Shuttle program managers decided Monday that dozens of support beams on space shuttle Discovery's external tank will be strengthened in an effort to prevent cracks that could endanger its upcoming flight. Work on the beams began Tuesday and will take about a week to complete. Managers haven't ruled out the possibility of performing the same work on all 108 stringers, a decision that would delay the 11-day mission to a launch window opening 27 Feb. No decision has been made yet about whether the two other external tanks being readied for flights will require similar work. (Image Credit: NASA)
Flightglobal provides a review of 2010 by listing the first flights for various planes and spacecraft. These included the Virgin Galactic VSS Enterprise's unpowered test flight, the Boeing 747-8, Lockheed Martin F-35C test aircraft, and the fourth A400M among others. The VSS Enterprise spaceship flew its first mission on 10 October under its own control and glided to a landing at the Mojave Air and Spaceport. The unpowered test marked a major event on the path to the first powered flight test for the program. Additionally, the largest western-built commercial freighter, the Boeing 747-8I lifted off on its maiden flight on 8 February. (Image Credit: Virgin Galactic)
An international governing board for aeronautic records has confirmed that a solar-powered drone shattered a long-standing endurance record by flying continuously for 14 days last summer. QinetiQ's Zephyr drone beat the record previously held by the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk, which was set in March 2001 during a flight that lasted 30 hours, 24 minutes. Federation Aéronautique Internationale said Zephyr's flight also marked the longest time an airplane flew without refueling. The QinetiQ drone, dubbed Zephyr, flew from 9 July to 23 July over the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. (Image Credit: QinetiQ)
The European variant of the high-altitude, long-endurance Global Hawk has passed its first endurance test, according to manufacturer Northrop Grumman, after completing a more than 30h flight in early Dec. The Euro Hawk UAV took off on 1 Dec. at 16:47 PST and landed at 20:59 on 2 Dec., 30h and 12min later. Soaring up to 60,000ft, the Euro Hawk performed well and has logged nearly 100 total flight hours since its maiden flight nearly five months ago. The aircraft is currently undergoing testing at Edwards AFB in CA, aiming for a spring delivery to Germany. It is Northrop's first international version of the RQ-4 Global Hawk. (Image Credit: Northrop Grumman)
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