Technology

Solar Plane to Fly 'Round the World

posted: 26 June 2009 12:42 pm ET

: Swiss team has unveiled its model for a solar-powered plane, Solar Impulse HB-SIA. Credit: SolarImpulse
: The Solar Impulse, unveiled this week, has a wingspan of a Boeing 747 but weighs less than a small car. It is powered entirely by the sun. Adventurer Bertrand Piccard aims to fly an improved version of the craft around the world in 2012, he announced this week. Credit: SolarImpulse

Adventurer Bertrand Piccard said this week he plans to fly a solar plane around the world in 2012. The plane will be a modified version of one announced today. The Solar Impulse has a wingspan of a Boeing 747 but weighs less than a small car. It is powered entirely by the sun.

In 1999 Piccard, no relation to the captiain of the Federation starship USS Enterprise-D, co-piloted the first round-the-globe nonstop balloon flight in 1999. In the Solar Impulse, Piccard and co-pilot Andre Borschberg will fly night and day in a craft that will have nearly 12,000 solar cells, rechargeable lithium batteries and four electric motors.

Also this week we learned that a entirely electric airplane had flown faster than any before.

Read full story at NPR

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