A solar powered airplane – Impulse 2, which is on a trip around the Earth, just crossed the riskiest part of its journey by crossing the Pacific Ocean without stopping at all. The airplane took 3 days straight to cross the largest ocean in the world.
Pilot Bertrand Piccard flew the airplane for a total of 62 hours at one stretch without any fuel, and safely landed at 11:45pm in the Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco.
Piccard and pilot Andre Borschberg started their journey around the globe on March 2015. They started their journey from Abu Dhabi. They have taken their turns to fly this airplane solo, making their stops at Oman, Myanmar, China, Japan, and Hawaii.
Piccard, addressing the press in Silicon Valley, said, "You know there was a moment in the night, I was watching the reflection of the moon on the ocean, and I was thinking, 'I'm completely alone in this tiny cockpit, and I feel completely confident.' And I was really thankful to life for bringing me this experience.” This was mentioned in TravelPulse.
Solar Impulse 2 will make three more stops in the United States of America and then head to Europe or Northern Africa.
The airplane weighs around 2265 kilograms with all the carbon fiber making its body and the average speed is 45kmph. The wings of airplane are wider than those of a Boeing 747. The airplane is equipped with 17,000 solar cells that power propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night.
Image Credit: Twitter
