1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,440 Hello, everyone, I'm Steele McGonigal. 2 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:08,600 And I'm Kara O'Brien, and welcome to Destination Tomorrow. 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:13,400 This program will uncover how past, present, and future research is creating today's knowledge 4 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,800 to answer the questions and solve the challenges of tomorrow. 5 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:21,240 NASA's new Helios aircraft is a remotely piloted flying wing, which is designed to operate 6 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:24,560 at high altitudes for several months at a time. 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:30,080 Built with ultralight composite materials and with a wingspan of 247 feet, the Helios 8 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:33,720 exceeds the overall length of a Boeing 747. 9 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:38,520 Often referred to as an atmospheric satellite, Helios' mission is to conduct a wide variety 10 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:43,480 of Earth and atmospheric science missions while flying on the edge of the atmosphere. 11 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:48,120 Helios could also monitor weather, track hurricanes, and provide coverage of disaster sites such 12 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:53,320 as fires, flooding, and earthquakes in order to precisely direct emergency resources. 13 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,400 Helios could also provide telecommunications and other services at a fraction of the cost 14 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:01,640 of satellites, while providing a reliable means of collecting vital information. 15 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:10,280 Greg Provan spoke with John Del Frate about the future of Helios and its unique design. 16 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:15,080 Since the early 60s, the world has relied on satellites for a variety of different applications, 17 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:19,320 including use in the telecommunications field and in weather observations. 18 00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:23,240 Although satellites have revolutionized the way we live, they are not only very expensive 19 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:28,360 to build and fly into space, they sometimes don't make it into space at all. 20 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:32,820 To help find new and less expensive ways to fulfill the need for satellite usage, researchers 21 00:01:32,820 --> 00:01:36,480 at NASA are developing an innovative type of low-cost aircraft. 22 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,360 It's called the Helios and may be able to work much like a satellite, but at a fraction 23 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:41,760 of the cost. 24 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,840 This so-called atmospheric satellite will be able to fly at high altitudes for months 25 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:49,800 at a time, providing a low-cost solution to current satellites. 26 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,200 I spoke with John Del Frate to find out more. 27 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:59,600 NASA's developing an experimental airplane and we're using some technology that's been 28 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,440 developed over the last 10, 20 years. 29 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:08,280 We want to use solar cell technology and some very lightweight aircraft structure technology. 30 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:12,440 By putting those two together, we think that we can build an airplane that can fly very 31 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:16,920 high and then more importantly, fly very long. 32 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:23,040 We want to be able to do the mission of a satellite in some ways and in this case, because 33 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:27,200 we're doing it on an airplane, it would be like a poor man's satellite. 34 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:30,920 So why do you think this would be a better solution than using existing satellites? 35 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:35,760 Well, there's a few advantages that this kind of an airplane would give you over a regular 36 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:36,760 satellite. 37 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:38,520 For one, it's a lot less expensive. 38 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:45,000 The other aspect is the satellite gets launched and the technology is ancient already. 39 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,920 An airplane like this could use technology that is current, the stuff that the scientists 40 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:50,920 have just developed. 41 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:55,920 Put it on the airplane, go up, fly it, test it, see how it does, bring it back down, change 42 00:02:55,920 --> 00:02:56,920 it. 43 00:02:56,920 --> 00:02:59,400 A satellite, once it's up there, it's pretty much up there. 44 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:02,640 So the hope is to have the Helios fly for months at a time. 45 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:04,320 How's it going to stay in the air that long? 46 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:09,080 We've already licked the problem of being able to fly under solar power. 47 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:13,240 But now the question is, you know, we've got solar power, what happens when the sun goes 48 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:14,240 down? 49 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:19,840 Well, we're developing a system that is like a rechargeable battery, for example. 50 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:25,080 During the day, whatever excess power is produced by the solar cells, we capture that and store 51 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:26,360 it on board. 52 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,680 And then at nighttime when the sun goes down, we use that power to power the electrical 53 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:32,280 systems on the airplane. 54 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:37,840 Although the Helios prototype uses new space-age materials, the design is actually very simple. 55 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:42,400 Weighing in at just about 1,600 pounds, this ultra-lightweight, electrically powered, all-wing 56 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,840 aircraft is constructed mostly of composite materials. 57 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:50,160 It's assembled in six sections, each about 41 feet long, with an underwing pod attached 58 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:51,640 at each panel. 59 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:56,400 The pods carry the battery power system, flight control computers, data instrumentation, and 60 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:57,640 the landing gear. 61 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:02,440 The aircraft is powered by 14 electric motors, producing about 2 horsepower each, which drive 62 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,000 lightweight, high-altitude propellers. 63 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,440 This amount of power allows the aircraft to cruise between 19 and 27 miles per hour, with 64 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,600 takeoff and landing speeds roughly about the same as a bicycle. 65 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,580 The electric motors are solar powered, enabling the aircraft to produce enough energy during 66 00:04:16,580 --> 00:04:18,140 the day to stay aloft. 67 00:04:18,140 --> 00:04:22,880 When the sun goes down, the craft relies on proton exchange membrane fuel cell technology 68 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:24,280 to power the motors. 69 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:28,720 These unique fuel cells combine oxygen and hydrogen to produce electric power, heat, 70 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:29,720 and water. 71 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:34,080 As long as these gases are supplied, the unit continues to produce power, allowing the aircraft 72 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:36,280 to remain airborne for days at a time. 73 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:38,920 So what are some other potential uses for the Helios? 74 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,560 We believe the airplane could be used to do some science research. 75 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:49,480 Basically, the airplane can be loaded with sensors and instruments that study the Earth's 76 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:54,880 atmosphere, look down, study things on the ground, and you could be looking at volcanoes. 77 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:59,140 You could look at the humidity in the air, the temperature of the air, a whole lot of 78 00:04:59,140 --> 00:05:01,040 things that could be studied. 79 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:06,040 So science is important to NASA, and this airplane could do some really good science 80 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,680 over the next 10 years or so. 81 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:15,520 Along those same lines, to be able to look down and look at the health of your forests, 82 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:21,120 to be looking at the health of crops, the health of your coral reef, the health of your 83 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,440 river ways could be provided, I think, in a much more consistent fashion. 84 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,320 So John, what are your hopes for the future of the Helios? 85 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:33,680 Well, we see Helios going all over the world, tens, hundreds, thousands of these airplanes. 86 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:37,720 In fact, some of the applications, I think, are still to be discovered. 87 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:42,880 There's all kinds of things that we envision as being exciting ways of improving people's 88 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:44,240 life here on Earth. 89 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:49,200 It's exciting because I think that for a lot of people, even for aeronautical-type engineers 90 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:53,520 just 10, 20, 30 years ago, I think they were kind of thinking airplanes have pretty much 91 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:57,680 kind of reached the limits, you know, let's concentrate somewhere else. 92 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,640 But you know, some of the things that are going on at NASA tell us otherwise. 93 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:05,680 There's a lot of exciting stuff that's still left to be discovered, and this is just one 94 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:07,040 part of that. 95 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:11,640 NASA researchers believe that a Helios-type aircraft may one day fly in the thin Martian 96 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,960 atmosphere, which is similar to the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere. 97 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:20,280 Up next, a revolutionary new technology is helping improve the early detection of breast 98 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:21,280 cancer. 99 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:25,760 But first, did you know that the Helios broke the altitude record for non-rocket-powered 100 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:26,760 aircraft? 101 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:34,480 The original record of 85,068 feet was set in 1976 by the Mach 3-capable SR-71 Blackbird. 102 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:39,640 The Helios, flying at speeds around 20 miles an hour, climbed above 99 percent of the Earth's 103 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:47,520 atmosphere and set the new record of 96,863 feet in the summer of 2001.