Nestlé special foods fuel Solar Impulse pilots

Scientists at the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne developed all the meals now being consumed onboard Solar Impulse by Swiss pioneer pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg. According to Nestlé, the biggest challenge the researchers encountered was ensuring that the two pilots get the nutrition they need at a cruising altitude of 27,000 ft in […]

Scientists at the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne developed all the meals now being consumed onboard Solar Impulse by Swiss pioneer pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg.

According to Nestlé, the biggest challenge the researchers encountered was ensuring that the two pilots get the nutrition they need at a cruising altitude of 27,000 ft in an unheated, unpressurized cockpit. Both the food and its packaging were specially designed to survive extreme temperatures – from ‑40°C to +40°C in some regions – and varying weather conditions. “There was a lot of trial and error involved. From testing new packaging to testing the food itself to see how it stood up to the conditions”, said Dr Amira Kassis, head of the Nestlé team.

The other big challenge was storing the food. Since the Solar Impulse plane is only about as heavy as a family car, Nestlé scientists had to carefully consider the weight of all food and drink taken on board, including the packaging. And of course, besides being easy to consume and meet tight weight limitations, meals also have to be balanced and tasty so as to offer some reward and comfort to the pilots.

Solar Impulse began the first round-the-world solar flight attempt in early March.