ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090006
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MANASSAS
SOURCE: By ANNE GEARAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
Theseus, a plucky king in Greek mythology, is an apt namesake for a plane designed to help NASA discover hidden secrets about the Earth.
King Theseus was sent to the island of Crete to kill the Minotaur, a beast who lived in Crete's famed and dangerous maze. The legend goes that Theseus succeeded by using tools that Daedalus - the mythological inventor best known for fashioning wings out of feathers and wax - gave him.
Theseus the plane is designed to collect a raft of scientific data from the Earth's upper atmosphere which, like the Minotaur's maze, can be difficult to reach.
The plane will gather information on ozone depletion and other environmental threats. It will also study the impact of supersonic aircraft on the upper atmosphere.
NASA purchased the prototype Theseus from designer Aurora Flight Sciences, a small Manassas company specializing in lightweight, pilotless aircraft.
``We designed the plane around scientific demands,'' Aurora founder and President John Langford said. ``It's basically a big, flying laboratory.''
Langford hopes the plane can also be a sort of flying antenna, for sale to telecommunications companies down the road.
The plane can fly at very high altitudes, typically 65,000 feet, where conventional planes have difficulty. It can also stay aloft for up to two days, Langford said. Theseus is controlled from the ground by a computer.
Theseus carries what looks like three noses under its 140-foot wingspan. Each nose cone contains sensitive instruments to measure different atmospheric conditions.
It was developed under an experimental NASA program that takes a hands-off approach to entrepreneurs. The space agency put up about $5 million over two years to fund development of the first plane.
In return, Aurora can market the design commercially and sell planes to NASA.
Aurora has shipped the prototype plane to Edwards Air Force Base for NASA testing. Sometime this month, the plane will take its crucial first flight, Langford said.
``We hope Theseus will fill in some of pieces of the puzzle that are hard to get either from space or from the ground,'' NASA spokesman Douglas Isbell said. ``It occupies sort of the mid-range, if you will, which is something that has been difficult for us to explore in the past.''
Satellites observe atmospheric changes from above, but can't collect data from the high, thin air in the upper reaches of the atmosphere.
Likewise, instruments on the ground cannot reliably measure that high, Isbell said.
Theseus was developed as part of NASA's ``Mission to Planet Earth,'' a longterm science project to provide a global perspective of land, air, water and life.
Initially, Theseus will study the effects of pollution, hurricanes, volcanoes, radiation and other environmental factors, Isbell said.
If sold commercially, it could be a cheaper way to provide cellular telephone service to remote areas than building ground transmitting towers, Langford said.
Theseus is a descendant of other planes Langford has named for mythological figures.
His company grew out of an engineering project among friends from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Together they flew an experimental craft called Daedalus over Greece eight years ago.
Because Theseus, the king of Athens, owed his success to Daedalus, the name was a natural, Langford said.
``We had the name before we had the plane.''
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Chuck Walcher (left) Jim Woorden and Peter Bahniukby CNBwork on the Theseus, which is designed to collect information on
environmental threats from the Earth's upper atmosphere. color.