astronomy

MacCready Solar Challenger

MacCready Solar Challenger is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand MacCready Solar Challenger rather than just read about it. In short: The Solar Challenger was a solar-powered aircraft designed by Paul MacCready's AeroVironment. The aircraft was designed as an improvement on the Gossamer Penguin, which in turn was a solar-powered variant of the human-powered Gossamer Albatross.

Key takeaways

MacCready Solar Challenger belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect MacCready Solar Challenger to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of MacCready Solar Challenger from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Solar Challenger was a solar-powered aircraft designed by Paul MacCready's AeroVironment. The aircraft was designed as an improvement on the Gossamer Penguin, which in turn was a solar-powered variant of the human-powered Gossamer Albatross. It was powered entirely by the photovoltaic cells on its wing and stabilizer, without even reserve batteries, and was the first such craft capable of long-distance flight. In 1981, it successfully completed a 163-mile (262 km) demonstration flight from France to England.

History The Solar Challenger was designed by a team led by Paul MacCready as a more airworthy improvement on the Gossamer Penguin, directly incorporating lessons learned from flight testing the earlier aircraft. As with the Gossamer Penguin, construction was sponsored by DuPont in exchange for publicity for the company's patented materials incorporated in the design. AstroFlight, Inc. supplied the motors and solar panels, designed by Robert Boucher. The plane's wings carried 16,128 solar cells yielding a maximum solar power of 3,800 watts. It was flight tested in Western USA in winter 1980–1981. On July 7, 1981, the aircraft flew 163 miles from Pontoise – Cormeilles Aerodrome, north of Paris, France to Manston Royal Air Force Base in Manston, United Kingdom, staying aloft 5 hours and 23 minutes, with pilot Stephen Ptacek at the controls. Currently the plane is owned by the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum.

Design The Solar Challenger was designed to be sturdier, more powerful, and more maneuverable than the Gossamer Penguin so as to be able to withstand sustained high-altitude flight and normal turbulence. It was over three times as heavy (without pilot) as the Gossamer Penguin and had a shorter wingspan, but was proportionately more powerful, with electricity supplied by 16,128 solar cells powering two three-horsepower motors. The solar panels were directly affixed to the wing and large horizontal stabilizer, both of which had to be flat on top to accommodate them. The two motors, each 3 inches wide and 17 inches long and incorporating samarium-cobalt permanent magnets, operated in tandem on a common shaft to drive a single, controllable-pitch propeller. The design incorporated advanced synthetic materials with very high strength to weight ratios, including Kevlar, Nomex, Delrin, Teflon, and Mylar, all supplied by the aircraft's sponsor, Dupont.

Specifications Data from General characteristics Crew: One Capacity: One Length: 29 ft 0 in (8.8 m) Wingspan: 47 ft 0 in (14.3 m) Empty weight: 205 lb (90 kg) Gross weight: 350 lb (159 kg) Powerplant: 1 × solar-powered electric motor , 2.75 hp (2 kW) Performance

Maximum speed: 40 mph (64 km/h, 35 kn) Range: 400 mi (645 km, 350 nmi) (projected) Endurance: 11 hours (projected) Service ceiling: 14,300 ft (4,360 m) demonstrated, 35,000 ft (11,000 m) calculated at summer solstice g limits: +6, -3 Rate of climb: 150 ft/min (0.765 m/s)

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with MacCready Solar Challenger

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what MacCready Solar Challenger claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to MacCready Solar Challenger before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about MacCready Solar Challenger ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of MacCready Solar Challenger

In research: MacCready Solar Challenger appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses MacCready Solar Challenger in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: MacCready Solar Challenger is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1980s United States experimental aircraft, 1981 in aviation, AeroVironment aircraft, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for MacCready Solar Challenger outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study MacCready Solar Challenger in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what MacCready Solar Challenger means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain MacCready Solar Challenger out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is MacCready Solar Challenger in simple terms?

Why does MacCready Solar Challenger matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study MacCready Solar Challenger?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on MacCready Solar Challenger.