Lydia O'Connor - Plane Flies Across The Pacific Using Only Solar Power (See great video of flight and landing)
A solar-powered plane has
completed a three-day nonstop flight across the Pacific Ocean without a single
drop of fuel, marking a major milestone for innovations in renewable energy. Bertrand Piccard
landed the single-pilot plane, Solar Impulse 2, in Mountain View, California, on Saturday
night after taking off from Hawaii 62 hours prior. Since setting off from Abu
Dhabi in March 2015, Piccard and fellow pilot Andre Borschberg have taken turns
flying the plane as part of their mission to fly it around the world.
JEAN REVILLARD/SOLAR IMPULSE VIA REUTERS
“It’s a new era. It’s not science fiction. It’s today,” Piccard
said on CNN after landing. “It exists and clean technologies can do the
impossible.” “This flight was a huge step in the adventure and Bertrand Piccard
accomplished it like a professional pilot,” Borschberg, who led the
construction of the plane, said in a statement.
The experimental
aircraft is built mainly of carbon fiber and is entirely powered by 17,248
solar cells on its wings that recharge four lithium polymer batteries. It
weighs just over 5,070 pounds — making it nearly 200 times lighter than a
Boeing 747 — and has a maximum speed of 90 miles per hour, about one-seventh of
the Boeing’s.
California marks the ninth stop for the plane, which has also stopped in
Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan. The leg of its journey from Japan to Hawaii was
its longest and broke
a number of records, including longest distance for a solar-powered flight,
longest duration of a solar-powered flight and longest nonstop solo pilot
flight of any kind. Solar Impulse 2’s Bay
Area landing came with stunning shots of the plane soaring over the Golden Gate
Bridge, about 40 miles north of its final destination in Silicon Valley.
On Friday — Earth Day
— Piccard video-called into the United Nations from the flight as countries
signed the Paris climate agreement. “While you are making
history, we have also made history today,” U.N. Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon said. “More than 175 countries signed the climate change
agreement.” “Thank you for your
leadership and inspiration,” he added later. “I wish you a smooth flight. You
are leading us all into an exciting new era.”
The plane is now more than halfway to
completing its trip around the world and has stops planned in the midwest, New
York and southern Europe or northern Africa.
See video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/solar-impulse-san-francisco_us_571d3082e4b0d912d5fef6fd?section=india&utm_hp_ref=india
See video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/solar-impulse-san-francisco_us_571d3082e4b0d912d5fef6fd?section=india&utm_hp_ref=india