Proteus in flight over mountains near Las Cruces, NM.
EC02-0057-53
Proteus in flight over mountains near Las Cruces, NM. The Proteus was designed to carry an 18-foot diameter telecommunications antenna system for relay of broadband data over major cities. Burt Rutan’s design allowed for Proteus, so named for the mythological Greek sea-god who could change his appearance at will, to be reconfigured for a variety of other missions as well, such as atmospheric research, reconnaissance/surveillance, commercial imaging, and launch of small space satellites.March 15, 2002NASA Photo / Tom Tschida› Proteus Project Description