Scientists hope glider Perlan II will unlock the secrets of stratosphere

It might be the weirdest part of the atmosphere, 24 kilometres above the polar regions, where vast stratospheric clouds of nitric acid and water vapor shimmer in iridescent pink while human-made chemicals play havoc with the ozone layer.

Scientists long to study the stratosphere at close range. But this is almost the edge of space, far too high for a conventional aeroplane in level flight.

How to get there?

In a glider.

Without the weight of engines or fuel, a glider can be lifted by natural atmospheric phenomena, engineers say. So a team of scientists, aviation buffs and entrepreneurs is building a two-seat sailplane designed to withstand the peculiar hazards of stratospheric flight. The journey is scheduled for August 2015.

The glider will be shipped by freighter to El Calafate, Argentina, where winds from the Pacific Ocean are deflected by the Andes Mountains to create a standing wave, like the waves of water that form over rocks in a mountain stream, with updrafts of nine metres per second.

"These mountain waves get so steep and energetic, they turn into white water," said Edward Warnock, an aerospace engineer who is chief executive of the Perlan Project, the non-profit organisation that is building the glider, Perlan II.