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Pathfinder aircraft flight #1



Description: The unique Pathfinder solar-powered flying wing, shown during a checkout flight from the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, is now conducting flight tests in Hawaii. This two-hour low-altitude flight over Rogers Dry Lake, Nov. 19, 1996, served to test aircraft systems and functional procedures, according to officials of AeroVironment, Inc., Pathfinder's developer and operator.
Pathfinder is one of several remotely-piloted aircraft designed for high-altitude, long-endurance scientific sampling missions being evaluated under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program.

It is currently embarked on a new series of flight tests from the Hawaiian island of Kauai in mid-1997 which have already established a new unofficial altitude record for solar-powered aircraft of 67,350 feet, as well as perform the first major atmospheric sampling missions on the ERAST program.
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Photo Number: EC96-43817-9
Photo Date: 19 Nov 1996
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Formats: 640x469 JPEG Image (69 KBytes)
1280x938 JPEG Image (537 KBytes)
3030x2220 JPEG Image (1,260 KBytes)
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Keywords: Pathfinder; solar-powered; ERAST; Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology; Solar cells; AeroVironment; world altitude record; 67;350 feet; Pacific Missile Range Facility; Kauai; composite materials
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Responsible NASA Official: Marty Curry Marty.Curry@dfrc.nasa.gov
Page Curator: Robert Binkley Robert.Binkley@dfrc.nasa.gov
Modified: 23 Aug 1999
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