Solar-powered drone set a new record - 2 weeks in the air
Recently, I wrote that the Zephyr solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle set a record by staying in the air for a week, spending all this time in the atmosphere. Now, the developers have drunk champagne have the right to rejoice once again, because one more record was set - now the unique drone lasted in the air for two weeks! You can imagine how much information an aircraft can accumulate, capable of flying an unlimited amount of time at a very high altitude (18 kilometers). I think if he stayed in the air for two weeks, then he would last half a year, because there, at a great height, conditions change very rarely.
True, at night the drone flew a little lower, but the height difference was not significant. The tests were conducted by a team of developers from Qinetiq in the Arizona desert - and there certainly weather conditions are always about the same. It is worth recalling that the total mass of the aircraft is not so small, it is as much as 50 kilograms, and the wingspan of our aircraft is 22 meters. Solar panels cover almost all exposed wing surfaces, storing energy during the day.
A plane spends less energy during the day than it accumulates, so all that is accumulated is given to batteries that store energy until night, giving it to electric motors when the drone needs energy most. It is also worth noting that the Zephyr solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle can operate in a very wide temperature range - from 40 degrees Celsius above zero to minus 75 degrees below (!). You must admit that not every mechanism will withstand such conditions.
Since the tests were even better than the creators of the unique drone had hoped, soon he will begin to perform very real tasks. What kind? In general, the developers call atmospheric research or monitoring of the earth's surface. But we all understand that this device, flying at a great height and practically not generating heat, is almost the ideal air spy.
The total duration of a non-stop flight of Zephyr was 336 hours and 24 minutes.
And here is the source .