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The photo you're looking at is of Swiss pilot Yvess Rossy, aka "Jetman," piloting a jet-powered, six-foot-wide, carbon-fiber wing of his own invention. Rossy's personal jet craft is considered by many to represent the pinnacle of humanity's endeavors to achieve personal flight — the ultimate realization of a dream that has driven human innovation for centuries. More »
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It just so happens that hovering in mid-air is a pretty energy-intensive process. It's this fact that helps explain why helicopters — notorious for being energy-hogging little buggers — have yet to make an appearance in the recent wave of electric vehicles. More »
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Get out the tinfoil hats, folks, because this one is for your inner contrail conspiracy theorist. It turns out that airplanes can change the weather by punching holes in the clouds. More »
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Straight from the halls of the Moscow Aviation Institute, these images of looming machines and intricate wiring are sure to stir up a longing for retro Russian rocketry. [victorprofessor via English Russia] More »
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Does the thought of Iranian president Ahmadinejad with his fingers on a rocket launch button make you nervous? Iran unveiled these new satellites today, along with a model of a new Iranian light rocket which some fear might be dual-purpose. More »
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The space shuttle Endeavour hitched a ride on the back of NASA's special Shuttle Carrier Aircraft today, crossing the country to its normal hangar in Florida. Endeavour is the youngest of the five space shuttles built, and it is due to be decommissioned in 2010 along with its two remaining siblings, Discovery and Atlantis. More »
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Like a scary replay of a scene from Donnie Darko, an F-18 fighter jet on a training mission crashed in a suburb of the California city of San Diego this afternoon. Though two houses are on fire, so far there are no reports of anyone being injured except the pilot, who parachuted out of the jet after ejecting as the plane went down (UPDATE: BBC lists three dead). We've got video of the crash site below. More »
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This crazy shot of aeronautics insanity with multi-colored exhaust smoke was just one of the many weird sights last week in Guangdong Province, China, during the 7th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition. Check out the planes up close, and see what the experience did to one extreme fan. More »
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The best part of any superhuman story is when our fledgling hero, having recently discovered his or her powers, totally has fun with them. Think of Iron Man tinkering with his ever-evolving Mark suit, or Spider-Man figuring out how to web-sling. This morning, in the crystalline blue heavens, Swiss airline pilot Yves Rossy felt a similar rush when he strapped only a jet-powered wing to his back and navigated his bad-ass self in the air from France to England. More »
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Small, autonomous "flying saucers" are going to become the next big thing in recon and surveillance on the battlefield — at least, if British firm GFS has anything to do with it. GFS (which stands, charmingly, for "Geoff's Flying Saucers") has prototyped its new model of flying saucer (pictured), called the Fenstar 50, which has an internal combustion engine and works by blowing air over its curved top. The fast airflow above the craft reduces air pressure, and allows normal air pressure beneath to push the craft up. More »
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Known as Fusion Man, he's the Swiss Eval Knieval of the air, and yesterday he plunged to earth 7500 feet from an airplane at over 180 miles an hour, buoyed only by four jets strapped to his back. But in reality, he's just a pilot named Yves Rossi who built the jet wings himself — to the tune of about $258,000 dollars. (He had a little help from sponsors.) Want to see it in full video action? More »
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Giant rockets fought in space yesterday when the Japanese military shot down a mid-range ballistic missile using this Standard Missile 3 (SM-3). The ballistic missile was zooming along 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Japan is the first US ally to attempt these kinds of space war moves, and they did it from a US Navy missile range off the coast of Kauai. Check out more fire and a Japanese military boat in photos after the jump. More »
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