{"id":120813,"date":"2015-06-01T06:30:07","date_gmt":"2015-06-01T06:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=120813"},"modified":"2015-05-31T17:28:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-31T17:28:00","slug":"sun-powered-solar-impulse-plane-begins-marathon-pacific-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/06\/sun-powered-solar-impulse-plane-begins-marathon-pacific-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Sun-powered Solar Impulse plane begins marathon Pacific flight"},"content":{"rendered":"
Five days, five nights, one pilot — and no fuel; Solar Impulse, the plane aiming to fly around the world powered only by the sun, has taken off on the toughest leg of its round-the-world voyage.<\/p>\n
The 8,000-kilometer (4,971-mile) journey from Nanjing, China, to Hawaii — dubbed the “moment of truth” by alternating pilots Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard –was delayed several times because of poor conditions over the Pacific.<\/p>\n
But in the early hours of Sunday (Saturday afternoon, ET), Solar Impulse successfully embarked on the lengthy leg of the journey.<\/p>\n
Mission Director Raymond Clerc said the latest route would see Solar Impulse fly over South Korea and northwest of Japan before heading out across the Pacific, and may take slightly longer than planned — potentially landing in Hawaii on the evening of Day 6.<\/p>\n
Former fighter pilot Borschberg, who will be at the controls alone for the entire 130-hour flight, had expressed excitement for the flight after weeks of holdups.<\/p>\n