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.

Will self-flying planes transform the skies? Image caption, Pyka's crop dusters are used in the US and Brazil Over an alfalfa field in California's San Joaquin Valley, a small crop-spraying plane is flying scarily low to the ground. There's little risk to humans though, as the plane is pilot-free. We can actually go lower than a human pilot can, says Russ Marotzke, as the aircraft skims over the crop. Flying lower means less spray drift and therefore less chemicals are needed than in conventional manned crop-dusting, he says.

What is Iran's Pickaxe Mountain? Why has Greece signed a $3.5bn missile deal with Israel? Share Why has Greece signed a $3.5bn missile deal with Israel? on social media Greece has inked a weapons deal with Israel that will see a $3.5bn multi-layered air defence system delivered to Athens in what is the largest defence agreement ever between the two countries. The agreement, signed on Monday in Tel Aviv, comes as Greece's relations with its neighbour and rival, Turkiye, have grown more sour. It also, however, breaks with a broader European wariness of being seen as too close to Israel, following the genocidal war on Gaza and Israel's increasingly blatant efforts to annex the occupied West Bank.

SpaceX has announced plans to build a new 100 billion "Starbase" launch site on the southern coast of Louisiana, giving it a third potential location to launch its giant Starship rocket. SpaceX executives and Louisiana governor Jeff Landry revealed that Elon Musk's company will be authorized to build a 125,000 acre (195 square mile) facility on the coast in an area called Pecan Island. "We're preparing to build a spaceport that, until now, has only existed in science fiction," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said. "SpaceX was founded to bring about a future where humans are out exploring amongst the stars, which will only be possible when we make going to space as routine as flying on an airplane. Starbase, Louisiana will unlock that future."

The Falcon 9 upper stage created a 60-foot-wide crater on the moon on August 5. 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. The crater image is enlarged three times from the original, with north facing up, and it covers an area about a quarter of a mile wide. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

Technology Aviation The world's largest electric plane takes flight The 25,000-pound aircraft flew for 27 minutes. 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. Heart Aerospace's X1 demonstrator, the largest battery-electric aircraft ever flown, crosses the Champlain Valley near Plattsburgh, New York, at sunrise during its first flight in August 2026. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

Cursor, the startup that became famous for its AI coding tool, is now officially owned by SpaceX. The companies announced the acquisition in June, but the process apparently started in April, when they teamed up for Cursor's model training efforts. In its announcement, Cursor said that it will now have access to "the largest fleet of GPUs in the world," which will give it the computing capacity to build and train better models that it can offer its customers at a lower cost. SpaceX, which merged with Elon Musk's AI company xAI earlier this year, paid 60 billion for the purchase. In July, xAI officially became SpaceXAI.

AI is shifting the culture, from tech CEO manifestos to 1 am job interviews. Today on Brian Barrett, Zoë Schiffer, and Leah Feiger break down Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's 6,500-word AI manifesto and why it ultimately rings hollow. Plus, why are job seekers scheduling bot-run interviews at 1 am? WIRED's Andy Greenberg also joins to unpack the best findings from Black Hat and Defcon, from a hacked kids' smartwatch to a coin-sized device that can hijack a Boeing 737. McDonald's Built a 515-Page Dossier on Me. It Says I'll Never Stop Eating There Write to us at [email protected] . You can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how: If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link . I thought it was fun. The dialogue was kind of whatever, beautiful shots of the Sicilian ocean. And I went with my husband who loves to remind me that he studied Latin and Greek in high school, and he actually liked it too. I think everyone who is complaining about it needs to stop.

Security researchers found that in less than 60 seconds, they could open a hatch on a plane's exterior, plug in a tiny device, and redirect the aircraft's autopilot or sabotage its flight plan. Even as the digital components of so many life-critical systems have proven susceptible to cybersabotage-- cars, medical devices, even water utilities and power grids --the computer systems of airplanes have, thankfully, remained uniquely inaccessible to hackers. But one group of academic researchers has spent years testing a different, devious approach to aviation cybersecurity. Perhaps, they suggest, a plane could be hacked the same way that spies and saboteurs have targeted other high-value, offline computers: by surreptitiously gaining physical access to one and plugging in a device designed to silently run the attackers' malicious code. Tomorrow at the Usenix Cybersecurity Conference, researchers from the University of California at San Diego and Oberlin College will present a hacking technique capable of commandeering the autopilot of a Boeing 737 to redirect its navigation or silently altering key values in the plane's takeoff and fuel calculations while spoofing the results on the pilot's screen--subtle changes the researchers say could potentially cause anything from runway overruns on takeoff to diversions to a different country's airspace to catastrophic crashes.