Green Daily

Back in the day the Wright brothers made history just by getting one of their oddball flying contraptions to make it off the ground. And yesterday, the world witnessed another major breakthrough in aviation technology -- the solar-powered plane.

Launched by two Swiss adventurers, the Solar Impulse prototype, despite having a wingspan similar to that of an A380 Super Jumbo Jet, is a mere 1.5 tons -- almost nothing when compared to the 580 tons of the A380. But, more importantly, the Impulse is covered with a thin layer of high power photovoltaics, meaning it can harness the energy of the sun to propel itself into the sky.

However, don't get your hopes up about flying in one any time soon. The Solar Impulse can only hold one passenger, and travels a maximum speed of 40 mph (which looks pretty bad compared to the 560 mph the A380 can do while hauling 800 passengers).

That said, this is a huge step forward for cleaner air travel. I can't wait until 2011, when the team behind this plane tries to fly it around the world!