At 2 p.m. ET today, President Obama will address a crowd at National Defense University in D.C. to spell out some of the biggest vagaries of his administration - policies that are central to America's security and foreign policy that, nonetheless, have been shrouded in official secrecy, opaque statements of accountability, and open-ended legal jargon that leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

For the U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman, it's shaping up to be a banner year in unmanned flight. While the carrier-based autonomous X-47B continues to hit milestones aboard the USS George H.W. Bush somewhere off the East Coast, out west in Palmdale, Calif., today the Navy flew its MQ-4C Triton maritime drone for the first time, marking the beginning of a sea change (pardon the pun) in the way the U.S. military patrols the oceans. The drone flew for 80 minutes and reached an altitude of 20,000 feet.

The Navy's unmanned and autonomous X-47B continues to hit new milestones. Less than a week after completing its first catapult launch from a carrier deck last Tuesday the Unmanned Combat Aerials System (UCAS) executed its first touch and go landings - that's when an aircraft touches down like it's landing but then accelerates and takes off again - aboard the USS George H.W. Bush on Friday, bringing this technology demonstrator ever closer to being fully carrier-capable.

ABOARD THE USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH, ATLANTIC OCEAN - All that was left on the carrier deck was a cloud of white steam wafting over a flight crew that was visibly bursting with excitement even with faces concealed behind bulky protective headgear, noise suppressing headsets, and darkly tinted goggles. Much of this whooping, backslapping, and enthusiastic embracing took place square in the middle of the flight deck where the Navy's experimental X-47B unmanned, autonomous combat jet had stood just moments before, Pratt and Whitney F100 jet engine screaming - before the robot gave its go-ahead salute - indicated by the a flash of its wingtip lights - and the catapult officer responded with the signal to launch, sending the X-47B catapulting off the carrier deck and into aviation history.

Our friends over at Flying have a great slideshow up walking us through the 50 greatest innovations in navigation of all time. It's really fun to see how primitive but effective navigation used to be - celestial navigation and bonfires are on the list - and how far we've come, using microwaves and satellites and autopilot and man, so much other cool stuff. Read the article over at Flying.

If you consider how many things have to go right for it to work, passenger flight is a seamless experience almost all of the time. Except when it isn't, and your flight is delayed and you miss your connection. Why does this happen? It's actually a tough challenge, and airlines hate it almost as much as you do. Missed connections and annoyance cause pollution and frustration, costing airlines (and passengers) plenty of money.