Nice!
The BBC reports that a Solar-powered plane lands safely after 26-hour flight
An experimental solar-powered aircraft launched on Wednesday has landed safely in Switzerland after successfully flying through the night.
The feat is a step toward the makers’ aim of circling the globe using the power of the Sun to fuel the plane.
The aircraft used super-efficient solar cells and batteries to stay in the air after the Sun’s rays had faded.
The plane touched down at an airfield about 30 miles (50 km) from the Swiss capital Bern at 0900 (0700 GMT).
The plane landed at Payerne airport after a total flight time of 26 hours.
During the flight it reached a height of 8,700 m (28,543 ft).
…The designers, the Solar Impulse team led by Mr Borschberg and fellow aviator Bertrand Piccard, say that this proves that a plane can be kept in the air around the clock.
Here’s their web site.
Bertrand Piccard is the third generation of a family that goes higher, lower, and further in balloons and deep submersibles than anyone else in the world. His grandfather, Auguste, held the balloon altitude record; his father, Jacques, still holds the records for the deepest dive in the ocean; and Bertrand was the first solo balloonist to circumnavigate the earth.
