The X-47B prototype on Tuesday flew off an aircraft carrier and into the history books. Today's achievement, the first-ever catapult launch of an unmanned aircraft from the flight deck of a carrier, promises to open up a new chapter in the annals of naval aviation. Photo: An X-47B pilot-less drone combat aircraft is launched for the first time off an aircraft carrier, the USS George H. W. Bush, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Virginia, May 14, 2013. The U.S. Navy made aviation history on Tuesday by catapulting an unmanned jet off an aircraft carrier for the first time, testing a long-range, stealthy, bat-winged plane that represents a jump forward in drone technology. (Photo by Jason Reed/Reuters)

An unmanned Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket lifts off from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Wednesday, February 11, 2015, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. On board is the Deep Space Climate Observatory, which will head toward a solar-storm lookout point a million miles away. (Photo by John Raoux/AP Photo)

Craig Jobbins, first buyer of the new iPad to leave the Apple Store, poses for photographers in Covent Garden on March 16, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images)

Jewels Lewis poses as the first customer to purchase the new Apple iPad 2 at Apple Store, Regent Street on March 25, 2011 in London, England. The latest iPad went on sale in the UK at 5:00pm.

Artists preform on a pool suspended above the audience during the Fuerza Bruta dress rehearsal on February 1, 2012 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

3D interactive artist Joe Hill poses with one of his works as part of the VisitBritain tourism campaign at Circular Quay on September 6, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Fan Bingbing attends the new High Jewellery Collection “Sortilege de Cartier” launch dinner at Villa Aurelia on September 17, 2011 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Cartier)

People purchase the book “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson on launch day at Shanghai's City of Books on October 24, 2011 in Shanghai, China. The book was launched in 30 book cities at the same time across the country. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)