Solar Impulse 2, a plane running exclusively on sun power, has taken off from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and is set to complete the first ever solar around-the-world flight in five months.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The aircraft, piloted by Swiss Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg took off at 07:12 a. m. local time (03:12 GMT) from the Al Bateen Airport.
A man walks past the Solar Impulse 2 during its presentation at the Al Bateen airport in Abu Dhabi January 20, 2015. © REUTERS/ Ahmed Jadallah Solar Powered Plane to Fly Around World Next Month Solar Impulse 2 was first flown last year. Its single wing is covered by 17,200 sun batteries that power the aircraft's engines, enabling it to fly at a maximum speed of 140 kilometers (87 miles) per hour. Piccard and Borschberg will take turn piloting the plane during their round-the-world journey.
Solar Impulse 2 is part of the Solar Impulse project, led by Piccard, a psychiatrist and aeronaut, and Borschberg, a businessman. Its predecessor is Solar Impulse 1 that Borschberg used to complete the world's first ever manned 26-hour sun-powered flight on July 8, 2010.
The construction of Solar Impulse 2 was launched in 2011. It was completed in April, 2014 after some delays caused by structural failures.
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