Sat, Nov 19, 2005
Flies To 74,000 Feet On Demonstration Flight
Aero-News has learned a
146-foot-long airship developed by a team led by Southwest Research
Institute (SwRI) has successfully demonstrated powered flight of
the HiSentinel stratospheric airship at an altitude of 74,000
feet.
The development team, consisting of Aerostar International, the
Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and SwRI launched the airship
on Nov. 8 from Roswell, NM for a five-hour technology demonstration
flight. The airship carried a 60-pound equipment pod, according to
SwRI, as well as propulsion system.
"There are a number of stratospheric airship programs being
promoted around the world, but this is the first of these programs
to successfully fly a real airship in near-space," said William
Perry, assistant director of Space Systems in the SwRI Space
Science and Engineering Division.
SwRI designed the airship and provided the telemetry, flight
control, power and propulsion systems. Aerostar International
fabricated the hull and participated in the integration and test
flight. AFRL developed the innovative launch system, provided
facilities, and supported the launch and recovery. Each of the four
organizations contributed funding, manpower, equipment and
facilities for the collaborative effort, which was sponsored by the
US Army Space and Missile Defense Command.
HiSentinel is the first airship developed under the Composite
Hull High Altitude Powered Platform (CHHAPP) program. CHHAPP is a
spiral development program for a family of long-endurance
autonomous solar-electric, stratospheric airships capable of
lifting up to 200-lb payloads to near-space altitudes in excess of
30 days.
Unlike most other stratospheric airship concepts, HiSentinel is
launched with relatively little helium onboard -- not enough to
inflate the gasbag -- but as the airship rises, the helium expands
to fully inflate the hull.
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