In a ceremony in St. Louis, Boeing on Monday unveiled its hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye remotely piloted aircraft, which is designed to remain aloft at 65,000 feet for up to four days. “Phantom Eye is the first of its kind and could open up a whole new market in collecting data and communications,” said Darryl Davis, Boeing Phantom Works president. Later this summer, the company will ship Phantom Eye to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., to begin ground and taxi tests in preparation for its first flight in early 2011. That debut flight is expected to last between four and eight hours, said company officials. Phantom Eye has a 150-foot wingspan and is built to cruise at about 150 knots and carry a payload up to 450 pounds. Boeing’s industry team includes Ford Motor Company and Aurora Flight Sciences. (Boeing release)
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.