Space age 'Flying Dutchman' claims victory

Thursday, 23 October 2003 10:12 PM

A space age car from The Netherlands has claimed victory in this year's World Solar Challenge in Australia.

The event invites teams from around the world to design and build a car powered only by the sun, and then race it a gruelling 3010 kilometres from tropical Darwin to balmy Adelaide. The aim is to celebrate technical excellence and promote the ideals of sustainable transport.

Dubbed the 'Flying Dutchman' by the Australian press, the winning vehicle Nuna II smashed a collection of records during the four-day race. Its average speed of 97 km per hour surpassed the 92 km per hour record set by its predecessor Nuna, which won the race two years ago.

Despite two flat tyres on the third day, Nuna II travelled an unprecedented 830 km. And on the day it powered into Adelaide, Nuna II reached a new world record speed of 110 km per hour. The entire trip took 30 hours and 54 minutes, shaving over 100 minutes off the previous record.

Nuna II was tipped for victory from the start because of its plethora of space age features borrowed from the European Space Agency. It aerodynamically optimised outline was fashioned from plastics normally used to provide strength and lightness in satellites.

The solar cells that harvested energy from the sunny Australian spring were high yield units also designed for satellites. In fact, just weeks earlier the same kind of gallium-arsenide solar cells that powered Nuna II, were launched into space for the first time on the ESA's SMART-1 mission to the moon.

Another example of satellite technology transfer came in the form of small devices that ensure the vehicle drew the optimum balance of power from its battery and solar cells.

Nuna II was been built by a team of 12 students from the universities of Delft and Rotterdam.

Tags: