Jetpack soars a mile high

May 30, 2011 | Source: COSMIC LOG

A real-life jetpack developed by New Zealand-based Martin Aircraft Co. passed a key test May 21 by soaring to a height of 5,000 feet, deploying an emergency parachute and drifting back down to New Zealand’s Canterbury Plains.

The device was unmanned, using a dummy, and remotely controlled from a helicopter. The company expects the jetpack’s first buyers to be military and emergency-response agencies.