ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — With its wings stretched wide to catch the sun's energy, a Swiss-made solar-powered aircraft took off from Abu Dhabi just after daybreak Monday in a historic first attempt to fly around the world without a drop of fossil fuel.
Solar Impulse founder André Borschberg was at the controls of the single-seat aircraft when it lumbered into the air at the Al Bateen Executive Airport. Borschberg will trade off piloting with Solar Impulse co-founder Bertrand Piccard during layovers on a 35,000-kilometer (21,700-mile) journey.
Some legs of the trip, such as over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, will mean five days and five nights of flying solo. Both pilots have been training hard for this journey, which will span 25 flight days over five months before this Spruce Goose of renewable energy returns to Abu Dhabi in late July or August.
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2 comments:
This is really cool and I wish them all the best! If they accomplish the goal, it will prove beyond a shadow of doubt that Solar can compete with oil at a stunning .003% rate!
God bless them!
There are solar powered spacecraft that switch to solar as soon as they leave Earth's orbit and enter black space.They are intentionally steered away from planets that have strong gravitational fields that could overpower and compromise the solar drive.Conditions in space are more predictable than those on Earth.
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