Editing NASA Pathfinder (section)

===Aircraft description===
Pathfinder was powered by eight electric motors — later reduced to six — which were first powered by batteries. It had a wing span of {{convert|98.4|ft|m}}. Two underwing pods contain the landing gear, batteries, triple-redundant instrumentation system, and dual-redundant flight control computers. By the time the aircraft was adopted into the ERAST project in late 1993, solar cells were being added, eventually covering the entire upper surface of the wing.<ref name=heliosfact/> The solar arrays provide power for the aircraft's electric motors, avionics, communications and other electronic systems. Pathfinder also had a backup battery system that can provide power for between two and five hours to allow limited-duration flight after dark.<ref name=pathfinderfactold2/>

Pathfinder flies at an airspeed of only {{convert|15|mph|km/h}} to {{convert|25|mph|km/h}}. Pitch control is maintained by the use of tiny elevators on the trailing edge of the wing Turn and yaw control is accomplished by slowing down or speeding up the motors on the outboard sections of the wing.<ref name=pathfinderfactold2/>