Solar Impulse 1 aircraft in Washington DC,USA,in June 2013. The Solar Impulse project (based in Switzerland) aims to achieve the first circumnavigation of the globe by a fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power. This is Solar Impulse 1,the first prototype,which has a wingspan of 63 metres,but weighs only about as much as an average car. Solar Impulse 1 achieved a multi-stage journey across the USA between 3 May and 7 July 2013. It took off from Cincinnati,Ohio,on 15 June and arrived in Washington DC,on 16 June some 14 hours later. The successor aircraft,Solar Impulse 2,is attempting to complete a global circumnavigation in sixteen stage during 2015 and 2016. Photographed at Washington Dulles International Airport,on 17 June 2013 |