AirSpaceMag.com

Brainwave-controlled machines, just one of many changes on the way.

Forecasting technology is a notoriously tricky business. In spite of all the predictions, we still don’t have fusion power or flying cars, but in 2010 you can kick around a virtual soccer ball using a handheld camera phone, and who saw that coming?

It’s the job of the Air Force Chief Scientist and his colleagues to look around periodically, see what technology is current and what lies just ahead, and try to extrapolate as best they can. The last such planning exercise was in 1995. Now, after a year-long study, the Chief Scientist has come out with a new “Technology Horizons” report, a roadmap for navigating the technological landscape the Air Force can expect between now and 2030.

There are enough gadgets in the 171-page report to make any tech freak’s heart beat faster, from brainwave-controlled machines to hyper-precise bombs to atomic clocks that fit on a computer chip.  Many have the same overarching theme: The Air Force expects to rely much more on computers and less on humans (say goodbye to pilots). This is far beyond remotely piloted airplanes, folks. A quote from the report: “By 2030 machine capabilities will have increased to the point that humans will have become the weakest component in a wide array of systems and processes. Closer human-machine coupling and augmentation of human performance will become possible and essential.” And of course, our enemies will have access to abundant, cheap technology, too, which will make the job even harder.

If it sounds like the opening scenes of The Terminator, well…remember that Ahnold’s persistent cyborg came from the year 2029.

Download a PDF of the Technology Horizons report here.

The Curiosity rover, scheduled for launch to Mars next year, took its first test drive last week.

Photo: Avantair

Of all the high-end executive transports to choose from — Gulfstream, Lear, Cessna Citation, Beech Super King Air, Sikorsky, Eurocopter — Sony opted for the Piaggio Avanti for its summer blockbuster, “Salt,” starring Angelina Jolie as a battering ram.

The catfish-shaped turboprop makes a cameo appearance, much to the delight of Avantair, the exclusive fractional-ownership provider for the Avanti that owns N188SL. At the last second, Sony changed the tail number to N182SL, which belongs to a 1972 Cessna 182. I have no idea why, but then nobody ever checks with me on these decisions. “Stay for the end credits that give Special Thanks to Avantair,” the company Twittered just before the film opened on July 23.

The Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress "Shoo Shoo Baby" at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (USAF photo)

A classic symbol of World War II aviation, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is celebrating its 75th anniversary of flight today. To commemorate the airplane’s long history, at least four of them will be at the EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin this week.

Of the nearly 13,000 B-17s produced between 1935 and 1945, almost 5,000 were shot down during WWII. These long-range bombers were vital to the Allied cause, and served as part of the U.S. Army’s Eighth Air Force. Only about 15 B-17s remain in flying condition today, so it’s a rare treat to have four of them—“Aluminum Overcast,” “Texas Raiders,” “Thunderbird,” and “Yankee Lady”—appearing at the same time at Oshkosh.

One of the most iconic B-17s, “Memphis Belle,” was the first to complete 25 combat missions. In line to be scrapped, the bomber was bought by Memphis mayor Walter Chandler in 1946. Restoring the aircraft proved costly, so it was moved to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, where it is still in the process of being restored. Two movies have been made about the airplane, one a 1944 War Department Documentary directed by William Wyler and the other a 1990 feature film.

Seventy-five years after its first flight, the B-17 is still a head-turner. If you’re interested in catching a ride in one, here’s more information.

STS-132 crew (from left: Piers Sellers, Garrett Reisman, Tony Antonelli, Ken Ham, Michael Good, Steve Bowen) during training. Courtesy NASA.

On May 14, 2010, when the Space Shuttle Atlantis left for the International Space Station (ISS) on its 32nd and final flight, it carried some typical items on board: the Russian mini-research module (which provided a new docking port and storage space for the ISS), and a cargo carrier filled with spare parts for the space station, which will be used as needed after the shuttle stops flying.

But a number of smaller articles made the 11-day journey as well, one of which was the National Air and Space Museum’s replica of John Mather’s 2006 Nobel Prize for Physics. (Dr. Mather, of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, was awarded the prize jointly with George F. Smoot of the University of California at Berkeley “for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation.”)

Replica of John Mather's Nobel Prize for Physics. Courtesy NASM.

Today, the crew of STS-132 and Dr. Mather returned the Nobel Prize replica to the Museum. In early 2010, STS-132 Mission Specialist Piers Sellers contacted Dr. Mather at NASA Goddard asking to fly a copy of his Nobel Prize aboard Atlantis. Unfortunately, NASA’s replica had been embedded in a four-foot-long plastic plant stand. Sellers took one look and joked, “Maybe we could put it on the Space Station as a hood ornament or something.” And that’s when he decided to contact Margaret Weitekamp, a curator in the Museum’s Space History Division, who sent Sellers “a slightly more portable version.”

Even though the request came during the height of the winter snow storms that shut down Washington, D.C. for a week, Weitekamp and other Museum staff were able to hand-deliver the replica to NASA Headquarters within 24 hours of the request.

NASA then sent the medal by Federal Express to the Johnson Spaceflight Center in Houston, Texas. Weitekamp recalled that after Sellers opened the package, he emailed the Museum: “Hello everyone. I have received the Nobel Prize. (I have always wanted to say that.)”