They're the Amelia Earharts of clean energy: Starting in March, Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will attempt to become the first people to circumnavigate the world in a solar-powered airplane. Their twelve-leg, 21,748-mile trip will take five months to complete, beginning and ending in Abu Dhabi, with stops in North Africa or southern Europe, and the United States. We had a few questions.

Who are these guys?

Bertrand Piccard is an aeronaut who copiloted the first nonstop trip around the world in a balloon in 1999. In 2003 he teamed up with André Borschberg, an engineer and former fighter pilot. With a crew of eighty engineers and technicians, the two devoted the next twelve years to developing one of the most innovative solar-powered machines on the planet.

Will this be their first attempt?

At traveling around the world, yes. There was an earlier prototype, Solar Impulse 1, that broke eight records, three of them when Borschberg flew it for twenty-six hours straight in the first night flight in the history of solar aviation. They're now on to Solar Impulse 2, which has greater energy density in its 1,400 pounds of lithium-ion batteries and improved 17.5-horsepower electric motors that spin the propellers with 94 percent efficiency.

Both men have trained in meditation and self-hypnosis to rapidly enter deep sleep and wake up alert

How comfortable is the plane?

Not very, especially considering that it is unpressurized and has no heat. Borschberg and Piccard will have oxygen tanks to deal with the altitude, but they'll be forced to endure temperatures that fluctuate between minus 4 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit with only small warmers for their hands and toes.

How do they sleep?

They don't, really. Since only one pilot can fit in the 106-cubic-foot cockpit at a time, he is allowed just six twenty-minute naps a day while the plane is on autopilot. Both men have trained in meditation and self-hypnosis to rapidly enter deep sleep and wake up alert.

Is there a bathroom?

The longest and most demanding leg of the trip is a five-day stretch of continuous flight over the Pacific, so it wouldn't be fair to expect the pilot to wait for a rest stop. The seat, which can recline completely for naps and physical exercise, also serves as a toilet—by removing the cushion of the seat as you might on a private plane.

If it's a solar plane, does that mean it can't fly at night?

The plane uses stored energy to fly in the dark. So as not to exhaust its reserves, Solar Impulse 2 takes advantage of gravity, gradually gliding down to an altitude of 5,000 feet at night. During the day the pilot regains a cruising altitude of 28,000 feet—where there is lower air density and drag—and can reach a top speed of eighty-six miles per hour while the batteries are recharged.

The plane uses stored energy to fly in the dark

Are they scared?

The plane has never flown in inclement weather or periods of turbulence. In case they do run into trouble, the two have been practicing parachute landings and treading water in the North Sea. "If oxygen runs low, if there's not enough energy to fly through the night, or if autopilot doesn't work, we'll end up in the water," says Borschberg.

Okay, so what's the point of all this?

Although Piccard admits that solar-powered commercial flights may never happen, "we would be able to cut the world's energy consumption in half if we replaced old technology with current technology," he says. They also hope to inspire more businesses to consider clean energy. They've already heard from companies that want to use their technology to replace satellites with cheap, unmanned aerial vehicles for transmitting telecommunication services to developing countries.

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