Solar Impulse Completes Historic Trip Around the World
Solar Impulse, the solar-powered aircraft on a record-setting mission, has completed a 25,000-mile trip around the world.
On Saturday, Bertrand Piccardone of two pilots to take turns guiding the planetook off from Cairo on the final leg of the journey that began in March of last year. Originally planned to take only a few months, Solar Impulse was waylaid in Hawaii for some time after the aircraft was damaged.
The solar-powered aircraft landed in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Despite the delaysalso frequent because of challenges with finding the right weather, especially for trans-ocean crossingsthe mission has been completed. More than a sneak peek at the future of air flight, Solar Impulse is instead a statement about the potential of energy that is not reliant on fossil fuels.
Some 16 months after takeoff, here is a look at the many places around the world that Piccard and Andr Borschberg took the solar plane.
