During the Apollo years, NASA basically made up spaceflight as it went along. Nobody was really sure what would happen to spacecraft and astronauts in the cold embrace of space. So, before exposing these multi-million dollar investments into real space, NASA subjected them to the same harsh climates — except, in Houston.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most strategically important stretches of water on Earth. Though just 47km wide, it accommodates the passage of 20 per cent of the world’s oil. Were Iran to plant sea mines there (again), global trade would be severely affected. Luckily, the Strait is defended by the Avengers — not the superheroes, the mine hunters.
Air guns are good for more than launching potatoes, marshmallows, or testing missile ballistics. Turns out, they’re also really handy for making cars fly.
Until just a few years ago, manned spaceflight was the exclusive sandbox of not just nations, but of the world’s select superpowers — the countries with enough disposable income to say, “F**k it. Let’s go to the Moon.” Those days are over, sadly, slowly smothered by shrinking budgets and realigning priorities.
DARPA may be the Big Dog of robotic cargo transport for now, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only game in town. A new design from the Italian Institute of Technology may look like the US Army’s pack-bot but it runs like a Ferarri — or at least a skittering, mechanical Ibex.
