The long-awaited take-off
of the Solar Impulse was greeted with delight
by those who have spent the last seven years working on it.
The solar-powered plane has the wing-span of a jumbo jet,
but weighs less than a family car.
It doesn't use a single drop of aviation fuel,
instead its giant wings are covered with solar cells.
The project is the brainchild of Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard
- he sees the Solar Impulse as a sign of things to come.