How the SR-71 Used Radar Tricks to Defeat Missile Locks
Everything had to be invented. Everything, Kelly Johnson said of the aircraft that became the SR-71 Blackbird, and that line…
Aerospace & Spaceflight
NASA’s Moon Crew Will Test the Hardware Behind a 2028 Landing
NASA’s next moon mission is less about replaying Apollo than proving that its modern deep-space hardware can carry people safely…
Why the U-2 Spy Plane Still Needs a New Radar Shield
At altitudes above 70,000 feet, the U-2 still flies in an air space that, until recently, seemed almost untouchable. The…
Why the Air Force Is Rebuilding the F-22
Why is the U.S. Air Force pouring new money into a fighter that first entered service two decades ago? It…
Why Artemis 2’s Moon Launch Is a High-Stakes Test
One more trip around the moon – but this one feels different. Not since Apollo have people broken free from…
Astronomers Just Caught Two Giant Planets Taking Shape
What does a solar system look like before it settles into the orderly architecture we see in our own neighborhood…
Scientists Narrow the Best Stars for an Interstellar Life Hunt
Picking a real destination for an interstellar probe is no longer just a science-fiction exercise. With thousands of exoplanets now…
Webb Found Why Saturn’s Day Kept Giving Scientists the Wrong Answer
How is it possible for a planet to appear to be rotating at different rates without breaking any laws of…
Why Ford-Class Carriers Bet Big on Electricity Over Steam
The Gerald R. Ford class isn’t designed around a new catapult. It’s designed around a different idea of what an…