FOUR futuristic vehicles are expected to take to the skies – and waters – in 2024.
Some are for work, and others for pleasure, but whatever their target audience is, they will change the world of tech and transport forever.
‘Son of concord’ supersonic aircraft
Nasa’s X-59 quiet supersonic aircraft, which can fly from New York to London in 1.5 hours, could blast off as soon as 2024.
In late November, the US space agency announced that the aircraft had been moved to the paint barn at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works’ facility in Palmdale, California ahead of its debut.
X-59, which has been referred to as the ‘son of Concorde’, aims to fly almost twice as fast as its namesake – faster than the speed of sound.
Nasa said in August that it has identified potential passenger markets in about fifty established city-to-city routes.
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Concorde had a maximum cruising speed of 1,354mph, or Mach 2.04.
This means X-59 could reach speeds of up to Mach 4 – or 3,045mph.
By comparison, today’s larger airliners cruise at roughly 600mph, or about 80 per cent of the speed of sound.
For more information on the supersonic aircraft, read here.
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World’s first ‘electric flying ship’
A passenger boat, dubbed the world’s first electric ‘flying’ ship, is set to enter Stockholm’s public transport system next year.
It’s called the Candela P-12, which went into production in November ahead of its first voyage in 2024.
Swedish company Candela Technology AB is behind the futuristic design.
The ship, 39 feet long, can carry around 30 passengers at a time.
Candela P-12 relies on a 252-kilowatt-hour battery to fly up to 35 miles per hour.
It has been designed to bypass congested roads and slow commutes, according to CEO Gustav Hasselskog.
In a statement, Hasselskog said: “The P-12 will let you use these waterways as green highways, enabling fast intra-city connections.
“Often, the quickest route is by water.”
Read more on the next-generation public transport vehicle here.
The space balloon with ‘a loo with a view’
Tourists are already lining up for a ticket aboard space balloon Neptune, where flights are set to begin next year.
The space balloon boasts 360 degree views of space and the curvature of the Earth, as well as a fully customisable wine and dining experience.
But the best seat in the spacecraft, is arguably, the loo.
The company behind the Neptune space balloon, Space Perspective, calls it the “world’s first Space Spa”.
The toilet onboard the Neptune offers tourists an opportunity to catch a solo glimpse of planet Earth, soaking in the views in solitude.
This so-called ‘loo with a view’ is kitted out with luxurious furnishings, including real plants, a plush toilet seat, “unique soundscapes” and of course, breathtaking views of home.
To reserve a seat onboard Neptune, Space Perspective requires a refundable deposit starting from $1,000.
The total cost of the seat will cost tourists $125,000.
It’s an eyewatering sum, however, it is miles cheaper than Richard Branson’s prices at Virgin Galactic.
To see more dazzling images of the space balloon, click here.
Pathfinder 1: a Google billionaire’s airship
A new dawn for blimps may be emerging thanks to billionaire Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who aims to turn these retired sky-giants into cargo vessels.
Brin’s company LTA Research has created a 400ft “lighter than air” blimp-like vehicle – called Pathfinder 1 – which received its airworthiness approval in October.
The US aviation watchdog has given the Pathfinder 1 an experimental certificate which expires in September 2024 – so it will have to fly for the first time between now and then.
According to IEEE, the inflatable aircraft is allowed to fly over the south side of the San Fransisco Bay at no higher than 1,500 feet.
This way, the Pathfinder 1 won’t interfere with any planes flying in or out of San Jose and San Francisco International commercial airports.
Once it flies, the Pathfinder 1 will be the largest aircraft to take to the skies since the tragic Hindenberg disaster in 1937, when Zeppelins were largely abandoned.
The incident triggered a reflexive fear of hydrogen based vehicles, in what has come to be known as ‘Hindenberg syndrome’.
To combat this paranoia, the Pathfinder 1 will use only non-flammable helium, as opposed to explosive hydrogen.
The next-generation blimp is kitted out with 12 electric motors and four rudders and has a frame built from carbon fibres and titanium.
Future iterations of the Pathfinder 1 may be able to carry up to 200 tons of cargo each – nearly ten times that of a Boeing 737.
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And with little infrastructure required for take-off and landing, LTA hopes they will play a role in delivering aid to difficult-to-access disaster zones.
For more on the modern blimp, read here.
Terrifying space weapons of the future
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Here are three of the scariest…
Rods from God
- A strange but utterly terrifying weapon has been dubbed “rods from the God” and is based on the concept of creating man-made meteorites that can be guided towards the enemy.
- Instead of using rocks rods the size of telephone poles are deployed.
- These would be made out of tungsten — a rare metal that can stand the intense heat generated by entering Earth’s atmosphere.
- One satellite fires the rods towards the Earth’s atmosphere while the other steers them to a target on the ground.
- Reaching speeds of 7000mph they hit the ground with the force of a small nuclear weapon — but crucially creating no radiation fall out.
- As bizarre as it sounds, a US Congressional report recently revealed the military has been pushing ahead with the kinetic space weapons.
Molten metal cannons
- This intriguing idea is being developed by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
- It is called the Magneto Hydrodynamic Explosive Munition or MAHEM.
- This game changing rail-gun can fire a jet of molten metal, hurled through space at several hundred miles per second by the most powerful electromagnets ever built.
- The molten metal can then morph into an aerodynamic slug during flight and pierce through another spacecraft or satellite and a munition explodes inside.
Space force ships
- Already the United States is powering head with its spacecraft, although China is busy developing one of their own.
- The top secret American XS-1 under development by DARPA.
- It can travel ten times the speed of sound and launch missiles.
- Meanwhile an unmanned craft is currently being developed in the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Centre in Mianyang, Sichuan province, which is also known as Base 29.