Drones Past and Present on Display: In Photos

Drones

drones exhibit intrepid museum

(Image credit: Courtesy of NASA)

NASA may one day use unmanned flying vehicles to augment ground traversing rovers in the exploration of extraterrestrial bodies. In order to function properly, these aircraft will need to have some atmosphere, such as on Mars.

Drones and the arts

drones exhibit intrepid museum

(Image credit: Photo by Mindy Weisberger for Live Science)

Visitors to the exhibit may be surprised to learn that artists are increasingly finding uses for drones, such as the flying quadrocopter lampshades designed by Cirque du Soleil for their stage performance

Virtual flight

drones exhibit intrepid museum

(Image credit: Svetlana Jovanovic)

In the digital interactive "Take Control of a Drone," users guide a drone through airspace over New York City, collecting tokens and avoiding "no-fly zones."

Future designs

drones exhibit intrepid museum

(Image credit: Svetlana Jovanovic)

Drones may one day be robust enough to easily transport people. Engineers are currently developing designs for autonomous flying cars that could safely carry commuters. [Read more about the drone exhibit at the Intrepid museum]

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Mindy Weisberger
Live Science Contributor

Mindy Weisberger is an editor at Scholastic and a former Live Science channel editor and senior writer. She has reported on general science, covering climate change, paleontology, biology and space. Mindy studied film at Columbia University; prior to Live Science she produced, wrote and directed media for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Her videos about dinosaurs, astrophysics, biodiversity and evolution appear in museums and science centers worldwide, earning awards such as the CINE Golden Eagle and the Communicator Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in Scientific American, The Washington Post and How It Works Magazine.  Her book "Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind Control" will be published in spring 2025 by Johns Hopkins University Press.