january 1st

Shuttle Flights Delayed Until January

By Gregory Mone Posted 12.10.2007 at 2:25 pm 2 Comments

Yesterday NASA announced that it will delay launching the shuttle Atlantis until at least January 2nd. Atlantis was supposed to take off on Thursday, but one of its four fuel sensors started malfunctioning prior to the flight.

For now engineers are going to try to fix the problem while the shuttle in on the pad, but if they can't figure out the error that way, they'll have to move Atlantis to the hangar, which would cause further delays.

The good news, though, is that the agency says there's still enough of a time cushion to keep its February launch, which includes parts of the Japanese Kibo module, on track.

For our PPX crowd, this news does indeed spell a halt on our SHUTL proposition. Payout will happen January 1st, but it's clear NASA's plan for four flights to the ISS this year was just slightly too ambitious.—Gregory Mone

[ Read Full Story ]

read more about > Gregory Mone, january 1st, january 2nd, launch, shuttle atlantis

PPX: V-22 Flies at Last

By popsci Posted 11.28.2007 at 3:24 pm 0 Comments

Some 21 years after development began on the military's infamous aircraft, the V-22 Osprey is at long last flying missions. Well before the January 1st end-date on our PPX proposition, V22FLY has been delisted and will payout at POP$100. The U.S. Marine Corp has released video footage of the tiltrotor in action (above) and confirmed the sorties with PopSci; the market clearly called this one, with the price rising steadily until its halt at $80.50 per share.—Abby Seiff

READ MORE ABOUT > january 1st, seiff, tiltrotor, u s marine corp, video footage

+ More Photo Galleries

July 2013: The Future Of Flight

The incredible innovations, like drone swarms and perpetual flight, bringing aviation into the world of tomorrow. Plus: today's greatest sci-fi writers predict the future, the science behind the summer's biggest blockbusters, a Doctor Who-themed DIY 'bot, the organs you can do without, and much more.