Remember those guys who are flying a solar plane around the world?
Well, they’re about to embark on the most challenging, dangerous part yet. Swiss pilot André Borschberg is scheduled to take off from Nanjing, China, on Tuesday, weather permitting, to begin the flight across the Pacific.
Borschberg will then spend at least five days piloting the Solar Impulse 2 to Hawaii — a journey of over 5,000 miles. The plane will reach altitudes of up to 30,000 feet and will be far from any islands or landing strips in the “desolate expanse of ocean similar to the one in which Amelia Earhart disappeared 77 years ago,” according to this piece by National Geographic.
If they make it, it will be the first of its kind made by a solar-powered plane. “It’s going to be the moment of truth,” Borschberg told Nat Geo. “We’ve done a lot of tests, but we’ve never done this…I’ll tell you, the engineers are quite nervous.”
The #Pacific Crossing will be the longest flight in both distance and duration ever made with a #solar airplane! pic.twitter.com/QJcfkJHgys
— SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) May 4, 2015
The article is filled with a lot of other cool facts about the journey: Did you know that their plane seats double as toilets? You do now.
So far, the Solar Impulse 2 team reports that the journey has been without major problems. Here’s hoping the next leg will be a huge success — and break new ground in the quest for solar-powered flight.
Watch one of the team’s latest videos of their flight from Myanmar to China below:
