With a wingspan the size of a Boeing Co. 747 jumbo jet, a spindly solar-powered aircraft took to the skies from Moffett Federal Airfield, near San Francisco, on a pioneering flight across the country.
The goal is not speed, because it’s traveling a leisurely 43 mph, or endurance, because it’s making the trip piecemeal. Rather, the goal is to showcase that the trip can be made at all without the use of fuel.
The plane, called Solar Impulse, has an immense 208-foot wing covered with 12,000 solar cells that soak up the sun’s rays and power the plane's four electric motors while simultaneously charging batteries. That means the plane can keep flying at night.
The first leg is an excruciatingly long 18-hour trip from Moffett Field to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
“It’s never boring because it’s the most revolutionary airplane that exists -- an airplane that flies day and night with no fuel,” .
He took off from Moffett Field at about 6 a.m. Pacific time and is set to land in Phoenix at 1 a.m. Mountain time Saturday.
The journey is based around raising awareness for the adoption of clean technology.
Everything on the plane has been designed to save energy. It weighs just 3,527 pounds, due to lightweight structure, flight instrumentation and engines.
They are planning to fly around the world in a second plane in 2015. That flight will take place over 20 days and 20 nights with several stops.
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