<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/46516444.cms" /> The cries of pollution of all kinds are hitting the sky. <keyword id="6366055" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-warming">Global warming</keyword> is as much a reality as the day light is. In that sense, when science and technology come together with their conscience in the right place, it sure can create miracles for the humankind and increase the longevity of this tiny ball of life called earth.<br />
<br /> When Solar Impulse took off from <keyword id="63248" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abu-Dhabi">Abu Dhabi</keyword> and landed in Oman, the world exhaled a sigh of both relief and hope. Reason: The world’s first and only solar powered plane holds the potential to change the way we fly. On its broad shoulders that appear grey from the skies above, it carries the fruits of 13-years of research that went into building this plane.<br />
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After Muscat in Oman, the quintessential Ahmadabad in Gujarat played host to the plane. When it landed, the country was thrilled to be part of this groundbreaking technology invention that the world would greatly benefit from. Soon, the plane will leave for Varanasi, making it two stops in India for Solar Impulse 2. Indeed a rare honour, just around the time when India is all set to take on the world economically and historically.<br />
<br /> The founder of <keyword id="2758962" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Solar-Impulse-2-Andre-Borschberg">Solar Impulse 2 Andre Borschberg</keyword> has been at the controls when the single-seater took off from <keyword id="2758961" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Al-Bateen">Al Bateen</keyword> Executive Airport. Borschberg and Solar Impulse co-founder Bertrand Piccard are alternating as pilots as the plane goes around the world, taking over five months to complete the spin. When it ends its journey, the world would have started on a new one, that of celebrating the triumph of sun power, the new ways to harness the <keyword id="6357019" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="solar-energy">solar energy</keyword> and of course, a better way to maintain bilateral relations with countries that provide oil to the world.<br />
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When Solar Impulse 2 wins, the new road opens into the inner alleys of human conscience.<br />
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The social media networking sites are almost on fire, anticipating the winning journey of Solar Impulse 2, hailing the power of mind and the ever-so-giving nature that has gifted the human race with insights into new ways of living.<br />
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Twitter has been adding approximately 40 – 50 new tweets almost every minute with people all over the world celebrating its fruitful journey. As the plane landed, there were reports that the twitter had an impossible task at hand, of accommodating the tweets of celebration. In any case, it is heartening to know the world was out there, celebrating the safe landing of a plane of future.<br />
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Prior to taking off, Andre and Piccard are presumably on high spirits. And they did send out the customary tweets, helping the world find the right spirit to hold up its solar flying machine in the high skies. Andre was elated to say Solar Impulse isn’t just about a plane flying on sun’s energy. ‘With the @solarimpulse team, we aim to explore new solutions and ideas’. That goes WAY beyond just flying.<br />
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Piccard was candid about the entire flight. It’s a milestone yes. But then, Solar Impulse is also a stepping stone to better solutions that can emerge out of successful implementation of solar energy. Imagine if Sun could be a solution to all our energy needs? Our seas will be clear, our relationships better and countries can focus on trade instead of looking for oil or fracking for shale gas in each others’ backyard.<br />
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The spirit in Piccard’s message soared high. ‘We need pioneering spirit to do things that have never been done before. Clean technologies, like the ones on @solarimpulse, can divide by two the energy consumption in our world!’ Now, that’s beyond just technology that would do the speaking for the future.<br />
<br /> Gujarat, the seat of royalty is also home to Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> who has been the champion of the solar cause. During his reign as CM, he set up many projects that were about harnessing the solar energy to provide civic amenities to the population of the state at large.<br />
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Now, with Solar Impulse having landed in the city, Ahmadabad has truly become a destination for forward looking technology that doesn’t include exploitation of earth, in any manner that would cut her life short by time or resources.<br />
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<i>Image Credit: </i><em>http://press.solarimpulse.com/</em>

Solar impulse for a cleaner sky and human conscience

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/46504566.cms" /><br /> Move over of solar powered mobiles and cars. If a report by PTI is to be believed, world’s only solar-powered aircraft, <keyword id="80593" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Solar-Impulse">Solar Impulse</keyword>, will make a stop over in Ahmedabad tomorrow as a part of its maiden global journey. Reaching <keyword id="29128" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="ahmadabad">Ahmadabad</keyword>, Impulse’s aircraft's founders and pilots <keyword id="355271" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Bertrand-Piccard">Bertrand Piccard</keyword> and André Borschberg are likely to stay in the city for two days before leaving for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, a press release issued by the PR of the solar powered aircraft has confirmed.<br />
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"Solar Impulse will take off from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and land in Ahmedabad after making a first stop over at Muscat in Oman. It will make a pit-stop in Ahmedabad," PTI has quoted the PR firm.<br />
The founder and pilots will also convey the message of clean technologies to government, NGOs and educational institutes. To spread the message of cleanliness and clean energy, aircraft will take a trip above the Ganga in Varanasi. Claimed by the project’s website, Solar Impulse will fly day and night without any aero fuel and thereby contributing to a cleaner sky.<br />
Piccard and Borschberg, during their stay in the city, will reach out to the government, NGOs, universities and schools to spread the message of clean technologies.<br />
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The aircraft is also likely to hover above Ganga river in Varanasi to spread the message of cleanliness and clean energy, an official associated with the project said.<br />
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Solar Impulse is claimed to be the first aircraft to fly day and night without a drop of fuel, propelled solely by the sun's energy, as per the project's website.<br />
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Made of carbon fibre, The single-seater aircraft has a 72 metre wingspan, larger than that of Boeing-747 and weighs just 2,300 kg, equivalent to the weight of a car, the PTI has further reported.<br />
The 17,248 solar cells built into the wing supply electric motors with renewable energy. <br />
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The solar cells recharge four lithium polymer batteries totalling 633 kg each, which allow the aircraft to fly at night and therefore have virtually unlimited autonomy, the report by the news agency has confirmed.<br />
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The test flight of the aircraft was conducted in the US in 2013. <br />


World's first
solar-powered aircraft to land in Ahmadabad tomorrow

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Solar Impulse" title_caption="The Solar Impulse in 2014." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/574d96009105841d008c5bff-960/2014_10_28_18th_flight_pizzolante_solar_impulse_2_98.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/574d96009105841d008c5bff-2400/2014_10_28_18th_flight_pizzolante_solar_impulse_2_98.jpg" alt="Solar Impulse in 2014" data-mce-source="Solar Impulse" /></a><p class="source"><span>Solar Impulse</span></p><p class="caption">The Solar Impulse in 2014.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Flying around the world fueled only by sunshine, the Solar Impulse is now two-thirds of the way through the first-ever attempt to fly around the world in a solar-powered aircraft.</p><p>The plane is currently making final preparations for its trip across the Atlantic from the eastern United States.</p><p>Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre´ Borschberg, who have alternated legs since the attempt began in Dubai in March of 2015, told Business Insider that although flying the strange, wider-than-a-Boeing-747 aircraft is very challenging, they both very much enjoy it.</p><p>"There is first a feeling of complete freedom because you have no fuel," Piccard said. "This is really the first aircraft with an unlimited endurance."</p><p>For Piccard, whose exploits include being the first - along with partner Brian Jones - to fly around the world in a balloon in 1999, the finicky Solar Impulse took some to get used to.</p><p>Borschberg, a former fighter pilot in the Swiss Air Force who currently holds 8 various aviation world records, agreed.</p><p><span>"At the beginning it was very hard, because everything happens slowly and you tend to over-correct, overreact, over-control and create oscillations," Borschberg said. "</span><span>It takes some time in the simulator."</span></p><p>Control forces are very heavy, and the airplane is especially difficult to handle in turbulence, Borschberg said.</p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/574de3fb52bcd066018c6049-2400/2015_03_19_solar_impulse_2_rtw_4th_flight_varanasi_to_mandalay_landing_stefatou-33.jpg" alt="Solar Impulse" data-mce-source="Solar Impulse" /><p class="source"><span>Solar Impulse</span></p><p class="caption">Pilots Andre´ Borschberg (left) and Bertrand Piccard.</p></div><p></p></div></div>"Any time we put new pilots, or even pilots that have never flown it, into the simulator, they always crash," Piccard said.</span></p><p><span>The aircraft travels at about 50 mph, and given enough headwind it can maintain the same place over the earth or even go backwards. That can make lining up an approach to an airport a challenge when the wind threatens to blow the aircraft away from the field, Borschberg said.</span></p><p><span>But despite the challenges, both pilots </span>expressed a deep connection with their craft.</p><p><span>"It's an incredible airplane. I mean I love it,</span><span>" Borschberg said. <span>"Sometimes when you talk to test pilots it is like 'It's okay, I did it, but I am glad I don't have to get into the airplane again.' But this is totally not the case."</span></span></p><p><span>"It helped me to fly across the Pacific Ocean for five days, and of course I help it to get its energy, so we became partners in achieving the record flight," Borschberg said.</span></p><p>The machine, currently being kept cool under a large tent alongside the Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown, PA, looks like a prehistoric bird of outrageous proportions. Its carbon fiber bones, visible through the slightly translucent fabric skin, add to the illusion.</p><p>All around it, a team of mechanics and engineers are preparing for the transatlantic crossing.</p><p>Air conditioning units were brought in to keep its batteries cool hum under each wing, and the cockpit's carbon fiber shell sits on the ground beside the aircraft, revealing the complex systems underneath.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="William Fierman" title_caption="Controls for oxygen systems and circuit breaker panels inside the cockpit." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/574dd58f910584cc008c5fb7-960/img_7254.jpg"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/574dd58f910584cc008c5fb7-2352/img_7254.jpg" alt="Solar Impulse Cockpit" data-mce-source="William Fierman" /></a><p class="source"><span>William Fierman</span></p><p class="caption">Controls for oxygen systems and circuit breaker panels inside the cockpit.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Behind the pilot's seat, which fully reclines to allow rest periods and a little mobility, several green oxygen tanks keep the pilot alive at altitudes of up to 28,000 feet - nearly the height of Mount Everest. They must wear cold-resistant flight suits in the un-pressurized, unheated cockpit.</p><p>Piccard and Borschberg have their own strategies for dealing with the stresses of extremely long flights. Borschberg practices meditation derived from yoga, while Piccard, a psychiatrist, practices self-hypnosis.</p><p>Borschberg found that he can sleep for about 20 minutes every two hours.</p><p>From the way the pilots talk about their flights, its clear there are two things keeping the Solar Impulse aloft: sunlight and some very heavy duty math.</p><p>Each trip requires serious number crunching by engineers and meteorologists who must calculate the route and timing with the widest margin for error.</p><p>Piccard even brought with him Belgian meteorologist Luc Trullemans, who assisted him during his around the world balloon flight.</p><p>"He's a genius," Piccard said.</p><p>Borschberg will next fly the Solar Impulse from Pennsylvania to John F. Kennedy International in New York City, making a few circles around the Statue of Liberty for good measure.</p><p>From there Piccard will pilot it across the Atlantic, the last major barrier to overcome on the journey to Dubai.</p><p>The flight will roughly retrace the same voyage Charles Lindbergh undertook almost exactly 89 years ago, when he became the first to cross the Atlantic non-stop.</p><p>"It's a technical adventure," <span>Borschberg said.</span> "A human adventure."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/574dc99952bcd01a008c5d4d-760/2016_03_03_maintenance_flight_solar_impulse_2_hawaii_revillard-24_thumb.jpg" alt="Solar Impulse Hawaii 2016" data-mce-source="Solar Impulse" /><p class="source"><span>Solar Impulse</span></p><p class="caption">The aircraft in flight over Hawaii this year.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/574de3b452bcd029008c5f10-2352/img_7259.jpg" alt="Solar Impulse" data-mce-source="William Fierman" data-mce-caption="Technicians prepare the aircraft for its transatlantic journey." /><p class="source"><span>William Fierman</span></p><p class="caption">Technicians prepare the aircraft for its transatlantic journey.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/574de51a91058427008c5dc2-2400/2015_02_26_solar_impulse_2_rtw_first_test_flight_abudhabi_stefatou__04.jpg" alt="Solar Impulse Over Dubai - where the flight began and where it will end." data-mce-source="Solar Impulse" data-mce-caption="Solar Impulse Over Dubai - where the flight began and where it will end." /><p class="source"><span>Solar Impulse</span></p><p class="caption">Solar Impulse Over Dubai - where the flight began and where it will end.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/secret-service-protect-sanders-protesters-2016-5">Watch the Secret Service jump to protect Sanders after 5 protesters rushed the stage</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Q4eDh1MzE6xEPWzaTHIVgwUW8gfpYfdN" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'Q4eDh1MzE6xEPWzaTHIVgwUW8gfpYfdN',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Pilots reveal what it's like to fly a solar-powered plane around the world

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54ff048d69bedd5269d4bdd4-1200-763/465648376 (1).jpg" border="0" alt="Solar Impulse"><p class="source"><span>Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Around the world. Slowly.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>According to Bloomberg, it's as big as a Boeing 747 but weighs <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-24/solar-plane-to-fly-around-world-in-campaign-against-energy-waste.html">only as much as a "family car."</a></p><p>It's the <a href="http://www.solarimpulse.com/en/">Solar Impulse</a>, an aircraft that powered by light - but that can still soar in darkness because it uses batteries to store energy gathered during daytime flight.</p><p>It isn't exactly supersonic, however. But it's currently flying <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">around the world. And it's going to take rather less than 80 days.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Last year, Bloomberg reported<span> that the duo of pilots taking turns at the controls would need to "</span>withstand flying non-stop for five days and nights to prepare for ocean crossings stuffed in a tiny cabin traveling as high as 27,000 feet at about 45 miles per hour."</span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Screenshoot via YouTube/Solar Impulse" title_caption="The plane has flown from San Francisco to New York." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542332a0ecad04d20e746559-960/screen shot 2014-09-24 at 4.53.08 pm.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542332a0ecad04d20e746559-1103-605/screen shot 2014-09-24 at 4.53.08 pm.png" border="0" alt="Solar Impulse-2" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;" /></a><p class="source"><span>Screenshoot via YouTube/Solar Impulse</span></p><p class="caption">The plane has flown from San Francisco to New York.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The aircraft has covered vast distances before: In 2013, it was flown (slowly) across the U.S., in multiple legs, and it's flown (slowly) across continents, from Switzerland to Morocco.</span></p><p>Even though it lacks afterburners, it still looks cool, lazily transiting the skies above the world's cities.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Screenshoot via YouTube/Solar Impulse" title_caption="Paris airspace has also been visited." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542332f869beddce5715e61c-960/screen shot 2014-09-24 at 5.02.08 pm.png"><span class="sprites click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542332f869beddce5715e61c-1110-604/screen shot 2014-09-24 at 5.02.08 pm.png" border="0" alt="Solar Impulse-3" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;" /></a><p class="source"><span>Screenshoot via YouTube/Solar Impulse</span></p><p class="caption">Paris airspace has also been visited.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Here are some more photos of the spectacular aircraft and its pilot as they fly around the globe.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54ff04d76da8116d64eb1ed7-1200-737/465641104.jpg" border="0" alt="Solar Impulse"><p class="source"><span>MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP</span></p><p class="caption">Preparing for takeoff.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54ff05266da8110168eb1ed7-1200-749/465642292.jpg" border="0" alt="Solar Impulse Pilots"><p class="source"><span>AFP</span></p><p class="caption">Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard (left) and his compatriot pilot Andre Borschberg.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54ff055a6da8117c64eb1ed7-1200-734/465641022.jpg" border="0" alt="Solar Impulse"><p class="source"><span>MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP</span></p><p class="caption">Soaring above the Middle East.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54ff058869beddce6dd4bdd5-1200-782/465738526.jpg" border="0" alt="Solar Impulse"><p class="source"><span>MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP</span></p><p class="caption">Flying is for the birds?</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Check out this recent video, from <span>the organization behind the plane:</span></span></p><p><iframe width="800" height="450" frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/k5Lz04m-xOk"></iframe></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-1905-vintage-footage-movie-bryant-park-subway-video-2015-3">Here's what New York City looked like in 1905</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="91cGlzczosNq_kQh4r34Jqg_nwE_Oy17" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '91cGlzczosNq_kQh4r34Jqg_nwE_Oy17',{ autoplay: 'false' }); 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You Searched For "Solar Impulse 2 Andre Borschberg" and got 4 results

Solar impulse for a cleaner sky and human conscience

Preetam Kaushik

World's first solar-powered aircraft to land in Ahmadabad tomorrow

BI India Bureau

Pilots reveal what it's like to fly a solar-powered plane around the world

William Fierman

This beautiful solar-powered plane is huge - and it's flying around the world

Matthew DeBord