Sun-powered plane ready for next mission
Solar Impulse, an experimental solar-powered aircraft landed safely in Switzerland on Thursday after successfully flying through the night.
The aircraft used super-efficient solar cells and batteries to stay in the air after the Sun’s rays had faded.
The plane landed after a total flight time of 26 hours, the BBC reported.
During the flight it reached a height of 8,700 metres. It is the longest and highest flight recorded by a solar-powered plane.
The four-engine aircraft was steered by Andre Borschberg, a former fighter jet pilot from Switzerland.
The plane has 12,000 solar cells arranged on its wingspan which collected enough energy to power the plane for the flight.
The Solar Impulse team led by Borschberg and fellow aviator Bertrand Piccard, say that this proves that a plane can be kept in the air around the clock.
“Nothing can prevent us from another day and night, and the myth of perpetual flight.”
The team will now build a more advanced model of the plane.
They aim to circumnavigate the globe by 2013.
Ian Jarrett
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