History
Einar Enevoldson conceived the project in 1992, after seeing the new LIDAR images of standing mountain waves west of Kiruna, Sweden, that Dr.Wolfgang Renger of the DLR, Oberpffafenhofen, Germany posted on his office wall. Enevoldson collected evidence on the location, prevalence, and strength of stratospheric mountain waves during the period, 1992-1998. Starting in 1998 Dr. Elizabeth Austin expanded the data analysis and put the project on a firm meteorological basis, with the observation that the stratospheric polar night jet was the principal factor enabling the propagation of standing mountain waves high into the middle stratosphere. At this time a small group at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center analysed the flight dynamics and aerodynamics of sailplane flight up to 100,000 feet. In 1999 Steve Fossett heard that Enevoldson was trying to find funding, and immediately asked to join the project. United States Air Force, on the basis of NASA request, loaned the Perlan Project full pressure suits. A DG 505M sailplane was modified to remove all engine and related equipment and the space used for storage of liquid oxygen and a large supply of LiSO2 primary batteries. Most of the instruments and electronics were replaced with equipment suitable for the extreme altitudes that the sailplane would encounter. Duncan Cummings, of San Pedro California, built special, lightweight, efficient, reliable faceplate heat controllers. Butler Parachute Company built special high altitude stabilized parachutes.
Enevoldson and Fossett flew the sailplane from California City for shakedown and preliminary high altitude flights in the Sierra Nevada of California, reaching over 42,000 feet in Spring 2002. In Summer 2002 the sailplane was shipped to Omarama, New Zealand, where it flew during three winters without reaching the stratosphere. The timing was too early in the season.
In 2005 the sailplane was shipped to El Calafate, Argentina, a small town at 50° south latitude. Five attempts in a three-week period, none in favorable weather conditions, were unsuccessful. In 2006 the forecast offered very favorable conditions on 28 August but at 33,000 feet, in a strong climb, Steve Fossett's pressure suit inflated prematurely and excessively, and the flight was aborted. The next day, on 29 August, after one of the pressure suit regulators had been changed, the weather conditions were still favorable, the team made another attempt. After a four-hour climb Enevoldson and Fossett reached the record altitude, and with that, they learned a great many new lessons. The concept had been validated.
Read more about this topic: Perlan Project
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