I knew we told you we’re still off this today and Tuesday, but we couldn’t leave you hanging with nothing. So here’s a (very) skinny something to read this morning.

On October 18, 1985, the U.S. Air Force and NASA conducted the first flight of a wing that could change its shape without flaps, slats, ailerons, or spoilers. Which jet-powered aircraft served as the testbed for this flexible, high-tech wing design?

A) F-14 Tomcat 
B) F-15 Eagle
C) F-111 Aardvark 

Golden Dome is the Pentagon’s planned missile defense shield combining ground, sea, and space-based systems to protect the United States. But it has an orbital math problem.

Two physicists who led the American Physical Society’s missile defense study estimate that stopping four ICBMs during boost phase could require 24,000 space-based interceptors; a ten-missile salvo, at least 60,000. Flight demos are slated for 2027, but demonstrating an intercept and fielding a credible shield are very different milestones.

Why so many? Zoom in here to find out.

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ANSWER
C) The F-111 Aardvark was chosen for the Mission Adaptive Wing (MAW) experiment because its existing variable-sweep wing design and hydraulic system made it the ideal test platform. MAW (and the F-111) was part of the broader Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI) Program run by the Air Force and NASA.

Each wing used 8 hydraulic drive units, 2 for the leading edge and 6 for the trailing edge, powered by the F-111’s (upgraded) hydraulic system. It was controlled by dual digital computers, with analog back-ups. Despite the perceived complexity, it was estimated a production wing would be 600 pounds lighter than its conventional counterpart and require less maintenance.

A total of 59 flights were conducted between 1985 and 1988, demonstrating the utility of the smooth-wing concept and its performance: an aircraft could achieve a 25-30% increase in range.

Read more about it here.