‘No glitches’ in first test flight BARKING SANDS – The unmanned, solar-powered aircraft Helios Prototype reached an altitude of 76,000 feet on its first test flight Saturday, setting the stage for a flight to an altitude higher than aircraft have
‘No glitches’ in first test flight
BARKING SANDS – The unmanned, solar-powered aircraft Helios Prototype reached an altitude of 76,000 feet on its first test flight Saturday, setting the stage for a flight to an altitude higher than aircraft have ever flown.
Helios, a long, thin flying wing, landed at 2:10 a.m. Sunday at Pacific Missile Range Facility here, where it had taken off 18 hours earlier before about 250 spectators.
“It was slower than expected coming down, but it landed very smoothly,” said NASA project manager John Hicks. “We accomplished all of our objectives. The aircraft performed beautifully. There were no glitches at all.”
NASA officials said they spent more time testing Helios at lower altitudes than originally planned before the sun sank too low to continue climbing to a planned maximum altitude of 78,000 feet. It switched to battery power and began its descent in late afternoon.
Scientists collected “a huge mass of data” to analyze, Hicks said.
NASA and Helios’ builder, AeroViroment Inc., hope to eventually send the solar aircraft to the 100,000-foot mark, a record for an unmanned aircraft and more than three times higher than commercial jets fly.
That flight is tentatively scheduled toward the end of the week of Aug. 6, Hicks said.
The main objective is to expand Helios’ performance to a maximum capability to see what it can do, he said. Once that is determined, the aircraft can be sent on a planned 96-hour mission at 60,000 feet in 2003, he said.
The aircraft is envisioned as a surrogate satellite, or low-cost telecommunications relay platform. It also is the best platform for measuring Earth’s atmosphere at the 60,000 to 100,000-foot level, and can be used for such purposes as tracking hurricanes, officials said.
Helios is a 247-foot-long flying wing that measures only eight feet front to back. The $15 million aircraft is controlled from the ground by two pilots using desktop computers. Its 13 propellers are driven by small, electric motors powered by solar cells built into the wing.
Saturday’s takeoff was delayed about 20 minutes while the flight crew waited for clouds to move out of the way of the sun.
The partnership between NASA and AeroVironment, of Monrovia, Calif., is not unprecedented but has been very successful, Hicks said.
“It is one of NASA’s stellar success stories with industry,” he said.
AeroVironment has produced many innovative aircraft, including the human-powered Gossamer Albatross. Its smaller Pathfinder, also a solar-powered airplane, flew to a record altitude of more than 80,000 feet in 1998.
Additional information is available at www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Projects/Erast/helios.html.
