Airbus Perlan Mission II pilots Jim Payne (left) and Morgan Sandercock emerge from the cockpit after setting a new glider world altitude record Sept. 3, soaring to 52,172 feet in the pressurized craft that was carried aloft by rare “stratospheric mountain waves” in the Andes Mountains near El Calafate, Argentina. (Photo by Jackie Payne, Perlan Project)
Airbus Perlan Mission II pilots Jim Payne (left) and Morgan Sandercock emerge from the cockpit after setting a new glider world altitude record Sept. 3, soaring to 52,172 feet in the pressurized craft that was carried aloft by rare “stratospheric mountain waves” in the Andes Mountains near El Calafate, Argentina. (Photo by Jackie Payne, Perlan Project)