Solar-powered plane completes first trans-US flight
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.027151
BBC : Yesterday Solar Impulse completed its months-long transcontinental trip across the US—the first exclusively solar-powered plane to do so. On 3 May the craft took off from San Francisco and headed toward New York, with a top speed of 72 km/hr. With nearly 12 000 solar cells and 400 kg of lithium-ion batteries, the plane can fly both day and night for up to 36 hours. Over the course of its 5000-km trip, Solar Impulse stopped in several cities, including Phoenix, Dallas, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Washington, DC. The plane is the brainchild of two Swiss men, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, who took turns piloting the single-seat craft. Their transcontinental trip was designed to promote the potential of renewable energy sources. The pair’s next project is a two-seat solar plane that they plan to fly around the world in 2015.
