Solar
Impulse, claimed to be the world's only solar-powered aircraft, will
make a stop over in Ahmedabad tomorrow as a part of its maiden global
journey. "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," a
release issued by the aircraft project's PR firm said here. After
making a landing here, the solar-powered aircraft's founders and
pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are likely to stay in
the city for two days before leaving for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh,
the release said. The Swiss solar-powered aircraft's flight got
delayed by a day due to bad weather conditions in the UAE. The
aircraft was scheduled to land in Ahmedabad today, but now it will
make a stop over here tomorrow, it said. 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. 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. 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.
The single-seater aircraft made of carbon fibre has a 72 metre
wingspan, larger than that of Boeing-747 and weighs just 2,300 kg,
equivalent to the weight of a car, it said. The 17,248 solar cells
built into the wing supply electric motors with renewable energy. 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, it said. This round-the-world flight
will take-off from Abu Dhabi and make a halt at Muscat (Oman),
Ahmedabad and Varanasi in India, Mandalay in Myanmar and Chongqing
and Nanjing in China. After crossing the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii,
the aircraft will fly across the US stopping at Phoenix, the Midwest
and New York City, said the website. The test flight of the aircraft
was conducted in the US in 2013.
Congress leader Manishankar Aiyar attracted opposition BJP's ire today in Rajya Sabha when he said he was not interested in listening to speech of a BJP member on vote on account, prompting the Chair to adjourn the House amid uproar. During the Zero Hour, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien allowed Aiyar, who wanted to ask a question, to do so, which was opposed by BJP members. Kurien asked Aiyar whether he yielded to allow others to speak, to which he said he had no objection and he can ask his question later. As the House got ready to initiate discussion on Vote on Account, Kurien said, "Let us reduce the discussion to two hours from four hours," which was opposed by BJP members including Piyush Goyal who was given a chance to speak on Vote on Account. When it was agreed that discussion will take place as per schedule, Aiyar remarked he was not interested in listening to the speech by BJP member. "You had given me the chance to ask a question
Comments
Post a Comment