HONOLULU — A Swiss man attempting to circumnavigate the globe with an aircraft powered only by the sun's energy has broken a world record for the longest non-stop solo flight, the project team said on Thursday. The Solar Impulse, which took off from Japan on Monday on the seventh leg of its journey and is expected to land in Hawaii early on Friday, shattered the solo-flight record threshold of 76 hours while crossing the Pacific.. The aircraft, piloted alternatively by Swiss explorers Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, set off on its 22,000-mile (35,000-km) journey around the world from Abu Dhabi on March 9. “Can you imagine that a solar powered airplane without fuel can now fly longer than a jet plane!” said Piccard in a statement. “This is a clear message that clean technologies can achieve impossible goals.” The solo record was previously set in 2006 by American adventurer Steve Fossett, who flew the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer for 76 hours non-stop. — Reuters
