8/8/2016

SolarImpulse2beginsAtlanticcrossingTheHindu

INTERNATIONAL

NewYork,June21,2016

SolarImpulse2beginsAtlanticcrossing
AFP

Reuters
ThesolarpoweredplaneSolarImpulse2,pilotedbySwissaviatorBertrandPiccard,ispicturedduringtakeoffatJohnF.Kennedy
InternationalAirportinNewYork,U.S.inthishandoutreceivedJune20,2016.
Approximatelyathirdofthejourneystillremainsfortheplane,whichwillflythroughEuropeandontoAbuDhabiaftercrossingthe
Atlantic.
TheSolarImpulse2aircraftwassoaringonMondayoverthewesternAtlantic,oneofthemostdifficultlegsofitsrecordbreakingbidtofly
acrosstheglobeusingonlysolarenergy.
Theplane,whichtookofffromNewYork'sJFKairportaround2:30am(0630GMT),ispilotedbySwissadventurerBertrandPiccard,whois
expectedtospendapproximately90hoursduringwhichhewilltakeonlyshortnapscrossingtheAtlantic.
"It'smyfirsttimetakingofffromJFK,"Mr.Piccardsaidoveralivefeedfromtheaircraftasheheadedoffintothenightskyenrouteto
Spain'sSevilleAirport.
Asof9:30p.m.inNewYork(0130GMTTuesday),theplanewasnearCanada'sNovaScotiaandturningeasttobeginitsoceancrossingafter
huggingtheNorthAmericancoastduringtheday.
Mr.Piccardnotedinablogpostthathegetstoexperiencea"StrawberryMoon"fromtheplaneanastrologicalphenomenonthatoccurs
whenthere'safullmoonontheSummerSolstice,thelongestdayoftheyear.
Hewillhave"abrightfullmoontoguidemeacrosstheAtlanticOceaninmysolarpoweredairplane."
Thevoyagemarksthefirstsolotransatlanticcrossinginasolarpoweredairplaneandisexpectedtolastfourconsecutivedaysandnights,
dependingonweather.
Theplane,whichisnoheavierthanacarbuthasthewingspanofaBoeing747,isbeingflownonits22,000mile(35,400km)tripinstages
withtwopilotsPiccardandSwissentrepreneurAndreBorschbergtakingturnsatthecontrols.
Thepairhaveflownalternatinglegsofthejourney,withMr.Borschbergpilotingtheflight'sfinalPacificstage,a4,000mileflightbetween
JapanandHawaii.
The118hourlegsmashedthepreviousrecordforthelongestuninterruptedjourneyinaviationhistory.
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8/8/2016

SolarImpulse2beginsAtlanticcrossingTheHindu

Theplane,nowonthe15thlegofitseastwesttrip,setoutonMarch9,2015inAbuDhabi,andhasflownacrossAsiaandthePacifictothe
UnitedStateswiththesunasitsonlysourceofpower.
'Smoothtakeoff'"Smoothtakeoffandall#Si2systemshavebeencheckedhereattheMissionControlCenterforthe#AtlanticCrossing,"
BorschbergpostedonTwittersoonafterSolarImpulse2wasofftheground.
Afewhoursintotheflight,whichcouldbetrackedviainternetonthesolarimpulse.comwebsite,theflightteamwrotethattheflightwas
blessedwith"abeautifuldaywithoutasinglecloud."
Inanotherpostaboutsevenhoursintotheflight,Mr.Piccarddescribedspottingaclusterofwhalesintheoceanwaters.
"Whatabeautifulsightofjumpingwhales.Justlikethewhalesbelowme,#Si2dependsonlyonnature,"hewrote,asalivevideofeedonthe
websitecapturedhiseverymovementatthecontrolsoftheaircraft.
PrinceAlbertofMonaco,apatronoftheproject,gavetheflightthegoaheadfromitsmissioncontrolcenterinMonaco,tellingMr.Piccard
"youarereleasedtoproceed."
Approximatelyathirdofthejourneystillremainsfortheplane,whichwillflythroughEuropeandontoAbuDhabiaftercrossingthe
Atlantic.
Thesingleseataircraftiscladin17,000solarcells.Duringnighttimeflights,itrunsonbatterystoredpower.
"SolarImpulseislikeaflyingsmartgrid,andifwecanmakeitworkinanairplane,wherewecan'tcheat,wecanmakeitworkontheground,
inourcities,forourhomesandforallapplications,"Mr.Borschbergsaidinastatement.
Theplanetypicallytravelsatamere30milesperhour,althoughitsflightspeedcandoublewhenexposedtofullsunlight.
"Bestofluckonthiswonderfuladventure@bertrandpiccard&ampalltheteam,"BritishbillionaireentrepreneurRichardBranson,ownerof
spacetourismcompanyVirginGalactic,postedonTwitter.
Mr.PiccardandMr.Borschbergarenostrangerstoadventure.
Mr.Piccard,apsychiatrist,madethefirstnonstopballoonflightaroundtheworldin1999.Mr.Borschbergnarrowlyescapedanavalanche15
yearsagoandin2013survivedahelicoptercrashwithminorinjuries.

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