Solar Impulse 2, a Swiss aircraft totally powered by solar energy, is currently on its way to Muscat, Oman on the first leg of a journey that will eventually make it the first solar powered aircraft to circumnavigate the Earth.

It took off from Dubai on the morning of March 9 and is expected to reach Muscat later in the day after a 12 hour, 400 kilometer flight. At the controls of the aircraft are Swiss businessman André Borschberg and Swiss psychiatrist and aeronaut Bertrand Piccard, who co-piloted the first balloon to circle the world non-stop.

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Solar Impulse 2, which carries the Swiss registration HB-SIB, is a privately financed Swiss project that hopes to achieve the first circumnavigation of the Earth by a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power. The flight is aimed at promoting clean technologies in aviation.

From Oman, the solar powered craft will fly to India, Myanmar, China and on to the United States. It will take Solar Impulse 2 five months to complete the 35,000 kilometer journey around the world.

Borschberg and Piccard will spend a total of 500 hours behind the controls during the entire trip. They will take turns in piloting the extremely light aircraft in the tiny 3.8 square meter cockpit while broadcasting their flight live on the internet.

The pair will also split ocean-flying duties. Piccard will fly the five-day, five-night journey across the Pacific while Borschberg will fly the Atlantic leg.

The wingspan of Solar Impulse 2 is 71.9 meters (236 feet), slightly less than that of an Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner. The carbon-fiber aircraft weighs only 2.3 tonnes (5,100 lb) or about the weight of an average automobile.

It features a larger, non-pressurized cockpit and advanced avionics, including an autopilot to allow for multi-day transcontinental and trans-oceanic flights. Supplemental oxygen and various other environmental support systems allow the pilot to cruise at an altitude of 12,000 meters (39,000 ft).

Piccard said he and Borschberg "had "butterflies in the stomach" before take-off and at the thought of finally starting a project they had worked on for so long.

"Andre has worked on this airplane ... for 12 years, from the feasibility study until now; it is more than natural that he takes the first step," said Piccard.

"Bertrand deserves to fly the last leg, and to make the arrival in Abu Dhabi, completing the vision he created 15 years ago," Borschberg retorted.

Borschberg and Piccard, piloted an earlier version of the plane, Solar Impulse 1, across the U.S. in 2013.