By Greentech Lead Europe: As part of the Solar
Impulse project, Altran, the global innovation and high-tech engineering
consulting firm, accompanies the solar plane in its first trans-Mediterranean
flight from Spain to Morocco.
The Solar Impulse project aims to continually go beyond
the threshold and draw attention to the immense potential of renewable
energies. For more than a decade, Altran’s team of experts has been striving to
meet this challenge and transform this dream into a reality.
The solar-powered plane has successfully completed its
fuel-free day and night flight in 2010 and the first European flight in
2011. Now the solar plane is preparing for a 2,500 km, round trip voyage between
Switzerland and Morocco. Carried out in several stages, this exclusively
solar-powered flight will bring Solar Impulse closer to reaching its goal of
achieving the world tour planned in 2014.
Carrying out a successful solar flight is extremely
complex and raises three types of challenges, for the teams involved, namely:
Technical challenges, since the teams must be able to
manage a series of consecutive flights sometimes exceeding 20 hours, as well as
the plane’s entry into multiple air-traffic control zones.
Meteorological challenges, because the plane will be
required to fly through complex zones, such as the Pyrenees mountain range and
making its first-ever trans-Mediterranean crossing.
Logistical and operational challenges, as the team
requires the monitoring of the plane for around two months. This will be
carried out by a mobile on-the-ground logistics team which will follow the
plane’s flight path with support provided by a Mission Control Centre (MCC)
based in Payerne, Switzerland.
Within the MCC, two of Altran’s experts, Christophe
Béesau and Stéphane Yong, have designed a simulator that recalculates the
different possible flight paths at regular intervals. This is a crucial
challenge as the solar plane prepares for its first-ever trans-Mediterranean
flight.
editor@greentechlead.com