(Newser)
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Drone technology took another leap on Friday, with Boeing's first test flight for the Phantom Eye, a huge, hydrogen-powered spy craft capable of staying airborne for days at a time. In its first test flight, the Eye only stayed aloft for about 28 minutes, however, circling around Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, the LA Times reports. It also had trouble landing, breaking its landing gear in a lake bed. But Boeing declared victory nonetheless.
"This flight puts Boeing on a path to accomplish another aerospace first—the capability of four days of un-refueled, autonomous flight," the president of the St. Louis facility building the plane said. Current spy drones top out at 30 hours in the air. The Phantom Eye has a wingspan of 150 feet, and can spy on huge areas from heights as high as 65,000 feet. Boeing has been developing it for four years, at its own expense—the military has yet to commit to buying the Eye.
