The Solar Impulse team

The Solar Impulse team members raise their arms in cheer over the flight of their creation. The 70-member team worked for more than six years on the design, construction, and testing of the Solar Impulse before the prototype could take flight.

"Never before--in the whole history of aviation--has an aircraft so big, so light and consuming so little energy actually flown," wrote Piccard in his blog. "How can I thank such a magnificent team, how can I sufficiently congratulate all those engineers, who, under the supervision of Andre, have calculated, designed and built this first prototype?"