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The Perlan Project: Soaring to Near-Space

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The Perlan Project: Soaring to Near-Space The Perlan Project: Soaring to Near-Space Michael Batalia1&3, Shelly Hynes2&3, Chris Hynes2&3, Einar Enevoldson3, Ed Warnock3, Morgan Sandercock3, Elizabeth Austin3&4, Greg Cole3&5 (1Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 2The Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts, Natchitoches, Louisiana, 3The Perlan Project, Beaverton, Oregon 4Weather Extreme Ltd., Fallbrook, California 5Windward Performance Ltd., Bend, Oregon) Summary Design Specification (CDS) [Chin et al. 2008]. By Utilizing the CDS, researchers will be able to reuse The Perlan Project is dedicated to building and experiments designed to fly on other platforms, as flying research gliders capable of travel to “near- well as to prepare and test experiments on Perlan space”, the realm of Earth’s middle atmosphere. II flights prior to flying the experiments on other The Perlan II is currently under construction, and it platforms. is a pressurized, high altitude sailplane designed to reach 90,000+ feet. Unlike the SR-71 Blackbird The Perlan II sailplane is under construction in which relies on massive engines to power its way Bend, Oregon at the Windward Performance Ltd. to high altitudes, the Perlan II sailplane is designed aircraft factory. Flight testing is scheduled to begin to harness the lift of stratospheric mountain waves in the spring of 2013 contingent on continued generated when the polar vortex, a persistent, funding. Design and construction of the Perlan II large-scale cyclone located near both of our sailplane creates unique engineering challenges planet's geographical poles, crosses the Andes for professionals and students. The Perlan II will Mountains. Once accomplished, these flights will fly in a virtual vacuum of only 3% atmospheric set new manned altitude records for wing-borne pressure. It will approach a zone where the stall flight, and the Perlan II sailplane will become a speed of the aircraft converges with the flutter unique platform for near-space research. speed of the airframe. To maintain lift at this extreme altitude, the airframe will have to approach Introduction transonic speeds. The aerodynamic and structural difficulties are only part of the challenge. The On August 30, 2006, Steve Fossett and Einar aircraft is more space ship than pressurized aircraft Enevoldson flew the Perlan I research glider, a and everything must be small and light. modified DG-505, to a new soaring altitude record of 50,761 feet at El Calafate, Argentina, proving The Perlan Project is dedicated to inspiring young the concept that a sailplane could soar in people to seek careers in math, science, stratospheric mountain wave. The Perlan I aircraft engineering, and aviation. We have established has been placed on permanent display at the partnerships with schools in four states to use the Seattle Museum of Flight to commemorate this flights of the Perlan II sailplane to promote and accomplishment. enhance their STEM programming. We have a three-part mission of science, The Perlan Project team is entirely made up of engineering, and education coupled with a strong volunteers, and to date, all of the funds for the dose of inspiration. Our goal is to create an project have been donated or granted. Our team environmentally-friendly, near-space sailplane includes former and current test pilots, a person which will have very modest costs to maintain and who flew in a Soyuz spacecraft to the International operate but which will be available to researchers Space Station, engineers, scientists, educators across the world. The Perlan II sailplane will and amateur glider enthusiasts. Everyone provide a unique scientific platform which can be participating is passionate to make this project a routinely flown into the stratosphere to study reality. diverse research areas such as meteorology, aerodynamics, high-altitude physiology, materials References engineering and testing, and geoengineering. The Chin, A., Nugent, R., Munakata, R., Coelho, R., payload bay of the Perlan II sailplane has been Puig-Suari, J., 2008. The CubeSat: The designed to carry a permanent payload of Picosatellite Standard for Research and Education, meteorological instruments as well as unique, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, single-flight experiments configured to the CubeSat AIAA Space 2008 Conference and Exhibition .
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