Solar Impulse 2 To Begin Its Around-the-world Flight Today

The Swiss-engineered airplane Solar Impulse 2 will begin its solar-powered flight around the world on Monday. If weather permits, the plane will launch from Abu Dhabi early in the morning. The plane was scheduled to launch earlier this month, but was delayed due to weather conditions.

The flight should take around five months to complete, and the 21,748-mile journey has been divided into 12 manageable trips. The team behind the Solar Impulse 2, Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, will share piloting duties during the 500-hour flight. The single-cabin airplane has a 236-foot wingspan covered in 17,248 solar cells that power four electric motors. Because its wing cells store energy from the Sun, the Solar Impulse 2 can fly at night as well as during the day.

More details here.