9th March 2015

Solar-powered plane attempts to fly around the world

The Solar Impulse team have begun their epic journey around the world.

Solar Impulse – a long-range, solar-powered aircraft project – took off this morning from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It aims to become the first plane to fly around the world using only energy from the Sun.

On the plane's 35,000 km (21,747 miles) route, pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg will take turns in the cockpit as the aircraft makes it way eastwards from Abu Dhabi – stopping in cities including Muscat, Oman; Ahmedabad and Varanasi in India; Mandalay in Myanmar; Chongqing and Nanjing in China; and Hawaii, Phoenix and New York in the United States – before crossing the Atlantic on its way back to Abu Dhabi, where it is expected to arrive in mid-2015.

The most challenging leg of the journey will be a non-stop flight of five days and nights across the Pacific Ocean, from China to Hawaii. The plane, powered by 17,248 solar cells, will ascend to altitudes approaching 10,000 metres during the day, while fully charging its batteries to stay aloft throughout the night.

"When we speak of clean technologies for the world, it is not a dream, it is real," said Piccard, the Swiss aviation pioneer who was part of the first team to circle the earth in a balloon in 1999. His partner Borschberg sees "technology changing much faster than we could ever have imagined."

A webcam, map and other real-time data can be seen on the official website.

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