![]() ![]() In 1931, humanity finally reached the stratosphere, with one balloonist achieving a height of 52,000ft (15,800m) in a pressurised gondola attached to a hydrogen-filled balloon. The problem then was staying alive at those altitudes, and a good number of balloonists failed trying. ![]() Balloons could climb to the ceiling of the world, where there is too little oxygen for wings, or air-breathing engines. The problem is that that high the air is very thin, making flying – and breathing – a challenge.įor a long time, there was only one option if you wanted to explore the stratosphere, and that was a balloon. If an aircraft can fly above 50,000ft (15,150m), it can fly above the turbulent weather that we experience closer to the ground, in the troposphere. The stratosphere is the second layer of our atmosphere. The Zephyr S is the first production model. He foresaw that solar power and lightweight materials would lead to aircraft capable of staying aloft for months, or even years. His vision was of an uncrewed aircraft capable of "eternal flight" in the stratosphere. In 1959 two men flew a four-seat Cessna light aircraft for 64 days, 22 hours and 19 minutes, refuelling in-flight from a truck.īritish aviation pioneer Chris Kelleher designed the first Zephyr in 2002. Its mission for the US Army is a secret, but clearly on its manufacturer's mind is the desire to shatter a few records, particularly that for the longest flight duration for any type of airplane, which has stood for 63 years. The machine's two small propellers turn frantically before the plane begins its slow climb up into the cloudless sky to 60,000ft (18,300m) or 70,000ft (21,300m) – a relentless ascent into the stratosphere that can take 10 days. When it's ready to launch, they run across the runway holding the craft above them. It takes five or six people to lift the Zephyr. ![]() Its shimmering tinfoil-like solar panels and lightweight skeletal frame are more like something you'd see on a craft meant for space. Together with its small, thin body and head, these make it resemble a pterodactyl. Named the Zephyr S, it has long spindly wings the length of an airliner's. It is June 2022, and a flying machine that looks like a cross between a prehistoric beast and a spaceship is about to take off. ![]()
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