Students from the University of Kentucky have designed a prototype UAV for Mars exploration with inflatable wings. The robotic glider is called BIG BLUE (Baseline Inflatable Glider Balloon Launched Unmanned Experiment). The goal of the project was to test the system by lofting the UAV to 100,000 feet using a balloon, inflate the wings, then release the glider for a controlled flight back to the base. A new NASA article describes the basics of the project. A map tracking the flight and links to more photos are available from EOSS, the provider of the balloon launch services. A previous high-altitude glider project by another group used fixed wings and lauched from a lower altitude last year.


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