EG-0052-01
The Helios Prototype was a remotely piloted flying wing aircraft developed under NASA’s Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project. The two primary goals of the Helios Prototype development are to demonstrate sustained flight at an altitude near 100,000 feet and flying non-stop for at least 24 hours, including at least 14 hours above 50,000 feet.
In 2001, the Helios Prototype achieved the first of the two goals by reaching an unofficial world-record altitude of 96,863 feet and sustaining flight above 96,000 feet for more than 40 minutes during a test flight near Hawaii. The aircraft is undergoing modifications and upgrades to enable it to accomplish the flight endurance milestone, presently planned for late summer, 2003.
The operational and technical ability to reach these two goals is critical for NASA’s ERAST project. Through ERAST, many new propulsion, materials, control, instrumentation, and sensor technologies are being pioneered which could enable the development of a fleet of high-flying uninhabited aircraft that could conduct a wide variety of Earth and atmospheric science missions. Flying autonomously with mission-oriented payloads and instrumentation, these ultra-high flyers could carry out storm tracking studies, atmospheric sampling, spectral imaging for agricultural and natural resources monitoring, pipeline monitoring, and also serve as relay platforms for telecommunications systems…Learn more