Screenshot from the project site. I couldn't find any creative commons images, but this ought to be acceptable use. it seems that sometimes Steemit does not use a Youtube video to create a thumbnail for a post. Am I doing something wrong?
Every so often you hear about people trying to do something incredibe. It may not be useful as such, but pushing technology and human endurance can have spin-off benefits (as space travel has). I recently read about the Perlan Project to send a glider to incredible altitudes. To achieve this they use seasonal winds in Argentina that come off the mountains and can give them amazing lift. Of course the glider has to be able to take the forces put on it and the pilots have to be very skilled. They have got to 76,000 feet (23km) and are aiming for 90,000. That's spy plane territory, but they do it without an engine, just a tow plane to get in the air.
Maybe the military will be interested in it, but it could be used for science too. It's a project by Airbus who are also working on high altitude autonomous vehicles using solar power to do some functions of satellites. Getting things into space is really expensive, but this should be much cheaper.
My only experience of gliding was a few years back when I had a lesson as a gift at Dunstable. That was pretty amazing. When they launch with a winch you go almost straight up and then it's almost silent. I've since been in a small plane in Australia and had a flying lesson in the UK. We take air travel for granted, but I still find it mind-blowing that we can do these things.
Steem on!
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