(14 Aug 2001)
1. Close-up of sign at Barking Sands, Hawaii
2. The aircraft’s wings being cleaned
3. Scientists in briefing room
4. Various of Helios on runway
5. Aerial view of Helios taking off
6. Helios flying
7. SOUNDBITE (English) John Del Frate, NASA’s Solar Powered Aircraft Project Manager
“A lot of things came together, in fact thousands of things had to go just right for this thing to be able to pull off. I’d like to think of this as a wing and a prayer. A wonderful fantastic wing and an answer to prayer of lots of people. So we were able to break the previous altitude record set by the SR71 Blackbird by over ten-thousand feet, by reaching an altitude of over 96-thousand 500 feet plus.”
8. Various of control room
9. Aerial views of Helios in flight
10. Pull back view of controls
11. View from camera aboard Helios, as announcement on the altitude record is made.
STORYLINE:
NASA’s flying wing has landed.
The giant propeller-driven flying machine touched down on the island of Kauai in Hawaii on Tuesday morning after it set altitude records for non-rocket-powered aircraft.
After take off on Monday, the aircraft – called the Helios – reached an altitude of more than 96,500 feet (28,950 metres), enough to set an altitude record but just short of its 100,000-foot (30,000 metre) goal.
The Helios, looking more like something out of the early days of aviation than a NASA project, has a wingspan longer than that of Boeing 747, and it’s run by small, two-horsepower engines attached to each of its 14 propellers.
Designers believe the Helios can reach 103,000 feet (30,900 metres) under ideal weather conditions and eventually may be used to fly above Mars.
The atmosphere at over 100-thousand feet is believed to be similar to what the environment would be like on the red planet.
The 15 (m) million (US) Dollar aircraft gets its electricity from 65,000 solar cells covering the wing.
Its rate of climb is determined by the amount of sunlight and air, as well as weather conditions.
A spokesman says the machine’s latest records will be considered unofficial until it is certified by the National Aeronautics Association, the official record-keeping agency.
The Helios – potentially capable of staying at high altitudes for months at a time – is also 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.
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Post time: Jun-19-2017