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Boeing [NYSE: BA] and the U.S. Air Force have demonstrated for the first time how -- with advanced airborne networking and information management technology -- a near-space vehicle can be used as a flexible, low-cost, theater-wide information broker that provides real-time tactical information to ground forces to enhance their effectiveness and survivability. The recent demonstration was the first in a series of experiments dubbed Project Marti. The Marti concept seeks to combine the wide-area coverage and loiter time of a near-space vehicle (such as a High-Altitude, Long Endurance or HALE concept vehicle) with the sensing ability and agility of lower-altitude...

Aviation Week & Space Technology Griffin Tells Astronomers To Lower Expectations By Frank Morring, Jr. 01/14/2006 LOOKING TO THE STARS Astronomers in the U.S. can still look forward to a human servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope next year, and perhaps to big observatories on the far side of the Moon some day. But for the most part, the funding outlook at NASA for space science is tight as the agency shifts its focus to sending humans back to the Moon, meaning near-term priorities like searching for Earth-like planets around other stars will slip, and it will take longer...

<p>Hey, 550 miles per hour is just too slow. And a 1,500-mile range just isn't big enough.</p> <p>The Tomahawk cruise missile may seem fast and far-reaching. But Pentagon planners want more. Late last week, they handed out contracts to 10 firms to start designing a hypersonic missile that can outrun the now-retired Concorde, and can hit a terrorist nest in Europe from the East Coast.</p>