![http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Images/helios_6_03_sm.jpg"/](http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Images/helios_6_03_sm.jpg"/){kind=link}
Doh!
Posted on 06/26/2003 6:47:47 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
HONOLULU -
An unmanned plane that set an altitude record two years ago broke apart during a test flight Thursday and crashed into the Pacific Ocean, NASA (news - web sites) officials said.
The remotely piloted, one-of-a-kind Helios Prototype crashed off Kauai 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 247 feet and looked more like a flying wing than a conventional plane.
It reached an altitude of 96,500 feet during a 2001 flight from Barking Sands. The altitude, about 18 miles, was considered by NASA to be a record for a nonrocket-powered winged aircraft.
Helios crashed about a half-hour into Thursday'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, Calif.
The cause of the crash is unknown, Brown said. NASA is forming an accident investigation team.
Helios had been flying under the guidance of ground-based mission controllers for AeroVironment Inc. of Monrovia, Calif., the plane's builder and operator. It was one of several remotely piloted aircraft whose technological development NASA has sponsored.
The prototype, powered by solar cells during the day and by fuel cells at night, was designed to fly at altitudes of up to 100,000 feet. It was designed for atmospheric science and imaging missions as well as telecommunications relay work.
Brown said NASA intends to develop another Helios aircraft, calling it "technology worth pursuing."
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On the Net:
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center: http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/
Initial reports suggest the tail snapped off when the rudder was turned too hard.
Doh!
Flew too damn close to the sun.
HELIOS PROTOTYPE SOLAR AIRCRAFT LOST IN FLIGHT MISHAP
The remotely operated Helios Prototype aircraft, a proof-of-concept solar-electric flying wing designed to operate at extremely high altitudes for long duration, was destroyed when it crashed today during a checkout flight from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
There was no property damage or injuries on the ground resulting from the accident. The remotely piloted aircraft came down within the confines of the PMRF test range over the Pacific Ocean west of the facility. Cause of the mishap is not yet known.
The solar-electric, propeller-driven aircraft had been flying under the guidance of ground-based mission controllers for AeroVironment, Inc., of Monrovia, Calif., the plane’s builder and operator. The lightweight flying wing had taken off from PMRF at about 10:06 a.m. on a functional checkout flight and had been aloft for about 29 minutes over the PMRF test range when the mishap occurred. The mishap occurred during a shakedown mission in preparation for a long-endurance mission of almost two days that had been planned for next month.
The Helios Prototype is one of several remotely piloted aircraft whose technological development has been sponsored and funded by NASA under the Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program, managed by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. Current to power its electric motors and other systems was generated by high-efficiency solar cells spread across the upper surface of its 247-foot long wing during the day and by an experimental fuel cell-based electrical system at night. The Helios Prototype was designed to fly at altitudes of up to 100,000 feet on single-day atmospheric science and imaging missions, as well as perform multi-day telecommunications relay missions at altitudes of 50,000 to 65,000 feet.
The Helios Prototype set a world altitude record for winged aircraft of 96,863 feet during a flight from the Navy facility at Barking Sands, Kauai, in August 2001.
An accident investigation team will be formed by NASA and supported by AeroVironment and the U.S. Navy to determine the exact cause of the Helios Prototype mishap.
The remotely piloted, one-of-a-kind ($15 million, solar-electric, propeller-driven Helios had a wingspan of 247 feet and looked more like a flying wing than a conventional plane) Helios Prototype crashed off Kauai 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.
one of a kind...
$15 million dollar prototype...
flown over the Pacific Ocean rather than the mainland...
NASA's management policies shine yet again.
Advanced composite materials is still an art.
the center wing fuel tank must have exploded.
Airplanes break. Sometimes they break at inconvenient moments. And Helios wouldn't have been repairable if it came down over land--something this lightweight just falls apart if one component fails.
So, no matter what, you're out $15 million.
The folks who built it put a LOT of ingenuity into it. How many $15 million airplanes could hit 96,000 feet MSL?
As for new ideas: if they deliver a better plane for the same price, that's pretty much bucking the aeronautical trend.
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