In 1924 , a squad of United States Army Air Service airman became thefirst airplane pilotsto circumnavigate the globe . It was a pivotal second in the story of aviation , push the boundaries of what plane could reach . Now , well-nigh a 100 later , Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg have embarked upon a similar journeying : the first global circumnavigation by a solar - power airplane .
Mashablereports that Piccard and Borschberg are attempting to fly a solar - power aeroplane called theSolar Impulse 2all the way of life around the world . The high - tech airplane , equipped with 17,000 solar cells , is power exclusively by the sun , without fuel .
Piccard and Borschberg ab initio embarked from Abu Dhabi last spring , but were forced to stop over in July for repairs in Hawaii , and only re - embarked this April , wing from Hawaii to San Francisco . Now , theSolar Impulse 2is in the thick of its flight across the continental United States , on its way from San Francisco to its first stop in Phoenix .
The Solar Impulse team want to do more than show that solar powered air travel is executable . Their destination is to illustrate the grandness of sustainable technologies , both in the gentle wind and on the basis .
“ Our aspiration forSolar Impulseis for the humankind of geographic expedition and innovation to make a contribution to the drive of renewable energies , ” theSolar Impulse manifestoexplains . “ We want to demonstrate the importance of unobjectionable technologies for sustainable exploitation ; and to place dream and emotion back at the heart of scientific adventure . ”
Check out the short video recording below to find out more about theSolar Impulse 2 , and visit theSolar Impulse websiteto follow Piccard and Borschberg ’s adventures as they travel around the man .
[ h / tMashable ]
