No long introductions here, just a short description of and links to a noteworthy project (... saw this in New Scientist). Einar Enevoldson will attempt to ride stratospheric mountain waves and the Polar Vortex above Argentina up to 90.000 ft/ 27.5 km with a bespoke pressurized glider - and that's just "phase 2". Interesting detail: Air density at that height corresponds to the thin atmosphere at Mars, thus the design of the wings is very transferrable to even more ... shall we say "exotic" locales in the (hopefully) near future.
Project website.
Glider manfacturer.
Project website.
Glider manfacturer.