NASA Helios, Dryden history gallery

EC02-0031-6 The Helios Prototype flying wing stretches almost the full length of the 300-foot-long hangar at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The 247-foot span solar-powered aircraft, resting on its ground maneuvering dolly, was on display for a visit of NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and other NASA officials on January 31, 2002. The unique solar-electric flying wing reached an altitude of 96,863 feet during an almost 17-hour flight near Hawaii on August 13, 2001, a world record for sustained horizontal flight by a non-rocket powered aircraft. Developed by AeroVironment, Inc., under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology ERAST project, the Helios Prototype is the forerunner of a planned fleet of slow-flying, long duration, high-altitude uninhabited aerial vehicles UAV which can serve as ''atmospheric satellites,'' performing Earth science missions or functioning as telecommunications relay platforms in the stratosphere. February 1, 2002 NASA Photo / Tom Tschida
NASA Identifier: 371177main_EC02-0031-6