Following in the footsteps of aeronautic adventurers like the Wright Brothers and Amelia Earhart, two pilots today launched the world's first round-the-world flight in a plane fueled by solar energy.
Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg took off today from Abu Dhabi to begin the first phase of the Solar Impulse's adventure.
Dubbed the Si2, the plane embarked from the United Arab Emirate capital and has already landed in Muscat, Oman (according to the Solar Impulse Twitter feed). Next stops: Ahmedabad and Varanasi, India; Mandalay, Myanmar; and Chongqing and Nanjing, China.
And after crossing the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii, Piccard and Borschberg will navigate across the Continental U.S., stopping in Phoenix, New York City, and an as-yet-undecided location in the Midwest.
Once the Si2 has crossed the Atlantic, the final leg begins with a stopover in Southern Europe or North Africa, before returning to Abu Dhabi.
Extremely happy to have landed safely in #Oman! Looking forward to the rest of our adventure @bertrandpiccard #RTW pic.twitter.com/Rq2YxTZuOH
— André Borschberg (@andreborschberg) March 9, 2015
"For such an adventure, as for any premiere, there are no references," the Solar Impulse website said. "We were, and will be, faced with a number of challenges, leading us to push the limits of technology, human and piloting performance."
The RTW (round-the-world) flight is supervised by the Mission Control Center in Monaco, where a team of 20 specialists will focus on air traffic control and international coordination of flight trajectory.
It is a privilege to be here in #Oman tonight to explain what @andreborschberg and I stand for! @solarimpulse pic.twitter.com/0wEiZr2u11
— Bertrand PICCARD (@bertrandpiccard) March 9, 2015The only perpetual endurance airplane, Solar Impulse can fly day and night on solar power, never requiring a drop of fuel. Instead, the Si2 relies on 17,000 solar cells built into its 72-meter wingspan, which supply four electric motors with renewable energy. During the day, the cells recharge lithium batteries, which power the plane at night.
Though flying separately, Piccard and Borschberg will accumulate about 500 flight hours, stuffed inside the 4.9 cubic-yard cockpit for up to six consecutive days and night. They will brave -40-degree to 104-degree temps, with six oxygen bottles onboard, as well as one parachute, one life raft, and enough food and water for a week.
"What is really special, is that it is the first and only airplane in the world which has unlimited endurance," Borschberg said in a statement. "We have an airplane which is fully sustainable in terms of energy, and our challenge now is to make the pilot sustainable as well."