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As NASA prepares to send humans farther into the solar system than ever before, the agency is advancing its understanding of fundamental sciences on the International Space Station and working on technologies for Artemis that will benefit future space…
On This Date, April 27, 2011: The Boeing Phantom Ray made its first flight. The Phantom Ray is an American demonstration stealth unmanned combat air vehicle developed by Boeing using company funds. The autonomous Phantom Ray is a flying wing around the size of a conventional fighter jet.
The Phantom Ray project, called "Project Reblue" internally at Boeing, was first conceived in mid-2007, and started in earnest in June 2008. The project was secret within the company, except for a small number of executives and engineers, until May 2009. Developed by the Boeing Phantom Works, the Phantom Ray is based on the X-45C prototype aircraft, which Boeing originally developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems program in 2002. The Phantom Ray was not aimed at any particular military program or competition, although Boeing considered using the design as an entry for the Navy's Unmanned Carrier-Launched Surveillance and Strike program. The Phantom Ray was unveiled on May 10, 2010, in St. Louis, Mo. In November 2010, low-speed taxi tests were carried out in St. Louis. The demonstrator aircraft was to perform 10 test flights over six months, supporting missions such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; suppression of enemy air defenses; seek-and-destroy; electronic attack; hunter/killer; and autonomous aerial refueling. Boeing anticipated that the Phantom Ray would be the first of a series of new prototype aircraft. The Phantom Ray was scheduled to make its maiden flight in December 2010 from NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, but this was later rescheduled and flew from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., having been carried there by the Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. The Phantom Ray flew to 7,500 feet and reached a speed of 178 knots, flying for a total of 17 minutes.
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Each company will complete technology development and in-space demonstrations by 2025 to prove their proposed solution will deliver robust, reliable, and cost-effective mission-oriented operations…
On This Date, April 27, 1965: Ryan XV-5A Vertifan, 62-4505, noses over from 800 feet and crashes at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., during a demonstration in front of several hundred reporters, military personnel , and civilians. Ryan test pilot Willis Louis "Lou" Everett, flying at 180 knots, prepares to transition from conventional flight to fan mode but the aircraft unexpectedly pitches down. Everett attempts low-altitude ejection but seat fails, his chute snags on the high tail, and he is killed. The Vertifan was a jet-powered V/STOL experimental aircraft in the 1960s.
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GILBERT, Ariz. — Northrop Grumman marked the completion of its expansion of the satellite manufacturing facility at its Gilbert, Ariz., campus...The expansion adds 120,000 square feet to the existing 135,000 square feet facility, nearly doubling the site’s production capacity to meet the company’s growing backlog of satellite orders.
With the C-130’s mission set within the 1st SOW, increasing the aircraft’s survivability and lethality is a vital task and the BAF at Edwards AFB is a one-of-a-kind facility for a one-of-a-kind aircraft… [VIDEO].
“The Moon is extremely stable and not influenced by factors on Earth like climate to any large degree. It becomes a very good calibration reference, an independent benchmark, by which we can set our instruments and see what’s happening with our planet…”
The trial of an Air Force general officer in a military court at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, ended with a conviction. The verdict marks the first court-martial trial and conviction of a general officer in the Air Force’s 75 year history…
On This Date, April 27, 1911: The Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Signal Corps accepted its second airplane, a Curtiss Model D Type IV, at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The airplane was built by Glenn H. Curtiss’ Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company at Hammondsport, N.Y. It was known as a “Curtiss Pusher,” as it was propelled by a propeller behind the engine. The aircraft was a canard configuration with elevators mounted in front. It had tricycle landing gear. The airframe was primarily spruce and ash, with flying surfaces covered with doped fabric. It was easily disassembled for transport on Army wagons.
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On This Date, April 26, 1967: Col. Joe Cotton and NASA test pilot “Fitz” Fulton, who had recently retired from the U.S. Air Force, conducted the first XB-70 flight of the NASA/U.S. Air Force Flight Research Program.
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"Hard choices” necessary to quicken the pace of change to “transform” and modernize the services to meet challenges from China...
On This Date, April 26, 1962: At a non-existent location in the Mojave Desert of Nevada, Lockheed Chief Test Pilot Louis Wellington “Lou” Schalk, Jr., was scheduled to take the first Project Oxcart aircraft (A-12) for a high-speed taxi test on the specially constructed 8,000-foot runway. However, he had received secret, specific instructions from designer Kelly Johnson to take the craft, known as “Article 121,” airborne. Schalk roared down the runway and lifted off. He flew at about 20 feet for two miles. The super-secret aircraft was oscillating badly so he set it down straight ahead on the dry lakebed and disappeared into a cloud of dust and flying sand. Johnson said that it “was horrible to watch.” A few minutes later, the needle nose of Article 121 appeared out of the dust as Schalk taxied back to the runway. It turned out that some equipment had been hooked up backwards. Subsequent flights were made without difficulty. This was the actual first flight of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Top Secret A-12 reconnaissance aircraft. The “official” first flight would come several days later.
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