Swiss adventurer Bertrand Picard is set to unveil a prototype of the solar-powered plane he hopes
eventually to fly around the world.
The initial version, spanning 61m but weighing just 1,500kg, will undergo trials to prove it can fly
at night.
Mr Picard, who made history by circling the globe non-stop in a balloon in 1999, says he wants
to demonstrate the potential of renewable energies.
He expects to make a crossing of the Atlantic in 2012.
The flight would be a risky endeavour. Only now is solar and battery technology becoming
mature enough to sustain flight through the night - and then only in unmanned planes.
But Picard's Solar Impulse team has invested tremendous energy - and no little money - in trying
to find what they believe is a breakthrough design.
"I love this type of vision where you set the goal and then you try to find a way to reach it,
because this is challenging," he told BBC News.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8120026.stm
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