For the first time, a solar-powered airplane has completed a trip around the world. The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Abu Dhabi before sunrise on Tuesday, after a trip that took 17 months and covered more than 42,000 kilometers. Although poor weather conditions delayed the flight many times, energy from the sun provided all of the power required for the long and difficult journey. Solar Impulse chairman Bertrand Piccard flew the plane during the final hours of the flight. Fellow pilot Andre Borschberg joined him in Abu Dhabi. The Swiss explorers hugged in excitement on completing the journey. Piccard spoke to reporters after landing the plane. His words pointed not so much to the accomplishment of the long-distance flight, but to the future of the technologies involved. “The future is clean. The future is you. The future is now. Let’s take it further,” Piccard told a crowd. From the beginning, the project was meant to bring attention to clean energy and the technologies it requires.
