Puffin: NASA’s Concept Vehicle
It seems that the days of climbing into an air vehicle and jetting down to the shops is getting closer. The jet pack may have paved the way for the latest concept vehicle released by NASA, known as the Puffin. Bridging the gap between conventional motor vehicles and personal air travel is becoming a reality and it might just be that Puffins are the new generation of transport for the public. But NASA has also made it very clear that it is developing the Puffin not as a future product but it is only a project to create a new technology.
The Puffin is a breakthrough in transportation, as NASA sees this aircraft to be the technology that will bridge the gap between today and the future. It has not achieved long flight as yet, as it is still in various stages of design and testing. The flight system that has been selected for the Puffin is very similar to what is found on the V-22 Osprey. Two rotors provide the Puffin with power to take to flight, and it has a wingspan of thirteen feet, or 4.1 meters. In total the Puffin weighs approximately a hundred and thirty five kilograms, without including the weight of its batteries. To reduce noise levels the aircraft was designed to be electric, and therefore has lithium phosphate batteries that are rechargeable and add an extra forty-five kilograms to the Puffin. Due to the Puffin lifting off and landing in the same way a helicopter would, it will be fitted with spring legs and it is believed that the aircraft will be able to reach speeds of approximately 140 miles per hour, or 240 kilometers per hour. As the Puffin is an electric aircraft, it is seen as an environmentally friendly aircraft, and engineers have managed to make the Puffin even quieter than the present day low-noise helicopters, emitting approximately fifty decibels.
It has been built to only accommodate one person. The Puffin prototype was designed and engineered by the National Institute of Aerospace, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, M-DOT Aerospace and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Puffin is a step into a new direction, where technology, dreams and environmentally friendly alternatives can be explored.
Solar-Powered Ambitions
Dubendorf, in Switzerland, was the venue of the unveiling of the Solar Impulse, which took place on 26 June 2009. Bertrand Piccard had to wait until the 3rd of December that same year, however, to see his dream take to flight, with pilot Markus Scherdel in the cockpit. It was a big day for everyone involved in the Solar Impulse project. But the building of the plane and its test flight was merely a stepping stone for Piccard and for much bigger things to come, such as flying around the world in the Solar Impulse.
The Solar Impulse has been built with the same wingspan as the Airbus A340 (63 meters), and four gondolas, with lithium polymer batteries and a twin blade propeller with motors has been attached to the wings. All four engines are 10 HP electric motors, giving the Solar Impulse an average flying speed of 70 kilometers per hour. The maximum altitude for the solar powered aircraft is 8 500 meters and it has a takeoff speed of 35 kilometers an hour. Many might think that massive wing span would make this aircraft too heavy, but it weighs a mere 1 600 kilograms.
Promoting his venture at the World Future Energy Summit, which was hosted in Abu Dhabi, Piccard spoke about his pending adventure with great enthusiasm. He hopes that flying around the world in the Solar Impulse will promote renewable energy awareness, and pave the way to new ways being invented to produce alternative energy for motor vehicles, heating and computers. Sharing the flight duties with Andre Borschberg, the duo will attempt non-stop flight, only touching down to change pilots. This means that the Solar Impulse will travel day and night, for approximately 20 to 25 days to complete its mission. As flight testing and work is still underway to ensure that the Solar Impulse will be ready to perform its task, the world travel project is only scheduled for 2012 or 2013. Charles Lindbergh was the first man to attempt a non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, and Piccard believes that recreating this epic flight using only solar power will be a wonderful promotion tool for alternative energy. Piccard was quoted saying: “People need solutions, not problems. So we have to demonstrate the solutions. We have to show that it’s possible to do great things.”
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