Another great round-da-world adventure a la
Steve Fossett’s solo flight last month. Now it seems the explorer
Bertrand Piccard will attempt the world’s first solar powered
around the world
flight
Piccard comes from a family of explorers and made history in March of 1999 with a nonstop, around-the-world flight in
a hot-air balloon, the Breitling Orbiter 3. But what about the solar power side of this? Is that really possible?
Nearly the entire body of the plane will be covered by 287 square yards of solar panels. Piccard estimates that enough
power can be generated to sustain a flight of roughly 60 miles an hour. The plane’s batteries are going to have to be
pretty heavy so that the plane can run at night.