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Solar-Powered Plane To Light Up The Night Sky As It Lands At DFW

A DFW International Airport spokesman says North Texans may think the strange lights they see shortly after midnight tonight are a UFO, but what they’re probably observing are the unusual lights along the wings of a solar powered plane landing at DFW.

Solar Impulse is the first airplane that can fly day or night without refueling.

Swiss aviation pioneers Bertrand Piccard and Andre' Borschberg are the developers and pilots of this first solar airplane powered by 12,000 solar cells.

Solar Impulse is  able to fly day or night without refueling.  It's made of a lightweight carbon composite and has a wingspan the size of a jumbo jet, but has the weight of a car.   

Solar Impulse’s Phoenix-to- Dallas flight is the second leg of its solar-powered trip across America. 

Tomorrow’s 1:00 a.m. landing at DFW is closed to the public but there will be opportunities for North Texans to get a closer look. 

Former KERA staffer Shelley Kofler was news director, managing editor and senior reporter. She is an award-winning reporter and television producer who previously served as the Austin bureau chief and legislative reporter for North Texas ABC affiliate WFAA-TV.