After being grounded in Hawaii for several months due to battery damage caused by overheating, the aircraft completed a record-breaking Pacific Ocean crossing last month after a 62-hour flight.
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The Solar Impulse 2 lands at Lehigh Valley International Airport, in Allentown, Pa., with Bertrand Piccard at the controls, on Wednesday, May 25, 2016, after taking off from Dayton International Airport, Ohio.
The plane is 236 feet wide and is wider than an average 747.
The solar plane weighing about 5,100 pounds has wings equipped with more than 17,000 solar cells allowing it to store energy to fly through night. The plane runs on stored energy at night.
The project aims to promote renewable energy.
The solar-powered plane lifted off from Dayton International Airport at 4 a.m. on Wednesday.
The plane will be here in this hangar for at least a few days in Allentown, before making its way to John F. Kennedy airport in New York City. From there, it is scheduled to head back to Abu Dhabi this year, according to the website documenting the journey. “We’d rather people watch the landing on the website solarimpulse.com”, Everett said.
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“As the promoter of the message of Solar Impulse, it was the most fantastic moment for me when I could speak live to the General Assembly of the United Nations from the cockpit of Solar Impulse and speak about clean technologies. We want to make sure everything goes as planned”.
