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
 |
Liberty Lifter X-Plane From DARPA
The Liberty Lifter has been approved for a full-scale demonstrator, another of our favorites on Technovelgy's comprehensive DARPA Project List.
(Last year's DARPA video)
The Liberty Lifter X-plane project aims to deliver a long-range, low-cost X-plane using a wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) ekranoplan-like concept. Artwork released by DARPA shows that the Aurora Flight Sciences concept, which has not been seen before, resembles a more traditional flying boat. The concept features a single hull, high wing and eight turboprops for propulsion. It also looks somewhat similar to Boeing Phantom Works’ Pelican WIG concept from two decades ago.Phase 1 of the project spans 18 months in total, DARPA’s press release notes, and focuses on defining the aircraft’s design and capabilities with a view to producing a full-scale demonstrator. The 18 months involve six months of conceptual design work, and a further nine months of design maturation. After this, a preliminary design review will be conducted, and, from there, a further three months will be devoted to manufacturing planning and test/demonstration planning reviews. According to General Atomics, an $8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee award has been given for the next six months as the base effort, with the award potentially growing to a total of $29 million if its design is ultimately chosen.
(Via TheDrive.)
Finally! The aerospace industry is catching up with the grand designs of a century ago. Take a look at Ed Earl Repp using his imagination in Air Wonder Stories in 1929. Gasp in amazement at the air-freighter cargo plane from The Invisible Raiders!
At the tremendous speed that the Jupiter was turning up under the thrust of her twenty-four screws whirling on the shafts of twelve powerful motors, one would think that it were impossible for an object to remain long on her streamlined aerofoil surfaces without being hurled into space. But at the great altitude in which she was flying, the rarefied air did not to any perceptible degree hinder the sky raiders from landing their craft on the Jupiter’s broad wings.
(Enormous air-freighter airplane for cargo)(Read more about air-freighter cargo plane)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/15/2023)
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 ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Engineering ")
Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)?
'...some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre...' - Charles Stross, 2007.
Prufrock-3 'The Monster' Ready To Launch
Just go for it.
Hybrid Wind Solar Devices
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.' - Simpson Stokes, 1937.
BeamBike Solar Power Canopy For Electric Bikes
'The slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...' - David Brin, 1990.
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
Miss Alabama Beauty Contest Offers Different Standards
'...they moved with the ease of dandelion puffs.'
Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)?
'...some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre...'
Prufrock-3 'The Monster' Ready To Launch
Just go for it.
Drones In Vast Airborne Grids
'These pods were programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern...'
Starship Special Edition For Lunar Shuttle
Love those special edition spaceships.
Capturing Asteroids With Nets
'...the meteor caught and halted just as a small boy catches a swift ball in his cap.'
Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed!
'We have decided that it shall be but one ship... it must contain everything needed to take us through the generations.'
AI Welfare Position At Anthropic Filled By Human
'You’re the robopsychologist of the plant, so you’re to study the robot itself...'
Marslink Proposed By SpaceX
'It was the heart of the Solar System's communication line...'
Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'... designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Wood-Panelled LignoSat Launched
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
Laser-Beam Welding In Orbital Factories
'His contract with Space Industries required him to work summers in their orbital factory.'
'Iceberg House' Of Travis Kelce Reflects Science Fiction Of Past Century
'The basement was huge... carved deep into the rock that folded up to underlie the ridge...'
Mechazilla Arms Catch A Falling Starship, But Check Out SF Landing-ARMS
'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
