WONDERS OF SOLAR
WONDERS OF SOLAR
Swiss Unveil Stratospheric Solar Plane
Just months after two Swiss pilots completed a historic round-the-world trip in a Sun-powered plane , another
Swiss adventurer on Wednesday unveiled a solar plane aimed at reaching the stratosphere .
T he SolarStratos , a sleek , white two-seater aircraft with long wings covered with 22 square metres ( 237 square feet ) of solar panels , is set to become the first manned solar plane to make a stratospheric flight , according to Raphael Domjan , who is behind the project .
“ Our goal is to demonstrate that current technology offers us the possibility to achieve above and beyond what fossil fuels offer , he said in a statement , after unveiling the plane at the Payerne airbase in western Switzerland . Electric and solar vehicles are amongst the major challenges of the 21st century , said the youthful 44-year-old with short , blond hair , adding that the SolarStratos “ can fly at an altitude of 25,000 metres ( 82,000 feet ).”
SolarStratos is scheduled to begin test flights next February , while medium altitude flights are planned for next summer , and the first stratospheric flights should take place in 2018 , the statement said . To keep down the weight , the plane will not be pressurised , and Domjan will wear a spacesuit , also powered by solar energy , which will also mark a world first , it added . The statement also claimed the craft could “ reach space .” “ Travelling to the stratosphere will take approximately five hours : 2.5 hours to reach space , 15 minutes of broad daylight and stars , then three hours to return to Earth ,” it said .
The stratosphere lies above Earth ’ s lowest atmospheric layer , called the troposphere . At middle latitudes , the stratosphere runs from a lower boundary of about 10,000 metres to an upper boundary of about 50,000 metres . Aeronautics engineers use a rough benchmark called the Karman line , located at about 100,000 metres above sea level , for defining the boundary between Earth ’ s atmosphere and space . The announcement came after two of Domjan ’ s compatriots , Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg , completed the first-ever round-the-globe trip in a solar plane last July , in a bid to showcase the possibilities for the future of renewable energy . Solar Impulse 2 circumnavigated the globe in 17 stages , covering a remarkable 43,000 kilometres ( 26,700 miles ) across four continents , two oceans and three seas , in 23 days of flying without using a drop of fuel . Domjan meanwhile launched his SolarStratos project in 2014 , two years after he became the first person to sail around the world in a fully solar-powered boat . He insisted Wednesday that the new aircraft ’ s ability to pierce the stratosphere “ opens the door to the possibility of electric and solar commercial aviation , close to space .” Until now , reaching the stratosphere has until now required large quantities of energy or helium . But the SolarStratos aircraft , could do so leaving only “ the equivalent environmental footprint of an electric car ”, Wednesday ’ s statement said .
The project “ opens the door to new scientific knowledge , at an affordable price , exploration and the peaceful use of our stratosphere .”
- Mr . Roland Loos , who heads SolarXplorers , the organisation in charge of developing the project .
Source : rAFP
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EQ December 2016 www . EQMagPro . com