Qinetiq surely hopes that the Zephyr has a better fate than
NASA's Helios project, seen here in June 2003 after taking off from the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Later that month, a structural failure sent the solar-powered aircraft plunging into the Pacific. Like the Zephyr, the Helios drew energy from the sun during the day, but unlike Zephyr, it stored energy for night flights in experimental fuel cells. Helios, developed by Monrovia, Calif.-based Aerovironment, was also much larger--its wingspan stretched 247 feet.
Before its unhappy ending, Helios did NASA proud. "In diminishing sunlight on August 13, 2001, Helios... reached an unofficial record altitude for non-rocket-powered aircraft of 96,863 feet," the space agency said.
Photo by NASA
Caption by Jonathan Skillings
