The Department of the Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane, a reusable, multi-purpose, system that operates without an onboard crew, won the prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy Aug. 13 for advancing technology that pushes “the boundaries of flight and space exploration.”
In announcing the award, Jim Albaugh, chairman of The National Aeronautic Association which sponsors the competition, praised the X-37B, “As the world’s only autonomous, reusable spaceplane, it continues to contribute to our understanding of both space and air flight.” The Collier Trophy has been awarded annually since 1911 and is one of the most prominent accolades in aviation. Volansi has signed a teaming agreement with the N.C. Department of Transportation to begin commercial, middle-mile drone delivery projects in North Carolina. Volansi and NCDoT will work together with the FAA, to gather data on drone delivery programs and how they could be incorporated long-term into the current transportation infrastructure and regulations. Volansi will initially perform tests and VLOS cargo delivery flights under Part 107 as part of the UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP) in North Carolina, with the intent to scale to more projects with additional waivers and permissions with the
support of the NCDoT and the FAA. When we peruse NASA web sites and news profiles, we are often pretty much stunned at the variety and breadth of research and activities being conducted. A particular focus, of late, has centered on Unmanned technologies and how we've going to mix manned and unmanned air traffic without conflict. In June and August 2020, researchers at NASA's Ames Research Center in California conducted Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) flight tests of drone aircraft at Moffett Field at Ames. The purpose of the flight test was to investigate the feasibility of a concept called Time-Based Conformance Monitoring (TBCM). All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-Unmanned!!!
Airborne-Unmanned 08.19.20 is chock full of info in this Weekly News Episode, Wednesday, August 19th, 2020... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Sophie Hurlock, Brianne Cross, Christopher Odom, and Laura Hutson, and is supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, and Aero-Journalist Tom Patton, this episode covers:
- Collier Trophy Goes to Air Force – Boeing X-37B Program
- Volansi Signs Agreement With N.C. DoT
- UAS Drone Research Flights Being Conducted At Moffett Field
- Drones Used To Conduct Automated Inspections At Cranfield Airport
- uAvionix Intro's pingRX Pro For UAS
- PrecisionHawk Earns UTM Patents
- Town Of Buena Vista, Colorado Approves Unique Drone Flying Park
Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again next week for the next edition of "Airborne-Unmanned" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, next week!
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