We knew that the solar - power Solar Impulse 2 — currently on an almost literally Icarusian flight around the world — wasbadly damagedon its record - breaking flight from Japan to Hawaii last workweek . But todaywe learnedthat the extent of the impairment is so severe it will ground the guile until next give .
In ablog post on their internet site , the squad behind Solar Impulse explain the bad news show . The harm was incurred on the July 2nd flight , which take in pilot film André Borschberg on an unbelievably long flight of steps from Nagoya , Japan , to Hawaii , relegate the record for longest non - stop solo flightat 117 hours and 52 minute . But during takeoff and ascension leaving Japan , the battery that store the precious solar free energy that powers the slyness were badly damage :
During the first acclivity on day one of the escape from Nagoya to Hawaii , the stamp battery temperature increase due to a high climb charge per unit and an over insulation of the car . And while the Mission Team was monitoring this very closely during the flight , there was no way to decrease the temperature for the persist duration as each daily oscillation command an ascending to 28’000 foot and descent for optimal vigor management .
Because the batteries were over - isolate , the team was n’t able to cool off them down during flight . Why did this problem only rear its head now ? In the post , the Impulse team order that the problem is in reality an technology flaw on their part — not a problem with the tech itself . “ The temperature of the battery in a ready ascent / origin in tropic climates was not properly anticipated,”they excuse . So the heat of Nagoya was n’t designed for — and that ’s why the batteries could n’t offload the extra heat energy .
Now , the team will have to replace the damaged batteries while the wiliness is grounded in Hawaii — it ’s staying at a hangar owned by the University of Hawaii — for months . When will Solar Impulse 2 fly again ? It ’ll make the head trip to the West Coast , and then onto JFK , in “ former April . ” It ’s a bummer , but an eight month stop in paradise seems like a small silver liner for the squad , does n’t it ?
[ Solar Impulse;BBC ]
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