The tech is "expected to enhance early detection, tracking, suppression efficiency, and firefighter safety." Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. During the Sand Creek Fire, which has burned since the start of August in southwestern Montana, difficult terrain and fire-weakened trees posed hazards to crews searching for areas still smoldering on steep slopes after the blaze passed. So instead of relying only on firefighters to find hidden embers, fire managers used unmanned aircraft to seek out heat sources. The operation is part of a broader technological shift underway in wildfire response.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series It didn't circle Earth six times as planned. Elisha Sauers writes about space for Mashable, taking deep dives into NASA's moon and Mars missions, chatting up astronauts and history-making discoverers, and jetting above the clouds . Through 17 years of reporting, she's covered a variety of topics, including health, business, and government, with a penchant for public records requests. She previously worked for in Norfolk, Virginia, and in Annapolis, Maryland. Her work has earned numerous state awards, including the Virginia Press Association's top honor, Best in Show, and national recognition for narrative storytelling.

Mashable Selects Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more In My Bag Look Up Creator Playbook Say More AI at School Safety Net Versus Trending Now Back to School Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age All Series SpaceX Starship Flight 14 reaches Earth's orbit and explodes in the Pacific From satellite deployment to a dramatic fiery finish, catch all the chaotic launch action in this full supercut recap. 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' teaser shows Sauron in full control of Middle-earth SpaceX's Starship Flight 14 saw it reach orbit for the first time, 170 miles above the Earth, marking a major milestone for the company. The Starship also deployed 26 V3 Starlink satellites, adding to the company's constellation. See all the highlights in our supercut video. Starship reaches orbit for the first time ever but returns home early Starlink satellites are becoming a barometer for Earth's atmosphere Elon Musk's SpacexAI faces another lawsuit from child sexual abuse survivor Seth Meyers takes'A Closer Look' at Trump's ballroom tour for Xi Jinping Isn't this bullroom of yours supposed to include a bunch of top secret military facilities, and if it does, maybe don't do the tour with the heads of foreign governments?

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Technology Aviation China's new supersonic plane could travel twice as fast as sound The TMS-10 is on track to complete a test flight by the end of the year. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. NASA's X-59 (seen above) is also intended to eventually provide commercial supersonic flight, although its design dampens sonic booms instead of dissipating them. The United States isn't the only nation itching to restart supersonic passenger air travel . Earlier this month, China announced its TMS-10 experimental demonstrator plane has entered the final assembly phase and is on schedule to conduct its first test flight by the end of the year.

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People walk past a sign reading No drone zone in an alley in Beijing on Sept. 14. | AFP-JIJI Beijing - Drone owners in Beijing flocked to designated buy-back sites in recent days, looking to sell their devices for as much as possible ahead of an impending citywide ban. New rules in the Chinese capital ban not just the flying of unmanned aerial vehicles but the possession or storage of them, meaning owners have until November 15 to get rid of their drones. At several authorized buyer sites across the city, reporters witnessed queues of people waiting for staff to appraise their drones and negotiate prices. All sites had a visible police presence, indicating the sensitivity of the new laws, and most people there did not want to talk to reporters. At the flagship store for the world's largest drone-maker DJI in Beijing's business district, around a dozen people queued on Thursday morning hoping to sell their drones back for a reasonable price.

The retrofitted Cessna handled taxiing, takeoffs, bad weather, and landings without a human pilot. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. A human safety pilot flew onboard during the trip, but never needed to assist the flight. A single-engine prop Cessna Caravan has reportedly become the first airplane to autonomously complete a cross-continental flight across the United States. Overseen by the aeronautics company Joby, the retrofitted aircraft began its challenge in Concord, California, on September 7, ultimately traveling 3,199 miles with no assistance from its onboard human safety pilot.

In 1963, a plane flew to space. Why couldn't we go farther? From the record-breaking X-15 to today's hypersonic aircraft, the spaceplane dream never really died. More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. A stubby-winged'missile with a cockpit,' the X-15 will take its pilot to the edge of space, 'Popular Science' reported in June 1958. In 1926, when Albert Scott Crossfield was five years old, a priest came to his home to administer the last rites.

The mission to Phobos, Japan's first Mars probe launch in 28 years, may reveal new information about our closest planetary neighbor. The Japanese space probe will land on the moon Phobos. A Mars probe from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) may answer some longstanding questions about the Red Planet and its moons. The mission--dubbed MMX for "Martian Moons eXploration"--aims to collect at least 10 grams of samples from Phobos, one of two moons orbiting the planet, and if successful, these will be the first rocks from a Martian moon ever brought to Earth. They won't arrive quickly, however.