The Daily Planet » Video

Personal Jetpacks of the Future, Today

Heather Goss — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:37:08 +0000

We caught wind of Yves “Jetman” Rossy back in 2008 when he used his jet-powered wing to cross the English Channel. He kept working on the design and practicing his flying; he was featured on the popular British show Top Gear earlier this month, and just released this pretty impressive video. It seems like our perfect dream of a personal jetpack is missing just one thing: take-off from the ground. But don’t worry, Rossy is working on it.

JETMAN from Evert Cloetens on Vimeo.

Update: Oops, it looks like that video was taken down from Vimeo. Instead, enjoy some of these earlier videos: Jetman flying with a couple of actual jets, and some spectacular scenes while flying over the Grand Canyon.

Go for the Bomb

Tony Reichhardt — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:50:12 +0000

How do you set a new distance record for paper airplanes? Recruit a college quarterback to throw it. ESPN has the story, and video:

A New Angle on a Space Shuttle Launch

Heather Goss — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:58:25 +0000

What’s a better way to get a new view of a space shuttle launch than using a “whole-sky lens”? Better known as a fisheye lens, videographer Dennis Biela and his crew used it to catch Atlantis rising swiftly into the Florida sky on its final launch in July, before droplets from the steam clouds obscure the view.

You might already be familiar with some of Biela’s team’s work, including the 360-degree view of Atlantis‘ flight deck that’s been making its way around the internet for the past few months. Click over this way for a large series taken around Kennedy Space Center in the days around the last launch; navigate through by clicking on the series of boxes at the bottom left.