This plane gets its power from the sun

A solar-powered plane which is circumnavigating the earth landed in New York City Saturday after flying across the United States.

The Solar Impulse 2 (Si2), made in Switzerland, has been on its global journey for more than a year, including nine months in Japan for battery repair. Its flight across America began in late April, and ideal flight speed is just 28 mph — the final leg from an airport north of Philadelphia into NYC took nearly five hours — though top speed in the midday sun is roughly double that.

The Si2 seats two pilots in a small cabin, but its wings, covered with 17,000 solar panels, are wider than those of a Boeing 747. The project's aim is to "demonstrate that clean technologies can achieve impossible goals." The next step: crossing the Atlantic, which at 28 mph would take more than five days.

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