Airbus Perlan Mission II, the world’s first initiative to soar a pressurized, engineless glider into the highest areas of the stratosphere, is celebrating the close of its fifth flight testing season following eight years of history-making accomplishments in aerospace exploration, sustainability and innovation.
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An international team of aerospace experts led the Perlan 2 experimental sailplane to four world record-setting altitudes, including a top point of 76’124 feet on Sept. 2nd, 2018, above the Andes Mountains near El Calafate, Argentina. This achievement established a new world aviation altitude record for the highest subsonic flight in a winged, crewed aircraft. By doing so in a zero-emission aircraft, the team also demonstrated the remarkable potential of decarbonized aviation. Operated by Nevada nonprofit The Perlan Project, the two-seater Perlan 2 is flown by chief pilot Jim Payne together with pilots Tim Gardner, Miguel Itermendi, and Morgan Sandercock, who is also the program’s chief engineer.
The Perlan 2 glider is a uniquely well-suited atmospheric research platform, given its lack of emissions. Onboard instrumentation and experiments in its science bay collect data on stratospheric weather, radiation, air quality and other information that could help improve current climate change models.
The Perlan program and its partners have also researched every flight into conditions found at extreme altitudes that may impact aviation efficiency, flight safety and our planet’s weather. The wide range of scientific inquiries includes the use of:
- Artificial intelligence to analyze flight paths through complex stratospheric wave systems.
- Infrasonic microphones to detect and avoid severe turbulence.
- Instruments to detect radiation coming in from space that could interfere with airborne electronics
- Radio occultation instruments use the strength of signals from satellites to measure atmospheric humidity.
This season, over a dozen experiments built by students participating in the Teachers in Space aerospace STEM program across the U.S. flew aboard the Perlan 2 and the initiative’s high-altitude Grob Egrett tow plane and high-altitude research aircraft, operated by AV Experts LLC, which tows the Perlan 2 off the ground to begin its flights.
About Airbus Perlan Mission II
Airbus Perlan Mission II is an initiative to fly an engineless glider to the edge of space, higher than any other winged aircraft that has operated in manned, level flight, to open up a world of discoveries related to high-altitude flight, weather and climate change. This historic endeavour is the culmination of decades of research and engineering innovation, and the work of a tireless international team of aviators and scientists who volunteer their time and expertise for the non-profit The Perlan Project. The initiative, based in Minden, Nevada, is supported by Airbus and a group of other sponsors that includes Dennis Tito, Weather Extreme Ltd., Raytheon (United Technologies), BRS Aerospace and Thales. Source: ‚PerlanProject‚.
