Solar Impulse: Solar Plane lands in US Midwest after 21 hour flight

The Solar Impulse is pictured after landing at Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, May 13, 2011. 

The single-person solar-powered aircraft piloted by a Swiss adventurer, has landed in St. Louis, Missouri on the third leg of a transcontinental flight after over 21 hours in the air.

The organizer's ground crew rushed out on the tarmac of the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport when the aircraft, which has four electric engines and a 63 meter wingspan, landed at 0627 GMT.

"I feel (like) I was coming back from another world," said pilot Bertrand Piccard upon landing. "It's almost a shock" to return to normal life.

Despite the long hours "I didn't really feel the fatigue. I felt very fortunate to be up there."

The landing was broadcast live on the organizer's website, live.solarimpulse.com.

Piccard departed the Dallas-Fort Worth airport in Texas aboard the Solar Impulse at 0906 GMT Monday on the third of a five-stop journey across the United States aimed at showcasing the potential of renewable energy technologies.

St. Louis was chosen as the Midwest stopover to pay homage to aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh and his "Spirit of St. Louis," the first plane to fly from New York to Paris non-stop.

The Texas-Missouri leg was Piccard's longest flight in the single-seat cockpit to date.

Powerful storms that hit the St. Louis, Missouri area late Friday rendered Solar Impulse's airport hangar unusable, so organizers deployed what they described as a "revolutionary" inflatable mobile hangar.

Bloodhound SSC: Australian crew bid to break the land speed record

Australian crew bid to break the land speed record by unveiling the first parts of their rocket-powered bullet car.

The current land speed record stands at 763 mph, which was set back in 1997 by Brit Andy Green driving the jet-powered ThrustSSC.

However, there’s a new race on to see who can beat that time, and this time challengers are hoping to crack a top speed of 1,000 mph.

So far, most of our coverage has centered on Andy Green’s latest endeavor, the Bloodhound SSC, a rocket-powered car that’s already well into testing and has a targeted top speed of 1,050 mph.

Nemesis The Record Breaking Electric car

A battery-powered car has broken the UK land-speed record for electric vehicles at Elvington airfield near York, its makers have said.

The original Nemesis was a heavily modified Lotus Exige with all the conventional mechanicals removed and replaced with a couple of 125kw (168bhp) electric motors, belt reduction drives and a 200-kilogram battery pack. It was originally bought off eBay and clocked an average speed of 148mph (239km/h).

The car was designed and built by a team of British motorsport engineers in Norfolk, and driven by estate agent Nick Ponting, 21, from Gloucestershire.

The previous record was 137mph (220km/h).

The vehicle clocked an average speed of 148.419mph during two runs along the mile-long course.

Mr Ponting said: "It was brilliant. The car felt really good."'Quite straightforward'

The car runs on green electricity which has been generated by wind turbines, run by the Stroud-based company Ecotricity.

Dale Vince, OBE and Founder of Ecotricity said: "It was quite straightforward. We're putting a bit of juice back in the batteries and we're going to go again.

"The driver says it could have been faster. We think we'll top 150mph before we leave here today.

"We built the Nemesis to smash the stereotype of electric cars as something Noddy would drive - slow, boring, not cool."

The previous record had been held by Don Wales, the grandson of Sir Malcolm Campbell.

An attempt by Mr Wales's son, Joe Wales, to beat the record in Bluebird Electric last year, was thwarted after the vehicle's suspension was damaged by a pothole at Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire.

The record still needs to be ratified by the Motor Sports Association before the record can be officially declared.

Visit EVO website and see more pictures of the Nemesis!