Solar-Powered Plane Successfully Crosses Pacific Ocean, Lands in California

  24 April 2016    Read: 1060
Solar-Powered Plane Successfully Crosses Pacific Ocean, Lands in California
A solar-powered airplane`s journey across the Pacific Ocean ended today with a successful landing in Mountain View, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
A solar-powered airplane`s journey across the Pacific Ocean ended today with a successful landing in Mountain View, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This flight, which left Hawaii Thursday bound for California, was just a part of two pilots` attempt at flying around the world.

The trip began in March 2015 from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and then stopped in Oman, Myanmar, China and Japan, before flying over the Pacific Ocean and reaching Hawaii in July 2015.

Solar Impulse, the organization behind the voyages, was founded by Swiss aeronaut Bertrand Piccard and Swiss businessman and pilot André Borschberg. The duo hopes that the flights will "promote clean technology solutions to solve climate change."

"If an airplane can fly day and night without fuel, everybody could use these same technologies on the ground to save natural resources and improve quality of life," their website states.

The Solar Impulse plane runs exclusively on energy harnessed from the sun; the energy is stored in batteries on the aircraft. It is the world`s "only airplane of perpetual endurance," meaning it is able to fly both day and night without re-fueling.

More about:  


News Line