North Maluku islands. After several expeditions launched specifically to find the Wallace’s giant bee, a team of biologists finally came across a female in January, and announced their find this week. She was occupying a termite nest in a tree.

“It was absolutely breathtaking to see this ‘flying bulldog’ of an insect that we weren’t sure existed any more,” Clay Bolt, the photographer who captured the first images of the bee, told The Guardian.

“To actually see how beautiful and big the species is in life, to hear the sound of its giant wings thrumming as it flew past my head, was just incredible.”

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Giant Tortoise Feared Extinct Reappears After 113 Years syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

MIT engineers fly first-ever plane with no moving parts

Since the first airplane took flight over 100 years ago, virtually every aircraft in the sky has flown with the help of moving parts such as propellers, turbine blades, and fans, which are powered by the combustion of fossil fuels or by battery packs that produce a persistent, whining buzz.

Now MIT engineers have built and flown the first-ever plane with no moving parts. Instead of propellers or turbines, the light aircraft is powered by an “ionic wind” — a silent but mighty flow of ions that is produced aboard the plane, and that generates enough thrust to propel the plane over a sustained, steady flight.

Unlike turbine-powered planes, the aircraft does not depend on fossil fuels to fly. And unlike propeller-driven drones, the new design is completely silent.

“This is the first-ever sustained flight of a plane with no moving parts in the propulsion system,” says Steven Barrett, associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. “This has potentially opened new and unexplored possibilities for aircraft which are quieter, mechanically simpler, and do not emit combustion emissions.”

He expects that in the near-term, such ion wind propulsion systems could be used to fly less noisy drones. Further out, he envisions ion propulsion paired with more conventional combustion systems to create more fuel-efficient, hybrid passenger planes and other large aircraft.

Barrett and his team at MIT have published their results today in the journal Nature.

Hobby crafts

Barrett says the inspiration for the team’s ion plane comes partly from the movie and television series, “Star Trek,” which he watched avidly as a kid. He was particularly drawn to the futuristic shuttlecrafts that effortlessly skimmed through the air, with seemingly no moving parts and hardly any noise or exhaust.

“This made me think, in the long-term future, planes shouldn’t have propellers and turbines,” Barrett says. “They should be more like the shuttles in ‘Star Trek,’ that have just a blue glow and silently glide.”

About nine years ago, Barrett started looking for ways to design a propulsion system for planes with no moving parts. He eventually came upon “ionic wind,” also known as electroaerodynamic thrust — a physical principle that was first identified in the 1920s and describes a wind, or thrust, that can be produced when a current is passed between a thin and a thick electrode. If enough voltage is applied, the air in between the electrodes can produce enough thrust to propel a small aircraft.

For years, electroaerodynamic thrust has mostly been a hobbyist’s project, and designs have for the most part been limited to small, desktop “lifters” tethered to large voltage supplies that create just enough wind for a small craft to hover briefly in the air. It was largely assumed that it would be impossible to produce enough ionic wind to propel a larger aircraft over a sustained flight.

“It was a sleepless night in a hotel when I was jet-lagged, and I was thinking about this and started searching for ways it could be done,” he recalls. “I did some back-of-the-envelope calculations and found that, yes, it might become a viable propulsion system,” Barrett says. “And it turned out it needed many years of work to get from that to a first test flight.”

Ions take flight

The team’s final design resembles a large, lightweight glider. The aircraft, which weighs about 5 pounds and has a 5-meter wingspan, carries an array of thin wires, which are strung like horizontal fencing along and beneath the front end of the plane’s wing. The wires act as positively charged electrodes, while similarly arranged thicker wires, running along the back end of the plane’s wing, serve as negative electrodes.

The fuselage of the plane holds a stack of lithium-polymer batteries. Barrett’s ion plane team included members of Professor David Perreault’s Power Electronics Research Group in the Research Laboratory of Electronics, who designed a power supply that would convert the batteries’ output to a sufficiently high voltage to propel the plane. In this way, the batteries supply electricity at 40,000 volts to positively charge the wires via a lightweight power converter.

Once the wires are energized, they act to attract and strip away negatively charged electrons from the surrounding air molecules, like a giant magnet attracting iron filings. The air molecules that are left behind are newly ionized, and are in turn attracted to the negatively charged electrodes at the back of the plane.

As the newly formed cloud of ions flows toward the negatively charged wires, each ion collides millions of times with other air molecules, creating a thrust that propels the aircraft forward.

Undistorted camera footage from unpowered glide 2, with position and energy from camera tracking annotated. Credit: Steven Barrett

The team, which also included Lincoln Laboratory staff Thomas Sebastian and Mark Woolston, flew the plane in multiple test flights across the gymnasium in MIT’s duPont Athletic Center — the largest indoor space they could find to perform their experiments. The team flew the plane a distance of 60 meters (the maximum distance within the gym) and found the plane produced enough ionic thrust to sustain flight the entire time. They repeated the flight 10 times, with similar performance.

Undistorted camera footage from flight 9, with position and energy from camera tracking annotated. Sped up 2x. Credit: Steven Barrett

“This was the simplest possible plane we could design that could prove the concept that an ion plane could fly,” Barrett says. “It’s still some way away from an aircraft that could perform a useful mission. It needs to be more efficient, fly for longer, and fly outside.”

The new design is a “big step” toward demonstrating the feasibility of ion wind propulsion, according to Franck Plouraboue, senior researcher at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics in Toulouse, France, who notes that researchers previously weren’t able to fly anything heavier than a few grams.

“The strength of the results are a direct proof that steady flight of a drone with ionic wind is sustainable,” says Plouraboue, who was not involved in the research. “[Outside of drone applications], it is difficult to infer how much it could influence aircraft  propulsion  in the future. Nevertheless, this is not really a weakness but rather an opening for future progress, in a field which is now going to burst.”

Barrett’s team is working on increasing the efficiency of their design, to produce more ionic wind with less voltage. The researchers are also hoping to increase the design’s thrust density — the amount of thrust generated per unit area. Currently, flying the team’s lightweight plane requires a large area of electrodes, which essentially makes up the plane’s propulsion system. Ideally, Barrett would like to design an aircraft with no visible propulsion system or separate controls surfaces such as rudders and elevators.

“It took a long time to get here,” Barrett says. “Going from the basic principle to something that actually flies was a long journey of characterizing the physics, then coming up with the design and making it work. Now the possibilities for this kind of propulsion system are viable.”

This research was supported, in part, by MIT Lincoln Laboratory Autonomous Systems Line, the Professor Amar G. Bose Research Grant, and the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART). The work was also funded through the Charles Stark Draper and Leonardo career development chairs at MIT.

MIT engineers fly first-ever plane with no moving parts syndicated from https://osmowaterfilters.blogspot.com/

For the last year or so, Stratolaunch has conducted a number of ground-based tests on the world's largest aircraft, both inside its gargantuan hangar and on a runway in Mojave, California. If all goes well, the company plans for the aircraft with a 117-meter wingspan to make its maiden flight by the end of this year.

But the aircraft is only a means to an end—sustainably launching rockets into space. Although Stratolaunch appears to have built a fine airplane, questions have lingered for years regarding exactly which rockets will be flown to a cruising altitude to then be released by the airplane. And when you've built an aircraft the likes of which has never been seen before, such curiosity is understandable.

On Monday, the company finally provided some additional clarity. Previously, Stratolaunch announced an agreement to launch small Pegasus rockets from the aircraft, but these boosters can only deliver up to 370kg into low-Earth orbit. (And they are so small, their use could not possibly justify the scale of the Stratolaunch plane, with a wingspan 20 meters greater than even the Spruce Goose).

Fortunately, the new rockets announced this week will have significantly more capacity, and they appear to be right-sized for this very large mobile launch platform:

Pegasus: This one can only carry a payload of about 815 lbs (370 kg). However, it is dependable and proven; Stratolaunch Systems has already completed 35 successful launches of the vehicle using other carriers. The first launch via a Stratolaunch should take place in 2020.

Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV): This one will have a much heavier payload capability than Pegasus: 7,500 lbs (3,400 kg). Its first flight should take place in 2022.

Medium Launch Vehicle – Heavy: This is a three-core version of the MLV variant, and it’ll be capable of delivering payloads of up to 13,200 lbs (6,000 kg). No word on when it’ll be ready for launch as it’s still in the early development stage.

Space Plane: Stratolaunch Systems also plans to develop a fully reusable space plane. Though still in the design stage, this one should be able to handle cargo launch, cargo return, and the transportation of crew.

According to Stratolaunch, the medium launch vehicle is under development, with a maiden launch targeted for 2022. The heavier version of this rocket is undergoing "early development," and the company is performing a "design study" of the space plane. Earlier, Stratolaunch dubbed this space plane concept "Black Ice."

“We are excited to share for the first time some details about the development of our own, proprietary Stratolaunch launch vehicles, with which we will offer a flexible launch capability unlike any other,” said Jean Floyd, chief executive officer at Stratolaunch, in a news release. “Whatever the payload, whatever the orbit, getting your satellite into space will soon be as easy as booking an airline flight.”

Stratolaunch released no additional details about these rockets, such as the engines they will use. Even so, the moment feels significant, as Stratolaunch has long been searching for appropriate rockets to be launched from its aircraft. An earlier deal with SpaceX fell through, as well as a deal with Orbital ATK to develop a custom rocket for the aircraft. Now, the company has decided to go in-house and just build its own rockets.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/08/stratolaunch-announces-not-one-but-an-entire-fleet-of-rockets/

8 Longest Aircraft In The World

8 Longest Aircraft In The World

By the invention of airplanes, they have revolutionized the transportation of the whole world. These big machines are used in military operations, cargo and as well as public transportation. They are pretty similar to the big whales that know how to fly...!!! It is the most effective, comfortable and fastest mode of transportation.

8 Longest Aircraft in the World starting from the back are as follows:

8. Tupolev TU-160 :

This airplane is also known as 'White Swan' for its color and smoothness. This 54 meters long aircraft is the longest, heaviest airplane of its kind and this is the reason why it owns a record of 'World's Fastest Strategic Bomber' with the longest range of bombs. This supper plane does not have any kind of defensive weapon that is why when it flew, some long-range fighter planes give it a cover. It has its own GPS jamming system and anti-satellite weapons. This is the last strategic bomber of Soviet design that started flying in 1987. It even operates for Russian Airforce till now. Its maximum speed is 2220 kmph. 7. Airbus Beluga XL:

It is considered to be as World's Biggest Cargo Plane in the world. It looks like a Dolphin. Beluga XL is 6 meters long and 1 meter wider than the previous model because of which the load capacity of cargo increases. The cabin and cargo warehouse's internal structure has been redesigned in order to increase the storage capacity of the plane. Before going to fly, it still has to pass a few tests. In this aircraft, Rolls Royce Trent 700 engine which gives appropriate power to this 63-meter long airplane. The company is trying to make this plane fly by the end of the year 2019. 6. Antonov AN-124 :

There is no doubt that Antonov AN-124 is a huge airplane and it also looks like a monster flying in the sky. It is one of the biggest aircraft in the world. It was first flawed in 1982. These planes are used to carry trains and other huge engineering pieces from one place to another. Its storage capacity is equal to 150 tons. This aircraft is capable of transporting 88 passengers and its total length is 69 meters with the highest speed of 865 kmph. But after the breakdown of Soviet Union, the production of this plane was stopped and the under-construction models were completed between 2001 to 2004.

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After years of development, a company by Paul Allen, who is also a founder of Microsoft has introduced this rocket launcher aircraft. This insane 73-meter long plane has 2 cabins with a 177-meter wide wingspan. It has a total load capacity of 22.6 tons. Without cargo, its weight is 227 tons and it can fly with a carrying load of 600 tons also. This plane can fly up to an altitude of 10 km when it reaches the maximum altitude, it launches the cargo in the orbit and then comes back. Its first flight was planned in 2016 but unfortunately, it cannot be done at that time. People belonging to the company stated that it will start flying in 2019 and the first commercial flight is now planned in 2020. 4. Airbus A350-1000: This plane, that is a bit more than 73 meters is the most extended version of the Airbus family. It can transport 440 passengers at a time which are 50 more in numbers as compared to the previous model of Airbus. It has a maximum fuel capacity of 1 lakh 56 thousand liters. Airbus has stated that the fuel consumption of this aircraft is 25% lesser than the rival companies. It can fly about 14,800 km in one go. It consists of some luxury facilities like switch seats which can be converted into double beds whenever needed along with some modern interiors which provide full comfort to the passengers to travel long distances. A total expenditure of 11 billion Euro has taken place in this project. 3. Lockheed C-5 Galaxy :

Galaxy C-5 is the biggest transport aircraft used for the American airforce. It is designed by the Lockheed company and its operations were started in 1968. Its total length is 75 meters which provides a good cargo capacity to transport some fully equipped military systems including Combat Tanks. This plane is used for US military operations and is to help the armed forces during any kind of war attacks. 2. Boeing 747-8:

The total length of this aircraft is a  bit more than 76 meters from its nose to tail which makes it 'The World's Largest Passenger Plane'. The new model of Boeing is developed from the old model 747. It is designed with present technologies and streamlining. Its technology is a bit different having a different engine and raised wings which helps to reduce noise pollution as well as harmful emissions while flying. It performs better and is also light in weight, it also easy to maintain. The model used for passengers can transport 467-581 passengers at a time which depends on some specific characteristics. It can fly about 15,000 km without any refueling. 1. AirLander-10 :

If we see it technically, it is not the airplane but is a proper invention to be on this list as it is World's Longest Aircraft. This is a hybrid of helicopter and machine plane. It is the first generation of silent aircraft which is energy efficient as well as environment-friendly. This airship is filled with Helium having 4 diesel engines which provide a total power of 355 horsepower. The cargo capacity of this aircraft is 10,000 kg and can fly at 500 meters height. The maximum speed of this 92 meters long aircraft is 150 kmph. It is profitable for patrolling purposes and for scientific research also. This was the list of World's Longest Aircrafts which is very interesting if one has gone through it thoroughly. It includes Airbuses, military carriage Airplanes, Airbuses and hence almost every kind of Aircraft are present in it. It is normal if one feels to try at least one of them after reading the whole list.....!!!! Written By– Vaibhav Chauhan (Team- ItsLyf) Check out the: Blogs on Automobiles >> 8 Longest Aircraft In The World Read the full article