{"id":10575,"date":"2015-11-24T00:31:13","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T07:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=10575"},"modified":"2015-12-13T22:19:49","modified_gmt":"2015-12-14T05:19:49","slug":"solar-impulse-down-but-not-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/solar-impulse-down-but-not-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Impulse Down, But Not Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following its cliff-hangar five-day flight from Nagoya, Japan to Kalaeloa Airport, Hawaii, Solar Impulse is undergoing an extended period of tender loving care, dedicated rebuilding of its battery packs and insightful reflection on how to avoid future issues.<\/p>\n

Landing July 3, 2015, Pilot\u00a0Andr\u00e9 Borschberg\u00a0broke the world records for\u00a0distance along a course (6,825.4 kilometers \u2013 4,231.5 miles), Straight distance, and Duration for solar aviation, as well as the world record for the longest solo flight ever (80 hours and 5,663 km. \u2013 3,511 miles), according to the Solar Impulse web site.<\/p>\n

If all had gone according to plan, Bertrand Piccard would have hopped on board a few days later and headed for the United States on the second leg of the trans-pacific part of the the team\u2019s around-the-world voyage.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the rigors of a test flight over Nagoya, followed by a climb to 28,000 feet too soon after that test flight, seems to have doomed at least some of the batteries.<\/p>\n

\"Removing<\/a>

Removing battery pack from SI2 gondola<\/p><\/div>\n

Andre\u2019 noted the rising temperatures in the battery packs on the first day\u2019s climb, and doubtless had to treat the throttles on the big bird in a gingerly fashion every one of the four days following.\u00a0 Even will all systems \u201cgo,\u201d the airplane would greet the dawn with a minimal charge.\u00a0 Andre\u2019 had to monitor all systems with extreme care through the Nagoya to Hawaii leg.<\/p>\n