Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Russian Flying Saucers Coming to USA
Flying Saucers from Russia are coming to our skies - and the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command invited them.
(From Russian Flying Saucers to Grace American Skyies via HowStuffWorks.com)
An agreement has been signed with Russian EKIP Aviation concern to make use of the flying-saucer shaped aircraft. The acronym EKIP stands for "Ekologiya i Progress" - Ecology and Progress. They were developed in Russia with the intent of using them for oil pipeline monitoring. Prototypes failed to get funding from the Russian government in 1992; both the US and China are interested in them now.
The planes could also be used as unpiloted drones, a popular option at the Pentagon these days.
(More pics here.)
"This is a radically new craft,” Alexey Konovalov, EKIP’s executive director, explains. It doesn’t require a long runway and can land on sand, but most importantly, the shape of the aircraft is a brilliant solution for getting rid of vibration, a long-time problem in aircraft design. Read more .
The plan is to test the craft in 2007.
SF fans of course remember the flying saucers from Robert Heinlein's 1951 novel The Puppet Masters.
Read more about the Technical concepts of the EKIP Project. Here's the Russian take on the deal:
"Parasitism of Russian scientific and technological advances in armed forces has already become a distinctive characteristic of American military-industrial complex."
(From USA to "devour" unique Russian "UFOs".)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 4/8/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 4 )
Related News Stories - (" Surveillance ")
China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.' - Greg Bear, 2007.
FTC: Says Ring Employees Illegally Surveilled Customers
'Then she looked up with a smile and moved closer to the camera.' - Pournelle and Niven, 1981.)
Perching Ambush Drones
'On the chest of drawers something was perched.' - Philip K. Dick, 1956.
India Ponders Always-On Smartphone Location Tracking
'It is necessary... for your own protection.' - Jack Vance, 1954.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Monolith One Giant Industrial Metal 3D-printer
'The object seemed melted together like wax — nothing was distinguishable.'
'Mooncrete' Lunar Regolith Concrete (LRC)
'And here they began to build...'
China's 'Magpie Drone' Ornithopter
'Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows.'
MAI-Voice-2 Microsoft Text-To-Speech
'I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words.'
Tumblin' Tumbleweed Rovers To Eplore Mars
'His sensors out and working, and the whirring of the tape that sucked up sight and sound and shape and smell and form...'
Tentacled Robot Captures Space Debris
Preventing annoying space debris build-up.
Prufrock-MB2 Ready In Nashville
'It sounds to me as though you had invented a kind of metal earthworm.'
DIY Robotic Content Farming
'The chief wheeled to the master machine and pressed a button.'
Reflect Orbital Sunlight On Demand
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors that circulate around the satellite, making it habitable.'
The Amazing Lightfoot Electric Scooter With Solar Assist
'The steel tortoise gave MacKinnon a feeling of Crusoe- like independence.'
Fully Electric, Fully Automated Vegetable‑growing Agribots
'...then back to their work, though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators.'
Vero Robotic Dog With Vacuum Cleaner Feet
'Out of warrens in the wall, tiny robot mice darted.'
AI Operates An Excavator
'So far as I could see, the thing was without a directing Martian at all.'
US Army IBEX Exoskeleton Walks Troops Out Of Danger
'The suit stands up and starts walking, gripping me round the calves and waist, taking the bulk of my weight off my throbbing feet.'
Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
't came out into plain view. Darkington glimpsed a slim body and six short legs of articulated dull metal.'
Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
'Internally it’s made up of millions of components, but the most important ones are the thinking and memory parts of the Mind proper.'
