https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/9c70ea2d-8265-4192-b8ff-0dd1ad432672 This 19-second video shows the solar-powered Centurion aircraft in flight. Since 1980 AeroVironment, Inc. (founded in 1971 by the ultra-light airplane innovator Dr. Paul MacCready) had been experimenting with solar-powered aircraft, often in conjunction with the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (now Armstrong), Edwards, CA. Thus far, AeroVironment, now headquartered in Monrovia, CA, has achieved several altitude records with its Solar Challenger, Pathfinder, and Pathfinder-Plus aircraft. It expected to exceed those records with the newer and larger solar-powered Centurion and its successors the Centelios and Helios vehicles, in the NASA Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program. The Centurion was a lightweight, solar-powered, remotely piloted flying wing aircraft that demonstrated the technology of applying solar power for long-duration, high-altitude flight. It was a prototype technology demonstrator for a future fleet of solar-powered aircraft that could stay airborne for weeks or months on scientific sampling and imaging missions or while serving as telecommunications relay platforms. Although it shared many of the design concepts of the Pathfinder, the Centurion had a wingspan of 206 feet, more than twice the 98-foot span of the original Pathfinder and 70-percent longer than the Pathfinder-Plus' 121-foot span. At the same time, Centurion maintained the 8-foot chord (front to rear distance) of the Pathfinder wing, giving the wing an aspect ratio (length-to-chord) of 26 to 1. Other visible changes from its predecessor included a modified wing airfoil designed for flight at extreme altitude and four underwing pods to support its landing gear and electronic systems (compared with two such pods on the Pathfinder). The flexible wing was primarily fabricated from carbon fiber, graphite epoxy composites, and kevlar. It was built in five sections, a 44-foot-long center section and middle and outer sections just over 40 feet long. All five sections had an identical thickness -- 12 percent of the chord, or about 11.5 inches, with no taper or sweep. Solar arrays that covered most of the upper wing surface provided up to 31 kilowatts of power at high noon on a summer day to power the aircraft's 14 electric motors, avionics, communications, and other electronic systems. Centurion also had a backup lithium battery system that could provide power for between two and five hours to allow limited-duration flight after dark. Initial low-altitude test flights at Dryden in 1998 were conducted on battery power alone, prior to installation of the solar cell arrays. Centurion flew at an airspeed of only 17 to 21 mph, or about 15 to 18 knots. Although pitch control was maintained by the use of a full-span 60-segment elevator on the trailing edge of the wing, turns and yaw control were accomplished by applying differential power -- slowing down or speeding up the motors -- on the outboard sections of the wing. The video clip depicts the aircraft on the lakebed prior to and during its first low-altitude check flight under battery power on November 10, 1998. Mirrored from YouTube: https://youtu.be/F1avGYvJBGQ Original channel: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center Wed, 15 Jul 2026 07:48:37 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/ec5edb1e-3795-4978-be4f-c67e98fbc992.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/9c70ea2d-8265-4192-b8ff-0dd1ad432672 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.