Mountain Waves Will Allow Pilot To Practice For Trip To The Edge Of Space

In 2016, the Perlan Glider team hopes to fly the innovative aircraft to the edge of space without an engine. But before they do, they will be practicing on mountain waves near Minden, NV over the next few months.

Television station KOLO reports that Perlan project chief pilot Jim Payne will be flying the aircraft around Minden, which he says has "some of the best waves in the United States." The flights will help prepare him for the record attempt to 90,000 feet in Argentina next summer.

Payne said that they expect to find strong winds and turbulence at FL900, and the sky will be very dark due to the lack of atmosphere to diffuse light.

Airbus, which is sponsoring the Perlan II mission, says that the project is about more than breaking a record. "We have all these global warming models that say it stops at the stratosphere and that's wrong," said Allan McArtor, the CEO of Airbus Group. "The atmosphere mixes, like you would mix anything, how does that work and how do the ozones get created over the poles?"

McArtor said it is his hope that the Perlan II mission will inspire some students to take more of an interest in STEM subjects and pursue careers in science.

(Images from file)

FMI: www.perlanproject.org