Plane crash Helios

2003/07/01 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronautika

The Helios plane that is developing in recent years has suffered an accident on Kauai Island in Hawaii. He has suffered an accident after a 30-minute flight, although NASA still does not know the cause.

Helios is a prototype aircraft flying with solar energy, with high efficiency solar cells on the surface. When he hit Earth he was testing a new system to store solar energy and fly at night. The search for an adequate energy storage system is critical to achieving the goal of these aircraft, otherwise aircraft should land in hours without light.

These are carbon fiber and graphite based aircraft, so they are light. They weigh 1,080 kilograms, although they are 75 meters wide. They have already reached an altitude far higher than conventional aircraft (29.5 km) and, once they have achieved an adequate solar accumulation system, they have been designed to fly for months. On the one hand, because creating these planes is cheaper than having satellites in space and can therefore be used as low-cost telecommunications platforms. On the other hand, although they do not have a pilot, the route of the Helios planes can be controlled from the Earth and changed freely.

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