(Image: Reuters)
Off the ground at last. After more than a decade of preparation, a pioneering attempt to fly around the world powered solely by sunshine has begun. Solar Impulse 2 took off early today from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates and, hours later, completed the first leg of its epic circumnavigation attempt by landing in Muscat, Oman.
Pictured here following take-off at 7.12 am local time, the plane will take a total of five months to circumnavigate the globe, arriving back where it started in July. The co-inventor of the plane, Andr茅 Borschberg, will take turns piloting each leg with his counterpart Bertrand Piccard over the 12 planned flights, expected to take around 25 days鈥� worth of flying time in total, at speeds of 50 to 100 kilometres an hour. Next stop after Oman will be Ahmedabad in India.
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The plane weighs 2300 kilograms, about the same as a car, but its wingspan of 72 metres is wider than that of a Boeing 747. Its wings bear 17,248 solar cells to power its electric motors. The cells recharge four lithium polymer batteries, allowing the aircraft to fly at night.
鈥淲e have the most efficient electrical motor in the world, the best insulation, a great lighting system, the lightest construction materials,鈥� Piccard told 快猫短视频 last month. 鈥淥ur goal is not just to fly a solar plane around the world. We are creating, demonstrating and promoting technologies that the planet desperately needs in order to be cleaner and more sustainable.鈥�
The most perilous stages will be crossings of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, each expected to last five days and five nights. After crossing the Pacific via Hawaii, the plane will fly across the US, stopping in Phoenix and New York City鈥檚 JFK airport.
Piccard says that to rest during these marathon stages of non-stop flight, he has developed a 鈥渟elf-hypnosis鈥� technique enabling his mind to stay alert while he sleeps. 鈥淭his allows me to take 20-minute naps, 10 times a day, with the plane on autopilot,鈥� Piccard says. 鈥淚f it leaves a predetermined envelope of flight, an alarm and vibrations in my flight suit will wake me.鈥�
