I was trying to find something to blog about when a friend of mine suggested that i google NASA's Puffin project. I did, and couldnt believe my eyes! NASA has developed a special air craft called Puffin. "It takes off like a helicopter and flies like a plane. It can cruise at 140 mph and, with a boost mode, hit about twice that. Oh - and its electric," reports Jason Paur in a blog, which can be found at:http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/01/nasa-puffin/If you go to Nasa's website, http://www.nasa.gov/, you can navigate through their search to find the Puffin project. The puffin project was conceptualized by aerospace engineer Mark Moore. "Moore came up with the design for the electric powered 12 foot long, 14.5 foot wingspan, personal air vehicle as part of the coursework for his doctoral degree."
(Nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/puffin.html)
My first thought was that it was very Iron Man like! lol I am astonished that we have come this far with interfaces, and robotics together. And with the two different flight capabilites combined in one aircraft! That kind of integration is impressive. I wonder if we'll ever have the technology to drop the price on those so that we can use them in all of our armed forces?
Eventhough the Puffin hasnt been constructed yet, "NIA hopes to fly a remote control one tird sized model to validate assumptions made in academic studies, with the specific intent of exploring the transition from hover to forward flight."(NASA.gov)
