Endless Flyer.Imagine a plane that flies for months at a time without landing. Don't bother calling for reservations--no pilot or crew are on board! The National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial), (NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. ) is nearly really to launch its Centurion aircraft, which will roam for months at; a time at an altitude of 30,480 meters (100,000 feet), three times higher than commercial jets. The Centurion could be the first in a series of "eternal airplanes" that land only for repairs. Why go to such trouble? Eternal airplanes could replace expensive satellites, which relay TV broadcasts and phone signals around the world and monitor weather systems. Eternal airplanes could also measure carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. and other gases that trap heat near Earth's surface Noun 1. Earth's surface - the outermost level of the land or sea; "earthquakes originate far below the surface"; "three quarters of the Earth's surface is covered by water" surface . Best of all, Centurion doesn't need fuel. Its 75-meter (245-foot) long wings are covered with hundreds of solar cells solar cell, semiconductor devised to convert light to electric current. It is a specially constructed diode, usually made of silicon crystal. When light strikes the exposed active surface, it knocks electrons loose from their sites in the crystal. , which convert 19 percent of the sun's rays that strike them into electricity. That in turn powers the plane's 12 propeller propeller, device consisting of a hub with one or more blades that propels a craft to which it is attached by rotating its blades in a fluid such as air or water. engines, Engineers in Edwards, California, navigate the plane's route by radio signals, so no pilot or crew are needed. The Centurion flies about 12 times faster than a plane near sea level. That's because it soars in the stratosphere--from 10 kilometers (6 miles) to 48 km (30 mi) above Earth--where air is thinner. That's because air molecules are spread further apart. NASA is betting on the solar cells to keep the crafts aloft. "It'll be the most reliable plane ever made," says project manager John Del Frate. |
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