The record-breaking Solar Impulse 2 plane has been grounded in Hawaii for repairs that will last several months. This comes as the second repair stop during its attempt to fly around the globe.
Image: Reuters/H. Gentry
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Solar Impulse 2: round-the-world trip on hiatus
Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg wanted to fly around the globe using solar energy. But they have been grounded due to technical difficulties and won't be able to take off again until 2016.
Image: Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images
Flight stalled by hot batteries
The adventurers' plane, the Solar Impulse 2, took off from Abu Dhabi on March 9. The plan was for 12 legs with a total length of about 35,000 kilometers. They wanted to complete it in 25 days. But upon landing on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, the pilots discovered the plane's solar batteries had overheated and were severely damaged. The repair work will take several months.
Image: Reuters/H. Gentry
Stuck in Nagoya
The plane is stuck at Kalaeloa airport, from where Piccard and Borschberg hope to continue their journey in April 2016. It's not the first unplanned stop. In June a cold front forced the pilots to interrupt their flight from Nanjing in China on day two of their seventh leg. For weeks, they had to wait for better weather in Nagoya, central Japan, before they could cross the Pacific to Hawaii.
Image: Reuters/T. Peter
Relaxing on long flights
Piccard (left) is actually a psychiatrist, according to his university degree. And Borschberg is an engineer. For the longer stretches taking the two over entire oceans, they have had to come with strategies, like yoga for instance.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Haider
A fair-weather friend
In contrast to modern airliners, Solar Impulse 2 is not exactly weather-proof - as the explorers experienced. The plane can only start once the green light has been given by a control center set up in Monte Carlo. Sand storms, heavy rain and winds, snow or a cold front like the one they encountered in Japan can bring the project down.
Image: Reuters/J. Revillard
In perpetual control
A stream of information from the plane keeps the team in Monte Carlo in the loop. Ground control knows how the batteries and the two pilots are doing at all times.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/V. Hache
Continual development
Solar Impulse 2, as the name suggests, is the second attempt by Piccard and Borschberg. This time around, the pilots have more room in the cockpit, and the plane has a more modern, lighter construction and more innovative solar tech.
Image: Reuters
Scary light
Solar Impulse 1, at a weight of 1.6 tons, had a tiny cabin for only one pilot. Each wing had a surface area of around 64 square meters (688 square feet). Its successor weighs 2.3 tons. That seems heavy in comparison, but an Airbus 340 weighs more than 125 tons.
Image: dapd
All it takes is the sun
The immense wingspan of the SI2 - 72 meters or 236 feet - has its advantages: around 17,000 solar cells have been installed. They provide the plane's four motors and propellers with power to reach top speeds of 140 kilometers (87 miles) per hour, at a maximum height of 8,500 meters or almost 30,000 feet.
Image: AP
The vision: emission-free aviation!
The overarching goal of the mission is to promote green energy around the world, says Piccard. He's certain that one day solar-powered planes will revolutionize the aviation industry - carrying hundreds of passengers per flight.
Image: Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images
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A team trying to fly a solar-powered plane around the world said it was temporarily suspending the journey in Hawaii after the plane had suffered battery damage during its record-breaking flight. The Solar Impulse team members said they will continue the attempt to circumnavigate the globe, but the damage caused by overheating batteries had apparently grounded the flight until at least April 2016.
"Irreversible damage to certain parts of the batteries will require repairs which will take several months," a company statement said. The team said that the batteries aboard Solar Impulse 2 had overheated on the first day of its trip from Japan to Hawaii, adding that there was no way to cool down the system.
Solar Impulse said there was no weakness with the technology, but the team hadn't anticipated temperature fluctuations associated with rapid altitude changes in a tropical climate. While the aircraft is in a hanger at the University of Hawaii for repairs, the team said it would also be researching alternative methods to cool the craft.
Andre Borschberg flew the single-seat aircraft to from Nagoya, Japan, to Kalaeloa, a small airport outside Honolulu, on July 3. The flight set a new record for the world's longest nonstop solo flight. Borschberg and Swiss aviator Bertrand Piccard have been alternating flights in Solar Impulse's cockpit.
"Setbacks are part of the challenges"
"Solar Impulse is attempting a historic first of flying around the world only on solar energy," the team said in a statement. "While Solar Impulse has completed eight legs, covering nearly half of the journey, setbacks are part of the challenges of a project which is pushing technological boundaries to the limits."
Solar impulses wings, which are wider than those of a Boeing 747, are equipped with 17,000 solar cells to power propellers and charge the craft's batteries. Its cruising speed ranged from 28 mph to 56 mph (45 kph to 90 kph) depending on solar activity.
The aircraft had already made an unplanned stop for nearly a month in Japan after high winds had damaged a wing.
