Intelligent Autonomous Systems

Nisar Ahmed, aerospace engineering professor at the University of Colorado Boulder

Starship’s slow-motion destruction in April was a rare example of a rocket’s flight termination system failing to do its job adequately. Such a failure could put people on the ground at risk, and so, SpaceX must prove to FAA that it has a fix in hand before the agency permits the company to launch its next Starship. Jonathan O’Callaghan takes us inside the technology.

Richard Champion de Crespigny

Following in the tire tracks of autonomous cars, the development of self-flying aircraft continues. As similar as the challenges are in some regards, Adam Hadhazy discovered that aircraft engineers must largely forge their own solutions.

It drew over 3,700 people from government, academia and industry