The Perlan project is an international scientific endeavor to soar a manned sailplane into the stratosphere using stratospheric mountain waves. Phase I of the project to soar to 62,000 feet took place in Omarama New Zealand from July 11-August 14, 2002. Phase one uses a modified production Glaser-Dirks Flugzeugbau GmbH DG505M sailplane. During Phase one the Perlan team will attempt to reach 62,000 feet (19 km) to demonstrate the feasibility of the project. This phase requires the use of pressure suits in an unpressurized cabin. Phase two of the project will be to reach 100,000 feet (30 km) in a manned sailplane with atmospheric instrumentation. Phase two will require a highly specialized sailplane with a pressurized cockpit designed for high altitude atmospheric research to be built.

The word Perlan is an Icelandic word meaning pearl. Perlan is the name given to this project and is inspired by mother-of-pearl or nacreous clouds occasionally seen at high altitudes and high latitudes. The mother-of-pearl or Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC’s) are present in the northern hemisphere when wave outbreaks are ongoing.

Strong stratospheric mountain waves have been identified in data from the south island of New Zealand. It is known that these waves propagate into the middle and upper stratosphere when the outer region of the polar vortex lies above a strong tropospheric wind band, above mountainous terrain. Analysis shows that these waves will produce vertical wind speeds that will lift a specially designed sailplane potentially to 30 km (100,000 feet).

During July and August of 2002, a field campaign based out of Omarama, New Zealand took place. During this campaign there were several flights made in space suits to 30,000 feet. The sailplane is instrumented with temperature sensors, GPS altitude, locations and speed, and atmospheric data such as temperature, pressure and winds were collected. These data have been compared to: (1) GPS sondes launched during the campaign by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), New Zealand, (2) soundings taken from the tow plane aircraft, and (3) results from the Penn State/NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research), U.S.A., four-dimensional atmospheric mesoscale model. These results along with the required atmospheric conditions for success and the future plans of the Perlan project will be presented.