Around the World on Sun Power | Origins: The Journey of Humankind
Where you are going is just as important as how you plan to get there. As we look forward to new frontiers here on Earth and beyond, places where resources may be scarce or non-existent, we need to look for new ways to carry ourselves beyond the horizon; ways like sailing on currents of air, drawing energy from the rays of the sun.
BERTRAND PICCARD, MD: Everything I do is the example I received from my grandfather and my father. My grandfather made the first flight in the stratosphere. Actually, he was the first man to witness with his own eyes the curvature of the Earth. My father went to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, 11 kilometers down, the deepest spot in the ocean. I thought it was normal to explore. And for a long time, the exploration was about discovering new geographical territories. And I believe that now, exploration has a role to play if we want to make a better world.
ANDRE BORSCHBERG: And 30 years ago, we had this idea to fly around the world without the dependence on fossil energy. They told us it was impossible. So that was the starting point.
BERTRAND PICCARD, MD: Solar Impulse is a feat of exploration. It's a scientific adventure. The goal was to demonstrate how you can use solar energy to fly around the world.
ANDRE BORSCHBERG: It was not possible to take an existing airplane and to glue some solar cells. It would never work. So we had to rethink this airplane completely from scratch. The conclusion was to make an airplane the size of a 747 with the weight of a car—the only airplane today which can fly almost forever.
BERTRAND PICCARD, MD: And these technologies can be used everywhere, not just in our airplane. And this moment of rupture, where you left behind what you know and enter into the unknown—it's the leap of faith. In 2016, Solar Impulse became the first aircraft in aviation history to circumnavigate the globe with no fuel.
BERTRAND PICCARD, MD: If you want exploration, very often you need to get out of the system, because the system is paralyzed by common assumptions. It's not the people selling candles who invented the light bulb. We succeeded to use solar energy to fly around the world. It's interesting to see the difference between conquering and exploring. When you want to conquer, it's to have more. When you want to explore, it's to know more. The future will be very different. So you need an explorer's mind if you want to succeed in the future.