Peoria Public Radio Staff All Tech Considered Wed March 27, 2013
Solar-Powered Plane Uses Its Lightness To Fly In The Dark
Originally published on Wed March 27, 2013 6:54 am Next month, a
very odd looking plane will take off from Moffett Field in
Mountain View, Calif., and head east to New York. The Solar
Impulse — the world's first solar-powered plane — is capable of
flying nonstop all day and all night. Its creators plan to fly
it across the U.S. this spring, and by 2015 they hope to fly a
similar aircraft around the world. Its wingspan is longer than a
747 Boeing, but the entire plane weighs less than a car. "That
was the challenge," says Andre Borschberg, one of the creators
and a pilot. He says the wings are so large in part to generate
lift and in part to create a bigger surface "to integrate solar
cells." Without Fuel And With An Idea The idea to try to build a
solar-powered plane that could fly nonstop through the night
began with Borschberg's partner, Bertrand Piccard, who became
internationally famo