If ever there was an incentive to sleep on a couch that can be converted into a toilet, then circumnavigating the globe in an electric plane could be it. The groundbreaking solo aircraft conceived by psychiatrist and round-the-world balloonist Bertrand Piccard and designed by an engineer named Andre Borschberg –will, Borschberg predicts, “change the way we think about energy.”
Solar Impulse 2 weighs the same as an SUV but has an extended wingspan than the Boeing 747. It’s constructed from carbon fiber and has 17,000 solar cells on the wings and tail. During the day, the cells that line the wing power the motors in charge of lithium batteries that power the aircraft at night. The maximum speed is 85 miles per hour; however, the highest altitude is an impressive 28,000 feet.
Following its departure in early March out of Abu Dhabi, the plane is flying east across Asia along with the Pacific. It is scheduled to cross the United States this month before returning to the United Arab Emirates this summer. The conditions will determine the flight schedule, and sunshine is essential. Borschberg and Piccard will take turns as pilots and are both willing to spend 5 or 6 hours in airspace at any given time. These Swiss pilots are eating meals resembling astronaut meals, watching Leonard Cohen recordings, and using self-hypnosis to “regenerate” and sleep less.
“People believe they have to reduce their lifestyles to protect the environment,” Piccard says. Piccard. “We want to demonstrate that clean technology can achieve the impossible: protecting the environment, creating jobs and making profit for industry.”