An
experimental solar-powered plane landed safely Thursday after
completing its first 24-hour test flight, proving that the aircraft can
collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all
night.
Pilot Andre Borschberg eased the Solar Impulse aircraft onto the
runway at Payerne airfield about 50 kilometers southwest of the Swiss
city Bern at exactly 9 a.m. local time Thursday.
Helpers rushed to stabilize the pioneering plane as it touched down,
ensuring that its massive 63-metre wingspan didn't touch the ground and
topple the craft.
The record feat completes seven years of planning and brings the
Swiss-led project one step closer to its ultimate aim of circling the
globe using only energy from the sun.
The team said it has now shown the single-seat plane can
theoretically stay in the air indefinitely, recharging its depleted
batteries using 12,000 solar cells and nothing but the rays of the sun
during the day.
Borschberg took off from Payerne airfield into the clear blue sky
shortly before 7 a.m. local time Wednesday, allowing the plane to soak
up plenty of sunshine and fly in gentle loops over the Jura mountains
west of the Swiss Alps.
The 57-year-old dodged low-level turbulence and thermal winds,
endured freezing conditions during the night and ended the test flight
with a picture-perfect landing to cheers and whoops from hundreds of
supporters on the ground.
After completing final tests on the plane, he embraced the project's
co-founder Bertrand Piccard before gingerly unstrapping himself from
the bathtub-size cockpit he had spent more than 26 hours sitting in.
"When you took off it was another era," said Piccard, himself a
record-breaking balloonist. "You land in a new era where people
understand that with renewable energy you can do impossible things."
Although the goal is to show that emissions-free air travel is
possible, the team said it doesn't see solar technology replacing
conventional jet propulsion any time soon. Instead, the project is
designed to test and promote new energy-efficient technologies.