It stays aloft for days... It runs off the sun...

Damocles

Damocles

Accedo!
Staff member
And it's built by those freaks in the UK!


I want one.

Solar plane's 3 day flight

A UK-built solar-powered plane has set an unofficial world endurance record for a flight by an unmanned aircraft.

The Zephyr-6, as it is known, stayed aloft for more than three days, running through the night on batteries it had recharged in sunlight.

The flight was a demonstration for the US military, which is looking for new types of technology to support its troops on the ground.

Craft like Zephyr might make ideal platforms for reconnaissance.

They could also be used to relay battlefield communications.

Chris Kelleher, from UK defence and research firm QinetiQ, said Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) offer advantages over traditional aircraft and even satellites.

"The principal advantage is persistence - that you would be there all the time," he told BBC News. "A satellite goes over the same part of the Earth twice a day - and one of those is at night - so it's only really getting a snapshot of activity. Zephyr would be watching all day."
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7577493.stm

More at link...
 
I think that's just one application. The technology is way cool; imagine the implications for how many different kinds of transportation! ...
 
Freaking creepy. I hate where technology is going. In 5 years there will be nowhere you could possibly escape their gaze.
 
Southern Man said:
Transportation of what? The thing has zero payload.
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Ok, this one does, but technological development doesn't stand still. The technology can be adapted, tweaked, further developed, adapted some more, and have much broader applications that this first step represents.
 
Thorn said:
Ok, this one does, but technological development doesn't stand still. The technology can be adapted, tweaked, further developed, adapted some more, and have much broader applications that this first step represents.
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Conservatives can't understand things like this Thorn, you need to bear with them.
 
Thorn said:
Ok, this one does, but technological development doesn't stand still. The technology can be adapted, tweaked, further developed, adapted some more, and have much broader applications that this first step represents.
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Not really. Its a simple calculation to figure out the available area to collect solar energy on a plane vs the amount of energy required to lift it off the ground and push it through the air. Even if you assume 100% efficiency of the solar panels and only sunny day flights there is zero potential for carrying anything other than marshmallows.

Hope, dream and change may get a candidate elected but in the real world the hard numbers rule.
 
Southern Man said:
Not really. Its a simple calculation to figure out the available area to collect solar energy on a plane vs the amount of energy required to lift it off the ground and push it through the air. Even if you assume 100% efficiency of the solar panels and only sunny day flights there is zero potential for carrying anything other than marshmallows.

Hope, dream and change may get a candidate elected but in the real world the hard numbers rule.
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Well if it's so simple why didn't you build it years ago?
 
Southern Man said:
Transportation of what? The thing has zero payload.
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Yeah maybe solar powered airborne remote controlled pizza delivery ?

The sun only puts out so much power per square meter and it takes lots of power to fly. Without amazing breakthrus in tech this will remain an expensive spy gadget. For example breakthroughs in superconductors and , super batteries or anti-gravity.
Or perhaps it can carry one small bomb....
 
uscitizen said:
Yeah maybe solar powered airborne remote controlled pizza delivery ?

The sun only puts out so much power per square meter and it takes lots of power to fly. Without amazing breakthrus in tech this will remain an expensive spy gadget. For example breakthroughs in superconductors and , super batteries or anti-gravity.
Or perhaps it can carry one small bomb....
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With advances in nanotechnology I envision some spider sized creepy crawlies dropped from conventionally sized, petrol powered aircraft like the Predator, finding their way into bin Laden’s cave, crawling in his greasy beard while he sleeps and injecting him with cobra venom, then activating a self-destruct melt down, or maybe even dissolving. :clink:
 
Southern Man said:
With advances in nanotechnology I envision some spider sized creepy crawlies dropped from conventionally sized, petrol powered aircraft like the Predator, finding their way into bin Laden’s cave, crawling in his greasy beard while he sleeps and injecting him with cobra venom, then activating a self-destruct melt down, or maybe even dissolving. :clink:
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I'd design them to crawl into his mouth and turn into camel poop.
 
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