The solar wind is a stream of energized, charged particles, primarily electrons and protons, flowing outward from the Sun, through the solar system at speeds as high as 900 km/s and at a temperature of 1 million degrees (Celsius).

The Helios Prototype was the fourth and final aircraft developed as part of an evolutionary series of solar- and fuel-cell-system-powered unmanned aerial vehicles….AeroVironment Helios Prototype.

The Helios Prototype is the fourth generation of all-wing aircraft designed and built by AeroVironment at its Design Development Center in Simi Valley, CA as technology demonstrators for future solar-powered high-altitude aircraft platforms for science and commercial missions.

Helios (spacecraft)

Solar unmanned airplane takes to the skies The unmanned solar-powered PHASA-35 airplane aims to fly up to 20 km (66,000 ft) in the sky using only sunlight. BAE Systems and Prismatic designed the aircraft and tested it two years ago.

The SolarStratos airplane weighs 992 pounds and is 27’11” in length. Its solar cells cover 240 square feet of its 81-ft. wingspan, with energy stored in a lithium-ion battery pack. The aircraft has a wingspan of 81 feet, with 240 square feet of solar panels to feed its batteries and electric engine.

A loss of cabin pressurization incapacitated the crew, leaving the aircraft flying on autopilot until it ran out of fuel, and crashed near Grammatiko, Greece. It was the deadliest aviation accident in Greek history.

Given that it operates underwater there’s not much point attaching solar cells to the vessel itself, so instead the design relies on a floating solar platform to collect and store energy and act as a charging station for the submarine when it returns to the surface.

The corona is the outer atmosphere of the Sun. It extends many thousands of kilometers (miles) above the visible “surface” of the Sun, gradually transforming into the solar wind that flows outward through our solar system.

As it travels through space, the solar wind reaches speeds of over one million miles per hour. The space around our atmosphere is alive and dynamic because Earth’s magnetosphere reacts to the Sun’s activity.

The solar-electric Helios Prototype flying wing is shown near the Hawaiian islands of Niihau and Lehua during its first test flight on solar power. The Helios Prototype is a remotely piloted flying wing aircraft developed under NASA’s Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project.

The Helios Prototype flying wing is shown near the Hawaiian islands of Niihau and Lehua during its first test flight on solar power from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility. The Helios Prototype aircraft was a proof-of-concept solar electric-powered flying wing designed to operate at high altitudes for long duration flight.

The Helios Prototype aircraft was a proof-of-concept solar electric-powered flying wing designed to operate at high altitudes for long duration flight. Part of a family of aircraft under the umbrella of ERAST (Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology),…

The Helios Prototype is an ultra-lightweight flying wing aircraft with a wingspan of 247 feet, longer than the wingspans of the U.S. Air Force C-5 military transport (222 feet) or the Boeing 747 commercial jetliner (195 or 215 feet, depending on the model), the two largest operational aircraft in the United States.