The
world's first solar-powered aircraft will fly day and night and make
12 stops, including two in India, during its round-the-world flight
to demonstrate the promise of clean energy, pilots of the aircraft
have said. Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, the Swiss
co-founders and pilots of Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), along with their
partners, disclosed the global flight route at a function here
yesterday. "With our attempt to complete the first solar powered
round-the-world flight, we want to demonstrate that clean technology
and renewable energy can achieve the impossible," said Piccard,
initiator and chairman of Solar Impulse. The first solar-powered
plane able to fly day and night will land in 12 locations across the
world and travel 35,000 kilometres in the first attempt to fly around
the globe without using a drop of fuel, UAE's WAM news agency
reported. The pilots will take off from Abu Dhabi in February-end or
early March and return by late July or early August 2015 in their
journey that would take them to Ahmedabad and Varanasi in India.
Besides the two stops in India, the route includes stops in Muscat
(Oman), Mandalay (Myanmar), Chongqing and Nanjing (China). After
crossing the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii, Si2 will fly across the US. A
third stop-over location in the Mid-West will be decided depending on
weather conditions. After crossing the Atlantic, the final legs
include a stop in Southern Europe or North Africa before arriving
back in Abu Dhabi. The first round-the-world solar adventure will
take approximately 25 flight days, spread over five months and
covering approximately 35,000 kilometres at speeds of between 50 and
100 kmh. "We want youth, leaders, organisations and policymakers
to understand that what Solar Impulse can achieve in the air,
everyone can accomplish here on the ground in their everyday lives.
Renewable energy can become an integral part of our lives, and
together, we can help save our planet's natural resources,"
Piccard said. "Solar Impulse is not the first solar airplane,
however it is the first able to cross oceans and continents,
remaining in the air for several days and nights in a row without
landing," said Borschberg, Solar Impulse co-founder and CEO.
With the stage set for International Yoga Day this Sunday, yoga asanas were performed mid-air at 35,000 feet above the sea-level, arguably the first time ever! The asanas called Upayoga or useful yoga were performed as a trial-run aboard the Delhi-Guwahati and Guwahati-Delhi flights of budget airline SpiceJet with over 180 passengers and crew. The Gurgaon-based carrier has teamed up with Isha Foundation of Sadhguru to conduct mid-air yoga sessions on its select Boeing flights on Sunday, which is being observed as International Yoga Day. Talking about the yogic postures demonstrated, Gita, a teacher with the Isha Foundation said the session was designed to reduce stress for passengers who travel long hours. "These are safe, simple postures which can be done by anyone, and can be practiced anytime and anywhere. They help in relieving stress accumulated in the upper neck and spine region," Gita told PTI. The passengers on board, who had no clue about the onboard yoga demonstr...
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