BARKING SANDS, Hawaii (AP) – Look for photos and up-to-the-minute coverage in Tuesday’s issue of The Garden Island. A giant, solar-powered flying wing soared past record heights Monday before failing to reach its goal of 100,000 feet, NASA officials said.
BARKING SANDS, Hawaii (AP) – Look for photos and up-to-the-minute coverage in Tuesday’s issue of The Garden Island.
A giant, solar-powered flying wing soared past record heights Monday before failing to reach its goal of 100,000 feet, NASA officials said.
The Helios Prototype, driven by 14 propellers turned by small 2-horsepower electric motors, reached 96,500 feet before NASA officials made the decision at 4:08 p.m. HST to bring it down, said NASA spokesman Alan Brown.
With thinning air and slanting sunlight, the remotely controlled Helios had reached a “zero climb rate,” Brown said.
The Helios was expected to be back on the ground at the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. HST Tuesday, he said.
The Helios had reached 81,100 feet five hours and 16 minutes after its 8:48 a.m. HST launch from Kauai.
That surpassed the altitude record for propeller-driven aircraft of 80,200 feet, set by a smaller version of the craft, Pathfinder Plus, in 1998.
Seventeen minutes later, at 2:21 p.m. HST, the Helios reached 85,100 feet, surpassing the all-time record for a non-rocket craft of 85,068, set by a Lockheed SR-71 jet-powered aircraft in 1976.
“It’s a real milestone of flight,” Brown said. “It’s a landmark achievement, and especially to do it with a solar aircraft that is nonpolluting. It is a triumph of technology in this area.”
Brown said the records will be considered unofficial until they are certified by the National Aeronautics Association, official record-keeping agency.
The Helios soared 76,000 feet on its test flight last month.
Designers believe the Helios can reach 103,000 feet under ideal weather conditions and eventually may be used to fly above Mars, NASA said.
Its rate of climb is determined by the amount of sunlight and air and other weather conditions.
The launch Monday required full sunlight.
Moving more like a kite than an airplane, the flying wing developed with AeroVironment Inc., of Monrovia, Calif., glided slowly up into the air over the Pacific, watched by several hundred people, including military officers.
“It was a textbook, picture perfect takeoff,” said AeroVironment spokesman Earl Cox.
“You’re talking about going places where no one has gone before – 100,000 feet is space, practically,” said Stan Nelson, chairman of the National Aeronautics Association.
Cloud cover over western Kauai had canceled two previous liftoff attempts over the weekend.
Shortly after 12:30 p.m. HST, the aircraft reached an altitude of 48,700 feet and was climbing at a rate of 400 feet per minute, Brown.
The rate of climb slowed to about 200 feet per minute by mid-afternoon and then stopped climbing.
“You have to go faster and faster to stay in flight because the air is getting thinner and thinner,” Brown said.
No systems problems were reported.
The test flights could lead to other major technological advancements in telecommunications, NASA said.
Since the atmosphere at 100,000 feet is expected to be similar to the Martian atmosphere, the data collected from the Helios at high altitudes will also help engineers plan for future Mars aircraft designs, officials said.
Kevin Petersen, director of NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California, said a solar-powered aircraft flying over Mars could survey a lot more area than a vehicle on the ground.
The Helios – potentially capable of staying at high altitudes for months at a time – also is envisioned as a surrogate satellite, or low-cost telecommunications relay platform capable of providing more efficient broadcast feeds, high speed Internet access and wireless communications. It also is the best platform for measuring the earth’s atmosphere at the 60,000- to 100,000-foot level, and can be used for such purposes as accurately tracking hurricanes, NASA said.
At 1,557 pounds flying weight, the Helios is lighter than many automobiles.
The $15 million aircraft is flown from the ground by pilots using desktop computers from inside a military vehicle parked next to the runway. Its takeoff and landing are controlled by computers in a different van.
The Helios’ 14 ultra-light weight propellers are driven by small 2-horsepower motors powered by 65,000 silicon crystal solar cells covering the wing.
The 247-foot wingspan is greater than that of a Boeing 747.
The next major test for the aircraft is a planned 96-hour mission at a 60,000-foot altitude in 2003.
On the Net:
AeroVironment: http://www.aerovironment.com
Helios: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Projects/Erast/helios.html
Helios Solar Powered Aircraft: http://www.solaraircraft.com
