The coming weeks will mark history for the Swiss sun powered aircraft, the Solar Impulse. After its successful inaugural flight to Paris and Brussels, in 2011, it is now getting ready to make the 48 hour journey between Switzerland to Morocco, after flying over a distance of over 2,500km. This will be the longest distance to be covered by the aircraft ever without a drop of fuel.
Piccard and Borschberg will alternately pilot the aircraft and a single stop has been planned at Madrid, that too just for swapping places. The trip has been planned for the month of May or June. This is just the beginning, as this is meant to be a rehearsal before its round the world trip that is planned for 2014.
The standards this technology will set are beyond imagination. Flying 2,500km without a drop of fuel sounds fictional, but you’ll have to wait to finally witness the truth of this marvel, which can redefine not only our perception about the potential of solar power, but also demonstrate the future of self powering aircrafts.
The aircraft had wingspan of a large airliner, but is similar to a saloon car in weight. It made history first in 2010 for being the first plane to fly on sun’s energy. The longest it has stayed afloat is 26 hours and 19 seconds. This happened in Switzerland, when it set a record by flying at a height of 30, 298 feet. The wait for its next flight is eagerly awaited.
Via: Yahoonews
