Swiss eco-explorer Raphaël Domjan is one step closer — or around 31,200 feet — to the stratosphere. The adventurer's ride there was much different from airliners that typically travel at that height.

Swiss pilot Raphael Domjan beat the altitude record for a solar-powered electric plane in a flight that took him soaring to 9,521 metres, his team announced Wednesday. The SolarStratos plane made the ...