Solar Plane Makes Aviation History

By Swatilekha Paul, Gaea News Network
Thursday, July 8, 2010

PAYERNE, SWITZERLAND (GaeaTimes.com)- A solar plane which took off in the early hours of Wednesday has finally landed in Switzerland after hovering over its skies through the night. The aircraft which runs with the help of solar energy is the brain child of a team of Swiss researchers who aim to use to power of the sun to move all across the world using the solar plane. The aircraft named Solar Impulse landed safely on the Payerne airport on Thursday after covering a total flight time of a whopping 26 hours up in the air.

The solar plane was successful in conjuring enough fuel for itself in the form of solar energy throughout the day which enabled it to carry on with its journey through the night. Engineers in the control room of Solar Impulse cheered in excitement as the solar plane crossed the historic milestone of remaining aloft for more than 24 hours. Moreover, since the Swiss team had hoped that the aircraft would last till 24 hours but it ended its journey after 26 hours, there was surely enough reason to rejoice.

While reacting to the amazing feat that the solar plane has been successful in achieving, a visibly ecstatic pilot Andre Borschberg revealed to the media that their experiment indeed went beyond their expectations which obviously left his team highly excited. The Swiss team which has been instrumental in developing the solar plane had earlier divulged that the single-seated aircraft theoretically can stay up in the air for an indefinite period as it is capable of utilizing the 12,000 solar cells embedded on it which allow it to recharge its depleted batteries.

Discussion
July 11, 2010: 5:00 am

We are on the verge of making oil obsolete for transportation. Oil is already obsolete for ground vehicles. We have already proven that cars, trucks and trains can run on electricity alone. This solar powered plane is beginning to prove that we can also run planes on electricity. The only reason we are still using vast quantities of oil is because big oil has made enormous efforts to destroy the electric car industry.

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