Andr茅 Borschberg, one of the two pilots flying the Solar Impulse 2, set a new record on Wednesday聽for the longest solo flight in human history, according to a press release.
Borschberg stayed in the air for more than 80 hours in his solar-powered aircraft. He surpassed the record Steve Fossett set in 2006 of 76 hours and 45 minutes. If all goes as planned, his margin of accomplishment will include an additional 40 hours of flying before Borschberg touches down in Kalaeloa, Hawaii, .
叠辞谤蝉肠丑产别谤驳鈥檚 trans-Pacific journey聽is only one of 13 legs of a complete circumnavigation of the globe, a project that he and co-pilot Bertrand Piccard first conceived after completing a trip聽around the world by balloon in 1999. The trip is meant as both a feat of mechanical ingenuity聽and a statement about the viability of solar power. 鈥淲e need pioneers who show that impossible things can be done,鈥 Piccard said. 鈥淭hen industry will take over, and one day everyone will think this is normal.鈥
The two pilots plan to make sequential landings in Phoenix, Arizona, and New York City before traveling across Europe to Abu Dhabi, where their journey began.