While the school year is over for most American students, a group participating in a program linked to the Airbus Perlan Mission II glider is preparing to see its scientific projects soar into the stratosphere at the end of the month. The experimental pressurized glider will attempt to reach 90,000 feet, an altitude of 27,000 meters.
Perlan II at an altitude of 27,000 m
While the school year is over for most American students, a group participating in a program linked to the Airbus Perlan Mission II glider is preparing to see its scientific projects soar into the stratosphere at the end of the month. The experimental pressurized glider will attempt to reach 90,000 feet, an altitude of 27,000 meters. Students from schools in Kansas, Kentucky, Maine and New Mexico have been working since the beginning of the year with the Perlan project, to design and carry out experiments in nanosatellites that will fly to the far reaches of the Earth. space on board the Perlan 2 glider. This glider can accommodate two pilots and should therefore set a new world altitude record for piloted level flight this year.
In the stratosphere
Airbus Perlan Mission II is an internationally renowned initiative run by The Perlan Project, a non-profit organization that promotes discovery and education about high altitude flight, weather and climate change. “We’re pushing the limits of aviation, reaching for the stars, and doing great science in the stratosphere at the same time,” said Perlan project general manager Ed Warnock. “The upper atmosphere holds answers that can help us make new discoveries and find solutions to improve our world. to inspire the next generation of aerospace engineers, environmental researchers and educators.”
8 schools and nanosatellites
Students’ science experiments range from analyzing radiation levels to listening to turbulence in the sounds of the stratosphere. The students’ nanosatellites will be stored in the science bay of the Perlan 2 glider, which will soar above the Andes in the Patagonia region of Argentina. The glider is currently en route to El Calafate, where it is expected to begin flights the last week of July. Eight U.S. schools are participating in the 2023 Perlan CubeSat program with Teachers in Space Inc, a nonprofit educational organization that fosters student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math. The student experiments were provided to Teachers in Space by teachers who participated in the spaceflight experimentation workshops run by the organization. The student workshops and projects were funded in part by the Maine Space Grant Consortium, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, and the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas.
Previous flight records
The Airbus Perlan Mission II team has already set four world aviation records aboard the Perlan 2. This season they will attempt to surpass their current record of over 76,124 feet, set in 2018. internationally renowned is sponsored by the world leader in aerospace Airbus. The program is supported by leading companies and experts in science, aerospace and technology from around the world.
