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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
Solar Impulse aircraft is shown inside a hangar at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California.

The path breaking solar-powered plane is making final preparations for a flight across the United States.

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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
People stand below a wing on the Solar Impulse at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California.

After several hours of non-stop flights at different locations, Solar Impulse will fly across the United States, starting from the West Coast.

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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
Solar Impulse aircraft.

The flight will take off from San Francisco in early May and land at New York's John F. Kennedy airport.

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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
The Solar Impulse aircraft is shown at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California.

By 2015, Swiss pilot Bertrand Piccard and project co-founder and pilot Andre Borschberg plan to undertake the first round-the-world flight without any fuel.

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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
Solar Impulse pilots Andre Borschberg (L) and Bertrand Piccard talk near the aircraft at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California.

Bertrand Piccard, a Swiss aeronaut and psychiatrist was the co-pilot of a non-stop balloon trip around the world.

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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
Solar Impulse pilots Andre Borschberg (R) and Bertrand Piccard discuss the aircraft at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California.

The Solar Impulse, made of carbon fiber sheets and powered by solar cells, will attempt to fly once around the world powered solely by solar energy.

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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
A man walks below a wing on the Solar Impulse at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California.

Solar Impulse is a Swiss long-range solar powered aircraft project being undertaken at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.

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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
A worker loads the wings of the Solar Impulse aircraft into a Cargolux Boeing 747 cargo aircraft at Payerne airport.

Piccard initiated the Solar Impulse project in 2003 with a 10-year budget of $112 million.

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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
Workers load the wings of the Solar Impulse aircraft into a Cargolux Boeing 747 cargo aircraft at Payerne airport.

By 2009, he had a multi-disciplinary team of 50 specialists from six countries, assisted by about 100 outside advisers. The project is financed by a number of private companies.

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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
Workers load the Solar Impulse aircraft into a Cargolux Boeing 747 cargo aircraft at Payerne airport.

The first aircraft, bearing the Swiss aircraft registration code of HB-SIA, is a single-seater monoplane, capable of taking off under its own power, and intended to remain airborne up to 36 hours.

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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
Workers load the Solar Impulse aircraft into a Cargolux Boeing 747 cargo aircraft at Payerne airport.

In 2012, Piccard and Borschberg conducted successful solar flight from Switzerland to Spain and Morocco in 26 hours.

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Solar-powered plane set to fly in United States

Last updated on: April 2, 2013 18:17 IST
The Solar Impulse aircraft is shown in a hangar at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California.

Building on the experience of this prototype, a slightly larger follow-on design (HB-SIB) is planned to make a circumnavigation of the globe in 20-25 days.