After 20 years of operation, the Pioneer 6 satellite becomes the longest-running spacecraft in history. When launched in 1965, the solar-orbiting satellite had a life expectancy of six months.
Bell Textron has won DARPA's contest for a no-runway, high-speed drone that will prove out technologies useful for special operations forces and possibly the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment concept. Bell's design converts a tiltrotor to a jet-powered aircraft able to fly at up to 450 knots.