NASA Centurion

Centurion
Centurion takes off from Dryden in December, 1998
Role	Remote controlled UAV Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	AeroVironment
First flight	November 10, 1998
Primary user	NASA ERAST Program
Number built	1
Developed from	NASA Pathfinder
Developed into	NASA Helios

The NASA Centurion was the third aircraft developed as part of an evolutionary series of solar- and fuel-cell-system-powered unmanned aerial vehicles. AeroVironment, Inc. developed the vehicles under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program. They were built to develop the technologies that would allow long-term, high-altitude aircraft to serve as atmospheric satellites, to perform atmospheric research tasks as well as serve as communications platforms.^[1] It was developed from the NASA Pathfinder Plus aircraft and was developed into the NASA Helios.