Swiss To Fly Solar-Powered Space Tours
SolarStratos Will Use Solar for Space Tourism
Tonya Riley, December 9, 2016 (Inverse)
“…[A Swiss] plane will be the first manned aircraft entirely powered by solar energy to break the stratosphere and get passengers to the stars…The aircraft, which has a wingspan of 81.3 feet and weighs 992 pounds, leaves approximately the same carbon footprint as an electric car…The wings of the plane are covered by 72-square feet of solar panels, which provide energy to its 32-KW electric engine and 20 kWh lithium-ion battery…The first mission, which will take place in 2018, will take two hours to ascend to the stratosphere and will stay there for 15 minutes before descending…[Its first flights for commercial passengers will be] in two to three years, but at a pretty steep price; each mission will cost $10 million…Typically, commercial planes tend to fly in the lower region of the stratosphere, staying at altitudes between 6 and 12 miles. The SolarStratos plane reaches an altitude of 15 miles above Earth. As a comparison, the International Space Station is 220 miles above Earth…” click here for more
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