Since the origins of the "Dogfight" in World War I, military's have been questioning a way to get the same dog fight without having the risk of losing a human life if the plane gets shot down. In recent years, many Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV's) have been developed to go into use in military's all around the world. Recently, drones like the Predator, Reaper, and Global Hawk have been in use in war. These drones can be flown longer, further, and higher than an equivalent plane with a human inside of it.
The newest aircraft in the military is going to the US Navy. This new aircraft called the X-47 is an unmanned carrier capable unmanned fighter jet. The X-47 has recently completed its first carrier testing in which it successfully took off and landed on a moving aircraft carrier. This new UAV will substitute and possibly replace the F-18 in the future. The new jet is still in the developing stages so not much information is known about it yet except that it is a carrier capable fighter jet.
The Common but Deadly USAF Predator UAV
The UAV's in the USAF are some of the most effective in the world. In the Middle East, the air force uses the Predator and similar drones everyday to monitor and target enemies safely and effectively. If a UAV gets shot down, it is not as bad as if it were an attack aircraft because no pilot loses their lives in a drone.
Since the 1960's the US has been doing almost constant missions into space. Since the moon landings in the 60's most of the flights have just been routine research flights to the International Space Station in orbit around Earth. After the cancellation of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the only way for US astronauts to get to the space station has been to pay Russia for a seat in their spacecraft. Today the new era of NASA took off from the launch pad in Cape Canaveral. The new spacecraft called Orion takes a modern spin on the style of the old Apollo rockets in which a capsule at the top detaches and parachutes down into the ocean rather than landing like the shuttle.
Orion Spacecraft Leaves Cape Canaveral 5 December 2014
The Orion capsule built by Lockeed Martin is capable of leaving low Earth Orbit and traveling a much greater distance than what has been possible in the past with the Space Shuttle. NASA hopes to use this shuttle in the future to go to asteroids and possibly Mars. The maiden flight lasted a little less than 4 and a half hours and went flawlessly. NASA hopes to do a manned flight by 2021.
