Solar Powered Plane Set to Fly to Midwestern U.S.

solarimpuse2The solar-powered airline that landed on the west coast of the United States just a week ago flew to Phoenix, Arizona on Monday, safely completing the 10th leg of its round-the-world quest.

Solar Impulse 2’s crew will now prepare for a flight to somewhere in the Midwest. The plane, with wings stretching wider than those of a Boeing 747 are equipped with 17,000 solar cells to power the propellers and charge batteries. The plane runs on stored energy at night and will make two more stops in the U.S. before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to Europe or northern Africa.

Solar Impulse 2’s website indicated its two legs to cross the Pacific were the most dangerous parts of the trip because there were no emergency landing sites.

In Monday’s voyage, the plane left Mountain View3, California at dawn and landed 15 hours later in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona.

Previously, the crew ended up spending 9 months in Hawaii after the aircraft’s battery system suffered heat damage on its trip from Japan. It was March 2015 when the plane began the voyage from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.