After all, Langford’s group modified among the legendary parameters. The plane changed feathers and wax with carbon-­fiber wings, and the pilot, the Greek bike owner Kanellos Kanellopoulos, didn’t flap his means into historical past—he pedaled. Plus, the 500-mile journey to Sicily appeared past mortal capability, so Langford and his group set their sights on Santorini.

The issue with the Daedalus challenge, and human-powered plane of any type, is the grueling effort to stay aloft, the chance of crashing, and the expense—none of which was misplaced on Langford. “In itself, our Daedalus challenge may by no means reply the query ‘So what?’” he admits.

On the time, unseen clouds of human-­generated chlorofluorocarbons, gathering in Earth’s stratosphere for half a century, had blasted a seasonal gap within the protecting ozone layer over Antarctica, signifying a catastrophe unfolding throughout Earth’s environment. Because the world group rallied, the “So what?” he was on the lookout for emerged.

To Langford, an entrepreneur whose twin passions are local weather analysis and sustainable aeronautics, the proper airplane is an unmanned aerial automobile in a position to ply the stratosphere, acquire local weather information equivalent to ozone readings, and harness the solar for its vitality wants. Aurora Flight Sciences, his first firm, unveiled such a airplane, Odysseus, in 2018. His newest firm, Electra, desires to decarbonize all aviation.

{That a} human-powered airplane in a position to fly mere meters above the ocean for a handful of hours managed to encourage solar-­powered robotic planes that constantly comb Earth’s stratosphere may make sense solely within the context of our local weather challenges. Such novel plane symbolize the flexibility of human beings to realize mythic feats when joined in a typical quest, nevertheless daunting.

Invoice Gourgey is a science author primarily based in Washington, DC, and teaches science writing at Johns Hopkins College.