Solar Impulse, the solar-powered airplane that is trying to set a record by making its trip around the globe on nothing but sunlight, has been making a lot of history as of late.
After a several month delay due to power issues that left the aircraft stranded in Hawaii, the plane got its necessary repairs and then had to wait until weather permitted it to travel again. Lately, it’s managed to get from Hawaii to the continental United States, and is continuing its trip across the United States.
Following its landing in Silicon Valley, California, it travelled to Phoenix, Arizona, and has now just landed in Tulsa, Oklahoma after an 18-hour flight.
So far, the weather has been great for the Solar Impulse project thus far. The current stop, on the other hand, was a bit short of where the team originally wanted to send the plane, Kansas City, Missouri, but the risk of tornadoes ultimately forced them to stay in the safe zone.
"After spending just over a week in Phoenix, Arizona, our mission engineers at the Mission Control Center found a weather opening that would give way to a flight to a slightly unexpected destination: Tulsa, Oklahoma," the team behind Solar Impulse 2 said in a blog posting.
The constant successful flights and landings are getting the Solar Impulse team excited, but a long journey is still ahead. As the plane prepares to depart its current location, its next stop will be New York City, where it will then prepare for a flight across the Atlantic Ocean and land in Europe.
During the day, the plane can travel at around 60 miles per hour because it's exposed to a constant power source, but at night while it runs on stored battery power, the plane travels at an average speed of 30 miles per hour. So things can take a while...
Overall, Solar Impulse 2 is nearly complete in its around-the-world journey, and will soon be back at its home in Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates.
Source: Solar Impulse 2 Blog, DailyMail