Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers, (Please click on red links below),
Great News! Solar Impulse Team just released the news that the global leader in renewables, sustainable transportation, and energy efficiency, the Switzerland-based ABB, will support Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg in their attempt to fly around the world in their Solar Impulse 2 (HB-SIB) in 2015!!!
The construction of Solar Impulse 2 or HB-SIB started in 2011, incorporated much lessons learned from the previous HB-SIA, but with more spacious cockpit (enabling the pilot to fully recline during flights of 4-6 day duration). It will have an increased payload, isolated electrical circuitry to enable flights in rain, and improved reliability through system redundancy.
The official unveiling of the Solar Impulse 2 (HB-SIB) will be on Wednesday, April 9, 2014, from 3:00-5:30 PM Swiss Time
Keep in mind that: (3:00 PM Swiss/Zurich Time = 9:00 AM EST, Florida Time= 9:00 PM Beijing Time=11:00 PM Sydney Time=3:00 PM South Africa Time=9:00 AM Acre, Brazil Time=6:00 PM Kerguelen, French Southern & Antarctic Lands Time).
Below, are the aircraft data for Solar Impulse 2 (HB-SIB), from wikipedia:
The wingspan of HB-SIB will be 80.0 m (262.5 ft), slightly wider than an Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger airliner, but unlike the 500-ton A380, the carbon-fibre Solar Impulse will weigh little more than an average automobile. It will feature a larger, pressurized cockpit and advanced avionics to allow for transcontinental and trans-oceanic flights. Supplemental oxygen and various other environmental support systems will allow the pilot to cruise at an altitude of 12,000 metres (39,000 ft). Completion was initially planned for 2013, with a circumnavigation of the globe in 20–25 days in 2014. However, following a structural failure of the main spar during static tests in July 2012, a more likely date for the circumnavigation is 2017. The flight would circle the world in the northern hemisphere, near the equator. Five stops are planned to allow changes of pilots. Each leg of the flight will last three to four days, limited by the physiology of each pilot.
In case you’ve missed some our previous posts on Solar Impulse 1 (HB-SIA), below:
(Please click on red links below)
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Updates on our Solar-FIT For Sunshine State petition: 163 signatures strong. We need more! Please help us to spread more sunshine by signing this petition and sharing it with others. It is our shared responsibility to move toward the renewable energy age and Sunshine is the cleanest, healthiest, and least war-prone way to go!
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As I’ve promised a day ago, we have the Solar Impulse Hangout In Air via Google Science Fair, during the 4th leg of Solar Impulse’s Across America mission of 2013, on the way to DC (with pit stop at Cincinnati Municipal Lunken Airport). While the pilot Andre Borschberg is 7000 feet above ground, Bertrand Piccard is on the ground spreading the message of need to promote the pioneering spirit and exploration. Bertrand also reminds us the importance of using clean technology during this juncture of human history. Without further delay, here is the video of that Hangout:
I’d also like to share these links below. Be sure to check them out :
For our continued report on Across America Mission of Solar Impulse. Solar Impulse HB-SIA will be getting ready for its third leg between Dallas, TX and St. Louis, MO on Monday, June 3, 2013.
I’d like to share an email from our Solar friends Andre Borschberg & Bertrand Piccard of the Solar Plane-Solar Impulse, and a video clip of Across America Mission of Solar Impulse below:
Dear Susan Sun,
There seems to be a positive weather window opening up this Monday, June 3rd, for Solar Impulse to continue its Across America mission. With Bertrand at the commands, the solar airplane will take-off from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport around 4:30AM CT (UTC-5) to complete the third leg of the journey that will lead it to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (MO). Landing is scheduled after midnight CT (UTC-5).
This tornado-stricken region, characterized by high turbulence and strong winds, has made it quite challenging to find the appropriate conditions to continue the adventure. But things seem to be clearing up and Solar Impulse is excited to discover the symbolic city of St. Louis.
On the footsteps of aviation pioneers, Bertrand and André want to awaken people’s pioneering spirit and St. Louis is the perfect place to do so. In fact, early US aviation history can be tracked back to the days when Charles Lindbergh transported US Mail between Chicago and St. Louis before his attempt to cross the Atlantic. Even though the historic “Spirit of St. Louis” was built in San Diego (CA), it was St. Louis businessmen and entrepreneurs that had the knack for exploration and financed the adventure that successfully led Lindbergh to fly from New York to Paris in 1927. In fact, the airport in St. Louis was named after an important St. Louis businessman, Albert Bond Lambert, who contributed to financing the crossing of the Atlantic.
For those of you that are in the St. Louis area, the Solar Impulse team is working hard to organize an Open House for the public to come see the solar airplane with their own eyes! Although not yet certain, we like to be optimists so you should too! Sign up here to get your name on the Waitlist; we will then inform all registered persons directly about the date and time of a potential visit.
Please be aware that the flight schedule could change before Monday if the Flight Director orders to fly another day or change the itinerary. You can regularly check the Solar Impulse website for the latest news concerning the flight or other updates.
Don’t forget that Solar Impulse always films the entire mission flights live. Just go directly to Solar Impulse TV and see the pilots, one from the cockpit and the other from the ground, follow interviews with the people that make it happen and watch footage from past events and flights. Also on the live page, and during all flights, there’s a moving map and virtual cockpit allowing viewers like you to feel as if they too were in the cockpit
Solar Impulse is not only about showcasing the potential of clean technologies, but about spreading a message. As part of the Clean Generation initiative, launched with the Across America mission, Solar Impulse wants to inspire and incite politicians, businessman and ordinary people to invest in clean technologies. The more people that join the movement the stronger the message; for this reason, a custom-designed flag displaying the Clean Generation slogan and the name of the destination city, will be carried in the cockpit during each leg together with a USB key. The key virtually carries the names of Solar Impulse supporters across the United States. If you would like your friends or family to be part of this pioneering adventure and cross the country with you, tell them to sign up today and become a friend of the project.
Updates on our Solar-FIT For Sunshine State petition: 163 signatures strong. We need more! Please help us to spread more sunshine by signing this petition and sharing it with others. It is our shared responsibility to move toward the renewable energy age and Sunshine is the cleanest, healthiest, and least war-prone way to go! Thank you.
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got a message from Solar Impulse — the solar airplane that is flying across the United States right now. The plane is carrying a message encouraging governments, CEOs, and other decision-makers to support and deploy clean technologies. Because I signed up, my name is going to be carried in the cockpit of the plane. You should add your name too — the more names the plane carries, the stronger the clean technology message will be on the ground. So far, over 16,000 Friends are virtual passengers in the cockpit. You can add your name by clicking here — it only takes 30 seconds. Thanks! sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker __________________________________________________________________________________________
Due to the ongoing Across America mission of Solar Impulse, I’d like to share one of our earlier posts from 2011 on: Solar Plane, the Swiss Solar Impulse HB-SIA, below, undertaken at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. This project was initiated in 2003 and then promoted by Bertrand Piccard (who co-piloted the first balloon to circle the world non-stop);it has grown to a multi-disciplinary team of 50 specialists from six countries and assisted by about 100 outside advisers.
What a terrific way to prove that we, the earthlings, are capable of freeing ourselves from the dependence on oil ! Through the clean tech of solar energy, SOLARIMPULSE has brought us not only the physical possibility of the first manned flight over night (lasted about 26 hours) by solar powered planein July 2010, but also the message to educators throughout planet earth the importance of motivating children and students the pioneering spirit and developing new ways of thinking about future, energy, environment , and online education.
Solar Plane-Swiss Solar Impulse HB-SIA, a long-range solar powered plane
Please be sure to view these three FANTASTIC clips below (I could not help but share the feeling of exuberance and hope for mankind in viewing these clips….I was almost in tears….) :
The prototype HB-SIA has a non-pressurized cockpit, a similar wingspan to the Airbus A340, lithium polymer batteries under the wing, 12,000 photovoltaic cells on the upper wing surface and the horizontal stabilizer generate electricity during the day. These photovoltaic cells and horizontal stabilizer propel the plane and charge the batteries to allow night flight, theoretically enabling the single-seat plane to stay in the air indefinitely. On July 8, 2010, HB-SIA achieved the world’s first manned 26-hour solar flight, flown by Andre Borschberg (started on July 7, 2010, from an airfield in Payenne, Switzerland).
To top HB-SIA, the HB-SIB is planned in the future, with a pressurized cockpit (with supplemental oxygen and various environmental support to the pilot to allow a cruise altitude of 12,000 m (39,000 ft) and advanced avionics to allow for transcontinental and trans-oceanic flights, with wingspan of 80.0 m (262.5 ft), slightly wider than the 79.75 m (261.6 ft) wingspan of an Airbus A380 ( the largest passenger airliner in the world). Solar Impulse HB-SIB requires the development of new materials and construction methods. Solvay has invented electrolytes that allow the energy density of the batteries to be increased;Bayer Material Sciences is utilizing its nanotechnologies for this project;and Decision is using lighter carbon fibers than seen in any previous projects. HB-SIB will undergo the same structural strength and vibration testing as for HB-SIA. Flight testing for HB-SIB is planned for Spring of 2014 and the round-the-world flight for between April and July of 2015;the flight would circle the world in the northern hemisphere near the equator and five stops are planned to change pilots. Once improved battery efficiency allows the reduced weight, a two-seater is envisaged to make a non-stop circumnavigation.
One cannot help but sense the inevitable success of SOLAR ENERGY….upon the horizon…
Another lesson I have learned from this project…the importance of spirit of cooperation among all earthlings….it is time to shed the barriers of nationalism in order to reach the survival of humankind/earthlings….
* 1 inch = 1/12 ft = 2.54 centimeters (or cm)= 0.0254 meter (or m)
Your comments, questions, suggestions are always welcomed either publicly (via comments below) or privately (via sunisthefuture@gmail.com).
Written & Posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker, sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Homepage: http://sunisthefuture.net
took off on the first leg (between San Francisco and Phoenix) of an aerial odyssey across America without a drop of fuel! Solar Impulse, piloted by Bertrand Piccard this morning, took off from Moffett Field into the Bay Area’s skies at 9:12 A.M. ET and headed south toward Arizona. “A flying laboratory for clean technologies, this prototype is the result of seven years of intense work in the fields of materials science, energy management and man-machine interface,” Andre Borschberg, Solar Impulse’s co-founder and CEO, said before the flight. Borschberg and Piccard will be taking turns in the pilot’s seat for a month-long series of flights that will end up in New York around July 4th. Each leg of this odyssey will be streamed from this site and the project plans to collect thousands of names that will be added to a “Clean Generation” list of supporters carried in the cockpit.
All of Solar Impulse’s power comes from its 12,000 photovoltaic cells on the upper wing surface and store the electrical energy in its lithium polymer batteries under the wing when the sun isn’t shining. This carbon fiber aircraft has a long/wide wingspan and light design because the plane generates as much power as a motor scooter for its four 10-horsepower motors.
Just a quick refresher on Solar Impulse: Its pilot and co-founder Piccard is a record-setting, round-the-world balloonist who draws financial backing from Swiss business. In 2010 Solar Impulse took on the world’s first solar-powered 26-hour night flight in Switzerland. In 2011, it completed the first international solar flight from Switzerland, Belgium to France. In 2012, it completed the first solar-powered intercontinental flight from Europe to North Africa.
In the next few months Solar Impulse will be flying from Phoenix to Dallas-Fort Worth, then to St. Louis, Washington, and New York. For Borschberg and Piccard, this is simply a warm-up before their future ultimate goal and venture in circumnavigating the world with solar power. Allow me to share with you a short video clip: view of Solar Impulse’s HB-SIA and Piccard’s comments:
Allow me to leave you with what Solar Impulse represents, “We are a people-powered movement challenging conventional thinking to inspire innovation, hope and action among citizens and policymakers. Together, let’s promote this pioneering spirit!”
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any comments and/or suggestions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Continued from previous post…also of July 14, 2011, on Solar Impulse HB-SIA-Solar Plane (1)….
If you are in favor of renewable/CLEAN energy, please sign the petition page showing support for FIT/CLEAN Program at http://sunisthefuture.net/?page_id=1065 Thank you.
In June of 2011 (from 20th to 26th), key representatives of aviation industry met for the 49th International Paris Air Show, one of the world’s largest and most important events within the industry. At the International Paris Air Show major companies present their outstanding innovations and the future of flying. The solar powered Solar Impulse was a special guest at the international exhibition. Among passenger aircraft and military jets, Solar Impulse serves as a symbol for a future belonging to renewable/solar energy.
The 72 feet, single-seat model HB-SIA with a 208 feet wingspan is just the beginning. To top HB-SIA, the HB-SIB is now planned for completion in 2013, with a pressurized cockpit (with supplemental oxygen and various environmental support to the pilot to allow a cruise altitude of 12,000 m (39,000 ft) and advanced avionics to allow for transcontinental and trans-oceanic flights, with wingspan of 80.0 m (262.5 ft), slightly wider than the 79.75 m (261.6 ft) wingspan of an Airbus A380 ( the largest passenger airliner in the world). A round-the-world flight is in the forecast for 2013;the flight would circle the world in the northern hemisphere near the equator and five stops are planned to change pilots. Once improved battery efficiency allows the reduced weight, a two-seater is envisaged to make a non-stop circumnavigation.
Once again, allow me to point out the lesson from this tremendous project…the importance of spirit of cooperation among all earthlings…it is time to shed the barriers of nationalism in order to reach the survival of humankind/ earthling….
Posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker, sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Dear Sunlovers and Fans of Solar Impulse/Solar Plane,
If you are in favor of renewable/CLEAN energy, please sign the petition page showing support for FIT/CLEAN Program at http://sunisthefuture.net/?page_id=1065 Thank you.
Due to popular demand, I am writing an update about the Swiss Solar Impulse’s HB-SIA and will also be posting 2 video clips on Solar Impulse’s HB-SIA. Those of you who have read the earlier post (March 12, 2011) at Sun Is The Future, Solar Plane-“All that is impossible remains to be achieved.” may remember that through the clean tech of solar energy, SOLARIMPULSE has brought us not only the physical possibility of the first manned flight over night (lasted about 26 hours) by solar powered plane in July 2010, but also the message to educators throughout planet earth the importance of motivating children and students the pioneering spirit and developing new ways of thinking about future, energy, environment , and online education. The Swiss Solar Impulse HB-SIA, below,
Solar Plane Swiss Solar Impulse HB-SIA, a long-range solar powered plane
undertaken at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, was a project initiated in 2003 and then promoted by Bertrand Piccard (who co-piloted the first balloon to circle the world non-stop);it has grown to a multi-disciplinary team of 50 specialists from six countries and assisted by about 100 outside advisers. The prototype HB-SIA has a non-pressurized cockpit, a similar wingspan to the Airbus A340, lithium polymer batteries under the wing, 12,000 photovoltaic cells on the upper wing surface and the horizontal stabilizer generate electricity during the day. These photovoltaic cells and horizontal stabilizer propel the plane and charge the batteries to allow night flight, theoretically enabling the single-seat plane to stay in the air indefinitely. On July 8, 2010, HB-SIA achieved the world’s first manned 26-hour solar flight, flown by Andre Borschberg(started on July 7, 2010, from an airfield in Payenne, Switzerland).
Stay tuned in for the next episode of the Solar Impulse HB-SIA Solar Plane….
Posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker, sunisthefuture@gmail.com
If you are in favor of renewable/CLEAN energy, please sign the petition page showing support for FIT/CLEAN Program at http://sunisthefuture.net/?page_id=1065 Thank you.
What a terrific way to prove that we, the earthlings, are capable of freeing ourselves from the dependence on oil ! Through the clean tech of solar energy, SOLARIMPULSE has brought us not only the physical possibility of the first manned flight over night (lasted about 26 hours) by solar powered planein July 2010, but also the message to educators throughout planet earth the importance of motivating children and students the pioneering spirit and developing new ways of thinking about future, energy, environment , and online education.
Due to the overwhelming response on last week’s post on solar car, it would be fitting to bring you the report on earthling’s progress in Solar Plane, the Swiss Solar Impulse HB-SIA, below, undertaken at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne. This project was initiated in 2003 and then promoted by Bertrand Piccard (who co-piloted the first balloon to circle the world non-stop);it has grown to a multi-disciplinary team of 50 specialists from six countries and assisted by about 100 outside advisers.
Solar Plane-Swiss Solar Impulse HB-SIA, a long-range solar powered plane
Please be sure to view these three FANTASTIC clips below (I could not help but share the feeling of exuberance and hope for mankind in viewing these clips….I was almost in tears….) :
The prototype HB-SIA has a non-pressurized cockpit, a similar wingspan to the Airbus A340, lithium polymer batteries under the wing, 12,000 photovoltaic cells on the upper wing surface and the horizontal stabilizer generate electricity during the day. These photovoltaic cells and horizontal stabilizer propel the plane and charge the batteries to allow night flight, theoretically enabling the single-seat plane to stay in the air indefinitely. On July 8, 2010, HB-SIA achieved the world’s first manned 26-hour solar flight, flown by Andre Borschberg (started on July 7, 2010, from an airfield in Payenne, Switzerland).
To top HB-SIA, the HB-SIB is planned for completion in 2011, with a pressurized cockpit (with supplemental oxygen and various environmental support to the pilot to allow a cruise altitude of 12,000 m (39,000 ft) and advanced avionics to allow for transcontinental and trans-oceanic flights, with wingspan of 80.0 m (262.5 ft), slightly wider than the 79.75 m (261.6 ft) wingspan of an Airbus A380 ( the largest passenger airliner in the world).
A round-the-world flight is in the forecast for 2012;the flight would circle the world in the northern hemisphere near the equator and five stops are planned to change pilots. Once improved battery efficiency allows the reduced weight, a two-seater is envisaged to make a non-stop circumnavigation.
One cannot help but sense the inevitable success of SOLAR ENERGY….upon the horizon…
Another lesson I have learned from this project…the importance of spirit of cooperation among all earthlings….it is time to shed the barriers of nationalism in order to reach the survival of humankind/earthlings….
* 1 inch = 1/12 ft = 2.54 centimeters (or cm)= 0.0254 meter (or m)
Your comments, questions, suggestions are always welcomed either publicly (via comments below) or privately (via sunisthefuture@gmail.com).
