During the summer of 2013 , two Swiss pilots enter on a record - fructify journey across the United States in a solar - powered airplane . The plane , Solar Impulse , was the first solar - powered aircraft capable of flying twenty-four hour period and Nox without require so much as a drop of fuel . The ambitious duo made it fromcoast - to - coast , starting near San Francisco and ending in New York City . Now , the intrepid explorers have set their sights even high as they want to pass five months travel around the earth on zero fuel , start and ending in Abu Dhabi . And here ’s their route :
Solar Impulse
In late February or former March , pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will depart Abu Dhabi , the majuscule of the United Arab Emirates , and head east . They will make stop in Oman , India , Myanmar and China before heading across the Pacific Ocean . After a occlusion in Hawaii , the team will head across the continental USA , end in three locating : Phoenix , New York City , and a third that will be opt later reckon on the weather . They ’ve then got to make it across the Atlantic , heading for somewhere in either Southern Europe or North Africa , before last come back in Abu Dhabi by late July or early August .
During this five - month mission , the pilots will cross 22,000 miles ( 35,000 kilometer ) in approximately 10 peg , some of which will last more than five days and nights . It will require around 500 hour in the tune , which is the tantamount ofthree weeks . The pilots will be taking it in turns to fly the plane , and will have a 60 - person musical accompaniment squad who will be constantly monitoring the weather so that the itinerary can be altered if necessary .
The yoke will be flying the recently unveiledSolar Impulse 2 , which is a next - genesis reading of the Solar Impulse prototype used in premature delegacy . Thissingle - seater , atomic number 6 fiber aircraft has a 72 meter wingspan , which is big than that of a Boeing 747 , although it only weighs 2,300 kilograms ( 5,071 lbs ) in total . The wings house an telling 17,000 solar cells which supply four electrical motors with energy from the sun . The pilots are able-bodied to fly for foresighted stretch without needing to discontinue because during the day , the solar panel recharge the craftiness ’s heavy atomic number 3 battery . When the sun sets , the pilots will dunk from altitudes of up to 28,000 feet to just 5,000 feet and cruise using bombardment power .
Theideabehind these progressively ambitious commission is not to bring commercially viable solar planes to the mart , but rather to highlight thevast potential of renewable energy . “ We need to advance the clean engineering that are so important for our world , ” Piccard toldLive Science . “ This is an exciting vision . ”
[ ViaLive Science , WiredandSolar Impulse ]
