A huge autonomous drone that can carry the weight of two baby elephants has been unveiled by Boeing. The heavy-duty quadrocopter can transport payloads up to quarter-of-a-ton, and Boeing says it may use the drone to shift heavy cargo in future. After designing and building the craft in just three months, Boeing says it has already put the vehicle through flight tests at one of its research centres. A huge autonomous drone that can carry the weight of two baby elephants has been unveiled by Boeing. Powered by an electric propulsion system, Boeing's CAV prototype has eight helicopter-like rotors, allowing for vertical take-off and landing.

NASA engineers are testing the high-power solar electric propulsion systems that could soon push exploration missions further into deep space. A stunning new image from the agency's Glenn Research Center shows a Hall thruster ahead of ground testing in a vacuum chamber. The device is said to have three times the power of existing systems, and the experiments in the vacuum chamber will put it to the test of a simulated space environment, allowing engineers to see how it performs. NASA engineers are testing the high-power solar electric propulsion systems that could soon push exploration missions further into deep space. A stunning new image from the agency's Glenn Research Center shows a Hall thruster ahead of ground testing in a vacuum chamber In the image, NASA engineer Dr Peter Peterson can be seen preparing the high-power thruster – a device that the agency says is'critical' in the future of deep space exploration.

Earth is not prepared for the possibility of a cataclysmic asteroid collision, according to the White House's top science advisor. At a discussion on Wednesday at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center regarding the agency's 1.4 billion Asteroid Redirect Mission, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy John Holdren warned that an impact could'do a lot of damage to the Earth.' The expert noted two catastrophic events in recent history that took the world by surprise – the Chelyabinsk strike in 2013, and the Tunguska fireball in 1908. While it may sound alarming, Holdren says we are'on a trajectory' toward mitigating the risks, as Nasa's radical mission has recently been given the green light to move forward, and could provide a platform for the testing of crucial deflection methods. At a discussion yesterday at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center, director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy John Holdren warned that an asteroid impact could'do a lot of damage to the Earth.'

An ambitious mission that will visit a comet and pluck a boulder from its surface to create an orbiting base for astronauts has been given the final go-ahead. A robot shipwill pluck a large boulder off an asteroid and sling it aroundthe moon, becoming a destination to prepare for futurehuman missions to Mars, the U.S. space agency has revealed. The so-called Asteroid Redirect Mission is estimated to costabout 1.4 billion not including launch costs and is targetedfor liftoff in December 2021. In the Spacecraft Structures Lab at NASA's Langley Research Center, the Asteroid Redirect Mission robotic contact and restraint system is prototyped and tested. A robot ship will pluck a large boulder off an asteroid and drag it into orbit around the moon, becoming a'testbed' for future human missions to Mars, the U.S. space agency has revealed.