Solar Impulse Attempts 24-Hour Solar Powered Flight

Just before 7 a.m. local time on Wednesday, a lone pilot by the name of Andre Borschberg took off from Payerne, Switzerland with a less-than-modest mission: a 24-hour, non-stop flight in a solar-powered aircraft.

The plane — the Solar Impulse – is powered by four, 10-horsepower electric motors and 12,000 solar cells, a configuration that allows it to fly at an average of 40 miles per hour. At its peak daytime elevation, the Solar Impulse will travel at approximately 28,000 feet. If all goes according to plan, at this high altitude the plane will gather enough solar energy during the day portion of the flight to keep it soaring once the sun goes down.

Depending on how things pan out, Borschberg and the Solar Impulse team on the ground in Switzerland will decide by 8 p.m. if they’ve got enough juice to make it through the night. If Borschberg gets the green light, he will begin to descend roughly two hours before sunset and fly through the night at around 4,900 feet.

All told, it took 70 engineers and designers to construct the first prototype of the plane, which has a wingspan of over 200 feet and weighs 3,520 pounds. One of the members of that team is Bertrand Piccard, who is internationally known for his own air venture. He was the one who, in 1999, successfully completed the first circumnavigation of the world in a balloon.

The team had planned for this trip to take place last week — when days in the northern hemisphere were longer than are they currently — but a key piece of communication equipment malfunctioned and pushed the historic flight back to today.

“The flight is crucial to the credibility of the project,” said Piccard. The team does not expect solar technology to replace jet-propelled engines anytime soon. But this flight, according to what the Solar Impulse team told the Associated Press, is meant to demonstrate that emissions-free air travel is possible and to promote new energy-efficient technology.

You can track Solar Impulse throughout its voyage at its homepage, blog and twitter feed.