World’s largest aircraft completes test flight
London: The world’s largest aircraft has successfully completed a test flight, bringing the massive helium-filled airship one step closer to commercial use.
The hybrid aircraft dubbed the Airlander 10 combines technology from airplanes, helicopters and airships. It is designaed to fly at altitudes of 6,100 meters for up to five days when manned. With a length of 92 metres, it is the largest aircraft currently flying, ‘Live Science’ reported. On May 10, the Airlander 10 flew for a total of 180 minutes to test the aircraft’s handling, improved landing technology and more, according to Hybrid Air Vehicles, the British company that built the aircraft.
During the successful test flight in Cardington, UK, the Airlander 10 “handled superbly,” said Dave Burns, the Airlander 10’s chief test pilot. The flight test team was “very pleased” with its initial analysis of the Airlander 10, the company said.
“There will also be passenger variants for the ultimate flying experience and eventually Hybrid Air Vehicles will fulfil a crucial role in point-to-point cargo transportation to remote areas,” company officials said.
This was only the third flight of the Airlander 10. It first successfully flew in 2012 as part of the US Army’s Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle programme.
The modified Airlander 10 made its maiden voyage in August last year, kicking off a flight test programme to assess the aircraft’s performance and attempting to fly the airship farther away from its base in the UK. (PTI)
Armstrong’s moon dust bag may fetch $4 million at auction
New York: An extremely rare bag used by NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong to collect the first dust samples from the Moon is expected to fetch up to USD 4 million at an auction in the US.
The bag brought back to Earth 48 years ago contains traces of the moon dust and is an exceptionally rare relic of humanity’s greatest achievement.
It will be up for auction on July 20 along with a signed photograph of Armstrong’s companion Buzz Aldrin on the Moon and other memorabilia.
“The star lot of the sale is the most important space exploration artifact to ever come to market, the outer decontamination bag used by Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11 to bring back the very first samples ever collected of the Moon, traces of which remain in the bag,” according to the Sotheby’s auction house.
During the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong collected nearly 500 grammes of material finer than one centimetre (cm), as well as 12 rock fragments larger than one cm from five different locations on the lunar surface in the region known as the Sea of Tranquillity.
The true history of the bag went unknown for decades until just a year ago.
It was offered three separate times in 2014 by a small auction house garnering not a single bid. It was re-listed again in 2015, where Nancy Carlson, the current owner won the lot with a bid of USD 995, Sotheby’s said.
Interested in the history of her purchase, she sent it to NASA in the hope of obtaining further information. Scientific tests revealed the dust in the bag to be moon dust, specifically from the Apollo 11 landing site.
The part number printed inside of the bag matched up to that of the “Contingency Lunar Sample Return Decontamination Bag” listed in the Apollo 11 Stowage list, Sotheby’s said.
The auction will coincide with the anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. (PTI)
