The Daedalus Project- Enacting the Myth of Human-Powered Flight

Life Members

Speaker: Stephen Darr, Dynamic Aerospace

Since ancient times, people have been fascinated by the possibility of human flight. In Greek mythology, Daedalus constructed wings of wax and feathers, enabling his human-powered escape flight from imprisonment in Crete to the island of Santorini.

Stephen Darr will discuss his experiences working on the Daedalus Project, a human-powered flight project that recreated the myth of Daedalus. The Daedalus Project was a student-centered project carried out in the mid-1980s at MIT, the Lincoln Laboratories Flight Facility, NASA Dryden, and between the Greek Islands of Crete and Santorini. It involved not only engineering research and development but physiological research, classics research into the myth of Daedalus, and fundraising from individuals, industry, and governments. The Daedalus project set multiple human-powered flight records that endure to this day.

The speaker, Stephen Darr, is a former Daedalus Project engineer. He holds an Aerospace Engineering degree from Boston University and currently consults to NASA and the FAA, helping to research, develop, and implement advanced aeronautics technologies. He was a Senior Aviator for the US Army and continues to fly fixed-wing aircraft as a commercial and private pilot.

The meeting will be held Wednesday, December 4th at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, 244 Wood Street., Lexington, MA at 4:00 PM, in the Main Cafeteria. Refreshments will be available at 3:30 PM. Please use the Wood Street Gate and visitor parking as directed. Follow the outside signs to the Main Cafeteria, or enter reception to use the elevator. For directions to MIT Lincoln Lab, go to: