Solar Impulse 2 lands in Silicon Valley
Solar Impulse 2, a solar-powered aircraft that's circumnavigating the globe without using a single drop of fuel, arrived in Silicon Valley on Saturday evening.
The aircraft had taken off from Hawaii just under 63 hours earlier to complete its journey across the Pacific.
"Good morning California," pilot Bertrand Piccard shouted as he stepped out of the aircraft at just after midnight on Sunday morning to cheers. Around 100 people had been invited to the airfield to watch the plane land, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
Solar Impulse 2 can carry a single passenger and is a sleek, lightweight craft powered entirely by the sun. Thousands of solar panels on its wings power up four batteries, which provide enough energy to keep it flying all night before the recharging starts again the next morning.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here