Perpetual Flight

By Kathy A Svitil
Nov 1, 1996 6:00 AMNov 12, 2019 4:24 AM

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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.

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