The aircraft that will fly for five years straight

How's this for a compelling press release opening line: "Aurora Flight Sciences announced today that it has been awarded a contract to develop a radical new aircraft that can stay aloft for up to five years. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) made the award under a program known as 'Vulture.'"

A report in EcoGeek talks about this superplane. "It's a little bit like a spy satellite, except it can operate under its own power, and at much lower altitudes (though still in the stratosphere)."

The accompanying image, of a black flying machine wider than three 767's wingspans and hinged like three quarters of a giant flying "W" festooned with tiny propellers, is something to behold. The theory is that the hinges could open and close as needed to expose the solar-energy-collecting wings to the best sunlight angles all day long.

Cleantech adds that the hinged sections of the "W" are actually three separate vehicles that can launch separately and dock in midair. "The three constituent aircraft are each a complete, self-sufficient airplane with a wingspan of approximately 50 meters, or 164 feet." Can you imagine how amazing this thing would look as it crossed the sky?

Boeing and Lockheed are also in on this contract, and I eagerly await the first YouTube video of this solar superstar actually taking flight. What a compelling solar power proof of concept that will be.