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Solar Impulse readies for its ‘Moment of Truth’ flight

Much like Charles Lindbergh and his Spirit of St. Louis, or Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed Electra, mankind has more than once attempted to do what was thought to be impossible, whether it was reaching Paris, France by flying across the Atlantic Ocean, or circumnavigating the globe, as Earhart attempted to do.

Now, the team is ready to take on Leg 7 of an audacious attempt to fly the solar-powered plane around the world, a plane powered only by the energy it derives from the sun. Swiss entrepreneur and engineer Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard have been sharing the pilot responsibilities since the plane took off on March 9 in Abu Dhabi, headed for Muscat, in Oman, making the journey of 441 kilometers in 13 hours and one minute.

The Solar Impulse 2 landed in Nanjing, China on April 21, after spending two-and-a-half weeks in Chongqing, China in what was supposed to be an overnight stop. But weather played a huge part there, too, grounding the plane. “You can believe that your will can influence the weather,” says pilot Bertrand Piccard, But “then you’ll be really disappointed because it doesn’t work.”

Now they must wait on the weather over the Pacific Ocean, and right now it is an iffy situation, and much is at stake. The Solar Impulse website released an update, saying: “The trend of unstable weather in the Pacific has taken a toll for the worse, A combination of factors put this flight at risk, including cloud levels reducing charging capacity and considerable holding and loitering times to get through the front may have forced a seven-day flight, pushing the pilot to excessive extremes.”

This leg of the journey has a name: The Moment of Truth
Just a few minutes before the cancellation of Leg 7 of the flight was announced, Borschberg, still optimistic at the time the flight would take place said he had named this leg of the journey the “Moment of Truth.” Speaking with CNN on Monday, before the flight was aborted, he said, “I am feeling a bit high, actually, in the sense that we have been working hard to find a window for many weeks.” .

The importance of the journey is not lost on environmentalists and those seeking cleaner energy sources. Completing this arduous seventh leg of the journey will involve breaking several aviation records, not the least being the longest-duration journey for a single-seater plane.

Graphic charting the progress of the Solar Impulse world tour as the solar-powered plane sets off fr...

Graphic charting the progress of the Solar Impulse world tour as the solar-powered plane sets off from Myanmar to China Monday
, AFP

A support team member works on Solar Impulse 2  the world's only solar powered aircraft  at Sar...

A support team member works on Solar Impulse 2, the world's only solar powered aircraft, at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on March 17, 2015
Sam Panthaky, AFP

Bertrand Piccard  one of the two Swiss pilots of the solar-powered plane Solar Impulse 2  lands at A...

Bertrand Piccard, one of the two Swiss pilots of the solar-powered plane Solar Impulse 2, lands at Abu Dhabi's small Al-Bateen airport during the third test flight early on March 2, 2015
Marwan Naamani, AFP/File

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We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.

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