Flying high

Science and adventure are often not far apart. With a motorised glider and a 3-D camera on board scientists of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and pilots of the “Mountain Wave Project” have explored Mount Everest a week ago. “The conditions were ideal, despite the wind speeds at the summit of Everest, which neared 100 kilometres per hour,” said pilot Klaus Ohlmann. “The almost turbulence-free slope updrafts helped us ascend quickly.” Ohlmann and his co-pilot Jona Keimer started in Pokhara in the Annapurna region and needed one and a half hour to reach the highest mountain in the world. With the images of the special camera a precise 3-D model of the region around Mount Everest will be produced, in which, according to DLR, even small objects of only 15 centimeters size are visible. The model shall be useful for disaster protection and rescue operations. The video of the DLR awakens wanderlust. Check it out for yourself: