The Solar Impulse 2 aircraft took off in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
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Descendants of the Wright Brothers watch as Solar Impulse 2 prepares to leave Dayton International Airport on Wednesday, May 25, 2016.
A solar-powered airplane has landed in Pennsylvania, about 17 hours after it took off from the OH hometown of America aviation pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright.
Solar Impulse 2 began its global journey on March 9, 2015, with a flight from Abu Dhabi to Muscat, Oman.
He took 20-minute catnaps to maintain control of the pioneering plane during the flight from Japan, in what his team described as “difficult” conditions.
Solar Impulse is able to fly day and night because of the solar energy is stored in batteries on the aircraft.
Its departure from Dayton was delayed from Monday as project officials checked for possible damage after fans that keep the mobile hangar inflated had a power failure.
That’s slow going, even for Solar Impulse-but in strong head winds, the aircraft occasionally generates only enough power to stop itself from travelling backwards.
Flying at a typical speed of 28 miles an hour, the single-seat plane will take about 17 hours to make its way from Dayton to LVIA.
As an explorer, Piccard said his most memorable moment thus far was when he was crossing the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and San Francisco.
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Officials say the plane does not appear to have sustained any damage, but they plan to examine it more closely over the next few days. Compared to what is ahead, Piccard said today’s flight “is not very technical because it is short”.
