Remember the Virgin Galactic Mothership Hunter posted about over the weekend? Well, Designer Burt Rhutan of Scaled Composites and Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin, have unveiled the latest in aviation technology and the world’s largest all carbon composite aircraft, the White Knight 2. It’s capable of reaching heights as great as 50,000 feet and specifies in training pilots for pre space-flight with positive G forces and zero G exercises.

Branson’s interest in space exploration was inspired by Steven Hawking (not the LEGO variety) and it seems like the days of Star Trek are getting closer and closer. With twelve of these babies being built, maybe those weddings in space will be bountiful in the near future. CrunchGear has great live coverage of the event, featuring tons of pictures, videos and facts on the unveiling of the White Knight 2.

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The AFP is reporting that a Chinese company has built a real flying saucer. Right out of Mars Attacks!, the UFO looks like an egg but is so much more. It can be driven remotely without the need for a pilot or anyone on board and can go about 50 MPH. To boot, it can hover an an altitude of 1000 meters, which is pretty high. Sounds Hollywood-ish but I’m not about to start screwing around with aliens.

Developed by Harbin Smart Special Aerocraft Co Ltd, the UFO took 12 years and $4.1 million before a working prototype came out. The company says the aircraft will be used for aerial photography, geological surveys and scaring the shit out of families everywhere.

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The whale-shaped Manned Cloud is only in its early concept stages, but the idea is a weirdly cool one. A flying whale hotel? I mean really, who comes up with this stuff?! French designer, Jean-Marie Massaud. That’s who.

Mixing the aesthetics of the old time led zeppelins with modern design practices, the Manned Cloud would host up to 40 passengers and 15 staff members, acting as a flying ultra-luxurious cruise. The first thing we thought of when we saw this design is shown after the jump. Prepare for internet LOLz. (more…)