In our various meetings, exchanges and
contacts, many of you have asked to be kept informed about the
progress of the Solar Impulse project. We are pleased to be able
to do this from now on, by means of this logbook, which we are
opening today, as the first step in directly addressing the
values that bring us together.Solar
Impulse is both a solar airplane, with the ambition of flying
night and day without fuel, and a symbol of what our society
must become capable of achieving in terms of energy efficiency
and the use of renewable energies. In the following lines, and
subsequent issues which will be published several times per
year, you will read about these two aspects. You will be able to
follow the project's progress, the work of the engineers, the
technological challenges we encounter, to get to know the people
who are making this adventure possible, and to share in our
thoughts about our society's energy and environmental future.
If the pioneering spirit has enabled
spectacular conquests in the past, it needs, in the 21st century
to enable us to develop the quality of life to which present and
future generations are entitled. Technology and humanism must
stand shoulder to shoulder to lighten mankind's environmental
footprint, to stimulate industry and the economy in the search
for new solutions, and seriously question the certainties and
habits that keep us prisoners of our expensive and dangerous
dependence on fossil fuels.
With our round-the-world flight in a solar
airplane, we want to share this state of mind and carry along in
our wake all those who, like us, believe in the power of symbols
and visions.
Welcome aboard!
Bertrand Piccard
President of Solar Impulse
