David Szondy

David Szondy is a playwright, author and journalist based in Seattle, Washington. A retired field archaeologist and university lecturer, he has a background in the history of science, technology, and medicine with a particular emphasis on aerospace, military, and cybernetic subjects. In addition, he is the author of four award-winning plays, a novel, reviews, and a plethora of scholarly works ranging from industrial archaeology to law. David has worked as a feature writer for many international magazines and has been a feature writer for New Atlas since 2011.

Military

Washington, DC air defenses get AI camera and laser upgrades

Washington, DC is arguably the most closely defended airspace in the world. Now it's getting an upgrade thanks to a new AI camera system that can quickly identify unauthorized intruders and warn them off with a laser beam.
Military

US Army taps Raytheon to replace fuel lines with beamed power

In a move to make military logistics simpler by eliminating the need to move fuel and batteries around battlefields, the US Army has awarded Raytheon a contract to develop a directed energy wireless power system that can beam energy to where it's needed.
Space

SpaceX Starship Flight 6: No catch but there was a banana

The sixth flight of SpaceX's Starship went off today without a second capture landing of the Super Heavy first stage, but it did have a dramatic daylight powered soft landing of the Starship second stage in the Indian Ocean. And a banana.
Aircraft

Rocket plane makes first civil supersonic flight since Concorde

The rebirth of commercial supersonic flight has kind of, sort of come to pass as Dawn Aerospace announces that its 16-ft (4.8-m) Mk-II Aurora rocket-powered aircraft broke the sound barrier with a speed of Mach 1.1 on November 12, 2024.
Aircraft

Hydrogen-powered, box-winged eVTOL makes first untethered flight

We've been following the development of Australia's AMSL Aero's longe-range, hydrogen-powered Vertiia eVTOL for some time and now the box-winged tilt-rotor aircraft has completed its first free flight after over a year of 50 tethered tests.
Military

Skunk Works' latest aerial refueling tanker concept is pilot optional

Lockheed Martin's famous-but-secret Skunk Works has released a sort-of-new image of a concept for the company's Next Generation Aerial Refueling System (NGAS) military tanker aircraft for in-flight refueling of multiple warplanes.
Space

Spaceship architects asked to design star-hopping Generation Ships

If you've ever fancied yourself a spaceship architect that could design a vessel to carry colonists to another star system on a journey that could last for centuries, check out the Project Hyperion Design Contest, which invites teams to lay out their Generation Ship plans.
Space

New heat shield to protect next-gen reusable spacecraft during reentry

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Sierra Space Corporation have developed a new heat shield based on venerable 1980s Space Shuttle technology to protect the next generation of reusable spacecraft from the deadly heat of reentry.
Military

Watch: Autonomous Black Hawk copter proves its wildfire-fighting potential

A helicopter putting out a wildfire may not be news, but a robotic Black Hawk helicopter seeking out one and dropping water on it while the crew sits back and watches certainly is. That's what Sikorsky recently demonstrated to an audience of dignitaries.