Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Morocco has become the host of the first transcontinental
flight by a solar-powered aircraft.

The Solar Impulse aircraft was said to have arrived in Rabat after a
2,500 kilometer flight on early June 6.

The plane, equipped with 12,000 solar cells, was invited by the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy as part of the interest of by the North African kingdom in renewable energy.

“The mission is to complete the challenge without precedence of flying for over 2,500 kilometer without a drop of fuel,” Solar Impulse organizers said.

The aircraft, the size of a jumbo jet, left Madrid on early June 5.

Organizers said the flight was meant to prepare for an enhanced prototype that would circle the globe in 2014.

Solar Impulse was launched in 2003 in a program estimated to cost $100 million. Organizers said the prototype could usher in aviation that would not be based on conventional fuel.

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