 |
Inhabitat has been following the Solar Impulse closely on its flight across the United States, and we were excited to learn that the solar-powered plane is currently en route to New York City. John F. Kennedy airport in Queens will be the plane’s final destination, marking the completion of its 2013 Across America journey. Stay tuned as we bring you more info about the fuel-free flight and photos of the Solar Impulse at JFK.
The Solar Impulse is a single-seater airplane that is completely powered by the sun, and the first plane ever to be able to fly both day and night using just solar energy. The plane’s wings (which span 208 feet) are covered with 12,000 solar cells that are used to charge 881 pounds of lithium-ion batteries. The powerful batteries allow the plane to fly for 36 hours consecutively. For its cross-USA trip, the Solar Impulse is being piloted by both Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, who have been alternating throughout the journey.
“Our priority is not the speed,” explained Piccard. “Our priority is the duration — to be able to fly as long as we wish, just on solar power. What we look for is to have a new milestone in this very exciting history of aviation that can attract the interest of the political world and the media, and show that for renewable energies and clean technologies, and for energy efficiency we can achieve impossible things.”
Inhabitat’s San Francisco team attended the launch of the Solar Impulse’s coast-to-coast flight at Moffett Field at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. Now that the plane is over on the East Coast, our New York team will be greeting it at John F. Kennedy airport. The plane took off earlier today from Washington D.C. and is expected to land around 2am tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment