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"By the time I can take people out to where Hubble is looking, they won't be human anymore, by a long way."
- Larry Niven
 |
| Solar-Powered UAV | ||
| An unmanned aerial vehicle that is entirely solar-powered. |
| The dark birdforms dotted the mountaintops like statues of prehistoric beasts, wings outspread. Had there been an eye to observe them, it might not even have noted their minute, tropism-like pursuit of the sun across the sky as they recharged their batteries for the night's flight. |
| From Changeling,
by Roger Zelazny. Published by Ace in 1980 Additional resources -
|
There are real-life solar-powered UAVs. The Sunrise II was built by Lockheed in 1975 and had 4480 solar cells delivering over 600 watts; it weighed only 4 lbs. The climb rate of the Sunrise II reached about 300 ft per minute or 20,000 ft per hour and the service ceiling was estimated to be about 75,000 feet.
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