• Scaled Composites WhiteKnightTwo

    By Posted on 11.11.2008 Comments

    With the wingspan of a B-29 bomber, the WhiteKnightTwo is the largest all-carbon-fiber aircraft ever built. Its mission is to carry a smaller craft, SpaceShipTwo, and drop it at 48,000 feet, where it will blast off into suborbital space with paying passengers—in 2010, if all goes well. Virgin Galactic’s CEO, Richard Branson, also wants to use WhiteKnightTwo as a low-cost way to launch satellites into orbit. Scaled Composites engineers had to overcome numerous setbacks, including a fatal explosion at the company’s headquarters, to finish the craft.

    12.2.2008 at 11:42pm - Comment by Mr.Eastman

    PEOPLE DIE DAILY FOR ALL KINDS OF DUMB REASONS, PEOPLE DIE IN CAR CRASHES EVERYDAY, BUT THEY STILL DRIVE AND THEY ARE STILL BEING BUILT, NO DOING SOMETHING THAT HAS ALOT OF POTENTIAL ADVANTAGES JUST BECAUSE OF THE POTENTIAL FOR LIFE LOSS ISNT A GOOD ENOUGH REASON NOT TO BUILD SOMETHING, THIS THINK IS A AWESOME CONCEPT, DO PEOPLE KNOW HOW MUCH POLLUTION IS EXPELLED LAUNCHING SOMETHING INTO ORBIT, THEY SHOULD HAVE HAD SOMETHING BETTER TO GET THAT JOB DONE YEARSSS AGO, BUT WE ALL KNOW PEOPLE THT MAKE MONEY OFF SLOW PROGRESS WOULDNT ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN, AND THEY ALL OF A SUDDEN A MAGIC EXPLOSION AT THE HEADQUARTERS, DONT GOTTA BE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO FIGURE THIS ONE OUT.

  • Technology

    Nuclear Moon Bases

    By Dawn Stover Posted on 11.21.2008 25 Comments

    When lunar astronauts flick on their televisions after a long day of prospecting, they’ll have a trashcan-size nuclear reactor to thank for their nightly dose of prime time. NASA, looking past the already daunting task of simply getting humans to the moon by 2020, recently started considering proposals for ways to power lunar habitats. Batteries and fuel cells provide only short-term solutions. Solar power would be limited where a single night lasts as long as 354 hours. So space-agency officials have started making plans to go nuclear.

    12.2.2008 at 11:31pm - Comment by Mr.Eastman

    DONT BE FOOLED PEOPLE, EVERYONE USE YOUR BRAINS, 40 YEARS AGO, SPACE RACE TO THE MOON, LANDED THERE SUCCESSFULLY, YOU REALLY THINK THEY ABANDONED ALL THE ASPERATIONS TO GO AND COLONIZE THE MOON, EVEN IF FROM A STRATIGICAL STANDPOINT, WRONG!!! THEY LEAK STUFF LIKE THIS TO PEOPLE WHO THEY THINK ARE DUMB ENOUGH TO THINK THEY OUR ADVANCED GOVERMENT REALLY IS THAT INCOMPETANT AND MOVES THAT SLOW, WHEN WE ALL KNOW THAT BY THE TIME CERTAIN TECHNOLOGY OR ADVANCEMENTS REACH US, THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN IN USE WITH OUR GOVERMENTS AND OUR MILITARIES FOR ATLEAST 7 YEARS, THE MILITARY FOR EXAMPLE CANNOT ACCOUNT FOR 25% OF THEIR BUDGET, IT MAGICALLY JUST DISSAPEARS, I CAN GIVE YOU THE REPORT THAT TALKS ABOUT IT IF YOU DONT BELIEVE, COVERT OPERATIONS LIKE THIS ON ON THE MOON IS WHERE THE MONEY GOES, THEY JUST CANT LET THE PUBLIC KNOW, BECAUSE IF WE KNOW, THE SO CALLED "ENEMY" KNOWS. THINK ABOUT IT PEOPLE!!!



Download Our iPhone App

Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone with full articles, images and offline viewing



Follow Us On Twitter

Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed



Become a Fan On Facebook

Share links with friends, comment on stories and more


December 2009: Best of What's New

In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.

Check out the best of what's new here.

Popular Science Photo Pool


Share your photos in the Pop Sci pool at www.flickr.com!
tags_sprite.png
POP_embeddedForm_cover_May09.jpg