Art Vanden Berg build a High Altitude Glider Project that has performed 5 flights to date. Have a look at the great documentation of the flight system and flight results. One of the issues we have seen with all of the near space balloon projects that we have featured lately is attempting to predetermine the landing zone and racing there to retrieve the cargo. Having a plane that can fly back to a known location is a great idea that I think is sure to catch on.
Thanks Andrew.
"A small, self-guided glider, designed to fly at very high altitudes. The glider is carried up by its tail with a helium weather balloon to altitudes of up to 85,000 feet above sea level, and then released to fly back to the launch point. During the flight, it transmits down navigation data, some sense data, and low-res digital photos. It can also carry a 35mm film camera, or other instruments."
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Too bad its against FAA regulations in the US 🙁
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This project dates back to 2002 with no updates (?).
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I was so excited when i first read about the MIT expirement. I am glad to see people are not just copying it, but they are improving on it. Let the low tech space race begin.