Solar Impulse: Fuel-free flight across America

RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT \" AFP PHOTO / SOLARIMPULSE \" - NO MARKETING, NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS---This handout picture show the experimental Solar Impulse HB-SIA plane with Andre Borschberg onboard approaching JFK airport on late July 6, 2013 in New York. The experimental Solar Impulse plane, powered by the sun, completed a transcontinental trip across the United States late Saturday, touching down in New York despite a rip in the fabric of one wing. AFP PHOTO / SOLARIMPULSE / JEAN REVILLARDHANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images

RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT \" AFP PHOTO / SOLARIMPULSE \" - NO MARKETING, NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS---This handout picture shows Solar Impulse Chairman and pilot Bertrand Piccard (L) and Solar Impulse CEO and pilot Andre Borschberg posing after Solar Impulse HB-SIA planes landed in JFK airport on late July 6, 2013 in New York. The experimental Solar Impulse plane, powered by the sun, completed a transcontinental trip across the United States, touching down in New York despite a rip in the fabric of one wing. AFP PHOTO / SOLARIMPULSE / FRED MERZHANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images

epa03779225 A handout picture provided by Solar Impulse on 07 July 2013 shows a tear in the wing fabric of the Solar Impulse airplane following landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, New York, USA, 06 July 2013. The solar-powered airplane was on the final leg of its flight across the United States from Dulles International Airport near Washington, USA, when the tear was discovered forcing the plane to land several hours early. The plane which is capable of flying day and night without fuel, powered only by solar energy, was headed to New York on the final leg of its journey across America that started 03 May in San Francisco. EPA/SOLAR IMPULSE / HANDOUT / NEILS ACKERMAN HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

Co-pilot Andre Borschberg watches as Solar Impulse's HB-SIA prototype, with Bertrand Piccard at the controls, lands at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Viginia, in this handout photo provided by Solar Impulse on June 16, 2013. The landing completed the second half of the 4th leg of the 2013 Across America mission - the first crossing of the United States by a solar -powered airplane capable of flying day and night. REUTERS/Solar Impulse/Jean Revillard/Rezo.ch/Handout via Reuters (UNITED STATES - Tags: SOCIETY SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY TRANSPORT) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Solar Impulse's HB-SIA prototype, with Bertrand Piccard at the controls, lands at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri, June 4, 2013, in this photo provided by Solar Impulse. The aircraft took off more than 20 hours before from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. To protect the aircraft upon landing, Solar Impulse uses its own inflatable hangar to park the aircraft. REUTERS/© Solar Impulse/Jean Revillard/Rezo.ch/Handout (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY TRANSPORT) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Solar Impulse's HB-SIA prototype, with Bertrand Piccard at the controls, lands at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri, June 4, 2013, in this photo provided by Solar Impulse. The aircraft took off more than 20 hours before from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. To protect the aircraft upon landing, Solar Impulse uses its own inflatable hangar to park the aircraft. REUTERS/© Solar Impulse/Jean Revillard/Rezo.ch/Handout (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY TRANSPORT) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Solar Impulse, piloted by André Borschberg, takes flight during the second leg of the 2013 Across America mission, at dawn, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, from Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. The solar powered aircraft is scheduled to land at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday May 23. The plane's creators, Bertrand Piccard and Borschberg, said the trip is the first attempt by a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel to fly across America. (AP Photo/Matt York)

The Solar Impulse, the solar-powered airplane that developers hope to eventually pilot around the world, flies from San Francisco Bay, California, to Phoenix, Arizona, in this May 3, 2013 handout photo. The solar-powered airplane took off early on Friday from San Francisco Bay on the first leg of an attempt to fly across the United States with no fuel but the sun's energy. Fred Merz/Solar Impulse/Handout via Reuters (UNITED STATES - Tags: TRANSPORT SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS

The Solar Impulse plane takes off from Moffett Field NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California on May 3, 2013. The first-ever manned airplane that can fly by day or night on the Sun's power alone took off Friday on the first leg of a trip across the United States. Solar Impulse, piloted by Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, left the runway in northern California at 6:12 am (13:12 GMT) against the backdrop of a golden morning sunrise, in what a mission control operator called a \"perfect takeoff.\" AFP PHOTO/Josh EdelsonJosh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - MAY 03: Pilot Bertrand Piccard takes off in the Solar Impulse solar electric airplane at Moffett Field on May 3, 2013 in Mountain View, California. Pilots Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg are attempting the first cross-continental flight in a solar powered plane that can travel day and night. (Photo by Beck Diefenbach/Getty Images)

epa03686196 The Solar Impulse plane stands on the runway before its take off at Moffett Airfield in Mountain View, California, USA, 03 May 2013. Solar Impulse lifts off for Phoenix, Arizona on its first leg across the United States. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO

The Solar Impulse cross-country electric aircraft flies over the Golden Gate Bridge while doing maneuvers in Marin County, California in this April 23, 2013 handout photo. REUTERS/SolarImpulse/Handout (UNITED STATES - Tags: TRANSPORT SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) NO SALES. NO ARCHIVES. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Crew members return the Solar Impulse to its hangar following a test flight at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California April 19, 2013. The aircraft, made of carbon fiber sheets and powered by solar cells, will attempt to fly once around the world powered solely by solar energy. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY TRANSPORT SOCIETY)