“Ever since Buck Rogers” first strapped on a jetpack in the comics, gravity-bound dreamers have longed for a backpack rocket. The Thunderbolt R2G2 promises to fulfill such dreams. “The question is whether any normal person”—or at least any sane one—would dare to fly this apparatus. “The packs can be dangerous for self-taught pilots,” and even the well-trained ones who have flown the prototype tend to remain tethered. The pack’s maker so far has obtained four deposits, but needs more to complete production.
Price: At least $90,000; Contact: Thunderman.net
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Is Apple breaking up with Google?Today's Big Question Google is the default search engine in the Safari browser. The emergence of artificial intelligence could change that.
-
Music reviews: Eric Church, Blondshell, and Model/ActrizFeature "Evangeline vs. the Machine," "If You Asked for a Picture," and "Pirouette"
-
What is the Federal Reserve and what does it do?The explainer The decisions made by the United States' central banking system have very real economic effects
