Test flight successful for ‘edge of space’ sailplane

You read that right: Airbus believes they’ll be able to ride warm air currents all the way up to an altitude of 90,000 feet- that’s almost a mile higher than the 85,000 ft. reached by the legendary SR-71 Blackbird!

The Perlan 2 could be a glider unlike any other.

The Perlan 2 glider was developed by The Perlan Project, a volunteer-run, non-profit endeavor headed by leaders in aerospace and engineering.

By the end of next year, Perlan’s pilots aim to ascend to 90,000 feet – the edge of space and a new record.

The glider’s true flight speed at 90,000 feet will be more than 400 miles per hour, despite its lack of an engine.

The Airbus Perlan 2 successfully completed its first flight aiming for the edge of space.

One such component of the non-polluting aircraft’s mission will be taking “untainted air samples from the stratosphere to measure the levels of ozone-damaging chemicals and assess whether the ozone layer is replenishing or still depleting”.

The aircraft will carry a crew of two. The goal of this project is to open up a world of new discoveries related to high-altitude flight, climate change and space exploration.

Stratospheric mountain waves were mostly just a theory, until an earlier version of the Perlan glider set an engineless altitude record of 50,722 feet, in 1996. To reach such spectacular heights, the glider is pressurized and the crew must breathe pure oxygen through a rebreather system, one that is similar to the kinds of breathing technology astronauts use in space. The scientists at Perlan intend to bring more and more advancements in the field of aviation, with their main objective being to create aircrafts that are capable of flying in the most extreme possible conditions our planet has to offer.

The glider will be operating in conditions similar to those on mars, where it is minus 70 degrees celsius and has less than three percent of normal air density. Winds in the Polar Vortex can reach speeds of 260 knots and upwards allowing the mountain waves to propagate upwards into the stratosphere. The Perlan 2 flight could lead to innovations in operating aircrafts above the martian surface. They could have flown even higher, but the cabin was unpressurized and their flight suits began expanding so significantly that they couldn’t control the aircraft any longer. The aircraft could pave way for new discoveries such as those that unravel the mysteries of weather, ozone depletion and climate change.