Aviation Week reports, “High-speed aircraft maker Hermeus flew the Quarterhorse Mk 2.1 demonstrator aircraft above supersonic speed for the first time, marking a first for a privately funded, uncrewed aircraft in the U.S.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: First Time
Joby Conducts First Electric Air Taxi Flight from JFK Airport
Flying Magazine reports, “New Yorkers this week are getting a glimpse of the future of aviation, as electric air taxis soar across the city’s network of airports and heliports for the first time. After conducting a handful of test flights over the weekend, a Joby Aviation production prototype eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft lifted off Monday from John F. Kennedy International (KJFK), marking the first time an electric air taxi has departed one of New York City’s three major airports.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)
8 Spacecraft Are Docked to the ISS for the 1st Time Ever
SPACE reports, “All eight docking ports for spacecraft on the current configuration of the International Space Station (ISS) are fully occupied for the first time in the complex’s history, NASA officials said in a statement on Monday (Dec. 1).”
Full Story (SPACE)
U.S. Army Apache Pilots to Train with Augmented Reality for First Time
Flying Magazine reports, “For the first time, U.S. military helicopter pilots will train using augmented reality (AR) technology that can recreate real-world scenarios within a digital space. On Monday, augmented reality flight training systems developer Red 6 said it has integrated its Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality Systems (ATARS) on Boeing’s AH64E Apache Crewstation Advanced Technology Testbed (CATT). That marks the company’s first integration with a U.S. Army platform and the first-ever integration of such a system on a rotorcraft platform, Red 6 said.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)
Juno Spacecraft Discovers Auroral ‘Footprints’ of Jupiter’s Moon Callisto
SPACE reports, “In a landmark observation by a team of international researchers, NASA’s Juno spacecraft has, for the first time, clearly detected the auroras of Jupiter’s moon Callisto. This discovery completes the set of auroral signatures we have from all four Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.”
Full Story (SPACE)
General Atomics’ YFQ-42A Performs First Flight Test
Aviation Week reports, “Flight testing for the U.S. Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) began Aug. 27, with the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. YFQ-42A taking off for the first time. The company, in an announcement after the close of business, confirmed the aircraft conducted flight testing in coordination with the U.S. Air Force.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Video
YFQ-42A unmanned fighter conducting flight testing
Media Magik Entertainment; YouTube
Hermeus Quarterhorse Demonstrator Makes First Flight
Aviation Week reports, “High-speed aircraft developer Hermeus has successfully flown its remotely piloted Quarterhorse Mk. 1 demonstrator at Edwards AFB, California, marking a key step toward the follow-on development of supersonic and hypersonic vehicles. The short flight, which Hermeus describes as a simple “hop,” was achieved after the aircraft completed two high-speed taxi tests earlier on May 21. After takeoff the aircraft climbed briefly to low altitude before making a straight-ahead landing on the base’s 6.2-mi.-long dry lakebed Runway 15/33.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Joby Achieves Testing Milestone with Simultaneous Flight of Two eVTOL Aircraft
CompositesWorld reports, “Joby Aviation Inc. (Santa Cruz, Calif., U.S.) has successfully flown two of its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft simultaneously for the first time, marking another important milestone in the company’s flight testing program.”
Full Story (CompositesWorld)
Video
Joby Aviation’s Two Aircraft Flight
(Joby Aviation; YouTube)
British Army Uses Radio-Wave Weapon for First Time to Disable Drone Swarm
Defense News reports, “The British Army successfully tested a radio-wave weapon to knock out drone swarms, as militaries look for new ways to neutralize what has become one of the biggest threats on the modern battlefield. The Army was able to defeat drone swarms for the first time in the latest trial of the weapon-system demonstrator, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Thursday.”
Full Story (Defense News)
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe to Make Epic Flyby of the Sun on Christmas Eve
SPACE reports, on Christmas Eve, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will break its own records for speed and closest approach to the sun as it moves “within 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the sun’s surface at a whopping 430,000 mph (690,000 kph).”
Full Story (SPACE)