Solar Impulse 1 aircraft in Washington DC, USA, in June 2013. The Solar Impulse project (based in Switzerland) aims to achieve the first circumnavigation of the globe by a fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power. This is Solar Impulse 1, the first prototype, which has a wingspan of 63 metres, but weighs only about as much as an average car. Solar Impulse 1 achieved a multi-stage journey across the USA between 3 May and 7 July 2013. It took off from Cincinnati, Ohio, on 15 June and arrived in Washington DC, on 16 June some 14 hours later. The successor aircraft, Solar Impulse 2, is attempting to complete a global circumnavigation in sixteen stage during 2015 and 2016. Photographed at Washington Dulles International Airport, on 17 June 2013.