Solar Impulse
The future is becoming a reality. Amazing
news that first non-stop solo fight crossed the Pacific totally powered by the sun has just landed safely.
Solar Impulse 2 was piloted and conceived by Swiss pilots Andre Borchberg and Bertrand Piccard who said: "Can you imagine that a solar-powered airplane without fuel can now fly longer than a jet plane? This is a clear message that clean technologies can achieve impossible goals.''
Si2 flew out of Nagoya, Japan early Monday after an unscheduled month-long stop. The aircraft was diverted to Nagoya because of bad weather at the beginning of June on its trip from Nanjing in eastern China to Hawaii. Its final destination is Abu Dhabi.
Si2 is the brainchild of two Swiss scientists, Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard. It took them 12 years to build the aircraft.
The carbon fiber single-seat Si2 has a 72-meter wingspan, which is longer than the wingspan of a Boeing 747, and weighs about as much as a car. The 17,000 solar cells built into the wings harness the sun's energy.
Piccard and Borschberg say they are not out to revolutionize the aviation industry, but are instead aiming to demonstrate that actual alternative energy sources and new technologies can achieve what some consider impossible.