Solar-powered plane on its historic journey around the world

It will take several months to complete the journey, but if a solar-powered plane that took off from Abu Dhabi early Monday is successful, it will be the first plane to make it around the world without any fuel.

The Solar Impulse 2 is a single-seat aircraft made of carbon fiber with a 236-foot wingspan, The Associated Press reports. The 5,070 pound plane has 17,248 solar cells built into the wing that supplies it with renewable energy and recharges four lithium polymer batteries. Solar Impulse founders André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard say their goal is to replace "old polluting technologies with clean and efficient technologies."

Borschberg and Piccard will take turns flying the single-seater, switching places during stop-overs. The first destination is Muscat, Oman, which Borschberg will reach after 10 hours. When the plane flies across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, whoever is in the pilot seat will spend five to six days flying solo, and if all goes according to plan, the journey will be finished in late July or August. —Catherine Garcia

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