NASA’s Helios unmanned plane, which has already set altitude records on its way to breaking 100,000 feet, is powered at its heart by a Mac that can guide the solar powered wing back to the Earth, among other tasks. Helios is due to return to Earth today after a multi-day mission that NASA used to test the objects’ viability as an affordable alternative to satellites. NASA says the device, which stores enough solar energy during the day to operate at night, could remain in the sky indefinitely — or until its parts wore out.
