Staff Writer
The
first solar powered flight around the world is scheduled to launch this March,
says the team behind the Solar Impulse 2, a 5,000 pound solar powered aircraft
with a wingspan larger than that of a jumbo jet. The aircraft will be piloted by Solar Impulse
company founders, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg. One of the pair will
pilot the one-seater Solar Impulse 2 while the other will follow in a chase
aircraft.
The
journey is expected to take a few months. The flight will be making stops in
major cities around the world to spread awareness of environmental issues. Some
of these cities include Muscat, Oman, Varanasi, India, and New York.
The
pilots will face grueling physical challenges. Because the Solar Impulse 2 has
a maximum airspeed of about 90 miles per hour, total flight time on some parts
of the journey can total 120 hours non-stop. Piccard and Borschberg will have
to rest in 20-minute intervals, as well as eat, sleep, and defecate in the
airplane’s single seat which functions as a toilet, life raft, bed, and
parachute. The cockpit will be without air conditioning and unpressurized, so
the inhabitants will have to rely on oxygen bottles and thermal insulation to
protect them from the thin atmosphere at their cruising altitude of 27,000
feet.
Operating
the aircraft will be another challenge. Power generated during the day must be
managed effectively during the night. The Solar Impulse 2 handles differently
from all other aircraft due to the fact that its propellers are less powerful
than traditional aircraft, and that it matches the wingspan of a jumbo jet but
only one percent of its weight. To help them overcome these challenges the
pilots will be equipped with special suits that vibrate to alert them to
problems that may arise while they are sleeping or dazed. The Solar Impulse 2
is also equipped with a tailor-made autopilot designed especially for its
round-the-world mission. To conserve
power the aircraft will fly at cruising altitude during the day, and descend to
as low as 5,000 feet overnight to conserve charge in its batteries.
Piccard
and Borschberg hope to inspire a new generation of solar powered vehicles with this
record-breaking flight. “This is the message we really want to spread,” Piccard
said. “With clean technology, with renewable energy, we can achieve incredible things
without any fuel at all.”
