How Do You Say 'Mark It, Dude' In Swiss?

One thing is for certain: there's nothing eco-friendly about travel by airline. Aircraft engines sputter huge amounts of pollutants while in the air. Another certainty is that our skies are only becoming more and more congested with these noisy, fuming creatures. To remedy this problem, the governments of the U.S. and Europe have considered various measures for curbing airline pollution, such as taxes, emission standards, etc. But really, as more airlines take flight everyday, it's unlikely that these measures will make any long-term positive impact.

This is where Solar Impulse comes onto the scene. As of yesterday morning, the first night flight by a solar-powered aircraft was completed. Solar Impulse's HB-SIA aircraft lifted off the previous morning in Switzerland, spent the day charging its batteries at high altitude, and then spent the night running solely on those batteries thanks to the four electric engines that propel the craft. After 26 hours of flight, the HB-SIA returned to its home airfield and landed.

The plane itself is really quite simple. Essentially, it is a lightweight glider with an immense wingspan fitted with four electric propeller engines. The top of the extra-wide wing is covered with thousands of solar cells, which charge the polymer lithium batteries. And dangling from underneath the expanse of wing is a small cockpit that holds only one pilot. After its first successful night flight, the Solar Impulse team's next challenges include a trans-Atlantic flight and a round-the-world flight, both slated to be attempted within the next 3 years.

It should be noted that the power required to keep a large airliner packed with travelers in the sky is quite immense, so don't expect to see a fleet of solar-powered Boeing 747s anytime soon. But it is reasonable to think of this flight as a rather large leap in that direction. After all, it wasn't really all that long ago that sustained passenger flight was considered impossible even with conventional aircraft (Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic took place just over 83 years ago). If you want to hear my prediction (which I know you don't because it means absolutely nothing...I'm not an expert in aviation or renewable energy), I'd be willing to bet that I will fly on a solar-powered aircraft in my lifetime.

So there.

In Space, No One Can Hear You Whimper

My current reading material is Richard Dawkins' latest book, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. It's the first Dawkins book that I've read, and although I'm very much enjoying it, I find him so overly pretentious and oftentimes contradicting himself throughout the book that I have to take frequent reading breaks to ensure that I am not assimilated by the Borg of smugness (Star Trek reference - kicking the nerd factor up another notch). It was during one of these reading breaks that I switched on the television yesterday evening and looked through our selection of on-demand Netflix items. While perusing through the various childrens' shows and lame reality TV programs, I happened upon a series titled When We Left Earth. I vaguely remember this show airing on Discovery Channel, but since I don't have cable, I hadn't seen any of the episodes. As one might expect, this is a television show dedicated to the history of NASA and of manned space flight. I only watched the first episode, which covered the Mercury Program and the initial seven American astronauts, but I can't wait to watch the rest of the series. In fact, all day I've been looking forward to plopping down in front of the TV with an adult beverage and watching another episode or two.

I bring this up not just because I'm plugging the show and believe that it should be required material for school children, but also because it drew my thoughts to one of my favorite books: The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. So not only am I shamelessly plugging a show about manned space flight, I'm also plugging a book about manned space flight. And I must say that if space flight fascinates you to any degree, you must pick up a copy of The Right Stuff and give it a read. But I should warn you that if your fascination with space flight is as intense as mine, you will have difficultly putting it down and other tasks will take second priority. So don't plan on being real productive once you get started with that one.

While watching When We Left Earth, I found myself thinking about a certain fact about myself, which is that while I am completely awe-stricken by manned space flight and still to this day floored by the idea that a man walked on the moon, I have very little interest in going into space. This concept was hammered home last night during the introductory sequence of the show, in which one of the images we see are an astronaut in orbit with the features of the Earth gliding by behind him.

And that's when I started feeling a little queasy.

Yes, I'm infatuated with manned space flight. But if you sent me into space, stuffed me into a suit and pushed me out the door, I'd grab onto the first thing thing I could get a hold of, with arms and legs, and hold tight until it was time to go back in. The thought of being out there, in the vastness of space, somewhat terrifies me. With that said, if someone from NASA came to me and said, "Cody, we'd like to send you to space. How about it?" I'm not sure that I'd be able to say no. I'd just probably spend the whole trip quaking with fear. And probably crying a little bit.