Last stage for Solar Impulse
The round-the-world trip is almost complete: The solar airplane Solar Impulse 2 is scheduled to land today in Abu Dhabi, where it started its journey more than a year ago.
After 17 stages in 16 months, the time has finally come tonight: The solar airplane Solar Impulse 2 has officially circumnavigated the entire globe.
However, the team describes the last leg as the greatest challenge: no-fly zones, weather conditions and thermals mean that pilot and adventurer Bertrand Piccard and his crew are once again particularly challenged.
Nevertheless, Piccard calls the launch in Egypt an "emotional moment": this is where he landed in a balloon in 1999 after the first non-stop flight around the world, this is where his dream of completing another round-the-world flight began - using only solar energy: "I'm very excited to be so close to the goal, but unfortunately there are still so many people we need to motivate until our world is powered entirely by the same clean technologies that Si2 uses," Piccard explains.
To make the dream a reality, Bertrand Piccard, a physician and explorer at heart, teamed up with André Borschberg, an engineer and experienced entrepreneur. Both men took turns piloting the Si2 around the world, but perform different roles in the project. Piccard is responsible for the project vision and political influence, as well as finding partners for funding and technologies. Borschberg assembled a team that designed and built the Si2 and is committed to turning the aircraft's technological innovations into new engineering solutions.
After landing in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where the adventure began in March 2015, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, together with their team and partners, will continue to drive the Solar Impulse mission forward, touting the concrete energy-efficient solutions that can solve many of the challenges facing the global community.
Here you can follow the flight live.
