“Emotions, tears, relief, exhilaration is what we are all feeling right now after completing the first Round-the-World solar flight in history”. “This was a moment that I dreamt about and that I wanted to share with everyone in a message that the future is clean”, Piccard was quoted as saying.
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The pilots were forced to endure long stints in the plane’s tiny cockpit space, oftentimes at thousands of feet above the Pacific Ocean.
The airplane houses more than 17,000 solar cells in its wings and stores power in batteries onboard to allow it to fly at night.
Solar Impulse 2 demonstrates the exploration of energy efficient batteries and clean technology that could potentially alter the way we travel.
The plane, Solar Impulse 2, touched down in the United Arab Emirates capital at midday (NZ time), on Tuesday.
The aircraft, which is the first solar-powered plane to embark on a voyage around the world, left Cairo on Saturday evening and is expected to arrive at Al Bateen Executive Airport in Abu Dhabi in about 48 hours.
This is supported by the fact that the plane weighs 5,071 lbs, roughly as heavy as a vehicle, and has a solar panel-covered wingspan of 236 feet.
As co-founders of Solar Impulse, Piccard and Borschberg say their feat was created to prove “that clean technologies can achieve the impossible”, telling the Guardian that their 40,000 kilometer journey was “not just a first in the history of aviation, but also a first in the history of energy”.
The circumnavigation effort began in March 2015 in Abu Dhabi.
Solar Impulse 2 is about to complete the first round-the-world flight by a plane powered only by the sun. “All this can be used now on the ground”, dividing “by two the energy consumption and therefore the Carbon dioxide emissions of the world”, Piccard said. The journey took 118 hours.
The crew of the plane and their accompanying team extended their gratitude to the Egyptian government and Egypt’s Minister of Civil Aviation Sherif Fathy for the support and warm reception they received during their visit to Egypt, read a civil aviation ministry statement. They have been working on the project, which aims to promote clean energy technology, for over 10 years.
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The plane was piloted by Bertrand Piccard during the last stage between Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
