The Solar Impulse 2 recently and successfully flew over the Atlantic Ocean to mark the 15th leg of its circumnavigation complete.
The aircraft, as the name suggests, is fully powered by photovoltaic cells that harness the energy from the sun to operate its propellers. It has completed more than half of its journey around the world using only solar energy and has never wasted a single ounce of jet fuel. It's incredibly environment-friendly and just proves that renewable technology is the future of energy consumption.
"The goal is not to change aviation ... but to inspire people to use [renewable] technologies and show people they can use these technologies every day to have a better quality of life," pilot Bertrand Piccard comments.
Piccard is the second pilot of the Solar Impulse 2, working alternately alongside seasoned pilot André Borschberg, who previously completed the Solar Impulse 2's 118-hour journey across the Pacific, taking off from Japan and landing in Hawaii. This Pacific leg also holds the record for the longest uninterrupted flight in history and it's on solar battery too.
The impressive Atlantic feat, on the other hand, is a "symbolic" moment as it replicated what most transportation events in the history of mankind had accomplished.
"All the means of transportation have always tried to cross the Atlantic, the first steamboats, the first airplane, the first balloons, the first airships and, today, it is the first solar-powered airplane," Piccard described.
The original plan was to echo Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic where he landed in Paris, France, but due to inclement weather reports, the Solar Impulse 2 team had to find an alternate route to ensure the plane and pilot's safety. Seville, Spain, was the chosen destination instead, which also provided lesser complications for the plane's next takeoff.
"If we would have arrived in Paris like we wished, it would have been very complicated because we would have had to cross a lot of air traffic controls," explains team member Yves Andre Fasel, in charge of air traffic liaisons. "From Seville, if we go along North Africa, I don't think there will be a lot of difficulties - from traffic."
The Solar Impulse 2's journey will end in Abu Dhabi, UAE, where it initially launched back in March 2015. The team is reportedly working on the next and possibly the last route for the airplane to finally complete its journey around the world.
More information can be accessed through the Solar Impulse 2's web page. Its historic landing can be viewed in the video posted below:
Photo: Anthony Quintano | Flickr
