Hackaday Links: October 3, 2026

If you’re interested by aerospace, there’s a superb opportunity you’ve heard the rumor that NASA is attempting to get its SR-71 flying once more. Or on the very least, they’re interested by what precisely it will take to bring the iconic Mach 3+ spy plane back online.

The story began a few weeks in the past when NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman introduced the company could be reinvesting of their famed “X-Plane” experimental plane program in an effort to get “again within the commerce of flying excessive and quick once more.” Not lengthy after, keen-eyed observers famous that the SR-71 that had been sitting on the tarmac on the Armstrong Flight Research Center in California had been moved to an unknown location. Several people who labored on the aircraft whereas it was operational have since claimed NASA representatives contacted them about probably refurbishing it.

So will the Blackbird fly once more? Almost actually not. It could be onerous sufficient getting even a regular aircraft airworthy after sitting dormant for almost three many years. But whenever you’re speaking a few fowl as uncommon and secretive because the SR-71, the challenges could be virtually insurmountable. Of course, that doesn’t imply there aren’t some invaluable classes to be discovered by learning the concept, and we think about that’s what NASA’s actually after.

The SR-71 is without doubt one of the quickest planes ever constructed, but it surely’s obtained nothing on an orbital spacecraft just like the SpaceX Crew Dragon, which earlier this week set the record for the fastest rendezvous with the International Space Station by an American vehicle. The Crew-13 mission lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:10 AM Eastern and docked with the orbiting laboratory at 7:05 PM — a complete elapsed time of slightly below eight hours.

While the crew was more than pleased with the comparatively speedy commute, their journey was nonetheless significantly longer than that of their Russian counterparts. The Soyuz capsule can attain the ISS in round three hours beneath perfect circumstances, and even when it makes use of the slower rendezvous profile, docking takes place about six hours after launch. Counterintuitively, this doesn’t imply the Soyuz is definitely quicker or extra succesful than the Crew Dragon. Instead, it’s right down to logistics with a sprinkling of the arcane magic that’s orbital mechanics.

At the opposite finish of the pace spectrum, Christie’s is at present operating an public sale for one of the printed packets sent via carrier pigeon by the Bergen Linux User Group in Norway in 2001. It is one in every of 9 such bodily packets that have been despatched as a real-world demonstration of RFC 1149, A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers.

This packet particularly was later introduced to the creator of RFC 1149, David Waitzman, and is available in a golden body befitting such an auspicious datagram. As of this writing, the public sale nonetheless has 9 days to go, and the excessive bid is sitting at $2,600 USD. We’ll preserve an eye fixed out and allow you to know what it sells for ultimately.

We saw an interesting article on PCWorld a few days again a few participant getting banned from Valorant as soon as they tried operating the sport on a used CPU. After contacting assist, they came upon that the Ryzen 7 5800X3D in query had been blacklisted by the sport as a result of it was beforehand utilized by a cheater. In addition, because the system had now detected it being utilized in a special pc, the identifiable elements of that machine had additionally been added to the block record.

If you’re constructing a gaming machine on a funds, that is one thing of a nightmare state of affairs. But if this turns into extra frequent, it strikes us that there’s some potential right here for these of us interested by shopping for used {hardware} for extra sensible functions. If you’re on the hunt for a very good deal on a high-end CPU so you’ll be able to crank out builds quicker, the truth that it may be banned from the most recent loot shooter isn’t actually an issue. It’s a bit like in search of a cellphone with a foul ESN since you need to apply it to WiFi or want a few of its components.

Finally, we’ll go away you with a enjoyable little diversion: Hole Punch. This game tasks you with steering a spacecraft round numerous obstacles to succeed in a goal location. Sounds straightforward, till you notice that you simply’re not the one flying the factor. Instead of getting direct management over the automobile, you play as an all-powerful creator who can create and place black holes at will.

Placing a black gap creates a gravitational area that may curve the spacecraft’s trajectory because it goes by, so by adjusting the scale and placement of the holes, you will have an oblique technique of controlling the craft. Creating a black gap consumes matter, and also you solely have a finite quantity to work with, so use it correctly. Let us understand how far you get within the feedback.

See one thing fascinating that you simply suppose could be a very good match for our weekly Links column? Drop us a line, we’d love to listen to about it.