About 20 years ago Dr. Elizabeth Austin began to investigate Polar Vortex winds during the long winter nights near the poles. One of its components, the stratospheric polar night jet, can create 300 mph winds which in turn can project atmospheric mountain waves as high as 130,000 feet into the stratosphere.
The Airbus Perlan II is an engineless glider designed to surf stratospheric mountain waves in our atmosphere to the edge of space. Cruising at 400 mph at an altitude of 90,000 feet this glider with a wing span of 85 feet will become the highest level flying winged vehicle in history and will be able to travel above 98% of the Earth's atmosphere. The cabin of Perlan II is pressurized and is occupied by a crew of two who make their high altitude flights from a base in Argentina.
The Perlan II will carry a package of scientific instruments which will enable it to study the atmosphere without the presence of a polluting engine to bias the measurements. The results will provide important information about our atmosphere which will help humans to adapt to the climate change we have created.
At the highest point of its flight Perlan II will be flying in an atmosphere similar to what exists on the planet Mars.
In the future high flying commercial aircraft in our atmosphere as well as vehicles which will enable us to explore our neighbor Mars will benefit from the data obtained by the Airbus Perlan II.