Powered entirely by the sun, the plane is the first of its kind to fly at night. The goal? A 20-day, 20-night trip around the world. Bob Simon reports.
Video Rating: 5 / 5
Forget fossil fuel, this plane is driven by energy from the sun! Anthony woke up at the crack of dawn to watch the amazing Solar Impulse take to the sky. Wat…
Video Rating: 4 / 5
42 comments
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Ronnie yehuda says:
June 30, 2014 at 5:18 pm (UTC 0)
Solar-powered plane aims to fly around the world
humanistheart says:
June 30, 2014 at 5:20 pm (UTC 0)
Bless them 🙂 People like this are the only hope for the future of this
planet.
smazzocity says:
June 30, 2014 at 5:34 pm (UTC 0)
Amazing.
Bla Bla Bla says:
June 30, 2014 at 6:23 pm (UTC 0)
well done Gentlemen!
polychronio says:
June 30, 2014 at 6:24 pm (UTC 0)
wow inspirational and innovative
Pat Mccurry says:
June 30, 2014 at 7:16 pm (UTC 0)
It touches down in NYC tonight!!!
Chris Santos says:
June 30, 2014 at 7:58 pm (UTC 0)
The airplane took off for its mission today
Josh Cecil says:
June 30, 2014 at 8:25 pm (UTC 0)
1:13 is where u first see the plane takes off.
redschool says:
June 30, 2014 at 9:25 pm (UTC 0)
The sun would outrun them. It is a fairly slow plane.
Selling !!!! says:
June 30, 2014 at 10:23 pm (UTC 0)
60 Minutes – Commercials = 12 Minutes 31 Seconds
dvieneira says:
June 30, 2014 at 10:36 pm (UTC 0)
Aliens are laughing at this
moabshow says:
June 30, 2014 at 10:57 pm (UTC 0)
Help me understand they said next year they are flying from California to
Virginia why would they fly against they time zone of sunrise and sunset,
would it be smarter if they come from east to west with the sun following
you all the way threw?
dbz4me19 says:
June 30, 2014 at 11:45 pm (UTC 0)
think of it in how many years we will have a full sized plane powered on
sun God bless these men for there creation
garfield2889 says:
July 1, 2014 at 12:14 am (UTC 0)
good luck to them!
nayte1 says:
July 1, 2014 at 12:57 am (UTC 0)
Hey the wright brothers plane wasn’t fast either. The first of many
hopefully
PRIMEx420 says:
July 1, 2014 at 1:36 am (UTC 0)
it’s new. things take a little bit to start getting seen a lot. and yeah –
awesome. Switzerland – Fawk Yeah!
Cosmic .Cora says:
July 1, 2014 at 1:48 am (UTC 0)
Wow. How does this not have more views?
DNews says:
July 1, 2014 at 2:38 am (UTC 0)
Solar Impulse Plane Takes Flight today! Watch it all go down as one bold
airplane attempts to fly across the U.S. without a single drop of fuel.
richystar2001 says:
July 1, 2014 at 3:31 am (UTC 0)
solar power is limited by storage of energy.. hopefully these first steps
will help develop new ideas in this technology.
cok Bagus says:
July 1, 2014 at 4:30 am (UTC 0)
is that steve jobs? 0:20
douglas alderman says:
July 1, 2014 at 5:15 am (UTC 0)
how far is it from taking passengers and luggage.
willsham45 says:
July 1, 2014 at 5:54 am (UTC 0)
or they could work on bringing back the zeplin.
Haleakala Solar, Inc. says:
July 1, 2014 at 6:28 am (UTC 0)
Awesome video about the Solar Impulse Plane
Solar Impulse Plane Takes Flight
Jack Roberts says:
July 1, 2014 at 6:52 am (UTC 0)
im i the only one thinking that there is going to be a 24-7 flying droid
spy plain flying because of this technology
Andy Morris says:
July 1, 2014 at 7:50 am (UTC 0)
if a 747 boeing uses 1 gallon a second, then it could only last 13.9 hours
in the air with a full tank of 50,000 US gal? does that sound right?
Ricardo Garza says:
July 1, 2014 at 8:46 am (UTC 0)
Eventually they hope to fly around the world purely on the solar power.
Feed during the day by the solar panels and at night by stored up battery
power. #solarpower #solarplane #greentech
Angela Dee says:
July 1, 2014 at 9:36 am (UTC 0)
Daniel W, TROLLS GO HOME!! No one wants to read your immature and nasty
comments. I wish all trolls would go live on an island together and leave
us alone. Its people like you that make foreigners hate the USA. Please be
more analytical and mature with your statements. Oh and mom jokes went out
like a decade ago. I mean do you seriously get enjoyment out of this.
You’re sick. You need some mental help. I bet you pick on people that are
smaller than you too. I just want some truth from you. Why do you attack
strangers like that. Seriously, honestly answer this for me. I just want to
know. thank you.
Daniel W says:
July 1, 2014 at 10:07 am (UTC 0)
in other words gas will jump prices up your moms ass if you dont use
alternative resources you dumb shits to power everything not just your moms
dildo everything you little fuckers. trade your car in for every power
electric wind solar hydro you can find
Raydancex says:
July 1, 2014 at 10:14 am (UTC 0)
Really?
Mathias Tang Wa Pedersen says:
July 1, 2014 at 10:28 am (UTC 0)
Go electrical planes!
satyam jaiswal says:
July 1, 2014 at 10:43 am (UTC 0)
a great invention of 2012
Revision3 says:
July 1, 2014 at 11:26 am (UTC 0)
Solar Impulse Plane Takes Flight today! Watch it all go down as one bold
airplane attempts to fly across the U.S. without a single drop of fuel.
Justwantahover says:
July 1, 2014 at 12:05 pm (UTC 0)
Renewables would be great for personal aviation. Use wind turbines and
solar to charge the planes up and fly for cheap. There are a few electric
UL planes around. All we need is to charge them with renewables.
myHome109 says:
July 1, 2014 at 12:21 pm (UTC 0)
Do you know why this aircraft is so big and carry only one person? The
battery is heavy and the motor generate very little power.
Comparison typical GA aircraft carry 4-6 passengers in pressurized air
conditioned comfort at over 20,000 ft, over most weather systems.
A 350 HP aircraft turbocharged gas engine weigh 700 lbs total, burn 21 gal
per hour and fly at 175 knots (or est 200 mph ground speed) at 21,000 ft.
A 500 HP turboprop jet weigh 300 lbs (or 500 lbs with all prop and
accessories), burn 35 gal per hour and fly at 190 knots (or est 230 mph
ground speed) at 28,000 ft.
There are development of compound turbocharged or supercharged Jet-A diesel
engines which reduce the fuel burn to just 15-16 gal per hour at 200 mph
ground speed. The critical issue with diesel at altitudes over 20,000 ft
is flame-out and inability to start in cold (sub -40) low pressure of high
altitude. This can be solved.
There are efforts to use ethanol made from sugar cane to fly aircraft too,
which is renewable energy. These aircraft can go 200 mph and 18,000 ft.
My question would be how much pollution was created to manufacture the
electric aircraft which only carry one pilot, non-pressurized or non-heated
or non-air conditioned and only goes 45 mph?
Rob DeMillo says:
July 1, 2014 at 12:46 pm (UTC 0)
Solar Impulse Plane Takes Flight today! Watch it all go down as one bold
airplane attempts to fly across the U.S. without a single drop of fuel.
Yasin Lee says:
July 1, 2014 at 12:51 pm (UTC 0)
Solar Impulse Plane Takes Flight today! Watch it all go down as one bold
airplane attempts to fly across the U.S. without a single drop of fuel.
John Paul Taylor says:
July 1, 2014 at 12:59 pm (UTC 0)
Solar Impulse Plane Takes Flight today! Watch it all go down as one bold
airplane attempts to fly across the U.S. without a single drop of fuel.
Joe Geeting says:
July 1, 2014 at 1:18 pm (UTC 0)
Solar Impulse Plane Takes Flight today! Watch it all go down as one bold
airplane attempts to fly across the U.S. without a single drop of fuel.
Pavan Manukonda says:
July 1, 2014 at 1:21 pm (UTC 0)
Solar Impulse Plane Takes Flight today! Watch it all go down as one bold
airplane attempts to fly across the U.S. without a single drop of fuel.
alex kp says:
July 1, 2014 at 1:37 pm (UTC 0)
Solar Impulse Plane Takes Flight today! Watch it all go down as one bold
airplane attempts to fly across the U.S. without a single drop of fuel.
mouhamadou lamine dabo says:
July 1, 2014 at 1:38 pm (UTC 0)
Solar Impulse Plane Takes Flight today! Watch it all go down as one bold
airplane attempts to fly across the U.S. without a single drop of fuel.
Olga Safu says:
July 1, 2014 at 2:06 pm (UTC 0)