Every day I keep asking myself when we’re going to just leave this planet and start living in space. I mean, we already live in the future! We can pick up a funny-looking thing called a phone, push a few buttons, and a few seconds later be talking to someone who isn’t standing next to you. You can even do that with little box called a computer and a microphone. You can type something into aforementioned funny-looking device and get replies seconds later if the person is available. You can have entire conversations without talking to someone. In theory, you could live without having a single vocal conversation, but who would want to do that? You can look up almost anything you’d ever want to find (and lots of things you never wanted to know) instantly. You can strap yourself to a jetpack and send yourself flying in the air to the next–
Whoa, I’m getting ahead of myself. Sure, I’ve always dreamed of flying away with only a jetpack. Who hasn’t? But it looks like we may be in the future after all. From the article:
Currently Martin Aircraft Company is fulfilling an order for 500 jetpacks to be used by emergency services, as well as four unnamed defense companies. As of right now, the company’s focus is to produce jetpacks specifically for governmental purchase, but they are seeking funding to build at least one new factory with the purpose of producing jetpacks for the average (extremely rich) customer.
The jetpacks work exactly like you’d expect and would cost around $100,000. Let’s face it: you’d buy a jetpack over a fancy car too. Admit it. It also happens to be larger than you may have expected: at 5 feet tall by 5.5 feet wide by length of 5ft, this is bigger than the tiny jetpack I’ve dreamed of. Still, it’s a jetpack, and that’s what matters.
Unfortunately, there’s no exact timeline on when these things are actually getting made or whether they’ll ever be mass produced, so it looks like we’ll have to stay in the present and on the ground after all. At least there’s hope.