In a bid to make the world a ‘greener’ place to live, many sustainable things are developed by various scientists. There’s a green building, green house and surprisingly, there are group of experts that push green solar plane. The solar plane is called Solar Impulse 2.
The concept was first ridiculed by the aviation industry when it was unveiled but as the days go by, the venture proved to be useful. In fact, the world hailed the venture including Ban Ki-moon. Here are some things we need to know about Solar Impulse 2:
- Pilot: There are two pilots – Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg. The plane can only accommodate one pilot. The two pilots take turns in flying the plane.
- Solar cells: Since it boasts of solar energy, the plane is built with 17,000 solar cells in its wings.
- Trips: The team is planning to take the plane for twelve planned stops around the world beginning from Abu Dhabi on March 16, 2015. The flight time is around twenty five days which are spread for more than five months. The longest leg will be five days flying across the Pacific from China to Hawaii. The remaining members of the team will coordinate the landing.
- Challenges: There are many challenges in this kind of endeavour. Pilots will face dangers but the good thing is that there are safety measures. According to pilots, the plane is hard to manoeuvre when it is above the ocean because of the potential of power loss. Another challenge is getting stamps from different countries. The group had problems when they went to India because of airport delays.
We are not sure if the team plans to go to Singapore.