Background: Aurora Flight Sciences' Perseus is a high altitude UAV designed to conduct scientific research above 60,000 feet. Perseus GL is an unpowered UAV, carried aloft by a balloon and released to glide to a landing. Perseus A first flew at NASA Dryden in 1991. After being tow-launched from the ground, it uses a closed cyle engine (started once airborne) fed with onboard oxygen and recycled exhaust to reach 50,000 feet. Perseus B first flew at NASA Dryden in 1994. It suffered a mishap in Mar 96, but returned to flight to set an individual altitude record of 60,200 feet on 27 Jun 98. Perseus is sponsored by the NASA ERAST program. Data is for Perseus B:
Characteristics:
| Length, ft | 31 | Wing Span, ft | 71.5 |
| Gross Weight, lbs | 2500 | Payload Weight, lbs | 260 |
| Fuel Capacity, lbs | Fuel Type | ||
| Engine Make | 1x Rotax 912 | Power, hp | 80 |
| Structure | |||
| Guidance | Navigation | ||
| Data Link(s) | S-band
dn L-band up |
Data Rate(s), kbps | 9.6 |
| Endurance, hrs | 6 | Radius, nm | |
| Max Speed, kts | 69 | Stall Speed, kts | |
| Altitude, ft | 60,000 | ||
| Takeoff Means | Conventional (runway reqd) | ||
| Navigation | Direct control | ||
| Landing Means | Conventional (runway reqd) | ||
Sensor(s):