Solar plane completes coast to coast

摘要

The first aeroplane to fly day and night powered only by solar energy landed in New York city on 6 July after completing its 5,650-kilometre journey across the United States. The Solar Impulse HB-SIA (pictured on an April test flight) took off on 3 May from Moffett Field in Mountain View, California, and stopped at four cities along the way (see go.nature.com/ bfmrwe). Andre Borschberg, chief executive and co-founder of Swiss non-profit company Solar Impulse, co-piloted the plane with Bertrand Piccard, one of the first people to fly a balloon non-stop around the world. The aircraft has 12,000 photovoltaic cells on its surface, and stores energy in batteries weighing 400 kilograms - more than 25% of the planes weight.