This plane will soar to the edge of space

[Gnarly Gnu]

....on air currents.

 

"A glider designed to float to the edge of space on air currents will attempt its first flight on Wednesday. Next year, the Perlan Mission II will launch to soaring altitudes of 90,000 feet, where it’ll harvest invaluable data on Earth’s atmosphere and climate."

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

That's pretty cool. I'm more intrigued by the Stratolaunch mentioned in the comments... they have a website (http://www.stratolaunch.com/) but it's under construction. Which seems strange if the vehicle pictured on it is as far along as it appears.

 

Artist's impression of finished vehicle below... for some reason the starboard fuselage reminds me of the Spruce Goose.

 

More information on the aircraft can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaled_Composites_Stratolaunch

 

I like their attitude - 'The aircraft will be powered by six 56,000 lbf (250 kN) Pratt & Whitney PW4056 engines[12] that were obtained from "two used 747-400s that will be cannibalized for engines, avionics, flight deck, landing gear and other proven systems that can be recycled to cut development costs."'

 

 

 

[eightyknots]

....on air currents."A glider designed to float to the edge of space on air currents will attempt its first flight on Wednesday. Next year, the Perlan Mission II will launch to soaring altitudes of 90,000 feet, where it’ll harvest invaluable data on Earth’s atmosphere and climate."

 

Thanks for posting this Gnarly. One day this form of aircraft may become reclassified as recreational and fall under RA Aus?