Solar-powered plane completes historic trip around the world

Solar Impulse 2.
(Image credit: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)

The Solar Impulse 2 plane made history on Tuesday when it landed in Abu Dhabi, the first flight to make it around the world without using any fuel.

The plane first took off from Abu Dhabi in March 2015, and over the past 16 months traveled 25,000 miles, stopping 16 times. The plane is covered with 17,248 solar cells that transfer energy to four electrical motors that power the propellers, and it runs on four lithium polymer batteries at night. "The future is clean," one of the pilots, Bertrand Piccard, said after landing. "The future is you. The future is now. Let's take it further."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.