High-Altitude Flight Test of the Perseus B Airplane

The Perseus B remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) has achieved a record altitude for a single-engine, propeller-driven airplane of 60,260 ft (18,367 m) on June 27, 1998. The Perseus B is one of the test-bed aircraft developed under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program for use in conducting high-altitude, long-duration missions carrying atmospheric sampling and sensing payloads for the scientific community within NASA and other agencies.