NOVA PRESENTS: The Impossible Flight, January 31 at 9 pm on PBS

NOVA PRESENTS
“The Impossible Flight”
Airing Wednesday, January 31 at 9 pm on PBS

On March 9, 2015, Solar Impulse II took off from Abu Dhabi on one of
the greatest aviation adventures of our time: the first solar-powered
flight around the world. Together with a team of brilliant engineers,
two visionary pilots—Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg—designed
and built Solar Impulse from scratch, even though top airplane
manufacturers told them it would be “impossible to control.” To pull
it off, they had to re-invent everything, from innovative solar cells
and batteries to massive carbon-fiber wings. Despite all their
efforts, the performance of the plane was balanced on a knife-edge,
demanding near-perfect weather conditions and hour after hour of
vigilant, skillful piloting. The longest nonstop leg, from Japan to
Hawaii, lasted five days and set a new world solo flight record. NOVA
captures an insider’s view of the Solar Impulse pilots and ground team
as they experience moments of hair-raising crisis, remarkable
endurance, and ingenious problem-solving.

Watch the Program
Watch the entire program for a limited time (4 weeks) beginning
January 31.
http://app.nationalproduction.wgbh.org/e/er?s=2531&lid=5539
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/th...le-flight.html