What Does It Take to Build a Solar Airplane? The Developers of Solar Impulse to Explain It All During the Aircraft's Stopover in DC

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Jun 13, 2013, 04:39 ET

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- It's all about chemistry, of course! At a National Press Club Newsmaker news conference on Tuesday, June 18, research and development experts George Corbin, Ph.D., and Claude Michel, Ph.D., from chemical company Solvay will explain the science, and vision, behind the airplane Solar Impulse. Solvay was the first and main partner of Solar Impulse, the ultra-lightweight aircraft powered only by solar energy. Also joining the panel is Darcy Gentleman, Ph.D. chemist and science communicator, American Chemical Society.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080917/NPCLOGO)

After causing a UFO scare in Texas early this month and narrowly avoiding Tornado Alley in recent weeks, Solar Impulse will arrive at Dulles International Airport on Sunday, June 16 on the fifth leg of its "Across America" coast-to-coast flight. The plane will be parked at a temporary hangar adjoining the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Media will be allowed to see the plane up close and meet the pilots at a press event Tuesday evening.

This National Press Club Newsmakers news conference is scheduled for 10:00AM, Tuesday, June 18, 2013 in the Club's Murrow Room on the 13^th Floor of the National Press Building, 529 14^th St, NW, Washington, DC, 20045.

The Newsmakers news conference will be webcast live at
http://www.visualwebcaster.com/Solar-Airplane

Contact:
Frank Maisano, NPC Newsmaker Event Host
202-828-5864, [email protected]

SOURCE National Press Club