Solar-Powered Flying Wing Takes Off

BARKING SANDS, Hawaii (AP) - The Helios Prototype, driven by 14 propellers turned by small 2-horsepower electric motors, was believed to be capable of reaching 103,000 feet under ideal weather conditions, three times higher than commercial jet-powered aircraft.

``You're talking about going places where no one has gone before - 100,000 feet is space practically,' said Stan Nelson, chairman of the National Aeronautics Association, the official record-keeping agency.

Helios reached 76,000 feet on a test flight last month. The record for non-rocket-powered flight is 85,068 feet, set by a Lockheed SR-71 spy plane in 1976.

Moving more like a kite than an airplane, the long, flexible flying wing climbed slowly into the air over the Pacific at 2:48 p.m. EDT.

Depending on the weather, the remotely piloted Helios was expected to break that record within eight to nine hours after takeoff, NASA program manager John Hicks said.

Because the craft gets its electricity from 65,000 solar cells covering the wing, the takeoff required full sunshine. Cloud cover over western Kauai had canceled two weekend takeoff attempts at the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility.

Its 247-foot wingspan is greater than that of a Boeing 747, and it weighs just 1,557 pounds, less than many cars.

Since the atmosphere at 100,000 feet is similar to the thin Martian atmosphere, Helios will help engineers plan Mars aircraft designs, said Kevin Petersen, director of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Petersen said a solar-powered aircraft flying on Mars could survey a lot more area than a vehicle on the ground.

Because it doesn't need to land for refueling, Helios also is envisioned as a low-cost alternative to broadcast-relay or weather satellites in Earth orbit.

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