Solar plane leaves Calif. on cross-country trip
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. A solar-powered airplane left Northern California on Friday for the first leg of a planned cross-country trip that its co-pilot described as a milestone in aviation history.
The Solar Impulse considered the worlds most-advanced sun-powered plane left Moffett Field in Mountain View just after dawn. Its creators said the trip is the first attempt by a solar airplane capable of flying day and night without fuel to fly across America.
It plans to land at Sky Harbor airport in Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth airport in Texas, Lambert-St. Louis airport, Dulles airport in the Washington area and New Yorks John F. Kennedy airport. Each flight leg will take about 19 to 25 hours, with 10-day stops in each city.
Obama says Mexico ready to move past drug violence
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica President Barack Obama on Friday cast Mexico as a nation ready to take its rightful place in the world and move past the drug battles and violence that have defined its relationship with the United States. He then headed to Costa Rica to prod Central American leaders to tackle those same issues more aggressively.
Obamas three-day visit to Mexico and Costa Rica is his first to Latin America since winning a second presidential term in an election in which he gained the support of Hispanic Americans by a large margin.
His trip is being followed with great interest by Hispanics in the U.S. as well as in Mexico, Central America and farther to the south.
Associated Press
