Computer illustration of the Solar Impulse plane in 2006.
Keystone
Solar Impulse President Bertrand Piccard, left, British Brian Jones, center behind, Solar Impulse team mission coordinator and Solar Impulse CEO André Borschberg, right behind, speak in the mission room after a press conference in Geneva, May 22, 2007.
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Keystone
The cockpit was presented in November 2007.
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Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger, middle, tours a cockpit simulator in November 2008.
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Keystone
The first rolling tests were conducted in November 2009 near Zurich.
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Bertrand Piccard, left, and André Borschberg unveil the prototype near Zurich in June 2009.
Reuters
Into the sunset: the shadow of the Solar Impulse drifts across Swiss fields near the Jura mountains shortly before the first successful night flight attempt on July 7, 2010.
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Reuters
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The Solar Impulse flies at sunrise above the Swiss Alps on July 8, 2010 on the first attempt to fly around the clock fuelled by nothing but the energy of the sun.
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André Borschberg gives the thumbs up after landing 26 hours after take-off. July 8, 2010.
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Keystone
Solar Impulse's team chief Bertrand Piccard , left and Solar Impulse's Chief Executive Officer and pilot Andre Borschberg celebrate after the night flight on July 8, 2010.
Keystone
What began as an idea seven years ago has soared to new heights.
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Packed with Swiss technology and backed by a host of personalities, the Solar Impulse plane completed the highest, longest flight of a solar-powered plane on July 7-8, 2010. It is a prototype for another version that pilots Bertrand Piccard, famous for his round-the-world balloon flight, and André Borschberg, a former fighter jet pilot, hope to fly round the world in five stages beginning in 2012.
The SFr100 million project involves upwards of 70 team members, including Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier who has been leading test flights. The plane, which has flown for 26 continuous hours and at up to a height of more than 8,000 metres, has the wingspan of a Airbus (61 metres) but just a fraction of the weight at 1,600kg. Some 12,000 solar cells and high-performance batteries store energy that allow the delicate plane to fly through the night. It has to avoid storms and is sensitive to turbulence. Should the wings bank more than five degrees, alarms will begin to sound. The project aims to promote renewable energies and not to replace fuel-powered craft – at least for now.
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