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NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Dryden Flight Research Center
P.O. Box 273
Edwards, California 93523
Phone 661-276-3449
FAX 
661-276-3566
_____________________________________________________________________

June 26, 2003

Alan Brown 
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center
Phone: (661) 276-2665
alan.brown{at}dfrc.nasa.gov

RELEASE No:  03-34

HELIOS PROTOTYPE SOLAR AIRCRAFT LOST IN FLIGHT MISHAP

The remotely operated Helios Prototype aircraft, a proof-of-concept 
solar-electric flying wing designed to operate at extremely high 
altitudes for long duration, was destroyed when it crashed today 
during a checkout flight from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Missile Range 
Facility (PMRF) on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

There was no property damage or injuries on the ground resulting from 
the accident. The remotely piloted aircraft came down within the 
confines of the PMRF test range over the Pacific Ocean west of the 
facility. Cause of the mishap is not yet known.

The solar-electric, propeller-driven aircraft had been flying under 
the guidance of ground-based mission controllers for AeroVironment, 
Inc., of Monrovia, Calif., the plane's builder and operator. The 
lightweight flying wing had taken off from PMRF at about 10:06 a.m. 
on a functional checkout flight and had been aloft for about 29 
minutes over the PMRF test range when the mishap occurred. The mishap 
occurred during a shakedown mission in preparation for a 
long-endurance mission of almost two days that had been planned for 
next month.

The Helios Prototype is one of several remotely piloted aircraft 
whose technological development has been sponsored and funded by NASA 
under the Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology 
(ERAST) program, managed by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, 
Edwards, Calif. Current to power its electric motors and other 
systems was generated by high-efficiency solar cells spread across 
the upper surface of its 247-foot long wing during the day and by an 
experimental fuel cell-based electrical system at night. The Helios 
Prototype was designed to fly at altitudes of up to 100,000 feet on 
single-day atmospheric science and imaging missions, as well as 
perform multi-day telecommunications relay missions at altitudes of 
50,000 to 65,000 feet.

The Helios Prototype set a world altitude record for winged aircraft 
of 96,863 feet during a flight from the Navy facility at Barking 
Sands, Kauai, in August 2001.

An accident investigation team will be formed by NASA and supported 
by AeroVironment and the U.S. Navy to determine the exact cause of 
the Helios Prototype mishap.

- NASA -

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