BBC:
Yesterday a solar-powered aircraft completed its first
intercontinental flight, flying from Madrid, Spain, to Rabat,
Morocco, in just 19 hours. The
Solar Impulse
is the brainchild of Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss
psychiatrist and balloonist, and André Boschberg, a Swiss
businessman and pilot. The size of a jumbo jet, it is powered
by 12 000 solar cells and propelled by four electrical
motors. In 2010 the aircraft became the first manned solar
plane to fly 26 hours nonstop. The two pilots hope to fly
around the world in 2014.
