It's A. . .What Is It?

Not a bird or a plane, but the Centurion, a solar-powered craft with a wingspan of 206 feet, designed by AeroVironment, Inc., and sponsored by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif.

Created under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program, the Centurion is designed fly a payload of scientific data-gathering instruments for up to two hours at an ultra-high altitude of 100,000 feet.

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