Glider aims to soar to Earth’s stratosphere

New York Times : In 2006 a glider named Perlan I set an altitude record when it climbed to a height of 50 726 feet (15.5 km). Now Perlan II is aiming even higher—90 000 feet (27.4 km). In August 2015 the $7.5 million craft will be towed by a single-engine plane to an area near the Andes Mountains in Argentina, where its two pilots will attempt to take advantage of various wind phenomena, such as atmospheric standing waves , to lift it to the stratosphere. At that height, the thin air and low temperatures pose challenges for both the pilots and the craft. Besides the possibility of breaking records and flying a plane in essentially Mars-like conditions, the backers also plan to use the flight for scientific study, by collecting air samples and using lasers to measure atmospheric chemical concentrations and mixing, notably in the ozone hole above Antarctica.