Within five years an unusual squad of planes will take off from a runway at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert in California. The five planes will have no pilots and will stay aloft for months, flying in a V formation like giant geese. This robotic squad will, its planners hope, provide a low-cost alternative to satellites used for communications and environmental monitoring.
Engineers at the Rockwell Corporation, nasa, and ucla spent this past summer testing a prototype of their unmanned air vehicle, or uav. The craft has a 43-foot wingspan but, because of its aluminum and graphite frame and Mylar covering, weighs a scant 100 pounds. Solar panels cover about 90 percent of its wings and should capture enough energy to run the uav’s small propeller all day and to recharge the batteries that will keep it flying at night. This winter two more uavs will be ...
