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Record-setting solar airplane crashes on test flight
Honolulu, June 27: An unmanned plane that set an altitude record two years ago was destroyed when it crashed into the Pacific Ocean during a test flight, Nasa officials said.
Honolulu, June 27: An unmanned plane that set an altitude record two years ago was destroyed when it crashed into the Pacific Ocean during a test flight, Nasa officials said.
The remotely piloted, one-of-a-kind Helios prototype crashed off Kauai yesterday within the testing area of the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a news release.
The $15 million, solar-electric, propeller-driven Helios had a wingspan of 74 meters and looked more like a flying wing than a conventional plane. It reached an altitude of 28,950 meters during a 2001 flight from Barking Sands. The altitude, about 29 kilometers, was considered by Nasa to be a record for a nonrocket-powered winged aircraft.
Helios crashed about a half-hour into yesterday's flight, which was intended to test its fuel cell system. "We were flying at about the 8,000-foot altitude west of Kauai over the ocean and the aircraft simply broke up," said Alan Brown, a spokesman for Nasa's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
The cause of the crash is unknown, Brown said. Nasa is forming an accident investigation team.
Brown said Nasa intends to develop another Helios aircraft, calling it "technology worth pursuing." Bureau Report
The $15 million, solar-electric, propeller-driven Helios had a wingspan of 74 meters and looked more like a flying wing than a conventional plane. It reached an altitude of 28,950 meters during a 2001 flight from Barking Sands. The altitude, about 29 kilometers, was considered by Nasa to be a record for a nonrocket-powered winged aircraft.
Helios crashed about a half-hour into yesterday's flight, which was intended to test its fuel cell system. "We were flying at about the 8,000-foot altitude west of Kauai over the ocean and the aircraft simply broke up," said Alan Brown, a spokesman for Nasa's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
The cause of the crash is unknown, Brown said. Nasa is forming an accident investigation team.
Brown said Nasa intends to develop another Helios aircraft, calling it "technology worth pursuing." Bureau Report