Whether it’s the effort to redefine the kilogram or researching the Harry Potter realm of quantum mechanics where things can somehow be in two or more places at one time, quite a bit of the science carried out at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) can be hard for the average person on the street to understand or relate to.

But at the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Flight and Payload Challenge, which NIST held May 21–24, 2018, the question being explored was as simple as can be: Can a vertical-takeoff drone hoist 20 lb (9 kg) of communications equipment into the air and hover in place for two hours? And, by the way, the drone itself can’t weigh more than 35 lb (15.9 kg).

It was, in other words, a matter of schlepping.

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