MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Bertrand Piccard, the pilot of the sun-powered, zero-fuel Solar Impulse 2 (SI-2) plane which is conducting a round-the-world flight spoke with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon from the plane’s cockpit.
"I am inspired by your pioneering spirit," Ban Ki-moon, who was speaking from the UN headquarters in New York where the Paris Agreement on climate change was signed on Friday, told Piccard, as seen in the video posted on the official Solar Impulse blog page.
Piccard said the signing of the Paris climate deal "is about more than protecting the environment. It is the launch of the clean technology revolution."
The Solar Impulse 2 plane took off from Kalaeloa Airport in Hawaii on Tuesday embarking on the ninth leg of its journey. It is headed for Moffett Airfield in Mountain View, California, and is expected to land there on Sunday.
The sun-powered plane suspended its flight in July 2015 because of battery damage.
From California, SI-2 is set to fly to New York and Europe and then back to Abu Dhabi.
SI-2 can reach a maximum speed of 140 kilometers (87 miles) per hour. Its wingspan is 72 meters (236 feet) and the weight is only 2,300 kilograms, or 5,070 pounds, equivalent to that of a car. The plane is powered by sun energy collected by over 17,200 solar cells covering its wings, fuselage and tailplane.
The aircraft's prototype is Solar Impulse 1, which was used by Borschberg to conduct the world's first ever manned 26-hour solar-powered flight in July, 2010.
