Bad Weather Forces Solar Impulse To Land In Japan

Poor weather conditions have forced the Solar Impulse 2 to land in Japan, delaying the plane's attempt to travel the world running on nothing but the energy of the sun.

The Solar Impulse 2, which is powered by 17,000 solar cells placed on its 72-meter wings, is poised to land in the Japanese city of Nagoya as its Swiss pilot, 62-year-old Andre Borschberg waits for better flying conditions. Bertrand Piccard, pilot and initiator of the record-breaking mission, announced that although the Solar Impulse 2 is doing well, the weather is not fully cooperating.

Earlier on Monday, the plane was in a holding pattern over the Sea of Japan before organizers finally decided to cancel the flight due to worsening forecasts. The Solar Impulse 2 was supposed to fly over the Pacific Ocean from Nanjing, China to Hawaii. The flight was supposed to be the seventh leg of the round-the-world flight that was scheduled for 12 legs and approximately 25 days and was expected to last six days and six nights as the plane's sole pilot flew through the 5,270-mile stretch between Nanjing and the Hawaiian islands, the longest it has to go through.

"When we took off from China, it was quite clear we could cross the front," Piccard says during a live breaking news feed on the Solar Impulse 2. "It was almost easy I would say, the weatherman was very confident. Now the window has closed. The front is too thick, too big. The plane would have to go through big layers of cloud."

This is not the first time the Solar Impulse team faced unexpected delays in the mission. While in Nanjing, they had to wait for nearly a month for optimum weather conditions, which include having favorable winds and ample sunlight so the plane's solar cells can charge enough to allow it to fly during the night. The plane has already spent an entire running on solar power, demonstrating that it is possible to fly fuel-free.

The Solar Impulse 2's maiden circumnavigation, although ridiculed by the fuel-dependent aviation industry as the start, is part of a bid to prove that planes can fly on renewable energy harvested through environment-friendly means.

Ideally, the Solar Impulse 2 has to cross the United States and the Atlantic Ocean back to Abu Dhabi where the mission began before hurricane sets in by August.

For those interest in following updates about the Solar Impulse 2, the project offers a live feed of updates from www.solarimpulse.com and Borschberg himself regularly posts updates from his Twitter account.