High Altitude

Looking to validate electric powertrain technology, the Peak Evolution Team climbed the world's highest active volcano into the record books this month. The team climbed to an EV altitude record over 6,000 m while relying entirely on solar charging.

A study has found that placing older adults in a simulated high-altitude environment for a week before major surgery greatly improved their hemoglobin levels, addressing a common preoperative problem, anemia, that can lead to surgical complications.

Balloons may seem outdated, but for high-flying scientific instruments they’re making a comeback. NASA has now unveiled ASTHROS, a new infrared telescope that will be carried to the edge of space by a balloon the size of a football stadium.

Mercedes-Benz's squat little Unimog trucks have proven their expeditionary prowess yet again with the announcement that a U 5023 truck has set a new altitude record for wheeled vehicles, reaching 6,694 m (21,962 ft) above sea level.

We’re a step closer to having high-altitude, long-endurance, autonomous aircraft soaring through the skies. UAVOS has now announced that a prototype of the company’s High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS) ApusDuo aircraft has completed the first stage of flight tests.

Autonomous aerial vehicles known as High Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS) can soar at the edges of space for long periods of time. Now, UAVOS has conducted test flights of its ApusDuo prototype, an autonomous, solar-powered aircraft with flexible wings that bend and bounce to keep it aloft.

​Led by Dr. Brent Michael Kious, scientists from the University of Utah have come to the conclusion that people living at higher altitudes may have an increased risk of suicide. The researchers do have a theory as to why this might be the case, along with some recommendations.

For many adventurers, scaling Mount Everest is an endurance test like no other. For the Sherpas, it’s all in a day’s work. After all, they routinely set the record for the fastest and most ascents. So how do they do it? According to a new study, the answer could literally be in their blood.​

Third Man Records is seven years old on July 30, and is celebrating with an attempt to play the first phonographic record in space. A master of Carl Sagan's A Glorious Dawn will be played using a custom-built turntable designed for operation at high altitude.

The Perlan Mission II glider, which is designed to fly higher than the U-2 spy plane and SR-71 Blackbird, has made its maiden flight after separating from its towplane at an altitude of 5,000 feet above Roberts Field at Redmond Municipal Airport in Oregon.

The airlock of the ISS was turned into a laboratory last week. In a station with as much space as a 747, that may seem a bit odd, but its purpose was part of a study of the lungs of space travelers by monitoring the effects of one the astronauts' most surprising hazards: dust.

Raymond's Solar Flight has detailed its fourth solar-powered aircraft, the Sunstar. Designed primarily for unmanned flight, it's reported to have more performance potential than any other projects currently under development, with greater flight speeds in a turbulence-tolerant design.