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40-537: The NASA Centurion was modified into the Helios Prototype configuration by adding a sixth 41 feet (12 m) wing section and a fifth landing gear and systems pod, becoming the fourth configuration in the series of solar-powered flying wing demonstrator aircraft developed by AeroVironment under the ERAST project. The larger wing on the Helios Prototype accommodated more solar arrays to provide adequate power for

80-407: A built-in 10-degree dihedral to give the aircraft more lateral stability. A slight upward twist at the tips of the trailing edge helped prevent wing tip stalls during the slow landings and turns. The wing area was 1,976 sq ft (183.6 m)., which gave the craft a maximum wing loading of only 0.81 lb./sq. ft. when flying at a gross weight of 1,600 lb. The all-wing aircraft

120-658: A controlling interest in SunPower in 2002. Cypress appointed Tom Werner as the new CEO the following year. Demand for SunPower's products increased in the early 2000s, due to rising utility costs, government subsidies, and its new A-300 solar cell. In particular, SunPower grew in Germany and California, where new government subsidies were being introduced. By 2005, SunPower was not yet profitable, but had $ 200 million in backlogged orders. Revenues increased from $ 5 million in 2003 to $ 78.7 million in 2005. As

160-418: A delayed take off, due to the failure of the winds to shift as predicted, Helios spent more time than expected flying through a zone of low-level turbulence on the lee side of Kauai, because it was climbing more slowly than normal, since it had to contend with cloud shadows and the resultant reduction in solar power. As the aircraft climbed through 2,800 feet (850 m) 30 minutes into the flight, according to

200-472: A home energy app company called Tendril. As part of the deal, the two companies began integrating their products, so the home automation software from Tendril could time heavy energy use for when the solar panels are generating the most power. In 2019, SunPower announced it was going to spin off its manufacturing division into a separate business in Singapore named Maxeon Solar Technologies . As part of

240-809: A majority interest in the company in 2002, growing it quickly until SunPower went public in 2005. TotalEnergies , a French energy and oil company purchased a controlling interest in SunPower for US$ 1.37  billion in 2011 but disengaged progressively until reaching 32.5%. The company previously developed and manufactured photovoltaic panels , before spinning off that part of its business in 2020 as Maxeon Solar Technologies . The company had also previously marketed its products to commercial and industrial customers before agreeing to sell that business line to TotalEnergies in February 2022. SunPower filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2024. SunPower

280-577: A redesigned high-altitude airfoil and the span was increased to 206 feet (63 m). The number of motors was increased to 14 and the number of underwing pods to carry batteries, flight control system components, ballast, and landing gear rose to four. This article contains material that originally came from the web article "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of

320-420: A remotely piloted systems checkout flight in preparation for an endurance test scheduled for the following month. On the morning of the accident, weather forecasts indicated that conditions were inside the acceptable envelope, although during the preflight go/no-go review, the weather forecaster gave it a "very marginal GO." One of the primary concerns was a pair of wind shear zones off the island's coast. After

360-513: A second factory. SunPower collaborated with PowerLight to develop its roofing-tile solar product called SunTile. In order to combine their R&D efforts, SunPower acquired PowerLight for $ 265 million, in January 2007. Analysts estimated the acquisition doubled SunPower's size. Shortly afterwards, PowerLight secured a $ 330 million contract, the largest SunPower had ever done. By 2007, half of Cypress' revenues, or $ 775 million,

400-418: A thin, transparent plastic skin. The main tubular wing spar was made of carbon fiber. The spar, which was thicker on the top and bottom to absorb the constant bending motions that occur during flight, was also wrapped with Nomex and Kevlar for additional strength. The wing ribs were also made of epoxy and carbon fiber. Shaped Styrofoam was used for the wing's leading edge and a durable clear plastic film covered

440-413: A total of 1 hr and 24 minutes. At the time, it weighed in at 1,385 pounds (628.2 kg) (including a 150 pounds (68.0 kg) steel anvil hanging on its centerline to simulate a payload) for its first flight. The flight was nearly flawless and was followed by a second similar performance on November 19, this time before a crowd of VIPs and Media. It lasted 1 hr and 29 minutes. The third and final flight of

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480-536: A wingspan of 247 feet (75 m), longer than the wingspans of the U.S. Air Force C-5 military transport (222 feet (68 m) or the Boeing 747 (195 or 224 feet (59 or 68 m), depending on the model), the two largest operational aircraft built in the United States. The electrically powered Helios was constructed mostly of composite materials such as carbon fiber , graphite epoxy, Kevlar , Styrofoam , and

520-565: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration . SunPower SunPower Corporation is an American provider of photovoltaic solar energy generation systems and battery energy storage products, primarily for residential customers. The company, headquartered in San Jose, California , was founded in 1985 by Richard Swanson , an electrical engineering professor from Stanford University . Cypress Semiconductor bought

560-728: The ERAST project, was the third generation aircraft in the NASA Pathfinder series of electrical-powered flying wing unmanned aircraft. The ERAST program managers had determined that an aircraft based on the Pathfinder/Pathfinder Plus concept would be the lowest risk approach of achieving the altitude goal. Initially, a quarter-scale model of the Centurion was test flown at El Mirage Dry Lake on March 4, 1997. The full-size Centurion's maiden flight took place at Rogers Dry Lake on November 10, 1998, and lasted

600-441: The Helios Prototype was first flown in a series of battery-powered development flights in late 1999 to validate the longer wing's performance and the aircraft's handling qualities. Instrumentation that was used for the follow-on solar-powered altitude and endurance flights was also checked out and calibrated during the initial low-altitude flights at NASA Dryden . The Helios Prototype is an ultra-lightweight flying wing aircraft with

640-518: The Public Domain. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration . NASA Centurion The NASA Centurion was the third aircraft developed as part of an evolutionary series of solar - and fuel-cell -system-powered unmanned aerial vehicles . AeroVironment, Inc. developed the vehicles under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program. They were built to develop

680-569: The aircraft into the Helios Prototype , with work starting in January, 1999. The design of Centurion resulted in an aircraft that looked very much like the Pathfinder, but with a much longer wingspan of 206 feet (63 m). Although the Centurion shape resembled the Pathfinder, the structure was designed to be stronger and capable of carrying numerous payloads (up to 600 pounds (272.2 kg)) more efficiently. Its wing incorporated

720-427: The altitude goals and powered the aircraft with batteries and solar cells. The second configuration, HP03, optimized the aircraft for endurance, and used a combination of solar cells, storage batteries and a modified commercial hydrogen–air fuel cell system for power at night. In this configuration, the number of motors was reduced from 14 to ten. Using the traditional incremental or stairstep approach to flight testing,

760-549: The company was anticipating having to lay off half of its employees. SunPower founder Richard Swanson's former classmate, T.J. Rodgers , was the CEO of Cypress Semiconductor and took an interest in investing in the company. At first, the Cypress board wasn't willing to invest, so Rodgers invested $ 750,000 of his own money. Starting with an investment of $ 8 million, Cypress eventually invested about $ 150 million, acquiring

800-745: The company was called Eos and was funded with $ 2,000 in savings between Swanson and his friend Richard Crane. In 1989, Robert Lorenzini invested in the company, became its chairman, and changed the name to SunPower. Some of SunPower's early revenues were from research grants and using its manufacturing facilities to create silicon wafers for semiconductor companies. Interest grew as SunPower completed prototype installations and portable electronics that use solar power became more popular. Swanson resigned from his academic position at Stanford in 1991, in order to focus on SunPower full-time. The company's revenues grew from $ 600,000 in 1989 to $ 1.4 million in 1995, and $ 6 million in 1996. However, by 2001

840-513: The company was getting closer to profitability, it filed an initial public offering . The 2005 offering raised $ 138.6 million in funding. The following year, SunPower was profitable for the first time with $ 236.5 million in revenues. SunPower moved into a larger corporate headquarters location in San Jose, California and secured several contracts with major retailers for solar panel installations. In 2007, SunPower announced plans to expand its manufacturing facility five-fold and build

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880-603: The deal, Tianjin Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co invested $ 298 million for a 29% interest in Maxeon. The remaining SunPower business became focused on services, installation, batteries, and other products. In 2021, Tom Werner retired as CEO and Peter Faricy took his place as CEO. In February 2022, SunPower spun-off its commercial and industrial installation divisions, which were purchased by SunPower investor TotalEnergies for $ 250 million. SunPower said

920-425: The entire wing. The Helios Prototype shared the same 8-foot (2.4 m) wing chord (distance from leading to trailing edge) as its Pathfinder and Centurion predecessors. The 247-foot (75 m) wingspan gave the Helios Prototype an aspect ratio of almost 31 to 1. The wing thickness was the same from tip to tip, 11.5 inches (29 cm) or 12 percent of the chord, and it had no taper or sweep . The outer panels had

960-433: The fixed landing gear—rugged mountain bike wheels on the rear and smaller scooter wheels on the front. The only flight control surfaces used on the Helios Prototype were 72 trailing-edge elevators that provided pitch control. Spanning the entire wing, they were operated by tiny servomotors linked to the aircraft's flight control computer. To turn the aircraft in flight, yaw control was applied using differential power on

1000-508: The low altitude test series took place on December 3. On this flight the vehicle was loaded down to its maximum gross weight of 1,806 pounds (819.2 kg) to test its weight carrying capability. Total flight time on this flight was 30 minutes, as it was shortened because high winds were anticipated by mid-morning. All of these flights took place on battery power and verified the design's handling qualities , performance, and structural integrity. Following these three flights, NASA decided to expand

1040-550: The motors on the outer wing panels higher than the motors on the center panels. Speeding up the outer-panel motors caused the aircraft to pitch down and begin a descent. Conversely, applying additional power to the motors in the center panels caused Helios to pitch up and begin climbing. From 2000 to 2001, the HP01 received a number of upgrades, including new avionics, high-altitude environmental control systems and SunPower solar array composed of more than 62,000 solar cells installed on

1080-421: The motors — speeding up the motors on one outer wing panel while slowing down motors on the other outer panel. A major test during the initial flight series was the evaluation of differential motor power as a means of pitch control. During normal cruise the outer wing panels of Helios were arched upward and give the aircraft the shape of a shallow crescent when viewed from the front or rear. This configuration placed

1120-535: The ocean within the confines of the Pacific Missile Range Facility test range and was destroyed. Most of the vehicle structure was recovered except the hydrogen–air fuel cell pod and two of the ten motors, which sank into the ocean." The investigation report identified a two-part root cause of the accident: This article contains material that originally came from the web article "Unmanned Aerial Vehicles" by Greg Goebel, which exists in

1160-416: The pilot turned off the airspeed hold loop instead of executing the correct emergency procedure and increasing the airspeed hold loop gain. The aircraft’s design airspeed was subsequently exceeded and the resulting high dynamic pressures caused the wing leading edge secondary structure on the outer wing panels to fail and the solar cells and skin on the upper surface of the wing to rip off. The aircraft impacted

1200-417: The subsequent mishap investigation report, "the aircraft encountered turbulence and morphed into an unexpected, persistent, high dihedral configuration. As a result of the persistent high dihedral, the aircraft became unstable in a very divergent pitch mode in which the airspeed excursions from the nominal flight speed about doubled every cycle of the oscillation . The over-speed condition was exacerbated when

1240-548: The sun-powered development flights that followed. The aircraft's maiden flight was on September 8, 1999. The ERAST program had two goals when developing the Helios Prototype: 1) sustained flight at altitudes near 100,000 feet (30,000 m) and 2) endurance of at least 24 hours, including at least 14 of those hours above 50,000 feet (15,000 m). To this end, the Helios Prototype could be configured in two different ways. The first, designated HP01, focused on achieving

AeroVironment Helios Prototype - Misplaced Pages Continue

1280-534: The technologies that would allow long-term, high-altitude aircraft to serve as atmospheric satellites , to perform atmospheric research tasks as well as serve as communications platforms. It was developed from the NASA Pathfinder Plus aircraft and was developed into the NASA Helios . Centurion, originally built for the 100,000 feet (30,000 m) altitude on solar power milestone specified by

1320-441: The transaction would allow it to focus on residential installations. The company announced on December 18, 2023, that there was a question it will be a " going concern ," indicating that leadership was uncertain if the company could continue operations given the company's current financial position. The company also announced that it previously incorrectly accounted for inventory, causing a technical default ; however creditors gave

1360-404: The upper wing surface. These cells featured a rear-contact cell design that placed wires on the underside of the cells, so as not to obstruct the cells' exposure to solar radiation . On August 13, 2001, the Helios Prototype piloted remotely by Greg Kendall reached an altitude of 96,863 feet (29,524 m), a world record for sustained horizontal flight by a winged aircraft. The altitude reached

1400-451: Was acquiring a majority interest in SunPower for $ 1.37 billion. In 2012, SunPower founder Richard Swanson retired, though he continued to serve on the SunPower advisory board. By 2013, SunPower's revenues rebounded and it started expanding its manufacturing facilities again. That same year, it acquired Greenbotics, which developed automated cleaning systems for solar panels, and Dragonfly, which developed solar micro-inverters . This

1440-402: Was assembled in six sections, each about 41 feet (12 m) long. An underwing pod was attached at each panel joint to carry the landing gear, the battery power system, flight control computers, and data instrumentation. The five aerodynamically shaped pods were made mostly of the same materials as the wing itself, with the exception of the transparent wing covering. Two wheels on each pod made up

1480-587: Was coming from its investment in SunPower. SunPower was spun-off as a separate business from Cypress in 2008. SunPower acquired Sunray Renewable Energy, a solar panel company based in Italy, for $ 277 million in 2010, in order to expand in Europe. The following year, SunPower cut back production due to an overall market decline in solar power purchases. SunPower also announced the French oil and gas company Total

1520-492: Was followed by SunPower's 2014 acquisition of SolarBridge , which developed microinverters used to improve the efficiency of solar panels. In 2018, SunPower sold its microinverter business to Enphase Energy and since that time Sunpower has used Enphase microinverters in all AC module products. In 2014, SunPower raised $ 220 million from Bank of America and Merrill Lynch , in order to fund customer financing options. That same year, SunPower invested $ 20 million in

1560-489: Was founded on April 24, 1985, by Richard Swanson , who was a Stanford University professor focused on electrical engineering. Swanson studied solar power efficiency in the Stanford Electronics Laboratory with funding from research grants. After breaking a record for solar power efficiency in lab conditions, he took a sabbatical to start SunPower and commercialize the technology. Initially,

1600-536: Was more than 11,000 feet (3,400 m) — or more than 2 miles (3.2 km) — above the previous altitude record for sustained flight by a winged aircraft. In addition, the aircraft spent more than 40 minutes above 96,000 feet (29,000 m). On June 26, 2003, the Helios Prototype broke up and fell into the Pacific Ocean about ten miles (16 km) west of the Hawaiian Island Kauai during

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